Merida (Brave) is too chubby. She's getting a makeover.

[kelemvor]

What the Heck?! This ticked me off when I read it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/08/merida-brave-makeover_n_3238223.html

"For parents who have been frustrated by the messages Disney princesses send to young girls (look pretty, find your prince, live happily ever after), introducing a character like Merida seemed to be a step in a good direction... The character was independent, had a realistic body type, and succeeded sans prince charming. Unsurprisingly, messing with that by giving her a new look is causing an uproar. "

From the Petition site:
https://www.change.org/petitions/disney-say-no-to-the-merida-makeover-keep-our-hero-brave


"Merida was the princess that countless girls and their parents were waiting for -- a strong, confident, self-rescuing princess ready to set off on her next adventure with her bow at the ready. She was a princess who looked like a real girl, complete with the ‘imperfections’ that all people have.

The redesign of Merida in advance of her official induction to the Disney Princess collection does a tremendous disservice to the millions of children for whom Merida is an empowering role model who speaks to girls' capacity to be change agents in the world rather than just trophies to be admired. Moreover, by making her skinnier, sexier and more mature in appearance, you are sending a message to girls that the original, realistic, teenage-appearing version of Merida is inferior; that for girls and women to have value -- to be recognized as true princesses -- they must conform to a narrow definition of beauty."

 

[Minnies Boy Toy]

I'm a guy, and not a very politically correct or sensitive one at that, so I personally don't care one way or another that they tweaked a Disney princess's looks to make her more marketable. If I had a vote I'd just as soon they left her alone, but whatever. This quote, from the article, however, is ridiculous:

So far, there has been an outpouring of agreement. Peggy Orenstein, the author of Cinderella Ate My Daughter who is often at the forefront of discussions about how princess culture affects young girls, thinks Merida's makeover sends a terrible message: "In the end, it wasn’t about being brave after all. It was about being pretty," Orenstein writes on her personal blog.

Huh? How does giving an animated character a makeover change the essence of her character? Merida is a strongwilled, empowered, intelligent self-sufficient woman, no matter what she looks like. To suggest she needs to fit a more "realistic" bodytype for her actions to be considered brave is an insult to the skinny hotties of the world who are assumed to have achieved whatever they have achieved solely on the basis of their physical attributes. (See - this sort of hypersensitive PC nonsense cuts both ways)

 

[DrivnMeUpTheWall-E]

This has gotten so out of hand. The makeover was solely to fit her in with the cartoonish princesses.


Her features and look have only changed as to fit in with the Rapunzels and Cinderellas. They conveniently leave this picture out of the story:


Here is how she would look, unchanged. Stands out a bit, don't you think?:

http://images6.fanpop.com/image/pho...-Merida-disney-princess-33090465-1039-556.jpg

Here is a new one with all of them together. You can see why the makeover was necessary:

http://images6.fanpop.com/image/pho...-Merida-disney-princess-34123367-1179-624.png

 

[Jubilee]

I'm a guy, and not a very politically correct or sensitive one at that, so I personally don't care one way or another that they tweaked a Disney princess's looks to make her more marketable. If I had a vote I'd just as soon they left her alone, but whatever. This quote, from the article, however, is ridiculous:



Huh? How does giving an animated character a makeover change the essence of her character? Merida is a strongwilled, empowered, intelligent self-sufficient woman, no matter what she looks like. To suggest she needs to fit a more "realistic" bodytype for her actions to be considered brave is an insult to the skinny hotties of the world who are assumed to have achieved whatever they have achieved solely on the basis of their physical attributes. (See - this sort of hypersensitive PC nonsense cuts both ways)

"skinny hotties"

'nuff said.

Her features and look have only changed as to fit in with the Rapunzels and Cinderellas.

And the "new" versions of them look horrible, too. If they needed to change her to make her (Pixar) fit in with animated characters, maybe don't make her a "Disney Princess."

