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#historically accurate disney princesses
kittensbooksart · 1 year
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Do you think you can draw a historically accurate version of belle’s other dresses in beauty and the beast?
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(While I was searching for the pictures of the original designs for this post I realised I had forgotten the existence of the green dress, which I think she wears at the end of the film?)
I do love making these historical versions so I did do couple of sketches.
I made them based on around 1750s fashion, like the first Belle I made. I do have to admit that the blue dress is not exactly super historically accurate. I gave her jumps, usually a sort of waistcoat that's laced (usually unboned or very lightly boned) and works as a replacement of stays. Usually when they are depicted in art from the time, they are used by working women while they are doing physical labour. Which makes sense, you don't have extra sleeves that might be too warm or hinder arm movement and they are softer than stays so they don't also hinder torso movement but are still somewhat supportive. But upper class women did wear them too as a part of negligee but not really at all in social situations. Then they were usually also quilted. I think it's pretty safe to say Belle is not working class. I think her father could be classified as craftsman and being from that class does make sense to their social status. That would make them under the merchant class and basically roughly lower middle class in 18th century French standards. They do live in rural village though, and jumps seem to be more depicted on rural settings and on peasants too. They are very informal, but it also seems like rural social settings just tended to be more informal. So I think that could lend a little more plausibility.
If I would have taken a safer route I'd given her a jacket/caraco or a round gown/robe a l'anglaise, which were commonly used by middle and lower classes and also upper classes for casual wear. People at the time generally didn't go outside without covering their head. Most women wore caps at least during the day to keep their hair cleaner. In fancier evening occasions (mostly only upper classes and upper middle classes would attend those) they would not cover their hair. Also hats were popular and I've seen several of these very wide brimmed hats, usually made of straw, on artisan and peasant French women.
For her pink gown robe a l'anglaise would have worked too, as it was clearly semi casual, not negligee, but also not the ball gown. But being a castle of a prince and it being used for a dinner scene, robe a la francaise works better, as at the time they were used for salons and other fashionable but not very official gatherings (not outings though) by the nobility. I could have also given it the kerchief, it would have fitted better the look of the original design's neckline made it a little less formal, but maybe we can imagine this is how she wore it to the dinner and she'd had worn it with a kerchief during the day or something.
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artist-ellen · 4 months
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Whatever could I be reposting these for? I guess you’ll just have to wait and see…
I would say it’s weird to look at the gap in years from there to here but 2022 was pretty fiercely dedicated to the Game of Thrones redesigns. Well, I guess there was also modern Belle…. But the Tale as Old as Time dress is the one that matters in reposting so… that’s the only hint you’ll get!
I am the artist! Do not post without permission & credit! Thank you! Come visit me over on: instagram.com/ellenartistic or tiktok: @ellenartistic
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Mostly historically accurate Disney Princesses
Disclaimer most of the hairstyles aren’t historically accurate because i said so
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beillus · 3 months
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I'm finally pulling this more historically accurate Cinderella off the backburner after an entire year of the sketch sitting in my cloud documents. The dress and hairstyle are based on designs from the 1800s that Cinderella is set in.
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rp-partnerfinder · 20 days
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Age: 21+ seeking 21+
Fandom: Frozen (Disney)
Character(s): (Prince) Hans (blog name: @former-westergaard) [A plethora of OCs/fancharacters are also options, if that interests anyone. I just didn't want to list every OC here.]
Pairings: none or MxF (CCxCC, CCxOC, OCxCC, OCxOC)
Timelines: post-Frozen, post- Frozen Fever, post- Frozen II, or canon divergent
Looking for: Frozen franchise canon characters (incl. Hans if I play an OC), Frozen OCs, Disney canons/OCs that loosely align to Frozen's setting, or generalized canons/OCs that can fit in a Disney-adjacent, not-historically-accurate, mid-1800s Europe
Platforms: Tumblr DMs, Tumblr reblogs, Discord DMs, Discord private server, open to suggestions
Literacy: semi-lit to lit
Other: Please contact through @former-westergaard
.
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Historically Accurate Disney Princesses 😍
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I’ve just finished editing this drawing of Rachel Zegler as Snow White to match the recent photos of her on set.
Scott Keenan, 2022
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lackadaisycats · 1 year
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I tried to answer this succinctly, but it turned into an essay. (Sorry.)
The Princess and the Frog was not accurate, strictly speaking, but dinging it for that would be like criticizing the Lion King for not being a realistic wildlife documentary. Accuracy wasn't really the point. Given the fantastical elements and fictional nations like “Maldonia”, I suppose we're meant to understand this as a bit removed from the real New Orleans. It's more a a jazz-flavored fairy tale than a historical fiction.
But for discussion's sake....
Is it fashion-accurate to its 1926 timeframe? Ehhh, sort of. It pays homage to 20s fashion trends with cloche hats, furs and feathery headpieces, but without fully committing to it. The waistline on almost all of Tiana's clothing is too high for the 20s, and the the shapes of her fancier costumes take a lot of liberties, or deviate wildly from the style of the period.
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In the 20s, dresses (including workaday stuff) tended to have a straight up-and-down shape to it - kind of a low-waisted rectangle that de-emphasized curves instead of highlighting them. There are valid reasons to play fast and loose with that, though (something I’m definitely guilty of as well). One of those reasons is communication. 
For instance, speculatively, the filmmakers wrote Tiana as a hard-working waitress and wanted her to look the part, so they made the choice to clothe her in something familiar - that gingham dress of mid-century shape that we broadly associate with diner waitresses. Actual waitress uniforms of the 20s had a fair bit of overlap with maid uniforms at the time too, and I can see why they wouldn't want to risk the confusion. It's more important to communicate clearly with the larger audience than to appease a small faction of fashion nerds who'd notice or care about the precision.
I don't think it's a case of the designers failing to do their research - I'm sure they had piles of references, and maybe even consultants - but they also had to have priorities.
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With her hat and coat on, she looks a lot more 1920s-shaped.
