Princess Power: Uncovering the Relationship Between Disney’s Protagonists, their Mothers, and their Fictive Kin

Abstract

This paper analyzes the kinship relationships displayed in Disney princess films produced between 1937-2010. By exploring the various parental figures in the films, or the fictive kin who supplement their absence, the paper highlights the ways in which anachronistic thematic plots continue to affect modern children. The paper is divided into four chapters: I) Just Around the Riverbend, which discusses the familial sacrifices made in Pocahontas and Mulan; II) Motherless, which examines the consistent lack of biological maternal figures in the majority of the films, along with the witches who supplant them; III) Fairies, Forest Creatures, Father Figures, and Fictive Kin, which explores the single-fathers in the films and the anthropomorphic fictive kin that guide the protagonists in Cinderella and The Little Mermaid; and IV) Married Ever After, a chapter detailing Disney’s marketing tactics, consumerism, and the evolution of a woman’s relationship with the Walt Disney Company.