Just a thought.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Obviously a Pixar animated character is going to stand out against the others.

They should just rethink their marketing strategy rather than keep screwing with what's not actually broken. It's ridiculous to have to redesign a character that hasn't been out more than 3 years just as it's ridiculous to redesign a character that's been around over 60 years and is a classic just so they look "right" together.

 

[xipotec]

THANKS GUYS< for re making the one princess who didn't fit the "Taylor Swift" motif....Its great our daughters have this for their role models....even Snow White looks nothing like the movie....

 

[AntePrincess]

I loathe the remake. They put Merida in the very dress that she hated in the film itself. And to make it even more impractical, they took it off her shoulders. They could have done a 2D art version of her in brighter colors (I admit it, the Brave colors were dark and muted and a graphic designer would impale themselves on their own paintbrush rather than smash mismatched princess all together) without literally betraying her character, then adding the insult of tarting her up. Tsk.

But I'm not who they're marketing too anyway. I've been dead against buying any of the 'Princess' themed merchandise for my girls and just stuck to specific articles from specific films, if that makes any sense. So we have playsets from Brave complete with the standing stones and scary bear, but not a matchy matchy set of princesses. The mix them with their generic toys and Harry Potter toys and it works for us.

 

[celestialred]

The new face/body makeover on Merida is what I've dubbed as being "Kardashian'd." This also happened to Mulan not too long ago IIRC. The eye shape and chin shape was altered to a completely different "beauty standard". Rapunzel was also CGI rendered and didn't have such a severe face/body alteration.

Also, in regards to the new dress, why was Merida's dress taken off the shoulder when none of her dresses in the movie were like that? Snow White, Mulan, and Rapunzel didn't get the same wardrobe treatment, why does Merida? The other princesses who have off the shoulder outfits, or show more skin (ie Jasmine), those are consistent with the movies and the character. There's no rhyme or reason for Merida's dress to be altered as such.

 

[kayemgi]

How does giving an animated character a makeover change the essence of her character? Merida is a strongwilled, empowered, intelligent self-sufficient woman, no matter what she looks like. To suggest she needs to fit a more "realistic" bodytype for her actions to be considered brave is an insult to the skinny hotties of the world who are assumed to have achieved whatever they have achieved solely on the basis of their physical attributes. (See - this sort of hypersensitive PC nonsense cuts both ways)

I have to agree with this (though I might have worded it slightly differently! ) I get that people are resistant to change, and these are beloved characters. It doesn't seem like anyone has been happy with any of the princesses makeovers. But as far as the message it sends our daughters... Don't we have some control over that message? I mean, they are still princesses. If you choose to focus on that part of who they are, that's the message our girls (and boys) will receive. If we choose to focus on WHO they are—Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora are kind and patient, Merida, Rapunzel, Pocahontas, Mulan are brave and adventurous, Belle and Tiana are smart and motivated, etc., etc.—instead of how they look, then how they look doesn't really matter, does it? Pretty, skinny girls can have just as many wonderful character traits as any girls with other features—what's outside is all superficial. And teaching our kids that if you look a certain way you can't be this or that... Not good. Merida is still who she is inside, regardless of how she looks outside. That's the message we should be giving to the next generation, right?

 

[Tinker mommy]

I don't think she stood out too much from the other princesses except for the fact that she was not as slender. She was already a cartoon so I don't agree with the argument that they needed to change her to fit in with the other cartoon Disney princesses.

We are accustomed to seeing her the way she currently looks so why would they need to change her? She is now noticeably different. I do believe that this sends a bad message to young girls.

My 6 year old daughter and I love Merida, and were both Merida for halloween last year. How do I explain the changes to her when she sees the new Merida and asks why she looks different?

 

[angierae]

This has gotten so out of hand. The makeover was solely to fit her in with the cartoonish princesses.


