Disney officially retires the "Princess Genre"

Full story here.

And then she hit the ground.
Short version: Tangled is the name of the movie now. Originally, it was named Repunzel. After some market research, however, Disney has determined that Princesses are no longer "in". As such, the movie was renamed and marketing shifted its angle from "The next princess!" to "Check out this awesome and dashing man who discovers a princess!"

Disney believes the time has passed for Princess movies and has moved on.

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My version: You botched Princess and the Frog when it could have been a masterpiece. To use it as a measuring poll operates on the presumption that it was as good as other Disney movies, which it was not. You had a great villain, hero, and love interest, and you completely botched it with mediocre musical numbers and a freak ton of "And then they walked some more" filler.

You failed the Frog, not the other way around. Get up on your horse and keep updating the Princess genre. You had a great but awkward start to this process.

Found the perfect picture for this article.

But what will Rule 34 be applied to now?

The only way I see them having failed with Frog was that they didn't market it *at all*, and unfortunately that means the movie didn't get hyped enough either. Personally I loved the film, it was hugely entertaining, and far better than most of their other princess-types.

On the other hand, they over-marketed Hunchback, and that movie should never have come out geared toward children in the slightest. The added scenes and music that didn't fit even a little bit were clearly added to increase the agitation levels in 3-10 year olds falling asleep by the middle/end of the film and had absolutely nothing to do with the whole theme of the movie. If they'd grown a pair and released it without those horrible scenes and with a PG or even PG13 rating, they could have taken their entire animation system in another direction successfully.

But frog? I don't think it was at all a fail. Marketing fail, yes.

I'm just not so sure about lumping in a clearly CG movie like Tangled in with all their other traditionally-animated works.

Cant say I am sorry that the princess genre is going away. Wish the vampire genre would go back to the crypt for a decade or two.

I loved Princess and the Frog, come onnnnnnn. We need more Princesses, not less. Diversify, use the power of multicuturalism! Okay, so I don't want the era of princesses to end, I grew up in it.

Princess and the Frog was heavily hyped, but maybe not for the right reasons.

First, there was a lot of controversy over it possibly being racist.

Then, it was one of the first films that when Pixar and Disney merged got a retooling.

By the time the real advertising campaign was to big, I got the feeling that both Disney and the media were just going through the motions and trying to get the troubled production through the door.

The screen's only big enough for one frog and he doesn't work for Disney.

It ain't easy being green and making green.

I have to admit, for all of the perceived flaws I noted in Princess and the Frog, it's a lot better than The Director's Cut.

Dear Marcian,

Get over it, princess!




(I am, of course, *entirely joking.)

(* - well, maybe not entirely.)

In less seriousness...

Are they locking all of the Princesses in the vault??


Is Disney getting NGE'd??

Princesses are out! They're not Disney-ish enough!
Furry animals are in (scaly ones, not so much... And Feathery ones get no pants).

Hey, you know what the answer is??

Down with Mickey... Up with Asterix!!!!


Maybe Disney will allow the Asterix movies to be released in America!

To the story, I say, "Good."

Creating a feminine ideal that is passive and waits for the perfect prince to come along is an idea I'm not particularly keen on selling to my daughter. Women are more than capable of solving problems on their own without the need to rely upon a male savior, thank you very much.

I know that some of the later 'princess' films have changed that process slightly, but the marketing of the merchandise certainly has not. (Nota bene: I have not seen the Princess and the Frog.) Mulan - good role model. Sleeping Beauty - Not so much. Cinderella? No. The Little Mermaid? You do not need to sacrifice the essentials of what makes you who you are in order to please a man who has no idea that you exist.

Take the Princess ideal and put it out of its misery. Little girls are already bombarded with messages that limit them enough as it is. (Walk into a toy store - it's like they've color coded all the toys. Girls know that its socially acceptable to play with it because its pink.) Throw it back to the bad old days, and lets get some better material out of Disney for little girls and boys.

This news fills me with nerdrage, and Marcian is correct in all particulars. Not much more to say, is there?