Emma Lange

Eng 103
Media Analysis

A Modern Day Fairytale
A beautiful damsel is in distress, after being a house slave to her evil stepmother and
stepsisters ever since her childhood. Whos there to save her from such a miserable life besides
her Fairy Godmother and her loyal, talking animals? Why of course the wonderful Prince
Charming will, by making her his wife. This concept of girls attaining a husband or a Prince to
find a happily ever after is a running theme in many Disney Fairytale movies throughout the
years, just like described here in Cinderella. However, recently, the movie Frozen did not
demonstrate a theme on finding a Prince, but teaches the theme of true love between family
and in self-sacrifice. Frozen is a Disney movie to really break the mold on traditional ways on
not only how we make Princess movies but also how we view womens roles in culture. This
shows that our culture is making an effort to change the ways we see women since the days we
have made films like Cinderella.
The film Cinderella tells a tale of an orphan girl (Cinderella) who was left in the hands of
her evil stepmother and step-sisters. In this family dynamic, she is treated like an outsider to
the family and cooks and cleans for them. They keep her trapped in the house, and give her the
illusion that she doesnt have any freedoms or sense of purpose outside of her household chores.
However some hope comes into Cinderellas life when the Prince of their Kingdom is throwing a
Ball to seek a wife. The stepmom tells Cinderella she is allowed to attend only if she completes a
large list of chores, and when Cinderella does complete this list, the Stepmom takes back her
agreement. Cinderella ends up being stranded at the house, crushed with disappointment, as her
stepsisters have a chance to meet the Prince and may even be taken as his wife. Luckily, her
Fairy Godmother comes in to save the day, as she turns her talking mice friends into horse and a
Emma Lange
Eng 103
Media Analysis

pumpkin into a carriage, and turns her raggedy clothes into a beautiful gown, so she can attend
the Ball. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNKuARjkWEg Once she is at the Ball, she meets
the Prince, and he falls in love with her. Unfortunately, the clock strikes midnight and Cinderella
has to race back to her carriage before the magic of her Fairy Godmother wears off. The Prince
knows nothing about her, not even her name. The only thing he has of hers is the glass slipper
she left at the Ball. Desperately seeking to find her, he has every woman in the Kingdom try on
the slipper until it fits. Finally, he finds Cinderella (who broke free from being locked away) and
the slipper fits. The Prince and Cinderella marry and she lives happily ever after.
In Frozen, the plot centers around two sisters who are Princesses of Arendelle. The eldest
sister, Elsa discovers she has powers that she seemingly has little control over. With her powers,
she can freeze anything in her path and even freeze the climate of her Kingdom. Because Elsas
powers had hurt Anna, the younger sister, in childhood, Elsa is mostly kept separated from Anna,
which causes a rift between the two sisters. Years later, Anna is engaged to Hans, a Prince of
another Kingdom. Elsas emotional toll is high when she tells Anna she does not approve of her
engagement, and sets eternal winter on Arendelle. Elsa then goes up in the mountains and builds
an ice castle, to cast herself away. Desperate to restore Arendelle and their relationship, Anna
goes to find Elsa with the help of a mountain man named Kristoff, his reindeer, Sven, and a
snowman named, Olaf . However the confrontation goes unsuccessfully and Elsa ends up
freezing Annas heart on accident. Anna begins to freeze to death and the only way to save her
is an act of true love. Thinking that act would be a kiss with her fianc, Anna tries to kiss him,
but then tells her he was using her to seize the throne of Arendelle. He then goes after Elsa, and
Anna follows him. Right before he tries to kill Elsa, Anna steps in front of his sword and
Emma Lange
Eng 103
Media Analysis

