EVEN MORE EYES’ retrospective series ‘Nostalgia Hits Differently‘ has two very opinionated critics, James and Imo, learn that nostalgia ain’t what it used to be.
This fourth and final episode on the Disney Princesses has the critics realise how far they’ve gone as they hit the Disney Revival.
The friends are laying down their ‘critical weapons’ at last – right before picking them up again next week for Disney’s newest ‘Princess’ movie: Raya and the Last Dragon (No rest for the wicked!)
They discover:
How ‘Brave’ (2012) barely features any problems from the Disney Princess model of old…
…why one of our critics is left totally cold about the villainy in ‘Frozen’ (2013)…
…and, finally, how ‘Moana’ (2016) charts a new direction for the next generation.
This is the last of four episodes that ends a journey with the Disney Princesses from the Classic Era (mid-20th Century) through the Renaissance (late 20th Century to early 21st) and into the Revival (early 2010s onward).
Catch-up on Episode 1 (Classic Disney), Episode 2 on the early Disney Renaissance, and Episode 3 on the post-Disney Renaissance.
Click here to listen to Episode # 4 or on Spotify below:
If you enjoyed this episode, please like and/or follow on Spotify. Got feedback, criticism or complaints? Your voice can be heard in the comment section below.
To follow James on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JLHump
Also, visit our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/4eyesonthescreen
4 Eyes on the Screen + Even More Eyes 
The only movie I saw from front to back on that list was Moana. I’m not going to call it the best movie ever, but I did appreciate the effort of making the main protagonist different than other Disney heroines. I do applaud Disney for actually giving positive representation to the Polynesian community like researching the Tokulauan language for some of the songs and getting actors in that ethnic group like The Rock being Samoan and Jemaine Clement being half-Maori for example. I wish Disney would have that kind of respect to other cultures for other movies though. Speaking of Jemaine, that “Shiny” song is exactly what it would sound like if his band Flight of the Conchords wrote a villain song. Hahaha!
Frozen was just overrated from what I saw. The songs were nothing special and they were too obvious with trying to correct the previous tropes. Imo’s reaction to this movie was hilarious as well as justified. It’s kind of like how I have this vitriol being an ex-Lion King fan after finding out the nefarious things about that franchise although I can understand with him being subjected to the hype so much even though I didn’t have to deal with kids bombarding me with movies. I never understood why people went crazy over Frozen.
Congrats on finishing this series!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks once again, glad you’ve finished it with us! Our latest episode is also up too!
Moana was a step forward, though there’s some contention over Disney’s appropriation here too. We didn’t have time to research and really get into the nuances of Polynesian culture (which I understand is very varied in and of itself) but at the very least they asked more than one person to be involved in the creative process (unlike Pocahontas I understand).
Frozen is a mixed bag for me. I liked the ‘Wicked’ vibe to it (as I said) but I could see why there’s issues. Why it became such a phenomenon though, considering the history it’s sitting on (as if we’ve never seen proactive Princesses like Elsa or Ana before??) is beyond me?
I would check out Brave and I would also check out Raya and the Last Dragon – be good to know your thoughts!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re certainly welcome, James. I’ll check out the other episode when I have some time.
Definitely. I wouldn’t say Moana is 100% accurate, but at least they put in more effort with Polynesian representation and you can take the characters seriously. It is certainly varied since you have Samoans, Native Hawaiians (although you do have Lilo & Stitch…), Tongans, Niueans, Solomon Islanders, and other ethnic groups. Moana was a BIG step up from Pocahontas. Of course, I wish they would treat Africa and the African diaspora better, but that’s a whole other rant for another day even though you know some of my thoughts on that matter and not just because Disney is 0 for 2 when it comes to Black characters in that continent in the Animated Canon.
I hear you right there. How appropriate with Wicked since Idina Menzel was in both. Haha! I’m baffled how crazy popular it got when this came out. Proactive princesses weren’t new, and I agree with you there. Why then of all time periods so far?
Gotcha. It would be a bit of an uphill battle since I avoid a ton of mainstream movies, but we’ll see what happens.
LikeLike