It's the middle of the night

[velvetpage]

And I have links for you. So there!
Dear Pixar, please make a movie about a girl who isn't a princess

On Rape and Men, which all the wonderful men on my friends list still need to read. I truly believe that most of you are That Guy, and like some of the commenters said, it's pretty sad that I feel the need to acknowledge guys as good just for not being raging dickheads.

Comments

[viktor-haag.livejournal.com]

If you want good quality animated films that feature female protagonists, I humbly recommend that you look at the works of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. I wouldn't call them feminist, but they do have female protagonists, compelling stories, wonderful production values, and don't seem to me to have the same kind of odious subtext that I perceive in most modern Disney projects.

Oh, and by and large, Miyazaki's heroines aren't Princesses either; in specific cases, they are "people of note" (Nausicaa), or even called Princess (Mononoke-Hime), but they don't really have the same kind of role-loading that the traditional western "so there's this girl who's a Princess" has, as far as I can tell.

Highly, highly, highly recommended for children and adults, and Disney's Region 1 releases on DVD are high-quality (thank heavens that Miyazaki struck the deal he did with Disney: basically saying, if you want any of my films, you'll be committing to releasing "them all", preserving their original theatrical aspect ratio, and their original audio track, where "them all" is probably a larger percentage of them than Disney would really have an interest in, strictly on the financials).

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I'll look into those, thanks.

[curtana.livejournal.com]

Arthur loves My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, and has seen Kiki's Delivery Service as well, though seemed to find that one a bit less exciting (it didn't hold his attention all the way through, though I think it's charming!) We're waiting a bit on Mononoke as I recall it being slightly more violent than the others; I haven't seen Nausicaa, so don't know if he would like it or not. Howl's Moving Castle is also very good, though quite different from the book on which it's based. All of these films have female protagonists, none of the first three are princesses or of high status - the first two are basically ordinary middle-class Japanese girls who are put into unusual circumstances, while Kiki is a young witch-in-training, though in a modern-type setting rather than high fantasy. Sophie in Howl's Moving Castle is a middle-class girl who is magically transformed into an old woman for much of the movie.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I found Spirited Away to be creepy, and I think it might give Claire nightmares (and possibly Elizabeth too, though she may be able to handle it now.) Totoro they've seen at a friend's house, I think.

[mockingbirdq.livejournal.com]

I thought Spirited Away would be too scary, especially since Fox is rather sensitive, but he loved it!

Still, he likes Kiki's Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky and my Neighbor Totoro most. Pon Poco and Whispers of the Heart he also enjoyed.

He did not like Howl's Moving Castle much, and I didn't either, mainly because I dislike the books that it was based on. He was scared of some parts of Mononoke Hime as well.

I think it is simply the fact that the child characters seem very strong and independent, and there is such a sense of peace in Miyazaki's films that appeal to children.

We do try to find anime with strong female characters as well. Fox loves Card Captor Sakura, and wanted to be her last Halloween. However he changed his mind as I was wondering where to buy a yellow dress and wand.

For American cartoons with strong female leads, it is more difficult. He does like Kim Possible and Dora the Explorer.