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Friday, April 8, 2011

Disney Princesses: Lost in Advertising

Dreams Do Come True and True Love can Come to You”, Fairy Godmother told Princess Fiona.
Faith has always been a great way to cope with trouble in our lives – we all wish for miracles. Fairy Tales and Legends, since the ancient times, have been not only a source of entertainment and morals but also of tests of faith in the higher power, when we feel powerless to face our demons. Disney has been converting these fairy tales into classic love stories, have that have been a source of hope for girls across generations, all over the world – for no matter who we are, where were and how old we are, we always want that one true love. Ok, we may not be able to live happily ever after, and unlike them we have to work towards building the relationship and making it last, but I believe the end result is worth it.
The first Disney princess to grace the silver screen was Snow White, in 1932, with her Seven Little Dwarfs. Thereafter, the other princesses like Cinderella (Cinderella, 1950), Ariel (Little Mermaid, 1989), Jasmine (Aladdin, 1991), Belle (Beauty and the Beast, 1992) not only graced the Silver Screen with their presence, but they portrayed the inner beings of many girls. Famously, marketed as such, these princesses continue to rule hearts and minds of little girls even today. But apart from these five princesses there are many others, who though they came on the screen, but never actually attained the status of being a True Disney Princess.
Here’s to those seldom recognized and totally unappreciated Disney Princesses, who lost PR battles:
1.       Megara (Hercules, 1997):
Hercules and Meg
Megara, aka Meg was the daughter of King Creon of Thebes. She helped Hercules to complete his 12 tasks, but later turned out be Hades’ spy. When Hades found out that she actually loved him, he dragged her to hell but Hercules tried to give up his life to save her. This earned him, his place on the Olympus, but he decided to forgo it and live with her on Earth as a Mortal.
2.      Kiara (Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride, 1998):
Kiara and Kovu
Kiara, was the Daughter of the new Lion King Simba and his wife Nala. Raised in a very protective environment by her father, and uncles Timon and Pumbaa, she ran away and fell in love with Scar’s son Kovu.
3.      Melody (Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea, 2000):
Melody with her Mother Ariel
The only princess without a prince, Melody was the daughter of Ariel, now human, and her husband Prince Eric. She was also the grand-daughter of the King Tristan of the Sea. Half-mermaid Melody was unaware of her true heritage, until she was lured back into the Sea by Ursula’s with brother.
4. Princess “Kida” Kidagakashi (Atlantis: The Lost Empire, 2001):
Kida and Milo
Princess Kida, was the daughter of the chief of Atlantis and his wife, the high priestess. Destined, to be a high priestess after her mother, Kida helped the scientist Milo and his crew when they came searching for Atlantis, but after finding that true source of their power – which the foreigners wanted to harvest – was her mother, she fought for her motherland. She, later, married Milo and they both live in Atlantis, happily ever after.
5. Ting-Ting, Mei, Su (Mulan II, 2004):
Sue, Ting-Ting and Mei
The three princesses from the Middle-Kingdom, China were engaged to be married to the three princes of Qui-Gong, to combine their kingdoms. Enroute marriage, they fell in love with their bodyguards – Ling, Yao and Chien Po, resp. and encouraged by Mulan, the female hero of China, to “Follow their Hearts” eloped with them.
6.     Nancy Tremaine, Enchanted (2007):
Nancy and Prince Edward in New York
Not your regular Disney Princess, Nancy Tremaine was a modern-day high powered working woman dating Robert (Patrick Dempsey), a lawyer. When Giselle, the real princess-to-be of fairy-tale kingdom Andalesia was banished by the evil Queen to New York and fell in love with Robert; 

Nancy and Prince Edward in Andalesia

Nancy met Prince Edward, Giselle’s betrothed and was smitten. In classic Disney scenario, she got married to him, in a huge ceremony back in Andalesia, and lives happily ever after. She’s the perfect answer to all the modern-day dreamers who wish for their one true love.
7.    Princess Tiana (Princess and the Frog, 2009):
Tiana and Frog Prince Naveen
The first African-American Disney Princess, Tiana, a waitress, was turned into a frog when she kissed the cursed Prince Naveen who mistook her to be a real princess. Undertaking a perilous journey to reverse the cure, she fell in love with the cursed prince and lives happily ever after.
8.    Charlotte LaBouff (Princess and the Frog, 2009):

Charlotte LaBouff
Raised in absolute luxury by an adoring father, Charlotte LaBouff is yet another example of a good-hearted Malibu Barbie. A real princess, through a long dormant bloodline, she was one the frog-prince was supposed to kiss to break the curse. Even though, she was engaged to the Prince, she sacrificed her love when she realised that he and her best-friend Tiana were actually in love. She is still single and looking for her own Prince Charming.
9.    Rapunzel (Tangled, 2010):
Rapunzel and Flynn Rider
The newest addition to the Disney Princesses, Rapunzel is too new to be officially called as the Disney Princess, though her popularity is rising day by day. Raised alone in a tower by a kindly mother, who gave her everything except to go out into the world, she had hair that glowed or heeled anyone if she sang to them. When, a thief Flynn Rider accidently stumbled upon her tower, she blackmailed him into taking her on a journey and fell in with him. They are dating.

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