Not a Damsel in Distress

Hercules was released by the Walt Disney Company in 1997 (IMBD).  A young demi-god, Hercules who was taken from his home as a young boy by the god of the underworld, Hades, yearns for a place to belong.  He never felt as if he fit in due to his super strength.  He finds out that Zeus is his father and is told he can return to his home with the gods if he becomes a true hero.  Hercules trains with the trusted advisor, Phil, and becomes ready to be a hero.  During his first assignment, he saves a girl named Megara and falls desperately in love.  What he doesn't know is that Meg sold her soul to Hades to save her (now ex) boyfriend's soul.  Hades finds out that Hercules isn't dead like he thought and uses Meg, in exchange for her freedom, to get him to give up his powers for 24 hours so that Hades can become ruler of the gods.  Meg and Hercules fall more and more in love with each other and Hercules is growing in fame as a hero, but according to Zeus, he has not proven himself a true hero yet.  Hercules gives up his powers to ensure that Meg will be safe and finds out she has been working for Hades the entire time.  He is furious and Meg tries to get him to foil Hades' plans.  When a pillar almost falls on Hercules, Meg pushes him out of the way and is crushed by pillar.  Hercules then get's his strength back because Hades deal was broken.  He then storms off to save the gods while Phil stays with Meg.  Hercules then defeats Hades and returns the god system to it's proper formation.  He then rushes to Meg, but he is too late; she dies.  Hercules storms the underworld and demands that Meg be revived.  Hades declines because unfortunately he cannot revive someone after they have died.  Hercules strikes a deal with Hades; if he can swim into the pool of death and bring Meg's soul she will be revived and live and he will stay and take her place.  Hades accepts because he knows he'll never make it.  Hercules jumps into the pool and swims as fast as he can to her soul and is ageing quickly.  Right as he is about to die, his godly powers are restored.  He pulls Meg out and returns it to her body.  They are then brought up to Mount Olympus on a cloud for Hercules has become a true hero; he was willing to sacrifice his life for the woman he loved.  He can now return to the gods, but he chooses to stay on earth with Meg stating "A life without Meg, even an immortal life, would be empty... I choose to stay on earth with her."  They all live Happily Ever After.

The featured Princess this week is Megara!  Although, she is not a princess or even an official Disney princess in Disney's eyes, she is one of my favorite Disney women.

Pros:
- She is cautious:  She has been burned before and is determined to never fall in love again.  Even though she does fall in love, she doesn't do it right away.
- She's a damsel, she's in distress, and she can handle it:  She never asks anyone to fight for her.  She will fight for herself and make her own decision because she is her own person.
- She is spunky: She is witty and sarcastic and is a girl who is full of sass.
- She is real:  The struggles and scars that Meg carries are real.  She is one of the most relatable Disney women in my eyes.

Cons:
- Manipulative: She manipulates Hercules and risks his happiness and safety for her freedom; at first anyway.
- Irresponsible:  She convinces Hercules to take a day off of work.  Even though it was well needed, she should have respected Hercules and Phil's time.

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Listen with your Heart

Pocahontas was released by the Walt Disney Company in 1995 (IMBD).  The daughter of Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas, searches for a life of adventure.  When the first settlers from England invade their territory, Pocahontas's tribe doesn't like it.  Pocahontas meets one of the settlers, John Smith, and they become unlikely friends.  Pocahontas teaches John Smith about the world around him and how to treat the earth and it's creatures with respect.  Throughout this friendship, they begin to fall in love.  When John Smith's commander, Governer Ratcliffe, begins to show his true colors and chooses to kill the Indians and take the land for gold, things start to unravel.  When John Smith accidently kills Pocahontas's (unwanted) fiancé, (all due to a huge misunderstanding) John Smith is captured by the tribe.  When he is to be killed, Pocahontas jumps in and shows both sides that peace can be found between the colonists and the Indians.  Unfortunately, John Smith is accidently shot by one of the colonist's guns and must return home to England for medical attention.

The featured Princess this week is Pocahontas!  Although she is not technically a princess, she is a heroic figure who is given leadership in her community.

Pros:
- She is wise: Pocahontas is wise beyond her years.  Out of all of the people within her tribe, she was the only one willing and capable of thinking and trying to make peace possible.
- She isn't impulsive:  She seeks guidance with every decision she makes.  She finds the best possible solution and way of going about that solution before acting on it.
- She yearns for depth and adventure:  She doesn't want to live the same life that her family has lived for the past so many years.  She want's to explore and see new things.
- She's brave and stands up for what she believes in:  She is willing to sacrifice herself for John Smith and is willing to stand up in front of two different groups of people with loaded weapons and discuss peace.  Talk about bravery.

