I am extremely happy that I grew up during the Disney Renaissance. I can still remember those advertisements on the VHS tapes saying “Coming summer of 1998….” or having one of the Channel Surfers tell me about how the animators of Tarzan took inspiration from surfers and skateboarders. Since I didn’t get cable until I was almost 10, my childhood was mostly shaped by these movies. In our tape cupboard in the TV room, there is a fairly impressive collection of Disney DVDs. I don’t have all, but needless to say I have all of the princess ones. And in a way, despite Disney’s squeaky-clean and family-oriented image, they helped to introduce me to the concept of sexuality.
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In the beginning, there was Ariel. Extremely goofy bangs aside, she is pretty attractive. It seems like the earlier princesses of the Disney company were very conservatively dressed, coming straight out of fairly conservative eras. However, with The Little Mermaid, Disney was dealing with a concept that was already loaded with sexuality. In fact, I think I heard once that the legend of mermaids came about by extremely horny sailors spotting manatees and wanting have sex with them. But I might be off the mark here. In any case, one thing can be said for Ariel’s attire: the only thing keeping us from seeing her boobs is a pair of shells. That’s it. Plus, her midriff is showing. This was intriguing to me because I first saw this movie in the mid-90’s (I was born in 1991). At the time, cropped shirts were fairly commonplace and I somehow instantly internalized the notion that a bare stomach was sexy. In fact, I thought belly-buttons were supposed to be sexy before I discovered breasts. Ariel had the whole package. I realized there was something provocative about her and how she was dressed (or not. There aren’t really any “clothes” to speak of) and that started to get me thinking that about what makes people attractive.
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Once that seed was planted, Beauty and the Beast started to develop the idea that characteristics other than physical ones could be sexy too. It seems like almost every girl I talk to who is a fan of Beauty and the Beast experienced the same emotional journey as Belle. In the beginning, Beast is downright scary. He’s big, he looks like a cross between a vampire bat, a werewolf, and the devil, and he snarls. Enough said, and Belle has every right to hide in her room. But then the story feeds us little girls the myth that we all wish was true: men can be changed. You can take a gruff and emotionally abusive man and turn him into a kind person who feeds birds with you. Sheer bliss. Beast’s edges soften, he gives Belle the library, and then there’s that amazing ballroom scene. Who didn’t want that dress? By the final battle, the Beast was sexy. He had that deep voice, he would do anything to protect Belle (even letting her go), and yet still had the bad boy thing going for him. I didn’t care what he looked like; I loved him. And then he had to go and turn into a human. That was the most disappointing transformation ever. He didn’t even keep his gravelly voice. When he and Belle are dancing together in the end, I keep thinking that she could do better. She doesn’t look as happy with the human prince as she did with Beast. Good looks actually killed his sex appeal for me, and left me longing for the “monster” that the whole movie wanted to get rid of.
And then there was Aladdin. Oh dear goodness, I don’t know who to be attracted to in that movie. First off, there’s the title character. He’s adorable, a bad boy, and his vest is open. Need I say more?
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Plus, his voice is so soothing when he sings…. Really, he seems like a fun guy. He takes you places, he’s willing to do anything for you (even lie), and he fights a giant snake. Perfect boyfriend? Possibly. But then there’s Jasmine. Damn she’s hot! Her design harkens back to my interest in Ariel what with the bare stomach and ample cleavage, and her voice is low and sultry. Plus, she doesn’t take sh*t from anyone! A light bulb really flickered on for me when she tries to seduce Jafar in order to divert attention from Aladdin stealing Genie’s lamp. My reaction was pretty much the same as Genie’s. The scarf ripples off of her and she moves like a cat. Hot. Damn.
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This was the point as a child that I realized that she had a certain…something, and that she was using it to get a man to do what she wanted. I didn’t quite know what sex actually was, but I did know that there was something about certain people that made me want to look at them or listen to them. I remember when I saw the cover of Cool World (I know, sooooo not a Disney flick) at the local video store and I was curious as to why the little cartoon guys at Holli’s feet were slobbering.
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Maybe it had something to do with her cleavage or her posture, but these were things that I had seen hinted at in Disney movies and with this cover it was adding more evidence that a certain….something made people act in a certain way. I now realize that what they were reflecting was sex appeal. I am not saying that Disney made me into a sex maniac. I just found it interesting that the most family-friendly entertainment company is what started making me think about what makes people attractive to other people.
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