From glistening ball gowns, to fairy godmothers and singing animals- Walt Disney has little girls everywhere growing up, with aspirations of being the next “Anna”. What the mirror on the wall did not teach us, is that the gender portrayals in these movies are not the fairest of them all. Since the first moment that Snow White bit into that succulent red apple, it was obvious that Disney was entrenched in misogyny that dates back to the mythology of Adam and Eve.

Don’t get me wrong: I too was a doe-eyed Disney devotee and it took me a while to realise that it was better to depend upon charming chocolate than a Prince Charming. However it is now the 21st century and times have changed; Disney is no longer ‘Frozen’ in antiquated gender stereotypes. Notice the pun? Quite literally, “Frozen” (2013) has shattered princess stereotypes with a beautiful and funny adventure that’s a sure-fire Disney classic.

“For the First Time in Forever” says the main song of the movie, and I kind of felt like singing the words too because for the first time in forever, the main characters of a Disney picture are independent females that don’t appear to rely on a guy, or a prince, that solves everything with a smooch. It’s true that Frozen is the rectification of a more modern woman role because there have been- in the past- some Disney movies with strong female protagonists such as Mulan (1998) and Pocahontas (1995). They didn’t need a man to be the saviour of the picture! This movie empowers girls to keep moving, to do things that matter and reinforces the value of family bonds- not just bonding with a new bloke that you may have met once or twice.

Before she escapes the clutches of her royal duties to let her issues thaw, Queen Elsa states to her younger and quite naive sibling, Anna, “you can’t marry a man you just met”. Yes, it sounds like a reasonable line to lecture someone in real life, but it is not what Disney got us used to and, in doing so, we thank you, Elsa. This statement, spoken in categorical terms, is the movie’s turning point. It defies Disney’s ‘princess’ mould: the one where some song and dance ensue and they are instantly in love. In fact, this is one of the first Disney movies where the main female character doesn’t get married at the end of the film with a full smile that reflects a duty done.

It’s not only Elsa that shares this rather obvious opinion, Kristoff does also. In the film, he asks Anna “You want to marry a man you just met?” and repeats this in bewilderment. We learn that he thinks people should get to know each other first and that both men and women have their faults: “he’s a fixer upper”, and so is she. Relationships are work, work on yourselves, work on the couple, and in defying gender stereotypes of the perfect Prince Charming, he has his faults and is willing to work on them- it’s about time, Disney!

Elsa’s character arc is arguably the most compelling in the story, and, let’s face it, the “coolest”. As a young child, she is ‘blessed’ with these cryokinetic powers that she cannot control. After an accident with her carefree sister, Elsa’s parents isolate her; teach her that she’s dangerous and demand that she emotionally castrate herself (“conceal, don’t feel”). This line alone, almost seems to encourage young girls to emotionally shut down and conceal their characteristics that make them cute and quirky. This could be purely because they are seen as abnormal of a human, not necessarily just females. Those lessons are so ingrained in Elsa that she continues hiding herself away even as an adult and her parents pass away (that studio sure does love to kill some parents). Do we want this for our little princesses? It is not until her power is exposed and she runs away that she finds beauty in herself and her power. Her journey to self-acceptance and then acceptance by her sister and her people, is a powerful and much-needed narrative for our young princess ‘wannabes’. Originally however, Elsa was slated to be the villain. According to the Internet Movie Database:

“When the character’s major song “Let it Go” was played for the producers, they concluded that the song was not only very appealing, but its themes of personal empowerment and self-acceptance were too positive for a villain to express. Thus, the story was rewritten…”

This, for starters, explains a lot of the clumsier parts of the film. It also clarifies a few lines from “Let it Go” that don’t quite fit in context, particularly, “Let the storm rage on, the cold never bothered me anyway”. There is no storm in Elsa’s ‘blossoming’ scene. Originally, this line referred to the storm in Arendelle and Elsa was proclaiming to not care about it even as it devastated the country. A very villainous line. Make no mistake, Elsa was intended to be the bad guy, and re-imagining her is the best decision Disney has made in this film (except for Olaf- nothing beats Olaf).

So what has this movie actually done? Well for one, the character’s mock the “Romeo and Juliet” perception of love at first sight, when Anna becomes engaged mere hours after meeting a suitor. Furthermore, there was no Prince Charming in sight! In his stead, was an unwashed manual-labourer with a reindeer as a perpetual buddy. Though the most fundamental feminist moment is when Anna delivers a fine right-swing punch to knock out the villain. From start to finish, this movie has broken Disney gender preconceptions. Yet the time-old “true love” is not missed, as the movie still smashed box office records. Frozen is definitely a win for the feminists. It is important to note that the point of this article is not to lock those Disney movies away and rip away the daughters’ ball gowns. Just make sure you can see how the magic mirror upon the wall, may only reflect the fairest of them all, in society.