Recent Disney productions Frozen and Tangled shows the evolution of princesses, princes , themes and the plot of these films.
The first Disney films showed princesses as extremely beautiful and fragile creatures that needed to be rescued by a charming prince. Usually, these princesses gained enemies due to their beauty and attributes, causing envy among others.
Even thought these stories were based on classic children stories by Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm, the storyline was adapted to serve Disney's moral themes and happy endings: good triumphs over evil and love conquers all.
Despite the factor that might trigger the plot, princesses were these helpless beautiful creatures that were threatened by these evil characters and saved by this handsome charming prince.
Today, princesses are not portrayed as helpless. They actually have strong personalities. Take Rapuntsel, for instance, in Tangled. The character has dreams of her own, other than falling in love like Sleeping Beauty. Besides, Rapuntsel is brave enough to fight for those dreams, and doesn't sit around singing about how her prince will come someday, like Snow White. However, this rewriting of the story is a bold adaptation from the original German fairytale by the Brothers Grimm which the Disney film is based on.
Tangled also shows the evolution of the prince. In the original story, her love interest was indeed a prince. In the case of the film, her true love is a rascal who doesn't fall in love with her at first sight - like most princes do - but instead he helps her just to fulfill his own selfish objectives.
In Frozen (spoiler alert) the prince turns out to be the evil character and it's the rude boy Ana meets on her way to find her sister the person who turns out to be her true love. They also change the concept of "an act of true love". Instead of being a kiss, it can be an act of sacrifice by a family member like a sister.
It is in the process of spending time together that they main characters fall in love, as opposed to love at first sight. As you listen to their conversations, you can actually see the chemistry of the characters on screen. In Sleeping Beauty, both main characters get to know each other by talking about their mutual love, devoid of any real getting to each other.
In the new films, the main characters are bold and defiant. Jasmine from Aladdin rebels against her father because she does not want to get married. Belle from Beauty and the Beast doesn't sit around waiting for her prince. Instead, she is smart and sings about reading and gaining knowledge.
Even though Disney is faithful to their happy endings and the goodness of their characters, it is refreshing to new values. While beauty and romantic love were the center of Disney films, now friendship and family are taking a more vital role.
