Femininity in Disney, Princess Jasmine as shown in Disney's Aladdin

Abstract

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.