I will be comparing Cinderella (1950) and Moana (2016). 

Cinderella is a Disney princess as is Moana, Cinderella is teenage girl just like Moana however the girls could not be more different. The films have been created over 60 years apart so this could be one of the reasons that the two girls which are both the leads of their films are so very different.

Cinderella is a teenage girl whose mum died at a young age and her stepdad re-married. However, Cinderella’s new step mum and stepsisters treat Cinderella horribly, make her do all the chores that they have and just use her as a scapegoat. Cinderella’s chores consist of cooking, cleaning, sewing and the step-mother would love to give her extra chores such as cleaning her cat. There is nothing strange about having a teen age girl having to do chores, whilst she lives at home, however all of the chores that Cinderella has been made to do are very feminine. Cinderella’s has no respect from her stepfamily as this is the reason that she is being made to do all of these chores, however Cinderella is desperate for them to take a liking to her so she completes all of her task to the best of her ability.

Moana on the other hand has the up most respect from not just her family, who trust her to run the island, but also from the other island who take no issue in the fact that she is a sixteen year old girl who is running the island. We don’t really see much of Moana’s childhood but from the very start of the film Moana has the respect she doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone. Moana is giving all of the tasks that other leaders of the island have previously had, she is not treated like a female at any point she is treated just how her father was when he was in charge of the island. They all listen to her ideas and respect what she has to say, although her father is there to oversee her progress, he never overrules her decisions unless it has to do with the ocean which is a special exception.

“Moana argues that leadership doesn’t just have to look like aggressive men giving forceful commands. It can also look like a young woman reaching out with compassion.”

In Cinderella’s looks are considered to be extremely important, this is why the stepsisters are often known as the ugly stepsisters, this is to both play up Cinderella’s beauty but to also play down the stepsisters. Beauty is often spoke about in Cinderella as this is what the stepmothers and stepsisters believe that Prince Charming is looking for. This is a bad representation to show young girls saying that men are only interested in how you look, not on what you can do or who you are. 

“For instance, it is worth pointing out that the idea that a woman’s value is determined based on how they look.”

The way Moana looks is not important to the story line at all, she is athletic because this is one of her personality traits however her beauty isn’t mentioned at all, when she is giving compliments they are more along the lines of “brave and strong” not to do with her beauty.

It is also important to when we mention the way that Cinderella looks, she was never considered beautiful when she was doing her chores he was only ever considered beautiful once she had been given a makeover from the fairy God Mother, this is another negative thing for young girls to be seeing because it is saying that you need to have the best dress and carriage to be beautiful. Cinderella never had the confidence before the makeover almost as saying that clothes re incredibly important to how you feel and look and whilst it’s true that having a makeover is can make you feel better it shouldn’t be the only reason you feel good about herself. 

“Another instance where viewers observe the value of being beautiful is at the ball, when the Prince first sees Cinderella. Based on her physical appearance, he immediately falls in love with her, not even considering other elements, like her kind personality.”

On the other hand Moana’s confidence is sky high, she is always wanting to go out to sea and see if there is more out there for her to discover, she goes against the words of her dad who has told her multiple times that going past the coral reef is to dangerous.

Now if we talk about the two main men in both Cinderella and Moana. In Cinderella the main male character is Prince Charming and in Moana it is Maui the Demigod. Prince Charming is a prize in Cinderella it is what all of the girls in the family and from the village are completing for, to be his wife. They are all extremely desperate to becoming the wife of Prince Charming, so that they will become the Princess. Becoming the princess is all that the women want in this world believing that they need a man to make them whole and complete. However, Maui and Moana have absolutely no romantic interested in each other they become friends however there is no suggestion that it will ever be anything more than that. Maui and Moana are there to help each other on there quests and neither of them would be willing to give up what they are in search of for the other however they assist each other. Although Maui and Moana are assisting each other it is more Moana assisting Maui the Demigod rather than the other way around.

“the moral I got time and again was that princesses, no matter how independent, needed a male counterpart. And further, this male counterpart often acted as a liaison to the real world or the saviour for the princess. With “Moana,” I saw a young woman with a strong sense of self presented with a substantial task and fulfilling it without needing a man to help her. And she was complete at the end of the movie without love.”

Moana goes against every other Disney princess in not having a romantic relationship in anyway, yet this doesn’t affect her in any way ether, she is completely happy just being who she is, and this isn’t to say that she can’t be happily married but it just also shows young impressionable girls that getting married is all that matters.

The times have changed since the two films have been made as Moana is Polynesian and so is every other character in the film, this is because times have changed where other races are becoming more and more accepted into society and people are more inclined to learn about their pasts. Times have changed drastically and other races are now are not just being accepted but celebrated this is why Moana is able to be Polynesian without is causing an issue, if Moana was to be created in the 1950s then this would be an issue as people where not so accepting of other races in the 1950s. People where much more traditional in the 1950s and they didn’t believe that men and women where equal this is why Cinderella is doing all of these feminine chores and isn’t a strong willed character. Cinderella is also white as is Prince Charming as in the 1950s this is what would have been expected from the public. 

