A system for classifying Disney Princesses Stories; or: How Disney evolved their Princesses' films.
Introduction:
In the discipline of folkloristics, scholars use the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index (henceforth, ATU) to index and classify folk and fairy tales, by numbering them according to a tale type and identifying their motifs. Thus, one would see German/Grimm tale "Snow White" as type ATU 709, "Cinderella" as type ATU 510A, and "Sleeping Beauty" as type ATU 410.For clarification, a tale type corresponds to an abstraction, derived from gathering similar narratives (called "variants"), examining their common characteristics, identifying their motifs, and contructing a narrative model that can be applied to further tellings of the same type. A tale type is not fixed or immutable, so much so that it is possible for them to "combine" or "contaminate" with other tale types.
The index was developed in the early 20th century by Finnish scholar Antti Aarne, and later translated and expanded by American folklorist Stith Thompson (in 1928 and 1961) and further revised in 2004 by German Hans-Jörg Uther.
Proposed types:
Due to this, it is possible to apply some of the principles of the index to classify the Disney Princesses' films (most of which are based in fairy tales/folktales, after all).First type: The "Classical" Fairy Tale
The first proposed type deals with a more classical adaptation of a published fairy tale. Disney's adaptation mostly follows a published version of the fairy tale, but it can allow some leeway for a happy ending. Owing to being mostly adaptations of European fairy tales, the story takes place in a generic European setting, with vague references to the Middle Ages.1) Snow White (1937) - Disney condensed the Evil Queen's three attempts on Snow White into one, the apple, and introduced True Love's Kiss as the solution.
2) Cinderella (1950) - Disney trimmed the three balls of the original Charles Perrault's tale.
3) Sleeping Beauty (1959) - Disney expanded the role of the good fairies and Carabosse (renamed Maleficent). Mostly based on Perrault's version.
4) The Little Mermaid (1989) - Hans Christian Andersen's literary tale does not have an ATU classification, but scholars suppose he based it in part on Undine, another tale of tragic love involving a female creature linked to water. Disney altered the original's bittersweet ending to a happy one.
5) Beauty and the Beast (1991) - Disney introduced the heroine's jealous suitor and the rose's significance to the Beast (both lacking in Beaumont's or Villeneuve's versions), developed more of a rapport between the main characters, and introduced the enchanted objects (which are the castle staff).
6) Aladdin (1992) - Disney developed the princess character (named Badroulbadour in the original, renamed Jasmine here), condensed the evil magician and the sultan's vizier into one (Jafar), and eliminated Aladdin's mother and the ring genie.
Second type: The Historical Fantasy
Still in the 1990s, at the height of the Disney Renaissance, the company introduced the next proposed type, which can be called "Historical Fantasy". In this category, they shirk the Ambiguous Time Period of the previous type and firmly entrench the tale in time and space (usually a real life time period, and an existing place), adding magical elements in some capacity.1) Pocahontas (1995) - Disney based the movie on the Real Life Pocahontas/Matoaka, a Native American woman that lived at the beginning of the English colonization of North America. Her story has been altered to change her age, and to allow for a romance with male character John Smith.
2) The Princess and the Frog (2009) - The tale of Disney's first African-American princess takes place in New Orléans during the Jazz Age (1920s), and is also loosely based on a loose literary adaptation of German/Grimm tale "The Frog Prince" (ATU 440).
Third type: The Epic
In this third type, a princess story shares themes with Epic narratives: emphasis on worldbuilding, a larger-than-life peril, a single hero/ine against impossible odds. It can involve an arduous and long heroic quest. This type was also introduced in the 1990s.1) Mulan (1998) - Disney based the film on an ancient Chinese ballad about heroine Hua Mulan and her time in the army. Disney's version retains Mulan's time in the army, and has Mulan defeat an invading army and save the Emperor of China.
2) Moana (2016) - Disney's original generation heroine interacts with Polynesian demigod Maui, and both embark on a quest through the great ocean to rescue goddess Te Fiti's heart and restore her people's navigational way of life.
3) Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) - another of Disney's original generation heroines. Through Raya's eyes, we see the fictional world of Kumandra (albeit one based on Southeast Asia), and her attempts to unify its warring peoples. Raya also embarks on a quest to find the last living dragon.
Fourth type: The "Road Duo Adventure".
We were strangers, on a crazy adventure"
This type may have had its origins in "The Princess and the Frog" (2009), wherein the main couple, in frog form, traverse the swamps of Louisiana to find Mama Odie and get answers. The gist of this type is that the heroine travels alongside a male companion. It is expected for the princess character to fall in love with the male character. No subversions (as in, they don't fall in love) have been shown so far.
1) Tangled (2010) - Loosely based on German/Grimm's tale "Rapunzel", Disney kept the fairy tale elements of the original (Rapunzel, the plant, the mother's desire for the plant, Mother Gothel), but made Rapunzel a princess and introduced Flynn Ryder as their version of the tale's prince. As in "The Princess and the Frog", the main couple falls in love during their adventure.
2) Frozen (2013) - while not part of the franchise, it is still based on a fairy tale (of literary origin). Disney's loose retelling of Andersen's "The Snow Queen", it introduces Queen Elsa and her sister, Princess Anna. Anna travels with ice collector Kristoff towards Elsa's Ice Palace up the North Mountain to restore her kingdom to normality. Anna is smitten with Prince Hans at first, but the greater portion of the movie focuses on Anna and Kristoff's journey, during which Kristoff begins to fall in love with her, which is reciprocated at the end of the movie.
While criticized throughout their existence, it is undeniable that the Disney Princesses left a mark on pop culture, with other studios either aping (e.g., Richard Rich's The Swan Princess; Don Bluth's Thumbelina and Anastasia) or mocking (e.g., Dreamworks ''Shrek'' franchise, especially the first film) their formula. And even their movies, one way or another, may fit any of the proposed categories.