Her features and look have only changed as to fit in with the Rapunzels and Cinderellas. They conveniently leave this picture out of the story:


Here is how she would look, unchanged. Stands out a bit, don't you think?:

http://images6.fanpop.com/image/pho...-Merida-disney-princess-33090465-1039-556.jpg

Here is a new one with all of them together. You can see why the makeover was necessary:

http://images6.fanpop.com/image/pho...-Merida-disney-princess-34123367-1179-624.png

So what if she stands out? Not all girls are copy cats of each other. In any group of girls you are going to have a range of looks, and someone might "stand out". So what? There isn't one way everyone is "supposed" to look.

 

[Tinker mommy]

And why take away her bow and arrows?! Peter Pan keeps his dagger on his belt and Gaston keeps his quiver of arrows strapped onto his back. Why can't Merida keep hers? Perhaps they will ultimately portray her with them...I hope so! I read that there was a surge in girls being interested in archery after the movie was released. It would be a shame if that aspect was just dropped because it didn't fit in with the other less self-sufficient princesses.

 

[dadddio]

If we choose to focus on WHO they are—Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora are kind and patient, Merida, Rapunzel, Pocahontas, Mulan are brave and adventurous, Belle and Tiana are smart and motivated, etc., etc.—instead of how they look, then how they look doesn't really matter, does it?

Ariel is pretty.

 

[dadddio]

And why take away her bow and arrows?! Peter Pan keeps his dagger on his belt and Gaston keeps his quiver of arrows strapped onto his back. Why can't Merida keep hers? Perhaps they will ultimately portray her with them...I hope so! I read that there was a surge in girls being interested in archery after the movie was released. It would be a shame if that aspect was just dropped because it didn't fit in with the other less self-sufficient princesses.

Just because she was drawn in one picture without her bow and arrows doesn't mean that they've been taken away.

 

[Tinker mommy]

Very true, and I tried to acknowledge that in my previous post. I'm just hoping that her bow and arrow will still be included as a primary part of her image.

 

[ThurlFan]

Very true, and I tried to acknowledge that in my previous post. I'm just hoping that her bow and arrow will still be included as a primary part of her image.

I have seen her with bow and arrows in other examples of the revised image. I'm officially on the fence about this. There is merit on both sides of the argument.

 

[JKSWonder]

To me, it looks like the aged her.

Merida in the movie is a very young teen, isn't she? Like 13 or so?

The re-do makes her look more like early twenties to me.

 

[Tinker mommy]

I have seen her with bow and arrows in other examples of the revised image. I'm officially on the fence about this. There is merit on both sides of the argument.

Cool! Thanks for the update.

I hear you about being on the fence. I generally am not opposed to Disney making updates and changes. (I'm also not anti-princess.) I'm just worried that, while the grown-ups can understand business reasons for making these changes, the kids will just see that they changed Merida and now she is skinnier and prettier. I think she looks too different from her original image.

 

[Lolsmum]

This has gotten so out of hand. The makeover was solely to fit her in with the cartoonish princesses.

Her features and look have only changed as to fit in with the Rapunzels and Cinderellas. They conveniently leave this picture out of the story:

Here is how she would look, unchanged. Stands out a bit, don't you think?:

http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/33000000/Disney-Princess-Merida-disney-princess-33090465-1039-556.jpg

Here is a new one with all of them together. You can see why the makeover was necessary:

http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/34100000/Official-Disney-Princess-Merida-disney-princess-34123367-1179-624.png

Actually, she does, but the first image also somehow makes the other princesses look less homogenous. I notice the other non-traditional look princesses more in that one than the other one. Princesses don't all have to look like minor variations on Cinderella and Aurora you know.

 

[TwinkleKS]

I've gone back and forth on this all day. I like to promote positive body images ... I have been complaining this week that the international woman sign on restrooms is a figure in a dress and not all women wear dresses ... but then I am like ... gee ... she is a DISNEY princess and they have a certain look to uphold. Kind of like Barbie. Plus, I agree that the Merida in the movies is a younger version of the one that is now a part of the princess line up.