The Walt Disney Company has had a rough couple of weeks. After being slammed by critics for trying to copyright ‘Dia de los Muertos,’ the company was also under fire for the hand-drawn version of Pixar’s Merida character from Brave. While the studio tried to celebrate her induction into the group of Disney Princesses, all critics saw was an attempt to make the character more sexy.
After naming Merida the 11th Disney Princess - elevating her to the level of Belle, Snow White and Ariel - the studio introduced a hand-drawn version of the character which was slightly different from the CG version in Brave. Some critics saw the makeover as an attempt to give Merida sex appeal, taking away from the average looks she was given to provide every little girl with a hero to relate to.
A petition quickly popped up on Change.org asking Disney CEO Bob Iger to pull the new version and stick with the CG character. The petition scored over 200,000 signatures.
“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,” the petition claims. “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.”
Brenda Chapman, who co-directed Brave and shared the Oscar for her contributions, spoke with the Marin Independent Journal and was clearly enraged.
“I think it's atrocious what they have done to Merida,” Chapman wrote in an email to the paper. “When little girls say they like it because it's more sparkly, that's all fine and good but, subconsciously, they are soaking in the sexy 'come hither' look and the skinny aspect of the new version. It's horrible! Merida was created to break that mold — to give young girls a better, stronger role model, a more attainable role model, something of substance, not just a pretty face that waits around for romance.”
According to E! News, the redesign is now missing from the Disney Princess site and replaced with the familiar CG version.
This latest incident mirrors one from last week, when the studio was attacked for being culturally insensitive for trying to copyright the Mexican Day of the Dead holiday because Pixar is working on a film about it. Disney also backtracked on that and withdrew its applications.
image: Change.org/Disney