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Pretty consistently, the indication of the characteristic 1920s drop waist is there, but the approach otherwise ignores the 20s silhouette. The clothes hug the body too much. This may be about appealing to a 2000s audience, visually speaking, but also could be an animation thing. Maybe both. For practical reasons, clothes in 2d animation are usually more a sort of second skin than something that wears or behaves like realistic fabric.
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These are not in the 1920s ballpark at all. Tiana's blue gown looks like your basic Disney brand invention. Strapless things would have been extremely unusual and the overall shape is far out of step. Excusable, I guess, because it's a costume in context. Charlotte looks like she’s heading for a mimosa brunch in a modern maxi dress.
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Charlotte's princess dress did seem to be calling back to the ultra-wide pannier side hoops of the 18th century - something that made a reappearance for part of the 20s, albeit in much milder form called robe de style. I'm not sure if the filmmakers were alluding to that at all, really, but either way, her dress is hilarious.
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They only went about halfway with the cloche hats. The 1920s cloche really encapsulated the cranium, almost entirely covered bobbed hair, and obscured much of the face from certain angles, so it's easy to see why they've been somewhat reined in for the film. Still, it ends up looking more 1930s, where the hats started to recede away from the face, evolving in the direction of the pillbox.
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Similarly, Tiana's hair is not very reminiscent of the bobbed, close-to-the-cranium style of the period, but I think that could legitimately be written off as characterization. She's not at all the type of person who'd fuss about going à la mode. Not everyone bobbed and finger-waved their hair.
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The clothes Prince Naveen is introduced in are very 1920s collegiate in spirit - the wide-leg oxford bags, the sleeveless pullover sweater, the flat cap, and high, stiff collar. The ukulele and banjolele were pretty trendy instruments at the time too.
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Definitely some Josephine Baker vibes here. Also, the look of this whole fantasy sequence was reportedly inspired by the works of Aaron Douglas, a luminary painter of the Harlem Renaissance known for his depictions of the lives of African-Americans. (The mural is in Topeka, Kansas.)
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They pretty much nailed the Art Deco. It's gorgeous. Looks somewhat inspired by the interiors of some of the Ralph Walker-designed NYC architecture, plus some French Quarter balcony flair for the final manifestation of Tiana's Place. Her dress here does resemble some gauzy mid-1920s looks, too.
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Culturally speaking...
New Orleans is an unusual place. Because some of the colonial Spanish and French laws and conventions that New Orleans evolved under persisted even after its inception into the United States; because it was such a heterogeneous hub of indigenous and immigrant peoples; and because it had a considerable population of free people of color (mostly Creole), it did not function quite like the rest of the South leading up to the Civil War, nor for a while after. Its particular coalescence of cultures made it its own unique sort of culture within the country, within the region, within the state of Louisiana even. By the early 20th century, though, regardless of the not-very-binary nature of New Orleans, Jim Crow laws were enforcing a literal black-and-white distinction, and not an evenhanded one, by far. In that aspect, the city had begun to resemble the rest of the South.
The film nods at the wealth disparity, but goes on to paint a pretty rosy picture of race and class relations at the time. Still it's not unbelievable that some people were exceptions to the rules. You could probably find a few compartments of old New Orleans society that resisted segregation or certain prejudicial norms, preferring to do things their own way. That aside, the film wasn't trying to confront these topics. Not every piece of media should have to. Sometimes breaking away from miserable period piece stereotypes is refreshing. I'm not sure it could have handled that meaningfully given the running time, narrow story focus, and intended audience, anyhow. (But you could perhaps also make a case that family films habitually underestimate younger audiences in this way.)
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Raymond the firefly I guess is the film's Cajun representation. There's not much to say about it, except perhaps to note that Evangeline is a reference to the heroine of a Longfellow poem of the same name. The poem is an epic romance set during the expulsion of the Acadians from the eastern provinces of Canada and the northernmost reaches of the American colonies (now Maine) by the British in the mid-1700s. Many exiled Acadians gradually migrated south to francophone-friendly Louisiana, settling into the prairies and bayous, where 'Acadian' truncated into the pronunciation 'Cajun'. Evangeline - who is only finally reunited with her love when he’s on his deathbed - has become an emblem of the heartbreak, separation and faithful hope of that cultural history, and there are parishes, statues and other landmarks named after the her throughout Louisiana.
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Voodoo does have a very historical presence in New Orleans, having arrived both directly from West Africa and by way of the Haitian diaspora (where it would more properly be called Vodou). While I don't think Disney's treatment of it was especially sensitive or serious, it also wasn't the grotesquely off-base sort of thing that media of the past has been known to do. It was largely whittled down to a magical plot component, but it wasn't so fully repurposed that it didn't resemble Voodoo at all either - and that's mostly owing to the characters, because it does appear the writers pulled from history there.
It’s apparently widely held that Dr. Facilier is a Baron Samedi caricature - and likely that's true, in part - but I have the impression he's also influenced by Doctor John. Not the 20th century funk musician, but the antebellum “Voodoo King” of New Orleans. Doctor John (also called Bayou John, Jean La Ficelle, and other aliases) claimed to be a Senegalese prince. He became well known as a potion man and romance-focused prognosticator to people from all corners of society. Though highly celebrated and financially successful at his peak, he seems ultimately remembered as an exploitative villain.
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To my recollection, the film sort of gingerly avoids referring to Facilier as a Voodoo practitioner directly (I think he's more generically called a witch doctor in the script?) but it does seem to imply his 'friends on the other side' are a consortium of loa. It's mostly abbreviated into nebulously evil-seeming special FX, glazing over any specificity or dimensionality, but it does also loop back around as a vehicle of moral justice. Loa are all very individualistic and multi-faceted, but they do have reciprocal rules for asking favors of them.
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There's also the benevolent counterpart in Mama Odie's character. Her wearing ritual whites has a definite basis in Voodoo/Vodou practice, and her depiction as a fairy godmother-like figure isn't entirely out of step with how a mambo may have been perceived...in a very general sense. They were/are ceremonial leaders and community bastions who people would seek out for help, advice and spiritual guidance. More than just emanating matronly good vibes, though, some have wielded considerable political and economic power.
