It's All In The Eyes

        I had not watched any of Disney's earlier animations for quite a number of years until recently, when I re-watched Cinderella. Although it is still an enchanting film, I was struck by how lackluster a heroine Cinderella herself is. Her evil step mother and sisters, and the caricaturish Grand Duke and King are far more arresting characters than either she, or her saviour Prince Charming. I have come to the conclusion that it could be in the eyes. Looking at her, she seems a little dead behind the eyes. They don't even have a point of light to add a modicum of sparkle and vivacity.

        Princess Aurora suffers a similar predicament in Sleeping Beauty. Neither princess has a particularly expressive face, very much resembling a 1950s Barbie doll. Like Snow White they are fairly realistically proportioned, yet are somewhat bland and lacking in personality. Not helped by narratives that rely on handsome princes coming to their rescue, the audience never really gets a sense of who these girls are. The real performances and personalities are given instead to the villains and comic characters, and in Cinderella's case, it is the animals that steal the show.

        Over the years, Disney princesses have retained the DNA of their predecessors. Notably, they all have similar heart shaped faces, with high cheek bones and minimal features aside from their eyes and mouths. Since the 80s and 90s, many of them have had decidedly bigger, more expressive eyes. Moreover, as the princesses' roles have become more substantial, their entire faces have become more mobile, as animators trust that their heroines can still be beautiful while pulling extreme and communicative expressions. 

        A case in point is Ariel. Her unmistakable excitement and enthusiasm at finding herself with legs and on land would have been far less apparent if she had been permanently sporting Cinderella's careful 'social' smile. By exaggerating her expressions, the animators make Ariel's reactions seem more spontaneous, natural, and importantly, genuine. Of course, the decision to break the princess mould with Ariel's design may have been due to the fact that she spends a considerable portion of the film unable to speak, making her facial expression and (as Ursula points out) body language her only communication tools. 

        Ariel's expressiveness set the template for a streak of feisty and vivacious heroines, from Belle (Beauty & The Beast) to Anna and Elsa (Frozen).

The smallest shift of an eyebrow, or twitch of an eyelid,
can convey a whole world of emotion.

        All are still recognisably Disney, remaining determinedly beautiful an sporting the same perfect complexion and minimal features (notice the importance of the shape of the nose in distinguishing a character's nationality), but as other animation studios have begun to exert their influence (Pixar, Dreamworks) Disney has begun to take note. Attitudes are changing, and audiences no longer want the 1940s vision of womanhood; someone to wash clean and cook, be seen but not heard. Now, the emphasis is on creating strong, independent and believable female characters. And what believable girl has a perfectly fixed 'Pan Am' smile all of the time?