As a toddler, there was nothing better than Cinderella. I watched that movie daily — always looking forward to the moment her musical mice friends made her a new dress (because, seriously, how cool is it when they make that shoe elevator?).
And then as I got older and became obsessed with reading, Belle — the witty, intelligent heroine — became my new favorite.
So, each time a new artist creates "real-life" looking Disney princesses, I'm all about it. This time it's Chilean artist, Fernanda Suarez's depictions of modern-day Disney princesses that caught my eye. I love that her depictions include the princesses' passions: Belle still has her book, Jasmine still has her tiger (who also still has a piece of the sultan's underwear in it's mouth).
But to me, I feel like these princesses are missing the characteristic that makes every Disney princess a real heroine: kindness.
There is no kindness in their eyes
We all know those princesses were hard-core women, but their toughness would be nothing without their kindness. Let's take a look at a few of these women and their moments of kindness:
Belle
In the end, Belle basically saved the Beast because she gave him a second chance. She was even in the palace in the first place because of the kindness she showed to her dad.
Ariel
Ariel, the spunky, free-spirited mermaid saved a man (she ended up marrying) and was really nice to sebastian, who was a pretty miserable person - er, crab - to hang around.
Mulan
Where do we start? She went to war out of kindness to protect her dad, made friends with people who wanted to punch her teeth out and saved China, which was a pretty nice thing to do.
Snow White
After a series of extremely traumatizing events, Snow White stumbles on a cottage. I don't know about you, but I don't think my first instinct after narrowly escaping murder would be to clean and cook for whomever lived inside a mysterious house I stumbled on. It also wouldn't be to just go inside and make myself at home, but that's a whole different discussion.
Cinderella
If you've seen the somewhat recent live-action "Cinderella," you know the theme of it is, "Have courage and be kind." Cinderella forgives and serves her step-mother and sisters when they don't deserve it at all. She's also cool about hanging out with mice, which I'd say is going the extra mile.
Jasmine
Super sassy Jasmine is always kind to her dad, even when he's trying to put her in a horrible marriage. If that's not kindness, what is?
Pocahontas
Pocahontas teaches John Smith to treat every living creature with kindness, because everything has worth. And she's just the best.
What do you think of these modern-day princesses? Do they fit your definition?
