(Blogsplosion Post #11) 
I have been working, off and on, on a project. It is my belief that almost all girls and women of a certain age bracket (roughly, my age bracket and below) with internet access have, at one time or another, taken a Disney Princess quiz. Here's a typical example, with questions like "My favorite outfit is" and the options "A flowing ball gown," "An arabian belly dancer's costume," "A swimming costume," or "A kimono." I think you can tell what I'm getting at here: that's lame. Asking "What would you most like have for a pet?" is all well and good in some situations, but if you pick the option of tiger--because what would be more awesome than having a tiger as a pet?--that doesn't make you Jasmine. That in no way gets at the essence of Jasmine. (There's also usually a hair color question. Hair color does matter, princess-quiz writers.)
So I am attempting to write The Definitive Disney Princess Quiz, one that isolates the essentials of what it means to be one princess or another. It's pretty tricky, which is why it's taking me so long. For one thing, it can't just be a boring multiple-choice quiz. Those are inadequate for my purposes. This is another thing you guys might be able to help me with, actually: I remember learning about a thing in 7th grade science. The example thing that we used was about birds. It was like, "If the bird has any red feathers, go to step 3. If it does not, go to step 4," and then at step 3, it would break down red feathered birds more until finally, after going through many steps, it would tell you exactly which bird it was. And I cannot remember the name of this thing. It would be so much easier to explain my idea for the princess quiz if I could.
Anyway, another reason it's taking me a while to write the quiz is that I've been re-watching all the princess movies to make sure I've got all my facts straight, and to observe them more closely to get more material. And do you know how hard it is to get ahold of a copy of Beauty and the Beast? Pretty hard. Admittedly, I've only checked at Blockbuster twice, but I also waited in line for it for weeks and weeks at my library and it still hasn't come through. I've had to inactivate my request so that it doesn't come in while I'm away for Christmas.
However, none of that is what I wanted to ask you about. My question is about the lineup of princesses. To decide which gals needed to be included, I consulted Wikipedia. It was actually pretty clear-cut who Disney counts as an offical princess (Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, and Mu Lan) and who they don't (Alice, Maid Marian, Giselle from Enchanted [because Amy Adams wouldn't let them license her face in perpetuity and who can blame her?]). But I first looked a couple months ago, before Disney released The Princess and the Frog. 
Do I need to include the princess from The Princess and the Frog?
On the one hand, Disney clearly made The Princess and the Frog for the express purpose of adding Tiana to the Princess lineup. Right? On the other hand, people older than 12 or so aren't going to consider her part of the "real" princess group, because she's brand new. But back on the first hand, all of the princesses were brand new at some point. But then back on the negative hand . . . that movie looks pretty bad. I don't want to see it, but I have the feeling I have to in order to uphold the integrity of my princess quiz. Is my suspicion correct? Is that what I need to do in to make my quiz truly definitive?
All your thoughts on this question, or thoughts on anything else I should consider to make the quiz the best it can be, are much more than welcome.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
I Need Some Input, Please (Mostly from Ladies, but Dude Input is OK Too)
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12 comments:
I don't have any thoughts, but I do have Beauty and the Beast and could send you a copy if you give me your address! avanhouse@gmail.com I'll have it in your mailbox by the time you get home from vaca!
Oh man, I am so taking you up on that.
Well, I guess I'm pretty conservative because I'm not even sure I would put Pocahontas or Mulan in there, I mean they didn't marry a prince did they? And even though those two and Tiana are included in the official disney princess colleciton, I wouldn't include her yet. Maybe in a few years she could be added but if she isn't profitable, they will drop her soon.
Also, I highly encourage this endevour. Those other quizzes are quite lame.
That's a good point about Mulan, but Pocahontas was the chief's daughter, so I'd say she was basically a princess in her own right.
I'm glad you're voting against Tiana. And, I'm sure, so is Neal. (He really doesn't want me to make him see that movie.)
Dichotomous key.
THANK YOU.
So I think Tiana counts - the name of the movie is THE PRINCESS and the Frog - I have heard from others (mostly moms) that the movie is pretty good. I saw quite a few princess movies after I was grown - beauty and the beast, mulan, and pocahontas all came out after I was in high school (don't judge us old folks) - so to cut Tiana out because she is "new" means that you will have to gear your quiz to a certain age bracket because for me beauty and the beast, mulan, and pocahontas are all new. It sounds like the quiz is already going to be difficult to create without making the first question are you in the age group 20-30? All princesses should count, although the only real princesses are sleeping beauty and cinderella. :)
Yeah, those are good points. As to the age concern, I've been thinking that I'll put in the instructions that if you're no longer in the princess age range (that is, about 16), you should answer based on how you felt at that time.
How do you write such a quiz? I only have a more than passing familiarly with three Disney princesses - Ariel, Belle, and Jazmin - and they all seem to have pretty similar characteristics. They seem to be portrayed as stifled by the conventional patterns of their lives, which leads them to have a rebellious attitude towards their father (no mother), although their relationship with their father is an affectionate one. Their rebellion comes to center around the primary love interest in the film, and is ultimately resolved by the "happily ever after" wedding with the father's approval. Pocahontas and Mulan would seem to follow the basic pattern. Ariel and Belle are portrayed as intellectually curious - Belle is bookish and Ariel interested in the surface world - I don't remember as much about Jazmin, but she is really just Aladdin's love interest. Likewise, Prince Eric is pretty boring - he is just there for Ariel to fall in love with, so he is just a pretty face who is conventionally virtuous. Beauty and the Beast is the only one where both participants in the central romance are more or less filled out characters. Anyway, my central thesis is that it is difficult to make such a quiz because all the Disney princesses are pretty much the same character. It has been quite a while since I've seen the movies in question, though, so I'm not sure if my thesis is defensible.
Well, sure, there are big similarities among the princesses, but not to the extent that you think. Your description of a girl who rebels against her father because he objects to her love interest is closest to describing Ariel (although her rebellion merely escalated once Eric came into the picture--she was already doing things she was forbidden to do) and Pocahontas (although she and John Smith don't get a happily-ever-after).
Belle never rebels against her father; she's a little rebellious toward the standards of her small town, but not toward him specifically.
Jasmine rebels against her father, but never on the subject of Aladdin. She resents the Sultan for keeping her locked up, so she runs away and only then meets Aladdin. By the time she decides to marry him, she and her father both think he's a prince/awesome catch.
Mulan rebels against her father by running away to join the army, but that's about protecting him from serving on his own behalf and about her dissatisfaction with herself.
Then there are the three pre-feminism princesses: Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. None of them really rebel at all. Snow White never realizes anyone is doing anything bad to her; Cinderella just sighs and takes her lumps; and Sleeping Beauty is, at most, a little annoyed with her stupid fairy guardians that they don't let her hang out with other people.
So there are differences if you look for them, and I'm pretty confident there are enough to write my quiz.
I repent in dust and ashes and look forward to figuring out which Disney princess I am.
I forgot to defend Sleeping Beauty - it is my favorite - with Cinderella a close second - Snow White is my least favorite - mostly because of her voice - super annoying. But the witch in Sleeping Beauty rocks - she turns into an awesome scary dragon, Sleeping Beauty is actually pretty she sings awesome and who doesn't want to grow up in that house in the woods with the fairies?
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