Princesses Continued: So Which One's My Favorite?

Alright, fear not, readers, not all of my posts are going to princess-related. They just seem like an easy place to start a fiction-based blog, considering the fact that oftentimes princess movies are the first movies young children, especially those of the female variety, are exposed to. Anyway, my post of a few days ago got me thinking: maybe readers will want to know which princess is my favorite (actually, chances are you don't care, but I'm going to tell you anyway).

Now, if you were to ask me who my favorite Disney princess is, I wouldn't have a definite answer. Generally I say Snow White, although I don't have a specific reason for it. I guess I like her because she was the first, the original, the definitive princess. I also like Mulan and Merida, who are technically Disney princesses, but I don't like to say either one's my favorite Disney princess, because Merida isn't really Disney and Mulan isn't really a princess.

However, while I don't have a favorite Disney princess, I do have a favorite animated, kids' movie princess: Anastasia.

 

Anastasia is different from a lot of other animated princesses in a number of ways; for one thing, her movie is based on a true story rather than a fairy tale, but more on that later. She's clever, she has her sarcastic moments, she doesn't let anyone push her around, etc. I also really like the rest of the movie. I think it has great music and characters and visuals and..... well, you probably get the point. Suffice to say that it's my favorite of the Don Bluth movies I've seen.

 

Now for the one thing that absolutely fascinates me about this movie. I don't know if it's the fault of the public school system or America's overblown pride in itself or if it's nobody's fault, but I know basically nothing about Russian government before the Communist Revolution. (Or after. Sheesh, why do we never learn about Russia in school?) I'm totally ignorant of the nature of Czar Nicholas's rule, his laws, his customs, everything. I've only gleaned from various sources the vague idea that most people seem to see him as a cruel dictator; or really, that people see the entire Romanov line as a bunch of nasty rulers. Maybe I'm wrong. My point still stands.

 

My point being, Czar Nicholas isn't portrayed as an evil horrible dictator who deserves to be killed by Bolsheviks in this movie. He's only seen a few times, and always as a doting father and a beloved son who is sorely missed. Have no fear, I don't consider this movie to be anything like an accurate historic account (fun as it would be to believe that the Bolshevik Revolution was jumpstarted by a bunch of rabble-rousing green glowing demons who came out of a glass relic possessed by a soulless former priest) but still.

 

I tend to think of America as being strongly anti-monarchical. Sure, we make princess movies and watch royal weddings on TV, but most Americans strongly believe that rule by the people is the only fair, freeing approach to government. The kings and queens we idolize are all either perfectly good, like in Disney movies, or ruling over another country. That's why I find it so interesting and appealing that a supposedly tyrannical dictator is portrayed as a good man and his daughter a princess for little girls to look up to like any other.

 

Also, I like that the ending to this story is happier than the real one. Sometimes it's fun to escape from history.

 

Oh, and did I mention she's redheaded? Fun fact: my hair is red (well, red enough) (the picture on my profile isn't actually a picture of me, in case anybody was wondering) and it is my opinion gingers don't have enough positive representation in the media. It's always nice to see a fantastic character with red hair.

 

Anastasia.

 

Thank you.

 

-Pearl Clayton