Disney Ditches Fairy Tales

The relationship between Disney and fairy tales won’t go on happily ever after: Tangled will be their last. Movies need to appeal to a wider audience in order to justify a large investment, and changing female role models mean that the old princess-centered movies no longer appeal even to their target demographic. "By the time they're five or six, they're not interested in being princesses," said Dafna Lemish, chairwoman of the radio and TV department at Southern Illinois University. "They're interested in being hot, in being cool. Clearly, they see this is what society values." The failure of The Princess and the Frog prompted Disney to change the name of their Rapunzel movie to Tangled and to shift the marketing focus from the princess to the swashbuckling male costar. In the future, Disney will be doing away with fairy tale movies in favor of movies like Toy Story. Currently in the pipeline are Winnie the Pooh and Reboot Ralph, a movie about an outdated video game character.