Femininity in Disney, Princess Jasmine as shown in Disney's Aladdin
Summary
This research compares the animated film Disney’s Aladdin (1992) to its live-action remake, Disney’s
Aladdin (2019). The research focusses on the character Princess Jasmine and how she represents
femininity in both these films. The research shows that the way in which femininity is represented in
the live-action film is much more emancipated than the way in which femininity is represented in the
animated film. The research does so, by evaluating the character Princess Jasmine on three different
parameters. These parameters are three concepts which are extracted from feminist theory:
Knowledge Agency and Authority. Because the character shows in the live-action film that she has
gained in these three areas compared to the animated film, it is concluded that she is more
emancipated in this new film. This research adds to the debate about Disney’s Princesses because it
compares a new film to an original film and therefore is able to say something about the change
Disney has made regarding their representation of femininity. In order to say if Disney film are
becoming more emancipated all together, more research is needed. This research did a good job at
staying close to the case study which is analyzed, but it could have done better by including a
comparison of the two different types of films that are analyzed (an animation and a live-action film).
Because the difference between these two types of cinematography might influence the way in
which the characters are shaped as well and this difference is now not recognized within the
research.