SNOW vs FROZEN

Hi Everyone,

Snow White was the first Disney movie I ever owned and I watched it religiously as a child. The movie was Disney's first feature and was made in 1937.

A few days ago, I watched Frozen and realized just how much our world and fairy tales have changed. I also realized what messages the old fairy tales were sending to young boys and girls.

SNOW WHITE
Protagonist: Snow White
Skills: Dancing. Baking. Cleaning. Napping.

In Snow White, our heroine foolishly bites the poisoned apple that a stranger/creepy old lady (the evil

queen in disguise) offers her. She then falls into an eternal sleep while the men in her life, the seven dwarfs, chase down and take care of the evil queen; a woman who's only motivation for her evildoing was that someone else was just a little prettier than she was.

So, not only did our heroine get herself into this mess by being pretty and foolish, she also remains inactive in solving the issue at hand.

Don't get me wrong, it is completely fine for a MC to make mistakes...as long as he/she tries to fix what they did wrong.

Luckily, the handsome prince, a character we really don't know that well, shows up and saves the day

by offering Snow White a Loves First Kiss/True Love's Kiss.
Our protagonist awakes, the prince swoops her up in his arms, and takes off with Show White on his steed.

In short: Girls, it's okay to be foolish and unproductive because a cute boy will come along and save you at some point. Boys, buckle up, you have to do all the work in the future and fix your woman's problems...no pressure.

Again, this was 1937, but it does reflection the era that was and would remain common for quite sometime, where women stayed at home and men had to do the work.

Fast forward 77 years to Disney's most recent movie Frozen , where they spin Hans Christian Andersen's tale The Snow Queen into something new.

SPOILER ALERT.

FROZEN
Protagonist: Anna
Skills: Fearless. Stubborn. Selfless. Delivers a mean right hook.

Although out heroine, Princess Anna, is somewhat naïve about love in the beginning, she doesn't set out on her adventure because she's running away from her problem like Snow White did, but to proactively help her sister, Elsa.

When things later go haywire Anna ends up with a "frozen heart" and can only be saved by an Act of True Love. The words 'True Love's Kiss' come up.

As it turns out, the act of True Love is not preformed by a handsome price that pops up to save the day, but by Anna herself when she sacrifices herself for her sister.

In addition, the handsome prince Hans--who Anna earlier thought she wanted to marry--turns out to be a douche bag. Anna's real love interest, Kristoff, a rugged mountain man, swoops in and offers to take care of Hans for her. Anna refuses and clocks the prince in the face herself. Hurrah! Victory for all...except Hans.


Xoxo,
Mia