ABSTRACT
Once upon a time there were four feminists and a Disney princess. The princess, Merida, was “independent and brave,” a “princess by birth and an adventurer by spirit” (The Walt Disney Company, 2014). Indeed, Merida was born of the 2012 Disney franchise Brave, a trailblazer in the portrayal of strong royal heroines. Described as an “impulsive young lady” who defies “age-old tradition and sacred customs” Princess Merida is determined to “carve out her own path in life” (The Walt Disney Company, n.d.). Her red curly hair epitomizes her rebellious and adventurous spirit; unwilling to be pulled in and tamed, it remains an unruly mass around her pale face. She is also a skilled archer, an unprincess-like attribute according to her mother Queen Elinor, but the secret pride of her father King Fergis. The four feminists were intrigued. “Could Merida really be a ‘new’ type of Disney princess?” they asked. They wanted to embrace a new type of Disney heroine but knew that despite years of criticism for the gendered portrayal of females in Disney films and marketing (Do Rozario, 2004; Dundes, 2001; Giroux & Pollock, 2010; Peterson & Lach, 1990), Disney princesses continued to be one of the company’s most iconic and lucrative cultural symbols.