sacrifices herself for her sister, before she actually freezes. This ends up being the act of true
love and Anna thaws. Hans gets arrested, Elsa realizes love is the way to control her powers and
she unfreezes Arendelle and her and Annas relationship is amended.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVY23DpMXPI
Even though these movies may be fifty years in difference of release dates, and in that
they have many differences, they both are however, at their core, Disney animated movies which
are aimed to sell to children. In both films, talking animals are seen and are somewhat heroic in a
sense in both films, which very much appeals to children. Prince/Princesses, Kingdoms, etc. are
also a theme both movies use which for some reason marketers have made that idea likeable for
children, as its seen in many other movies and toys other than these two movies made for
children. However, some things are geared towards adults in these movies, probably to make the
movies more interesting for adults as they take kids to see these movies. Some things more
geared towards adults would be the hidden innuendo jokes that would be unnoticed by young
children and also sometimes the main character is attractive or sexy to gain the audiences
attention and favor.
Ever since we are young, the media and even our social group likes to drill into our heads
the idea of a fairytale or a happily ever after and that we should try to attain it. What
fairytales are, are people in the minority that are faced against all odds, with a lot of spirit, help
from friends and luck, end up getting a privileged life, or a happily ever after. For the women in
fairytales, this happily ever after usually looks like, finding the man or Prince of your dreams,
him marrying you, providing you with everything you need , having 2.5 kids, a big house/Castle,
and being blissfully happy together as you grow old and eventually die.
Emma Lange
Eng 103
Media Analysis

In the 1950s/1960s, the views on women are much more close-minded then the way we
see them now, even though we still have a lot of expectations for women. Half a century ago,
women werent even encouraged to get an education and if they were, it was usually for a few
careers, like a nurse or a teacher, or better yet, to get a MRS Degree. Women after high school
were expected to be soon married and to have kids. Most of the time the man would be the sole
bread winner, and the wifes main duty would be to tidy up the house and take care of the
children. However, in todays world, women are very much encouraged to get a higher education
and to be out in the work force, although, there is still a lot of people that give grief to mothers
that do work. Also, there are husbands that are stay-at-home husbands nowadays, which is
starting to break that boundary of housewives.
Elsa and Anna have a lot of power. You can tell this from their title of royalty to Elsas
powers, whereas, Cinderella, is seen as a housemaid, basically enslaved and by her own family.
The power difference is something that very much stood out to me in comparing these two films
that are decades apart in creation. To see a women in power in the early 60s I would imagine
would be seen as sadly, unnatural. However, nowadays, seeing two female Princesses, its a
reflection of our current view on womens rights and breaking the glass ceiling in a sense, that
is so inspiring.
Another huge difference between these movies, is their plot, which speaks volumes on
the values of each generations audience and creators of these films. The typical happily ever
after in Cinderella is very true to tradition: she meets the Prince, gets married, and is happy
forever more. In a way, the Prince (whom she only knew for an hour at a Ball) saved her from a
life of oppression. This is reiterating the notion that the way to be happy is for women to meet a
Emma Lange
Eng 103
Media Analysis

Prince or maybe, a rich guy and youll find your happily ever after . However, In Frozen,, In
the end it is not a true loves kiss that saves Anna. It is herself., raves Rosten in her article,
"Disneys Frozen: The Feminist Fairy Tale Weve Been Waiting For (With No Prince
Charming)." Unlike Cinderella who had to wait to be saved, Anna was her own hero, she saved
her sister and saved herself. This shows that society places importance on having character and
to honor, self-sacrifice and love, and it shows that you have the power to save yourself, in a
sense.
Media captures the moment. For Frozen and Cinderella, they captured two polar
opposites on societys views when it comes to basic views on womens roles at their time.
Cinderella showed a girl who was stuck in oppression with no way out. Eventually, it showed
her way out was to marry a Prince; meanwhile, Frozen showed you can be saved and it doesnt
have to be by a Prince, a guy, or anybody else. Frozen showed for the first time that society sees
women now as strong enough and worthy enough to save themselves and live happily ever
after by their own merit.






Emma Lange
Eng 103
Media Analysis

Works Cited
Rosten, Shelby. "Disneys Frozen: The Feminist Fairy Tale Weve Been Waiting For (With No Prince
Charming)." Feminspire. N.p., 02 Dec. 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.