Cons:
- Curious: She becomes very curious with the new people and the new world and doesn't think much about the danger she is putting herself and her family in.
- Naïve: I use Naïve as a lack for a better word.  She falls in love with John Smith in a short amount of time and willingly disobeys her entire tribe to be with him.  Luckily, she was smart enough to stay back when he asked her to go with him because, if you've seen the second movie, she doesn't end up with him anyways.

Even though this story is full of historical inaccuracies, it teaches a good and valuable lesson for everyone.

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Not a Prize to be Won

Aladdin was released by the Walt Disney Company in 1992 (IMBD).  A street rat boy named Aladdin is known for his thievery throughout Agrabah.  Jafar, an evil consultant of the sultan, is looking for a man who can enter the cave of wonders and receive a magic lamp.  He is shown that Aladdin is in fact that man.  Jafar has Aladdin taken from the city and brought to him, what he didn't know is that the Sultan's daughter Jasmine had left the palace, due to her father trying to marry her off, and was with Aladdin at the time he was taken.  Aladdin is furious with Jafar as Jafar tells Jasmine Aladdin has been killed, even though he hasn't.  Aladdin goes into the cave of wonders and retrieves the lamp, but his sidekick monkey, Abu, tries to steal a ruby and they must rush from the cave before the cave collapses.  All with some help from a magic carpet.  Once Aladdin and Abu reach the opening of the cave, Jafar (who is disguised as an old man) steals the lamp and let's Aladdin fall into the collapsing cave.  However, before Jafar could notice, Abu stole the lamp back from Jafar before the cave collapsed.  Aladdin accidentally rubs the lamp and a genie emerges (A role played by the ever incredible Robin Williams)!  They become friends, the genie get's them out of the cave and Aladdin get's three wishes.  What does Aladdin wish for you ask?  Well, since the genie cannot make people fall in love and Aladdin is clearly crushing on Princess Jasmine, there is no other option except to become a prince.  He also promises to use his third wish to set the genie free.  The genie makes Aladdin a prince, marches him to the palace and Agrabah and wins the heart of princess Jasmine.  The one problem is that Jasmine has fallen in love with Aladdin, not Prince Ali and even though she knew they were the same person (eventually), he lied.  Aladdin get's discovered as a fraud and everything falls apart.  Jafar get's ahold of the lamp and forces the genie to make him a powerful sorcerer. then to make him Sultan and finally a genie himself; an unfortunate mistake.  Jafar becomes trapped in his own lamp, Aladdin apologizes to Jasmine, the Sultan revokes the "must marry royalty" rule, the genie get's set free and they all live happily ever after. 

The featured Princess this week is Jasmine!  Although, she is not the main character of the movie, she has much to do with the story as a whole.  She is a continuation of the many princesses of the Disney Renaissance; independent, open minded, and feisty.

Pros:
- She is no prize to be won: She doesn't want to marry for money and she will get nothing less than what she deems she deserves.  She falls in love with a poor boy and is upset when she is lied to.
- Feisty:  She is willing to fight for what or whom she wants, she won't take no for an answer and she will walk out if she doesn't get her way.
- She yearns for depth and adventure:  She is tired of sitting in the castle 24/7 and wants to be free to live her own life and make her own decisions.
- She's not afraid to speak her mind and change things:  She convinces her father that marrying royal is stupid and convinces him to change the rule.  If that isn't the makings of a queen I don't know what is.

Cons:
- Impulsive: She is motivated by her emotions and often does actions before thinking of the consequences.  She would have gotten her hand cut off if it weren't for Aladdin.  She also almost kisses a man she just met on the street and she doesn't even know his name.  For all she knew he could have been a mass murderer.  Thank goodness he wasn't.
- Tempered: When she is angry, she is ANGRY!  She often yells and get's hot tempered when things don't go her way and she doesn't stop to ask their reasoning/opinion and or deal with a conflict calmly.

