Disney’s “Frozen” dominated the box office this season and is still going strong. With songs more contagious than the flu, everyone can be thrilled that Disney will re-release “Frozen” in theaters as a sing-a-long on Jan. 31.

Critics and audiences are hailing “Frozen” as the most progressive and “feminist” Disney film yet. It does the best so far to break away from familiar narratives and create more empowered female characters. “Frozen” is adorable, but Disney should reach even farther with its next film and should take leaps in physical representation, plot and character to empower the young girls that adore Disney movies.

There are so many things that “Frozen” does to break the typical princess story mold.  The two main heroines aren’t saved by handsome princes, but rather by their bond of sisterhood. Hell yeah. “Frozen” also helps unpack masculinity in interesting ways.  But there were so many moments that could have been even more progressive.

The original story by Hans Christian Anderson was much different, and some would venture to say more “feminist.” The main character goes at it alone and travels through the frozen wilderness to save her brother. Disney changed the story to fit a more traditional mold of a hetero-normative love story.

In the beginning of the story, Anna meets Prince Hans. After a cute little song, they decide to get married two minutes after they meet. Elsa simply advises her “You can’t marry someone you just met!” The line finally demonstrated some self-awareness on the Disney Princesses’ past emphasis on marriage, but I was still begging Elsa to explain her advice further.

Furthermore, Disney princesses are always economically advantaged. “Frozen” doesn’t do anything to debunk that. Anna is willing to drop a few hundred gold coins on another man she has just met.  Talk about unexamined privilege. Material riches are always a part of their lives. Elsa retreats to the mountains and builds a giant castle to live in, alone. Sure it’s a stunning visual, but it doesn’t really make much sense.

As a leader in the field, Disney needs to push the envelope more. There are holes and spaces in “Frozen” where producers and writers have the opportunity to unpack the idea of heterosexual relationships and white beauty ideals as the only option.

If you haven’t noticed, most of the animated Disney females look nearly identical in the face. With humongous eyes, impossibly tiny waists, and Voldemort-like noses, they all fit the same mold. Besides hair color, “Tangled’s” Rapunzel and “Frozen’s” Anna and Elsa are nearly identical. Disney needs to change its physical representations of women and girls.

The head animator for “Frozen,” Lino DeSalvo, stumbled over his words, struggling to justify why Disney women look so similar. He said “Historically speaking, animating female characters are really, really difficult, ’cause they have to go through these range of emotions, but you have to keep them pretty and very sensitive too.”

Despite a lack of physical differences, “Frozen” continued a trend of Disney women becoming more dynamic. Rapunzel from “Tangled,” Merida from “Brave” and Anna and Elsa from “Frozen” are human and quirky. They have other concerns and goals beyond relationships, but they’re still allowed to pursue romance. This is a definite step in the right direction.

Still, Disney needs to take it farther. It needs to remove cliché, romantic story lines from the main focus of its plots. Disney needs diverse-looking heroines. Audiences of all ages deserve less of the same. Let’s hope the next animated feature does more to empower its young viewers.

Cassie-lee Grimaldi is a senior television, radio and film major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at [email protected] and reached on Twitter @cassiegrimaldi.

Published on January 29, 2014 at 2:09 am