Pocahontas = Crazy Cat Lady?
Saturday, August 10, 2013 at 6:00PM I have spent a truly unlikely amount of time thinking about Pocahontas since it opened in the 1990s...uh, in uh 2013 for some reason. The other day while voicing my unpopular Disney opinions and chasing links down various rabbit holes I chanced upon this Dina Goldstein's "Fallen Princesses" series... which is priceless.
The most brilliant is definitely the fate of Ariel but sometimes they're just plain provocative and willing to courting controversy with what might be considered tasteless treatments. Which is maybe why the jokey photograph of Pocahontas made me squeal inside. I found it so funny. Is this why I'm so drawn to her? That we're both crazy cat ladies?
This post has been brought to you by my recent decision to do a Tuesday Top Ten of Disney Princesses... until I realized that there were only Eleven (officially) so that would be way harsh, Tai.
Should we rewatch Pocahontas together? Or have you other Disney demands?
Reader Comments (13)
Hunchback and Pocahontas are among my Top Five Disney Movies Evarr (with Sleeping Beauty and Mulan on top), so I dig where you're coming from.
I've never understood why Mulan, who is awesome and all but still totally a normal person, is an official princess, whereas Megara -- who married the SON OF THE GODS -- is not. The movie calls Esmeralda "the gypsy princess", don't they? And Nala is a princess, technically -- well, more like a QUEEN. And then there are the forgotten princesses like Elonwy from THE BLACK CAULDRON or whats'ername from ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE. I say there's enough material there for a Top Ten!
Yes! Princesses top10, please!
P.S. Lion King is way overrated...
Walter: I guess the reason why most of those (Megara, Esmerelda, Elonwy and Kida) aren't in the official line is because they're in films perceived as company disappointments. Nala isn't there because she's not even humanoid. The most baffling thing, to me, is that 1973 Humanoid Fox Maid Marian isn't in "the line". Sorry, but the film still has it's fan base, Disney's not disgusted with it, and the characters have a basic standard of "humanoid", at least. Oh, and Vanellope is technically one too. The Top 10 would be of 17, not 11.
Walter: Mulan's in because, well, Political Correctness. So, on a literalistic level of "princess in the movie that spawned them" that would actually be top 10 of 16. (Tiana is even referred to that in her movie's title, so...yeah, I'm counting her.)
I definitely want to see a princess top ten, especially if you stretch the definition of princess to include Meg, Esmeralda, Kira, Nala, etc.
I suppose all the official princesses are leading ladies no?
esmeralda, megara, nala and the others, even though some of them are much more interesting than some official princesses, do not carry their films.
and a readers' ranking of the disney princesses would be great! (but maybe a lot of work)
(btw, any new readers' ranking would be great... woody allen's oscar-nominated screenplays, william wyler's oscar-nominated directing achievements...)
To this day, I have not seen Mulan, Pocahontas or Hunchback. In fact, The Lion King is the only 2D Disney Animated Film I have a great memory of (it helps that I own the Blu-Ray and its in my Top Ten/Twenty Favorite Films of All-Time). Hell, I don't even remember seeing Snow White or Cinderella.
Daniel Armour - SPIT. TAKE. Rectify. RECTIFY.
Volvagia - Oh, there's no disputing Tiana's claim. But thank you for reminding me of Maid Marian! That movie is an odd one, but possesses, I think, one of the best scores in the Disney canon.
I'm always in favor of Disney animation retrospectives. If top 10 princesses didn't work out, maybe you could expand to top 10 Disney Ladies, which would open the door for some oddball/non-Princess picks, but to be honest I feel like Top 10 princesses would almost be more fun if it were just a game to pick the lamest princess (Jasmine). There's something Mean Girlsy already about Disney picking and choosing who counts for the Princess Line, why not take it to the logical conclusion: Disney Princess Power Rankings.
I'd just like to hear about your favorite Disney animated movies. But a Princess Power Ranking would be fun too.
This goes in a slightly different vein, but what about a Top 10 Disney Scores? I love the music in (most) Disney movies.
If not that, how about Top 10 Disney Villains? I can already write my list: 1) Ursula 2) Ursula 3) Ursula 4) Ursula...
"And don't underestimate the importance of body language! HA!"
Nathaniel, it may be way harsh but I think if you muster up your inner Disney Villainess you could totally channel the ruthlessness necessary to cut one of these ladies out and provide us with your top 10! Just think what would Ursula do (I mean, besides kick out that meddling Ariel, of course) But I'm mostly just in favour of more of your thoughts on any Disney on this blog, so you know, group watch of Pocahontas is good too!
Although maybe you're worried you'll be the subject of indignant fan wrath if you leave out a favourite? I mean, you've already been placed on-watch by Blanchett-fans for any instance of negativity against her, so maybe becoming the designated Belle/Mulan/Rapunzel hater on the blogosphere might be too much? ;)