Compare and Contrast the representation of female characters in Snow White and Mulan. To what extent can Disney be said to have moved with the times? .
Disney is an international film company that dominates full-length feature animations. Two feature long cartoons, Snow White (1937) and Mulan (1999), are good examples where a female character takes the central role, Snow White being from the first half of the 20th century and Mulan from modern times. Between the times when these films were made, one might expect the representation of women may have changed, (as female equality has improved) as well as some of the stereotypes of women that Disney has been criticised of conveying in the past. Before Mulan was created Disney's Beauty and the Beast' and The Little Mermaid' had already marked a significant change in the portrayal of women, but it can still be argued that behind the audacious, attractive, and determined characters they are still happy homemakers just waiting to settle down.
Other traditional Disney heroines are characters like Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) and Cinderella. In many ways they are similar to Snow White and became examples of how to act, what to do, and what was accepted and expected as a role model or just a woman. All three of them are shy, passive, and nave towards the evils of the world. Their appearance in many ways relates to their personalities. They lack detail, are flawless, and are extremely unrealistic. .
Snow White is portrayed, at the beginning of the film, as an innocent obedient, domestic child, who dreams of finding the man she will marry, but is inactive in doing so. In comparison with Snow White at the start of the film, Mulan is very different. Although Mulan wants to be conventional/ traditional she is disorganised and clumsy. She is sacrifices herself and tries to be dutiful to uphold the family honour despite the fact that in actuality she feels as if she is trying to impersonate somebody she could never be.