The ideas of people have changed a lot in the 60s years that have come between Moana and Cinderella. Disney has always been one of the top production companies so they would always play to what the audience would want and expect, this is why Cinderella is white and blonde as this is what was considered desirable in the 1950s. This is what the audience would have wanted to see and expected to see. Disney used the stereotypes when they were creating Cinderella, and everything about Cinderella is what was expected of a stereotypical woman in the 1950s. However, Disney broke all of the stereotypes of a Disney Princess when they created Moana, because she isn’t a Princess in a literal sense so from the start it is very different to what they would normally call a Disney princess. She also isn’t interested in anything the typical Disney princess would be into, all Moana wants to do is go on an adventure and to explore the sea. Moana is very strong willed; however, you could also argue that Cinderella is also very storing willed as although she is always told what to do, she does that to the best of her ability and when Cinderella has a goal in mind she works at it and completes her goal. Another time we see an example of Cinderella being strong willed is when she went to the ball against her step mum and stepsisters would have wanted. She also has a strong mind as she never loses sight of herself, she has these dreams and no matter how much life gets Cinderella down she still believes that her dreams will come true and she keeps working hard at them So although Cinderella is all about her trying to get together with Prince Charming she is strong willed and makes that happen.

“Cinderella takes a lot of hits over the years, but never forgets to indulge on the things she holds dear to her heart. She enjoys singing, so she sings whenever she wants. She likes to dream of finding true love, so she lets herself dream of finding true love. Cinderella does what she wants in order to instil that she is not just a live in maid, but a young woman with so much more to offer.”

Cinderella and Moana where created over 60s years apart so there are obviosity going to be different as society has eve loved a lot in that time. However, we can still draw similarities deep down, these are things that we have to look for however we cans see that Cinderella doesn’t just sit around and she is also inspiring as she has had a rough childhood but she doesn’t stop believing in her “fairy-tale ending”. So whereas Moana we see how strong she is physically and mentally where she is running the island and then going on the adventure to try and help her island, we see Cinderella being mentally strong still believing even though she has very little of reason to believe she still does hoping that her life will turn around. However, there are obvious differences such as the fact that Moana hasn’t got a romantic interest in the film whereas that is all Cinderella is about her romantic interest in Prince Charming.  The key difference between the two characters is that Cinderella had to be helped and motivated by the fairy Godmother whereas Moana was brave enough herself to go out on the adventure alone knowing this is what was best for her people and that is who she was putting first. Moana is much braver than Cinderella which is the main difference between the two of them, as Cinderella never would have gone to the ball if the fairy Godmother hadn’t come to her rescue.

Bibliography:

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Chastain, E. (2014). Cinderella’s Representation of Gender and How its Changed | The Artifice. [online] The-artifice.com. Available at: https://the-artifice.com/cinderella-representation-gender-changed/ [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].

Frick, E. (2016). “Moana” breaks Disney norm with strong female lead – The Miscellany News. [online] Miscellanynews.org. Available at: https://miscellanynews.org/2016/11/30/arts/moana-breaks-disney-norm-with-strong-female-lead/ [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].

Griffin, M., Learmonth, M. and Harding, N. (2016). How Moana fulfils Disney’s long journey from princess to empowered woman. [online] The Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/moana-fulfils-disney-s-long-journey-from-timid-princess-to-empowered-working-woman-a7459056.html [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].

Harpold, Z. (2016). 5 Reasons How 1950 Cinderella Showed Us What it Means to Be a Strong Willed Woman. [online] The Odyssey Online. Available at: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/5-reasons-how-cinderella-embodies-what-it-means-to-be-strong-willed-lady [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].

MCandrew, L. (2013). Shibboleth Authentication Request. [online] Search-proquest-com.libezproxy.bournemouth.ac.uk. Available at: https://search-proquest-com.libezproxy.bournemouth.ac.uk/docview/1433928318 [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].

Scribner, H. (2016). What ‘Moana’ can teach us about leadership. [online] Deseret News. Available at: https://www.deseret.com/2016/12/13/20602339/what-moana-can-teach-us-about-leadership#maui-is-a-demigod-half-god-half-mortal-all-awesome-charismatic-and-funny-he-wields-a-magical-fishhook-that-allows-him-to-shapeshift-into-all-kinds-of-animals-and-pull-up-islands-from-the-sea-featuring-dwayne-johnson-as-the-voice-of-maui-walt-disney-animation-studios-moana-sails-into-u-s-theaters-on-nov-23-2016-2016-disney-all-rights-reserved [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].

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