(Just my opinions here. I've done a lot of reading on the subject for research but I'm no authority with any special insider understanding of Voodoo, and I really shouldn't be relied upon as an arbiter of who has or hasn't done it justice in fiction.)
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In summary--
Culturally, I think the film is respectably informed but paints a superficially genteel picture. The set pieces are gorgeous, but the story mostly delivers a sort of veneer of New Orleanishness. And as for fashion, well, it’s the 1920s run through a Disney filter. It’s very pretty, but it’s only as proximally accurate as seemed practical.
I don’t know that any of that really matters so much as whether or not it achieved what it intended, though. As a charming yarn and as a tribute to New Orleans and the Jazz age, I think it’s mostly successful. It’s also really beautifully animated!
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synergysilhouette · 2 months
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"Wish" rewrite: Setting the Scene (NOT the prologue)
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Welp, I'm finally doing a lengthier rewrite of "Wish." For those new to my account, I must stress that you do not--repeat: DO NOT--need to read my shorter two rewrites of the film as well as song rewrites in order to understand this story. (BTW, the above art is by Sanjaycreates on Twitter.) NOTE: THis is all subject to change before I get the prologue and stuff going!
The Setting
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The Kingdom of Nelke is a fantasy kingdom with German influences (but with racial demographics that you'd see in the Americas), but by no means should it be taken as something historically accurate, or even 100% culturally accurate. I kind of wanted something akin to "Baldur's Gate 3" where you see a mix of modern and historical garb--actually, it'd be pretty akin to many high fantasy RPGs, in my opinion, as well as the fashion for 2015's "Cinderella," if you will. I always loved the mix of modern and medieval aesthetics when used correctly. The royal family's crest is be a swan, in reference to "Swan Lake" and ruled by the favorable Queen Lina and overseen by her right-hand advisor, the sorcerer Eiko.
The Characters
(Note: I'm not an artist, so I'll simply use pics of characters who fit the overall vibe I'm going for, either in fashion, personality, or design.)
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Talia--For those who don't know, a variant of "Sleeping Beauty" sees the main character named Talia, which is fitting since "Wish" was visually inspired by it. She's a young woman in her early 20s, wears an orange dress, and while she is kind at heart, she is rather hot-headed, and not always in an endearing way. Right now I'm considering making her half-Egyptian, half-African in reference to the lead couple in Disney's play "Aida." She has been a sorcerer's apprentice ever since she discovered she had magical powers, but talent isn't everything. She's become a bit shy around crowds, concerned with bringing out their ire of making them overly dependent on her. She occasionally leads her friends--nicknamed "The Dreamers"--when making decisions. (Art by Jonuelsketch and Disney.)
Vocally, I imagine her to have a deep, theatrical voice, something booming and powerful. She loves to sing in order to de-stress, though this doesn't always become a song; sometimes she just sings a line or a few sentences to herself like a lot of people do at random moments in time. If I was an artist, one person who would inspire her design would be Janelle Monae.
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Aion--Taken from Aiionwatha, an alternate name for Hiawatha, a Native American figure who Disney made a short about and once tried to adapt into a feature film. He doesn't talk very often, and frequently tries to put on a brave face, despite his severe depression over losing one of his older brothers to magic when he was a child. He's the heart of the group, and often tries to diffuse conflict, as they stress him out. While he has great concern for Talia as a sorcerer's apprentice, he supports her, though Talia misunderstands his feelings and wants her to fail, since his own brother couldn't succeed at using magic. His main color is usually a flurry of colors, making him look like stained glass (which influences Talia's fashion at times).
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Lucy--A reference to the protagonist in Walt Disney Pictures' adaptation of "The Chronicles of Narnia" with Walden media. She's of Arab descent and dresses in purples to reference Princess Jasmine. A fast-thinker, she always tries to think up solutions quickly and ahead of time, making her Aion's best friend when it comes to crisis aversion. The daughter of a diplomat and a smooth talker, she has confidence to spare and while she can be self-centered at times, she's first and foremost a great friend. For health reasons, she is often accompanied by a (stylish) cane, sometimes a wheelchair if things are severe.
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Wolfgang--Not a Disney reference, but simply a German name. He has a lot going on with his life, largely due to being a political pawn all his life. While he has those he cares for, he isn't good at expressing it and consistently tries to control everything around him. It's been remarked that in another world, he and Talia could've been siblings, but not in this lifetime. He doesn't have many (real) friends, but his years of emotional abuse have led him to crave attention, even if it's not in the best possible way. Perhaps that's why he's often dressed in green; he has a bit of envy to spare.
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Queen Lina-- A reference to "Thumbelina." The greatest person you will ever meet, or at least that's how the slogan goes. She's beautiful, intelligent, and often takes to disguises in order to check on her citizens. She's quite dramatic when you get to know her, but more in a theatrical way that pulls you in, not an annoying way. Her husband, bless his heart, likes to stay out of the limelight often, so he lets her be the face of the kingdom, and it suits her vanity just fine. Her clothing is colorful and ALWAYS memorable. Of course, she has an edge to her, something she doesn't want to let the citizens know about. As someone with a couple chips on her shoulder, Talia can relate--but are they in the same boat?
I imagine a soprano-type voice for her, but she has an affinity to rap when she's frustrated.
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Princess Elsie--An occasionally clever, but altogether lazy princess. She enjoys her royal status and letting people fawn over her. Due to her commitment to being completely selfish, the people of Nelke assume this is an affront to a more caring future ruler (which Lina continually tries to support). When she's bored, she's been shown to be quite hilarious and astute, though you can be sure she won't let herself be bored for long. She's beautiful, but in a way slightly askew to mainstream society.
A good singer, albeit not the strongest; good enough for a movie, but not to sell albums.
