((Beware ranting ahead (albeit what I hope to be rationally sound ranting).))
So… this needs to stop. People from various ethnies and/or cultures are "requesting" Disney Princesses, and it's stupid. The Disney Princesses (which, anyway, are just a merchandising brand cobbled up after the fact, not something the Studios created as a series) are not supposed to be a line-up of cultures of the real world. Most of the earliest ones (Cinderella, Snow-White, Aurora/Briar Rose) are from vague fantasy worlds, not any real-world historial setting. Those are fantasy films, not period pieces.
It so happens that Disney decided to set Aladdin in a Middle-East-inspired country, but even then it's a fantasy nation (Agrabah) that may not fit into real-world geography at all. Beauty and the Beast is, in fact, the only "core" Disney Princess movie that unambiguously takes place in a defined real-world country. After that, yes, you've got Pocahontas and Mulan, but those one was even more shoehorned into the franchise than the others; Pocahontas was thought of as the Disney Studios' first "historical movie", rather than yet another entry in the fairy tales movie series, and the merchandise people only included Mulan and Pocahontas in their line of Princesses (even though neither are princesses) because people were already bugging them about ethnical diversity.
Really, the only movie were anyone behind the scenes was, actually, giving adamn about the Princess's ethnicity and origins was Princess and the Frog, and that one is a special case — the only clear period piece in the true, Pocahontas-less Disney Princesses canon — which was also a self-parody in some ways. I love PatF, but it's not a standard movie in the least.
Personally, I find it quite disrespectful that people care about this so much. The point of fighting racism and prejudice is that it doesn't matter what your ethny is or where you come from, and you should be judged on your own merits rather than your origins. That might be too extreme, but obsessing over where the heroines of a fantasy franchise (I mean, come on! No one complained that there were no Arabic people in Lord of the Rings or whatever…) come from may actually be some sort of… reverse prejudice, where an absurdly big deal is made of one's origins, except in a positive rather than negative ways. It's not nearly as despicable as normal bigotry, but it's still nothing to be encouraged.
P.S.: Maybe these "Slavic Disney Princess" people only care about how nice the designs would look (those sketches are lovely) and therefore aren't the best example (though the sense of entitlement in that "Why no Slavic Disney Princess" question doesn't help their case); frankly, I don't know. But they were just the straw that broke the camel's back for me.
For me this is very importan to have representation in Disney "universe" because Disney for 92 years almost never did anything with my culture but we have Latin(Elena of Avalor,Coco,Saludos Amigos,Three Callaberos),French(Beauty and the Beast,Aristocats,Ratatouille,The Hunchback of Notre Dame,Sleeping Beauty,Cinderella),German(Tangled,Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs),English(The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh,The Great Mouse Detective,Peter Pan,Robin Hood,Alice in Wonderland,One Hundred and One Dalmatians,The Sword in the Stone,The Black Cauldron,Pocahontas 2,The Wind in the Willows and many more in live action movies),Polynesian(Lilo & Stitch,Moana) and more on this map 0.media.dorkly.cvcdn.com/38/48/90034a8b4e301d6f42c7ab7499fcf596.jpg
We are not even in Epcot but we have great fairytales and folklor that can be great inspiration for movies.
We are represented by 101 dalmatians, this might sound as a joke but they are more known then some made up princess everyone is gonna forget couple of months after the movie. There was a joke in 30 rock that disney didnt have a white princess in 20 or 30 years, I dont recall. And what about making sinbad a greek.
For me this is very importan to have representation in Disney "universe" because Disney for 92 years almost never did anything with my culture but we have Latin(Elena of Avalor,Coco,Saludos Amigos,Three Callaberos),French(Beauty and the Beast,Aristocats,Ratatouille,The Hunchback of Notre Dame,Sleeping Beauty,Cinderella),German(Tangled,Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs),English(The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh,The Great Mouse Detective,Peter Pan,Robin Hood,Alice in Wonderland,One Hundred and One Dalmatians,The Sword in the Stone,The Black Cauldron,Pocahontas 2,The Wind in the Willows and many more in live action movies),Polynesian(Lilo & Stitch,Moana) and more on this map 0.media.dorkly.cvcdn.com/38/48/90034a8b4e301d6f42c7ab7499fcf596.jpg
We are not even in Epcot but we have great fairytales and folklor that can be great inspiration for movies.
Did… did you even read what I wrote?
A: There is not "Disney Universe". The movies were never meant to take place in a single world. Cinderella and Snow White aren't any more in the same continuity than, say, Nightmare Before Christmas and Hocus Pocus would be by virtue of both having been produced by Touchstone Pictures. Or saying Jules Verne novels and Victor Hugo novels take place in the same timeline because they had the same publisher.
B: Most of the classic films aren't supposed to take place in a definite historical setting, but in vague fantasy worlds. Tangled, Snow White or Sleeping Beauty don't take place in our world at all, let alone in specific country. It's particularly ridiculous to classify The Black Cauldron as taking place in England when the story itself mentions the name of the fictional country it takes place in, Prydain. (Also, if these stories are going to take place in a given land, I believe the standard theory is that Sleeping Beauty takes place in England, with the Prince being from Scotland.)
Now granted, it is true there might be interesting subjects that could be inspiraiton for great movies. But that's all! It migjt be an interesting idea. There's no reason to demand there be a Slavic Disney movie, because it's far from a given that Disney movies take place anywhere in particular at all, and they shouldn't be viewed as a single series anyway. (On the other hand, you're right that a spot in Epcot might be deserved.)
Being from Poland.... while I woudn't minded a Slavic Disney Princess I must say...
We already got one of best Disney movies set in Poland - the last 10 minutes of "Fantasia"! Bald Mountain in an actuall turist trap... err.. important location here and Chernobog is an actual deity taken from out mythology That part of the movie was openly inspired by our folclor and is set here, "Ave Maria" included.
Last Edit: Jul 18, 2017 15:07:50 GMT by Pan Maciej
Know as Maciej Kur, Mr. M., Maik, Maiki, Pan, Pan Miluś and many other names.
We are represented by 101 dalmatians, this might sound as a joke but they are more known then some made up princess everyone is gonna forget couple of months after the movie. There was a joke in 30 rock that disney didnt have a white princess in 20 or 30 years, I dont recall. And what about making sinbad a greek.
Just curious, why 101 dalmatians represents Slavic? Wikipedia says the story happened in London.
Dalmatia was first settled by neolithic farmers from Asia Minor (now Turkey). Then, The Illyrians came (also from Asia Minor). Slavic conquerors came after, but probably didn't form a major part of the population. Later the Greeks made settlements along the coast. When The Romans ruled, and later The Byzantines, and later The Venetians, a fair amount of Italians came there. But, yes, they did end up with a Slavic language predominating. But, it's a bit of a stretch to think that The Slavic Peoples are represented by the film, "101 Dalmations". Which dog represents "the princess?"
Well thats way complicated for my taste, by that logic no slavic country is actually slavic, they are dogs from a slavic country, so there have been slavic creatures that were heroes in disney movies, this is all I was saying
