This is, in my opinion, the most important Disney princess movie yet. This movie shattered my previous conceptions of what composed a princess movie.

As a kid at the time, my first thought at the end of the film was “well I’ll be darned, that sure wasn’t what I was expecting.” As someone who grew up watching Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid, I was shocked. The first time I saw Brave was at the movie theater. She rebels against her planned marriage, deciding for herself that she isn’t ready to marry, and that she may never feel the need to do so. She meets her initial conflict when she faces betrothal, which she sees as a threat to her freedom.

The protagonist, Merida, is a Scottish princess who defies tradition throughout the film. This princess movie has a rather different format than the ones that came before it. Most Disney princess movies fail at these aspects but the film, Brave, does not.ĭisney’s exemplary film, Brave, was released in June of 2012. Finally, modern day princesses need to be more relatable and have less unrealistic personalities and body types. In other words, true happiness comes from within, not from a prince. Another important lesson for children, especially young girls, is that they don’t need to find a romantic love interest to be happy. This is the most important aspect because it teaches children to not feel helpless. She also needs to be able to rescue herself from the conflicts in the movie, at least for the most part. A way in which a princess movie can have a good moral is to have a strong female protagonist, like a lady who is able to think and make decisions for herself. Unfortunately, almost every Disney princess movie up until very recently hasn’t had the most productive morals. In order for these specific movies to be productive is to provide a good moral for children to learn from. Disney princess movies are watched by many children in this country, and there are certain stereotypes that these movies build in young minds.

Brave princess story