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Eiko--The queen's right-hand man and flatteringly referred to as her fairy godfather. A man who's past is shrouded in mystery (ironically clad in purples and greens), he vowed his fealty to the queen when he found her to be a worthy ruler. As of late, however, he has been looking for an apprentice to take over his place. As magic by birth is extremely rare and magic by education is difficult without a trained tutor (which there are few of in the kingdom), he has had difficulty finding one--until he comes upon Talia. While she is highly skilled, she doesn't always think things through, making her a mixed public figure before she's even come to prominence. When he isn't conducting official business for the crown, he is quite relaxed--and an excellent singer.
He used to be a more powerful singer, but he prefers a much softer sound now due to age.
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Anselm--My Kingdom Hearts friends get this. The mysterious being in the west wing of the castle. It's said that his (their?) magic eclipses even Eiko's. But how Anselm came to be there--or what secrets lurk inside their mind--are anyone's guess. When Talia encounters him, they are a wise and mesmerizing figure, as she's able to see a sea of stars in his eyes. When he ventures beyond the wing and into the world below, he's shown to be playful and caring, always seeming to have one's best wishes at heart. Their magical form is a cascade of silvers, blues, and white, while as a human, they often wear "feminine" colors (bright/light colors, including pinks and purples) with flower motifs when in his human form, his favorite being a bleeding heart. His favorite room in the castle consists of a giant koi pond that frequently calms his soul. However, despite his outgoing nature, he can be quite shy when he develops a crush on someone, most recently Talia. Despite her attempts to look the other way, Talia reciprocates his feelings, and she finds that he may be hiding a mystery of his own, as she sees a sea of stars whenever she gazes into his eyes for a long time.
Probably the best singer, a tenor with heart and power.
Lemme know if you have any questions! IDK when I'll release the prologue, but it shouldn't be too long. Originally I was gonna include the storybook intro in this, but I've decided it's better to just put it in the prologue since I'm still figuring out my words. I may or may not write songs for this; I imagine it's a musical, but IDK if I'm gonna be happy with the songs I write.
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dani-luminae · 1 month
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My most unpopular opinion is that people who are obsessed with "historically accurate Disney Princesses!" really seem dedicated to the most visually boring version of the character.
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opinated-user · 4 months
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Tbh Tiana having a happy romance and being happy with no conflict sounds pretty sweet and wonderful!! I need some happy romance with POC main heroine. And hey, Tiana working to get money for that restraurant and facing some difficulties and setbacks during that quest would provide enough conflict.
for sure, but then that wouldn't have been a Disney princess movie since the princess always has to face some fantastical element on their stories (that's what makes them fairy tale like) and Tiana wouldn't have been the first black Disney princess. Dr. Facilier is not only one of the most entertaining aspects of the movie, he is a necessity for the type of movie that it is. it's thanks to being a Disney princess is that Tiana has dolls and other merch made out of her still being made to this day, so people won't forget about her. i'm not saying that your idea couldn't make for a lovely movie, but not one made by Disney. maybe pixar could do something like that and make it work. more than that, LO would still say that having Tiana face any kind difficulty, even historically accurate one or just a realistic one, was too much torture for her character and how dare you to suggest anything like that for a black woman. why her just being generally happy and have a decent enough good romance isn't good enough? why must a story have conflict at all? (but then she'll snear at slice of life anime despite they do just that or have very low stakes. even western slice of life productions get completely ignored precisely because they aren't disney).
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notebookofthedead · 1 year
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Long and hard have I thought about the Castlevania Property That Must Not Be Named, and just how badly they bungled the Devil Forgemasters. We're talking left, right, and sideways. So badly bungled that they're hardly even recognizable as Hector and Isaac
But then I started speculating on why they might have made the changes they did. I started thinking about how I could just move everything around a bit - just 5 inches over - and possibly come to a plotline which would be more accurate to the games, but wouldn't scrap everything they gave us with the show. Because not everything they did with the Forgemaster plotlines was bad - just the important parts, y'know?
So come in, join me. Listen as I scream into the void about what might have been
(Note: what follows is an unstructured ramble with minimal editing, because I just do not want to expend the spoons necessary to whip this into some degree of professionalism. It's not professional. Nothing about this is professional, nor do I claim to be an authority on anything. Keep that in mind as you read)
So first and foremost, we gotta handle one of the biggest issues with the way the show handled Hector and Isaac: their characters
As several others have pointed out, the show writers not only gave Isaac a completely different design, but also gave him video game!Hector's personality and character arc. Show!Hector looks significantly more like his original self, but his personality is still very different. He also spends much of his screentime being demeaned by other characters and by the narrative itself, something that made people - myself included - particularly uncomfortable, considering that Hector's design is noticeably androgynous, especially compared to Isaac's show design, which is a lot more masculine than his video game design. Adding into the mix that show!Hector is portrayed with an affinity for animals and the devils he forges, around whom he acts soft and nurturing, almost like he's a Disney princess, and uh. It's not looking good, chief
Regardless of the writers' intent, it reads like the narrative is constantly punishing Hector for being more traditionally feminine than their epic Chad of an original character Isaac redesign
The first order of business is to #MakeIsaacGayAgain, and #GiveHectorHisPersonalityBack
But, in order to successfully do so while maintaining some of the ideas unique to the show, I think it's important to understand why the writers might have taken these specific creative liberties. For this thought exercise, I'm going to try my absolute best to assume good intentions, and assume that the people in the writing room actually cared about what they were doing to some extent. Gonna assume that these writers were reasonable people who genuinely wanted to make some good art. Forgive me if it sounds naïve
Let's say you're a writer, okay? You've been signed on to work on a big project, a television adaptation of a beloved video game franchise Which You Have Never Played Before, And Know Nothing About. You look into the source material a bit - let's say you do a Google search - you look at the cast. And uh. You ask yourself, why is everyone so... white? Like okay, yes, the setting is medieval Romania, but that's not an excuse. This is a fantasy world where Dracula declares war against the entirety of humankind and regular guys can use magic rituals to create monsters. The historical accuracy of injecting more diversity into this cast shouldn't even be a factor, when this is not and was never to be a true-to-life portrayal of 15th century Wallachia. It's more important to let people see themselves - to see people who look like them - on the big screen than it is to maintain this shallow veneer of ""historical accuracy"" which has never been particularly relevant to this franchise anyways
So okay, you want to make the cast a little more diverse. A noble pursuit. And you want this character to be fairly likeable, someone the audience can relate to and enjoy. Perhaps you set your gaze on the Devil Forgemasters - how about an antihero? How about someone with a built-in redemption arc? Someone the audience can sympathize with, can rally around, can be proud of by the end of the show, when they see just how far this character has come. A dark horse who uses his evil powers for good and is instrumental in saving the day ---
And they settled on Isaac???!!?!
