Alright long-ish post time.
I’ve been thinking about it and I think I realized why I (personally) haven’t been able to enjoy most of the recent Disney Princess movies. It mainly comes down to two factors but they are connected.
Disney Hasn’t Had Strong Villains — if any at all.
Hear me out. It all started with Brave. Yes, I know the bear is the main villain and also a little bit with the mom since she can become hostile once she becomes more and more bear. The villain itself wasn’t strong. It was basically built like a final boss in a video game — powerful but with not a lot of substance beyond a throw away backstory.
The movie is less of a Man v. Man structure and more of a Man v. Society/Self structure where the plot is more centered around figuring yourself out or fighting for society to change. That would have been fine! But they added the bear! It’s way better to do one thing all the way than to do two things half assed you feel? Because they split it, the bear was kinda just a thing she needed to fight and the society thing was just a moody conversation here and there.
Moana also had self v. Society/self. Moana also had big final boss style villain with a throw away backstory. I feel like it’s hard for a villain to be strong when the backstory is quickly passed and the villain also doesn’t talk (so, not having much personality or being able to explain motivations. Same with the bear).
Similarly, in Frozen — I KNOW but just let me dislike it for a second — they were doing fine with the sisterly bond thing. They should have focused on that (again, self v. Self/society for Elsa) but then they shoe horned Hans as a third act twist reveal...which was probably the worst decision as it was neither a shock or added to the story. That brings me to my next point—
Disney Has Ruined Twist Reveals
It feels like Disney thinks there NEEDS to be a twist for a movie to be good. They get so busy trying to pull the rug from under the audiences feet (not even very well) that they don’t focus on making the story good. They put all their time into a set up for a reveal and a reveal that doesn’t really add a lot — if anything at all.
Moana has the big fire island turn out to be the giant nice lady (I’m so sorry. if you couldn’t tell by me calling the bear “bear” I don’t remember anyone’s name). This one is.,.okay but I don’t feel like it added enough to warrant the reveal. It didn’t blow my mind or really really change the moments leading up to it. A reveal should give the movie/show rewatch potential inherently. “Sixth Sense” (i know) kinda popularized the big twist because it did it well. Yeah, it was obvious a little bit not I’m your face, and when you figure it out it gives you enough of a perspective change you want to watch sixth sense KNOWING this new info because it changed how you take in the movie.
With Moana, it was cute but it didn’t NEED a plot twist. It didn’t add anything. Sometimes plot twist make movies and worse — it isn’t some magical movie enhancer. A really good story can be told straight forward.
Similar with frozen , Hans being evil didn’t really add anything and honestly...was super forced. “But it does add! It makes you rewatch the beginning and rethink all his actions!” Yes...in the worst way possible because it makes everything he does make even LESS sense. I don’t need to bring up the infamous boat scene paradox. They never show that he could have some underlying motive. He doesn’t manipulate Ana into letting him control the town, she just kinda hands it to him. Yeah him proposing so fast is explained, but that’s about it.
The only hint you get beyond that is a quick “I have so many siblings “ line. For everything that the twist “explains” there are three actions that makes no sense. Frozen didn’t really have a solid villain. They could’ve made the town riot against Elsa (like in Beauty and the Beast) or had that merchant guy plot something (as he was established as disliking her very early). Or both! He could’ve rallied the town to fight Elsa.
My point is, without a clear antagonize for the majority of the movie, or a weakly built one, the movie usually ends up lacking because it makes motivations hard to follow or deludes the plot.
Villain songs are so well received. I know there are gonna be people out there but I’ve never met someone who didn’t love a good villain song. Brave, Frozen, And Moana didn’t have villain songs (no I don’t count shiny). Coincidence? I think not 🤧 (This last point is a joke )
Sorry for the long post I just really like talking and analyzing stuff. I made it just for fun and to get my thoughts down in words. I want to clarify you can totally like these movies ! I’m not going to crap on someone for enjoying something. I personally think they could have been a lot better but doesn’t mean they are bad movies. Even if they were/are you can still think they are good. Don’t let a post stop you from liking them!
