The various touchstones audiences have come to expect from the princess genre were laid out within Disney’s first stab at a full-length animated feature, asSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs contains such instantly-recognizable elements as the wicked stepmother, the comedic sidekicks, and the dashing prince. The rather sexist treatment of the title character – once she’s accepted by Doc, Grumpy, and the rest of the dwarfs, Snow White essentially becomes their housekeeper – is right in line with other releases from that era, and it’s worth noting that Snow White’s ultimate fate is left in the hands of a man.
With their most recent release, 2009’s the princess and the frog Disney has struck an appropriate balance between the kind-hearted (yet helpless) princesses of yesteryear and the strong, girl-power-oriented heroes that today’s young women have come to expect.
The Little Mermaid, as well as 1991's Beauty and the Beast effectively updated the princess formula for an entirely new generation, with the emphasis on old-school elements offset by the inclusion of distinctly contemporary attributes (including rapid-fire jokes and modern-sounding songs). The films’ throwback-heavy storyline was especially noticeable in their treatment of the princess character, as Ariel, in the tradition of her royal predecessor, are forced to behave passively as others help her achieve her respective goals.