Words cannot describe how confused I am by the fact that they went with Isaac for this. Isaac. Not Hector, who was right there, right in front of their faces. Isaac. There are so many problems that come up when you change Isaac's race, man
For starters, if Isaac is the only character of color you plan on giving a significant role in the plot, you probably shouldn't kill him off at the end for fear of falling ass first into a historically racist and generally fucked up trope. Secondly, the whole point of video game!Isaac's character is that he is so fanatic in his service to Dracula that he will go to any length to revive his master. Especially assuming you're going to keep Dracula as, well, an old white guy. That uh. Well. I think we've all seen the discourse surrounding HP's house elves, and I think we can all understand why that would be bad. Honestly, you could argue that keeping Isaac exactly the same between video game and TV show but portraying him as a black man - you could argue that decision would have been even worse than what the writers actually gave us
To me, it reads like the creatives behind the show decided to portray Isaac as a different race, then afterwards, they noticed the uncomfortable implications of their decision. But rather than returning to the drawing board, they doubled down on the concept. And the next thing they knew, they had completely changed almost everything about Isaac's character, save for his name, his occupation, and his loyalty to Dracula - but even then, they made him far less fanatic. Keeping in mind that video game!Isaac got the Devil Forgemaster crest tattooed on his body, covering his entire back, in a show of loyalty to Dracula and a visual representation of how he viewed himself as a tool for others' use
Because the writers stripped show!Isaac of the flamboyance and the sheer zeal integral to his video game portrayal - and on top of that, they softened Hector into a naïve Disney princess who constantly gets fucked over by the rest of the cast - I personally think that both Forgemasters lack the bite that they have in the games. The writers clearly tried to flesh out their backstories in ways that would justify their show characterizations, but compared to their original backstories, they just fall flat. These men have been declawed
If it is inhumane to declaw a cat, then it is bad writing to do the same to a character without cause. If the writers had done something worthwhile with this; if they had made Hector grow beyond his torment in a meaningful and satisfying way; if they had turned Isaac's character arc into something more than the bare bones "mindless servant turned into a badass with agency" story that they gave us; if they had let Isaac hold even a fraction of his video game self's level of unhinged energy; I would not dislike these plotlines to the extent that I do. I think the decisions that led us to this moment were poorly conceived, and that someone should have smacked whoever the fuck put Hector in a dog collar long before that bit made it into the final product
So anyways, improvements! How could we make improvements? Here's my advice:
First of all, keep Isaac as close to his video game self as possible, and just let him remain a white guy. Then, the only issues you have to deal with are the poor representation of mental health issues and the villainous queer-coding, and you know what? You don't have to change his entire characterization to rectify that. Instead of killing him off at the end of the show, just give him a redemption arc where he starts to heal from his mental health issues, reconciles with Hector, and starts becoming his own person outside of his Devil Forging - essentially, give him the same dignity and respect given to the show-original character of his same name, and you'll be fine
Meanwhile, give Hector his personality and character arc back, let him be the cynical, human-hating badass who learns to stop being so angry and enjoy life, and then have him become the Devil Forgemaster character portrayed as different race. And I'm not talking about what they did in the show, where they darkened his skin tone just enough to make him look *somewhat racially ambiguous,* but he's still light enough that whether his TV show counterpart is white or not is An Actual Topic Of Debate within the fandom. Don't force Isaac to be something he's not for the sake of having a POC antihero - Hector is literally right there!
As a fiction writer, you do not want to contribute to harmful ideologies steeped in hatred and bigotry, not just because of "wokeness" or whatever, but because the media we consume has real life ramifications. The stories we read, or watch, or play through, affect the way we view the world around us, and the way we interact with others. I have absolutely no issue with a Castlevania adaptation taking some creative liberties to give us a more diverse cast, and I completely understand why they would change almost everything about Isaac's character, if the writers were really so hell-bent on having him be the show's primary source of black representation. My issue is that I don't think the new story they gave him was executed well, and frankly, I don't think it was necessary, when Hector was standing Right There. They could have just portrayed Hector as an unambiguous character of color, and then they wouldn't have had to jump through all these hoops. As an audience member, it's just so frustrating. The answer was right there, right there, yet they didn't see it?!
Gods above, this has turned into such an angry rant. Thank y'all so much for sticking with it until the end. If you're interested, I also made a post reworking the Sumi & Taka storyline from season 3. I have a lot more to say on the Devil Forgemaster storylines and how I would personally rewrite them, but ffs this post is already so gd long -
Maybe I'll make a part two.
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artist-ellen · 4 months
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The trend was too strong... I had too much fun
I am the artist! Do not post without permission & credit! Thank you! Come visit me over on: instagram.com/ellenartistic or tiktok: @ellenartistic
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fraulein-felice · 11 months
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Here's my thought process behind the Folksy Esmeralda cosplay:
First of all, Saffran is Indian, she has bright green cheap acrylic extra-eyes, and I was looking to use the left over lilac sari silk. So, Esmeralda.
I wanted to do a "historically accurate" Disney Princess, but then I learned how Romani people dressed in Hunchback of Notre Dame times (with thanks to dress historian Wickfield over on Deviant Art):
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Interesting, but not the colourful project I was looking for.
