Disney has released the movie Frozen not too long ago, and though the movie was better than anything they’ve released in a long time (with one great musical number, and a twisted new story line, with a few plot holes), it still is missing several things. One of those things is its ability to relate to a male audience.
Over the past few years, Disney has failed to relate to their male audience. We’ve had several movies geared to women (The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Brave), and few movies geared to males. The last movie Disney ever had geared to boys was Wreck it Ralph and that was also made by Pixar. Disney really hasn’t had a musical with the male as the lead since Hercules.
And okay, I’m not just talking about having male heroes as main characters. Even the female characters fail to relate to boys. Mulan was the last (and really, only) female heroine that related to both men and women.
With all of this emphasis on female heroines, it leaves the male audience disconnected from Disney, labeling it as something feminine and “just for girls”. This isn’t really the first time it has been like this. Look at this old trailer for Alice in Wonderland, and we see that Disney began that way.
And since when has Disney ever had a male Prince as the lead character? Talk about sexism and unfair treatment!
And Disney has done it again. Once again, look at Frozen. Disney’s lead characters in Frozen were considered icons of “feminism” (though not really, Is Frozen a feminist movie?), rather than relating to boys. Mulan had that strong, brave, with-a-little-clumsiness type of personality (which relates to girls), but Mulan had the same experiences men in war have had, the same desire to bring honor to her father and her family, and hardly any “pretty-ful” dresses. She had substance and depth, not merchandising gimmicks.
To add, the few lead male characters in Frozen were forgettable and one-dimensional.
So I ask, why has Disney disconnected from it’s male audiences? The last good movies of the 1990’s have had male leads, so it couldn’t be because movies with males don’t sell very well (box office sales were at their best then). Maybe it’s because they’ve had too many movies with males taking over the box office…(?)
But as I said, from the start, Disney has had a hard time catering to males. This needs to change. Once it does, Disney will really grab the audience’s attention, much like they did with movies in the 1990’s.
Frozen is popular now, but I don’t see it being a timeless classic, like the Lion King, Mulan, Tarzan, Hercules, or Beauty and the Beast. This is because Disney is so focused on imitating the crude humor of Dreamworks. The difference is they want to cater it exclusively to a female audience.
The Disney Channel also seems to be infested with tween girls. It’s so bad, they had to make a completely SEPARATE channel for boys (Disney XD) instead of just merging the two, and gaining both audiences…What’s the deal, Disney? This is exactly why boys can’t take Disney seriously nowadays and would rather watch Dreamworks movies.
Just something that’s been bothering me lately…
Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about Disney’s “attack of the females”…
Also, mosey on over to: Is Frozen a feminist movie or a sexist one?
Generation Next 