Where do Girls fit in an Animated World?
By Cybel on Aug 4, 2008 in Article | comments(1)
This summer, I have spent plenty of time with all of my nieces and nephews, filling up our souls with countless hours of animated feature films. Pixar has truly raised the bar. Wall-E, Incredibles and Ratatouille. I’ve also watched all Shreks again, Madagascar, Happy Feet, Bee Movie…And it was the last film that reminded me of a very astute Op Ed piece I read in the New York Times, “The Real Life of Bees”. Besides all of the inaccuracies regarding bee/insect life as portrayed in animated films, I also wondered why do American animated films shy away from a female protagonist who is not a princess? (note: female love interests, even when all characters are animals, are usually the daughters of the king of the hive, tribe, flock etc thus making them the princess) Couldn’t Bee Movie be about the Queen Bee? What about Antz? What if the main toy in Toy Story was a girls favorite doll and her adventures? What if the mouse of Haute Cuisine was a female rat? It bugs me (pun not intended).