Around that time the pretty shepherd (another one of my favourite costubers!) did a wonderful series on The Traditional Transylvanian Folk Vest, so I went:
Esmeralda + Folk + Vest confirmed by portraiture = Project!
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I did a nice little concept sketch, I made the shift, I even started on the skirt. Then the wrap-around closure did not work the way I thought it would, and that of course meant I shut the whole project into a drawer for well over 2 years. :)
Getting Saffran's hands dyed and assembled gave me the I-finished-something!-rush I needed. Completing the outfit took about a week.
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I will not take any lesson away from this experience. 😊
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cityoftheangelllls · 2 years
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Entries 16 and 17 in my historical Disney Princess series: the Frozen sisters!
I know that Elsa and Anna aren’t officially part of the DP lineup (Frozen is a franchise all on its own) but I wanted to include them as they’re so well known and popular and a ton of people consider them to be part of the lineup.
Ok so these two needed a LOT of work. Frozen is one of my least favorite Disney films in terms of costume design and their outfits are virtually devoid of any semblance to fashions of the late 1830s to early 1840s, when the Frozen saga supposedly takes place (yet another Disney movie with a concrete time period!) If that hadn’t been made clear by a few hints dropped throughout the movies and shorts, I would have had no idea where to place Elsa and Anna, as their wardrobes look so modernized. PARTICULARLY Elsa’s ice gown from the first movie, that slim, slinky silhouette and high thigh slit would NOT fit into the 19th century AT ALL. Another problem with their outfits is that they seem to be based too much on the bunad, the Norwegian traditional folk costume for women, particularly because of the patterns and rosemaling.
For this project, I only focused on redesigning their main outfits from the first movie - Elsa’a ice gown, Anna’s traveling outfit, and both girls’ coronation day regalia. I took a few liberties with Elsa’s ice gown, given that it’s a fantasy go made of ice and she could technically do whatever she wanted with it while still sticking to the trends of the early Victorian era. Anna’s traveling bunad was the hardest of the four to do, as I initially had few resources for 19th century Norwegian folk dress, until I came across some authentic Norwegian folk wear and accessories on the website for this Norwegian museum, which I was thrilled to find! I am also convinced that Anna’s winter outfit is the most accurate of the four I’ve chosen.
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merp-blerp · 7 months
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So… Rachel Zegler and Snow White… (My Thoughts)
(This is a long ass post, but I wanted to make myself clear)
Disclaimer: I just wanted to express my opinions on the controversy, as the Disney princesses, fairytales/folklore, and their influence on kids and adults is very important to me as someone who grew up with them and wants future generations to as well in the best way possible. My opinions are mine, so I can only speak for myself and my experience with girl-boss-feminism and other related topics. It’s okay if you feel differently and have different experiences than me. I’m not trying to tell anyone how they “should” feel. Just express yourself civilly and do not harass anyone, please.
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Opinions under the cut ↓
If you don’t know the situation, in short, Rachel Zegler, who is cast to play Snow White in Disney’s remake of the animated film has made some statements on the original that have angered fans. Some of these statements include: “I just mean that it’s no longer 1937. We absolutely wrote a Snow White that ... she’s not going to be saved by the prince, and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love…” and “There’s a big emphasis on her love story, with a guy who literally stalks her. Ha, ha—weird! Weird! So we didn’t do that this time!” and “Cast a guy in the movie, Andrew Burnap, great dude. All of Andrew’s scenes could get cut—who knows! It’s Hollywood, Baby!”
I recommend watching the clips of her in these interviews. I can’t possibly give every controversial quote here.
Let me state right out of the gate that I have no issue with a WOC playing Snow at all, as a WOC myself. I’m not here to say she can’t. Yes, the fairytale traditionally states that she’s named after her white skin, but this is an adaptation and things can change in adaptations; they could easily change the reason for her namesake, like maybe she was simply born around winter. Outside of her name, Snow being white doesn’t have much bearing on the story. Even if you want to pull the historical accuracy card, fairytales aren’t meant to be history lessons like that. They’re fantasy, where any kind of reality is possible. Last I checked queens owning literal magic mirrors wasn’t very historically accurate to any place at any time. And of course there are other countries where people of ethnicities other than European ruled.
I also don’t enforce hate or harassment to Zegler for any reason. Just fair, constructive, criticism. I think she’s misguided, and I want to unravel that in this post, but I don’t hate her. I don’t suspect she’s sexist, just mistaken.
