Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Toon Talk: “I Wish I Were a Princess”

What little girl hasn’t said just that at some point in her young life? While it is not surprising that Disney has found a way to capitalize on these nascent feminine inspirations, what is surprising is that it took them as long as it did to recognize the moneymaking capabilities of a “Disney Princess”.

After all, Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora were around for decades without much out-of-the-ordinary going on. It took the one-two-three punch of Ariel, Belle and Jasmine to wake up the suits to the idea of a merchandise line based solely on these fairy tale divas. As more movies came out, some leading ladies made the grade (Pocahontas, Mulan), while others did not (Esmeralda, Megara), and it didn’t seem to matter much whether they were actual princesses or not. And forgive me if I sound jaded, but surely the in-the-works The Princess and the Frog was green lit at least in part to add a long overdue African American princess to the lineup. (“To bad Rapunzel isn’t a Latina,” I could here the marketers say, "we could really give Dora the Explorer a run for her money!")

Once the “Disney Princess” ball got rolling, nothing could slow it down. From dress-up dolls to easy-bake ovens to Halloween costumes to jewelry (real and fake) to band-aids to breakfast cereals … the list goes on and on. And that’s not even touching on the dozens of CDs, video games and DVDs produced, which brings us to the matter at hand: the latest DVD release, Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams.

This Toon Talk review continues at LaughingPlace.com.

Click here to purchase Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreamson DVD from Amazon.com.

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