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A Beauty but a Funny Girl

Beauty and the Beast was released by the Walt Disney Company in 1991 (IMBD).  There was a prince in a far away castle whose castle was cursed (he was turned into a beast and his servants and castle were turned into appliances) by an enchantress and the only way to break this spell was for this prince to find love.  It is a story of motherless girl named Belle, who is seen as odd among her fellow towns people because she is a woman who reads.  Her father, an inventor, is invited to a inventors conference and heads out with his new invention, but get's lost along the way.  He finds a castle hidden in a dark part of the woods and asks for shelter.  This castle was different, all of the objects within it were alive!  They welcomed Belle's father until the master of the castle, the beast, bursts into the room and takes Maurice (Belle's father) to the dungeon.  Maurice's horse rushes back to find Belle and she goes in search of him when she realizes he is missing.  She runs into the castle and makes a deal to take her in her father's place.  The beast let's her stay and even gives her a nice room to stay in.  After a while, they fall in love.  The beast let's her go, because she see's that her father is sick.  She goes back and takes care of her father when Gaston (a man who is determined to marry Belle) hears of her tails of a beast and goes off with the entire town to kill him.  Belle chases after them.  Gaston reaches the castle and attempts to kill the beast, but he ends up being killed by the beast after stabbing the beast.  Belle rushes to the beasts side after his noble fight and hopes he doesn't die, but unfortunately he does, but not before Belle says "I Love You."  Her I Love You broke the curse on the castle and revived the prince returning him to his natural human form and they all lived happily ever after!

Fun fact: The Beasts actual name is Prince Adam

The featured Princess this week is Belle!

Pros:
- The inside is what counts: she falls in love with a beast solely on his personality!
- Intelligent:  She reads and is willing and fascinated to learn about the world and adventure!
- Kind:  She is kind to everyone, even the people we wouldn't blame her for not being kind to.
- She's not afraid to speak her mind and change things:  She is not afraid to call the beast out or anyone for that matter who is being unfair, hurtful or rude.

Cons:
- Curious: Not that this is a bad thing, but in her case it got her into some trouble.
- Disobedient: The beast deliberately told her not to go to the West Wing, but she did it anyways.  She also was not supposed to leave her room and have dinner unless it was with him, but she did that anyways.  Yes the beast had some strict rules, but she did disobey.
- Broke her promise: Even though the beast let her leave the castle to help her father, she did promise to stay with him forever, but I think we can let this one pass.

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Thingamabob's and Dinglehoppers

The Little Mermaid was released by the Walt Disney Company in 1989 (IMBD), thus beginning the Disney Renaissance.  It is a story of a mermaid who wishes with all her heart to be human.  She collects human artifacts and often goes the surface to try and witness one herself.  However, her family disapproves of all human things.  One day, while Ariel swam to the surface she noticed a ship and a handsome young prince.  The ship was shipwrecked and Ariel saved this prince's life.  She made a deal with a sea witch to become human for 3 days in hopes that the prince will fall in love with her.  This does however come with a cost, her voice.  The prince finds her on the beach and takes her into his castle.  He gives her a tour of his kingdom and get's to know Ariel and is seemlingly falling for her as well.  Ursula, the sea witch, doesn't like this so she takes matters into her own "tentacles."  She disguises herself as a woman and uses Ariel's voice to lure the prince.  He demands to marry her the next day.  Ariel is heartbroken, but her fight isn't over.  Scuttle, the sea gull, finds that it is Ursula in disguise!  Ariel swims to the ship and Ursula is revealed as her self and Ariel's voice is returned, but it's to late, the three days are up.  Ursula takes Ariel back into the ocean and prince Eric goes after her.  King Triton, Ariel's father, makes a deal with Ursula; take him instead of her.  Now Ursula is queen of the ocean.  She rises from the sea and creates a storm.  Prince Eric takes a shipwrecked ship that was washed up from the storm and kills Ursula.  Ariel's father turns her into a human to live with Prince Eric forever and they all live happily ever after!

The featured Princess this week is Ariel!  She is my favorite princess, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have her flaws!

Pros:
- Fights for love: she is willing to give up her voice, change species, and risk the posibilty of becoming Ursula's prisoner all for the sake of love.
- Curious/Courageous:  She doesn't fear humans and is actually curious about a world from which she is different.
- Beautiful:  She's beautiful and has a beautiful voice!
- She's not afraid to speak her mind and change things:  She says what she feels and isn't afraid to be different from the crowd.
- Go getter:  She literally makes a guy fall in love with her in 3 days!  She's got some serious skill!

Cons:
-  Naïve: She falls in love with a stranger.  A reoccurring theme here Disney... However, this isn't her main reason for her fascination with humans.
- Change: She changes her entire life for a man and barley thinks about the consequences.
- Dangerous:  She is rebellious and her impulsive decision not only effected her, but her friends, family and her prince.
- Selfish/Disobedient: She doesn't seem to think about anyone except herself and doesn't listen to her father.  Yes, maybe her father was being a little over protective and unfair, but she should have at least heard his side of the story and they could have talked it out like adults.

Regardless of her many flaws, Ariel is and will always be my favorite Disney princess!  Everyone has flaws, but it's their strengths that truly matter!

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