The issue many are having with these statements is that Zegler not only comes off as ungrateful to some, but that she disrespects and misrepresents the original movie. I personally don’t agree with her statements. There was nothing wrong with Snow being saved by the prince and he was definitely not stalking her. They had one conversion at the beginning of the film, he exits the film for most of it’s run time, with Snow barely mentioning him outside of the two scenes where she sings “Someday My Prince will Come”, and then he comes back at the end of the film once he hears of her death and kisses her goodbye when he thought she died, only for her to wake up; then she goes to live with him in his (likely metaphorical) castle in the sky on horse back (live with, not marry him, we never actually see them marry if they do). Due to sexism, AFAB people are often shamed for enjoying feminine types of media and activities , such as romance and princesses, so this has led to the “girl-boss” or “not like other girls (NLOG)” mentality in some AFAB people, causing an often aggressive rejection of femininity. This also led to the “Strong Female Character(s)” trope, which often preaches rhetoric similar to Zegler’s statements. Though I’ll of course never know, I suspect this rhetoric could be what’s going on with Zegler to some capacity. She’s somewhat around my age (Zegler’s 22, I’m currently 19, I’ll be 20 in Dec. 2023), so she and I grew up right when this girl-boss rhetoric was becoming popular. Snow is a very traditionally feminine character, so maybe that has made Zegler feel negative towards the character. Maybe—I’m not a Jiminy Cricket inside her head. There’s nothing wrong with wanting a man, you just shouldn’t be co-dependent on one, and Snow was not; as mentioned before, she spends most of the film getting along without him. Snow’s prince, along with most princes from this era of Disney, are more symbols of freedom rather than actual characters by todays standards; this is reflected in the fact they don’t even have names, apart from Prince Philip, who is more of a character. And of course Snow wants love, she has an abusive step-mother, with her biological mother and father out of the picture; the dwarfs and prince (and maybe the huntsman—if you count him) were her only true company. Her only source of love and kindness. I personally see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as a story of survival. Snow’s vulnerable, being a princess who’s likely only ever lived in castle walls, and she’s been mistreated by a woman who was supposed to mother her, to the point of her having to run away to live on the woods for safety on a whim (as well as maybe due to her age if you believe she’s 14 years old, but Disney has never confirmed this odd internet rumor, so I don’t personally believe she’s 14—nor her prince being in his 30s—no clue where that comes from). But she adapted by coping with her fear and pain by calming herself by singing and finding refuge in her found family of the dwarfs and animals. She found the love she lacked in her life though the dwarfs and the prince. That’s strength if I’ve ever heard of it! She doesn’t need to be a “Strong Female Character” type to be strong. It’s sexist to imply that femininity equates to weakness. The new Snow White can be strong, but so is the original in her own beautiful way, as well as the other subsequent Disney princesses after her. I find that people who tend to have these sexist takes on the Disney princesses, especially the original three (Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora), tend to have not seen their films much if at all, and/or have only watched them passively, not truly computing the story because they feel like they know every beat from memory or cultural osmosis. Zegler has admitted to having only watched the film once when she was a little kid, being scared of it, and then only recently watching the film a second time after being cast for the remake.
She also seems to disregard the original film’s importance in history. Snow White as a character was seen as a beacon of hope during war times and the Great Depression. It was one of the first, if not the first feature-length animated film ever. And so much more! There Will Be Fudd has a great video essay on the importance of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as a film and also expanded on this topic I’m discussing here (I don’t claim any of this as a purely original opinion, I know many also view Disney Princesses this way, just throughing my own personal tidbit to the conversation). I think Zegler had failed to consider how she subtly insulted women who are more traditionally feminine by speaking of Snow this way, as well as people who enjoy this movie. I know that girl-boss-feminism made me feel really bad about myself as a kid who was naturally a bit more of a classic Disney princesses type of person rather than a kin to the newer Disney princesses that were coming out at the time, like Rapunzel or Anna. I just wasn’t super spunky or outgoing like them (not that they are bad at all—I love them). The Disney princesses have so much variety between them, so any kid is bound to relate to at least one of them a little bit; I should’ve been able to relate to Cinderella or Snow without shame, but the girl-boss rhetoric told me that they were bad and therefore I subconsciously thought I was too since I saw myself in them more. I attempted to force the more feminine traits away from myself and kind of become a blank slate, till i realized in my late teens that I didn’t know who I was. I’m still in the process of reclaiming myself from that phase of my life, trying to remember who I am. I’m not saying every personal issue I have was birthed from girl-boss rhetoric, but it did have an effect early on, and I don’t want anymore people to feel this way. I think Zegler’s statements can be harmful. Girl-boss-feminism is not what people need anymore if it was ever needed at all. We should let every person of every gender live as feminine or as masculine as they please, as long as no one’s harmed. Femininity is beautiful. Masculinity is beautiful. Just don’t be toxic.
Another thing I wanted to mention that I’m surprised I haven’t seen anyone else bring up: the way she spoke about Andrew Burnap, her co-star playing the prince (EDIT: Apparently he’s actually playing a character replacing the prince… okay I guess…?), in one of the quotes I mentioned above, which was pretty bad. Another thing this kind of pseudo-feminism can enforce is putting down men because women are “superior” in someway, because they’re girl-bosses, all in the name of “feminism”. Burnap is just as worthy of having his work get displayed on screen as Zegler is. It would be really unfair if all he’s scenes were cut. It’s very… strange at best that she said that. I don’t think people are in the wrong for being upset at her words and I don’t think people are getting mad at her “over nothing”. It’s something.
[EDIT: I wanted to acknowledge that I am currently aware, and also was when I made this post originally, that other live action Disney Princesses cast members have said similar things akin to Rachel Zegler’s statements before. The reason why I didn’t initially mention it in this post was because I didn’t think it mattered to Zegler’s controversy as it had to do with other films, but after some thinking, I realized it does add some context and it could be debated in this conversation. I also don’t care for those statements for very similar reasons I don’t care for Zegler’s. I think the reason why Zegler’s words are being so scrutinized in comparison to the others is because 1) the pop-feminism movement as a whole being scrutinized in some aspects is something that’s happening only very recently, in the very late 2010s and early 2020s so far. It seemed like this girl-boss stuff really began to be condemned hard around when Mulan (2020) came out, which in part caused that film to flop. Zegler is only the third live action princess to have a film come out in the 2020s, if I’m correct. These ideals weren’t being so criticized when say, Lily James, made her statement(s?) on my favorite princess Cinderella in 2015. Zegler’s just happened to make her comments at the worst time. 2) It could also be the way Zegler’s said her comments. It’s not just the words but the way she said them that rubbed people the wrong way, and maybe that’s not fair, as tone can be very hard to fully decipher in a true way and sometimes your tone doesn’t match how you feel. I don’t agree with the idea that “Rachel HATES Snow White” as some have said, but I see how people think she does based on the really taunting tone of the viral clips, but a few clips don’t paint a full story; she probably doesn’t hate Snow White. 3) It might be racism for some people. A lot of people are upset to see Snow White being played by a WOC, especially since in the standard version of the story it was stated specifically that Snow was white, unlike, for comparison, the The Little Mermaid where Hans Christian Anderson never stated what race the mermaid was. Evil people want to be racist, but not called out as racist, so Zegler’s outdated sentiments gave a very easy scapegoat for hating her and her casting without being overtly racist. If Halle Bailey said something similar to Zegler she might’ve experienced the same hate train as Zegler is, not just because it's a sexist view, but because people also hated seeing her play Ariel as a black woman and wanted to do so openly, but couldn't without showing they're racist and being called out. Not saying every person criticizing Zegler is racist, however. 4) It’s the newest remake and people hate those. I don't think the concept of remaking films is bad at all, as if you don't keep telling stories they die. Many of the fairytales that Disney has adapted like Cinderella, Aladdin, Snow White and more wouldn't have existed in any way if people didn't tell them over and over in different countries and time periods till they were written down over and over. Remaking them over and over is a modern option to do that. Everyone has the right to remake Beauty and the Beast, The Wizard of Oz, etc. if they want to because that’s how stories stay alive for generations to come (and because versions of those particular stories I mention are in the public domain). But the reason Disney’s remaking their films at the moment doesn’t seem to be so they can bring something new to the stories or showcase it to a new generation, but to make money, as a lot of these films have been making bank for some unholy reason. That's why so many of them fall short quality-wise. This is really an overall problem with Hollywood right now and Disney is arguably of how the biggest perpetrators of the issue. We are all overexposed to these low-quality remakes to the point where a lot of people hate the concept of them at all, calling them “unnecessary”, but I personally think this is a bit too pessimistic. The idea of remakes isn't bad, the executions of them are.]
There was also some controversy on the fact that they cut the seven dwarfs from the film; the remake is actually simply called Snow White, not Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs like the original. This was done (allegedly?) to not offend little people. They will be replaced by some magic creatures. Now, I am not a little person, so I can’t decide what’s offensive to little people, but I can repeat what I’ve heard from some little people online who’ve spoken on the topic; I recommend looking up more testimonials from them if you want more opinions from little people. It is very odd that, in order to not offended little people, Disney excluded them from one of the few roles Hollywood would allow them to play. It would’ve been better if they evolved the dwarfs from being mostly comic reliefs to being characters who were treated more like characters, along with hiring actually little people actors and having little people writers in the writers’ room. That is all I’ll say on this topic to the reasons I mentioned before.
It’s worth noting that Zegler has addressed the situation (yes, that link to an ET TikTok vid is the best place I could find it—I guess it’s the original source? If I find a better video I’ll change the link) and I don’t really know how to take it. (EDIT: I've been notified by an anon that this video was actually a response to something else; If so, sorry for the incorrect info. My feelings forward still stand when it comes to the idea of pardoning her actions.) While I understand she’s young and was pushed into notoriety very quickly, I feel like, specifically when it comes to her comments about Burnap, she should know better. You should know at age 22 that comments like that aren’t seen as very appropriate. I suspect Zegler wanted to come off as a down-to-earth and playful, cool girl, and assumed that the girl-boss takes on the Disney princesses from the 2010’s were still popular, not realizing that they’re more often condemned rather than uplifted, and rightfully so. All I know is that will likely be hard for Zegler to come back from this behavior. The internet is pretty hard on people who they see as “mean girls” and other phrases like that, sometimes to a really unwarranted level that leads to things like doxxing and death threats. Zegler doesn’t deserve treatment like that, but she does deserve constructive criticism, as does everyone when they do something that’s arguably wrong.
It’s statements like Zegler’s that are making me somewhat worn-down on Disney, or rather Disney-corporate, as I feel that this pseudo-feminism they’ve sprinkled in some of their modern films has been a problem for a while now. In highsight, I feel like in the early 2010’s Disney could’ve been on their way to another renaissance, with hits like Tangled, Frozen, and Wreck-it Ralph, plus adult interest in Disney sky-rocketing with social media. But the remakes got in the way of that. It doesn’t come off as Disney wanting to retell stories in a new way, but as Disney, due to the cynical takes on their past works from the 2010’s, trying to fix what wasn’t really broken out of almost shame. Like they want to prove a Buzzfead article from 2014 wrong rather than make a good story. They don’t seem to understand that this line of thinking is dangerous and sexist in and of itself. This isn’t an improvement, but a downgrade. You’re supposed to make characters, not walking, talking political statements; you can totally make political statements in film—they’ve always had them—but you need to do it carefully because they’re important topics, especially when you’re including it in media made for a general audience, as it could be someone’s first exposure to the topic and you want it to be correctly done. And you need to make the characters who make or represent these political statements well-rounded or you end up coming off as still offensive, but in a different way. Think about all the Disney original concepts for animated movies based on older fairytales such as Gigantic, Newt, or Hiawatha that were canned, with these often try-hard-y remakes in there places (I know Hiawatha was cancelled decades ago, but I still would’ve preferred Disney revive that in a more culturally sensitive time rather than what they’re doing). With the exception of Cinderella (2015) and maybe The Little Mermaid (2023), I feel like all the remakes are just Disney’s attempt at besting critics who either lacked media literacy or were just critiquing for shits and giggles. Other than the exceptions I mentioned, they all range from not awful but meh (like the 2016 The Jungle Book), to insultingly bad or bland (like the 2020 Mulan or the 2019 The Lion King). Even though this film is still in development and I know I can’t/shouldn’t truly have an opinion on it’s quality yet, I fear it’ll be more a kin to Amazon’s Cinderella rather than a good film. Amazon’s Cinderella had many of the issues with pseudo-feminism Zegler’s statements had. I don’t think this movie will be very good if Zegler’s sentiments reflect how the film’s themes will be. Hopefully I’m wrong, but I’m admittedly not too optimistic.
I don’t think it’s wrong that people care this strongly about Disney and the quality of their films. I’ve seen people ask “Well, when did people start caring about Snow White?” And my answer is that people have always cared, this situation is just making people speak up about it. That’s normal. And saying “It’s just a movie” negates it’s importance to the history of film, not just animation, and it’s role in the lives of people who enjoy it. It might not be important to you, and that’s okay, but it is to other people and you should respect that.
Well, I think that covers my thoughts, If you’re still here, thank you for getting this far. I appreciate that you seemingly care about my opinion that much. I just wanted to get these thoughts off my chest.
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