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Lessons Disney Princesses Taught Me: Part 2

Hey there! Here's the second installment of my Lessons Disney Princesses Taught Me! If you missed the first post click here :) Enjoy!

In the first part of this lil' series, we talked about my favorite princess - Belle, from Beauty and the Beast. We admired her for her bravery, commended her on not being shallow like everyone else in town, and wished we could go on an "adventure in the great wide somewhere" with her.

This week (errr...couple of weeks?) let's talk about


this gal.

Tiana.

Now, Tiana definitely was not my favorite princess growing up considering her movie came out when I was in grade 11, and even then I wasn't all that excited. 

I mean, there is no way i would ever never ever kiss a frog. 

But when I did eventually see it, I was in love.

Between the jazz music, the beautiful animation, and a honest-to-goodness real-life princess, I was sold.

Tiana is a real person. She could easily be your next door neighbour or your cousin who works too hard and too long to reach their goals. She is a far cry from the likes of Snow, Cindy, or Aurora (although I love these girls too!). 

From the beginning, we find out that Tiana isn't looking for love ("Mama, I ain't got time for dancing"). She has friends who want to hang out with her during Mardi Gras, and she even has a best friend in Lottie. For one of the first times in Disney history, a princess is (*whispered tones*) ordinary. 

And that's my favorite lesson Tiana teaches us.

Anybody can be a princess.

That blows me away. Tiana, who is talented, but doesn't have a fairy godmother. She's got dream and goals, but she's not the fairest in all the land by a long shot. Tiana is the underdog. But she still makes her dreams happen. 

And, true to Disney fashion, she finds love on the way. 

So what does Tiana teach us?

1) Work Hard. But don't be afraid to ask for help. Tiana literally worked her butt off, but it still wasn't going to be enough to open her restaurant. She slaved away at two jobs, saved every penney, and barely made the down payment. I think we can assume that if she only asked Charlotte for a loan or to invest in her restaurant she would have more than willingly forked over some of Big Daddy LaBeouf's cash. But instead, she missed out on having fun and being a young person. Don't take on huge projects by yourself. Bring along as many people to support and lift you up and help you make your dreams come true. Don't be ashamed of help.

2) You are not flawed by looking for love. I feel like so many of the classic princesses get harassed for this. "Oh all the princesses do is whine for a prince to come rescue them". Well, Tiana spent all of her time preoccupied with her dream, she missed out on what was really important. Having everything you want in life is nothing if you have no one to share it with. Sometimes girls get so shamed because they gorge themselves on romantic movies and just want to find love, but really, it's an important part of life that no one should miss out on.

3) Not everything is as it seems. I'm sure this could be applied to a lot of the princesses in different ways, but Tiana looks past Naveen's arrogance charm and sees that he really just doesn't know how to function in a normal relationship. She sees past Lottie's dumb-blonde exterior and knows that she's a good person with a great heart. She sees Ray and Louis for who they are, not their outward appearance. Tiana gives everybody a fair chance. 

If you can't tell, Tiana is definitely on the top of my list for favorite princess. Who is your favorite Disney princess, prince, heroine, or hero? Why are they your favorite? Comment below and let me know!

Stay Magical,

Sarah


Note: If this seems a little scrambled, I did write it during a fit of insomnia at 3 o'clock in the morning because what else do you do while waiting for your tsum tsum hearts to replenish? xoxo

Lessons the Disney Princesses Taught Me: Part 1

If you are under the age of, like, 30 chances are you have a deep meaningful relationship with the Disney company. If you're a girl, your chances up by about 30% because of this magical thing called the Disney Princess lineup. (If neither of these statements resonate with you - I'm sorry. disney marathon at my place? we'll restore your childhood)

I mean, movies that have a strong female lead are hard to come by. I know the princesses have a bad reputation for being solely about finding a man, getting married, and living happily ever after. 

Pshhhhhh. These people are NOT watching the same movies I've been watching. 

So, here's a series of the lessons Disney leading ladies have taught me. 

Let's start off with my favorite princess: 


Belle.

Now, Belle. This girl is amazing. 


Shockingly, Belle hasn't always been my favorite princess. It wasn't until I was old enough and had my first taste of freedom (aka leaving my small town to head to university) that I finally got what Belle was talking about. After my first trip outside of the country, I was hooked on adventure and seeing new places and people. 


So. Let's recap what happened in Belle's life:

When we first meet her, we learn that she's weird. There's like a whole song about it. And despite being weird, she is being pursued (dare i say, harassed) by the self-proclaimed hottest guy in town (Gaston) - and the townspeople actively thought she was crazy to not want him back. 

When she finds her father's horse, not only does she go out alone to search for him (uh, brave much?), when she finds him she willfully takes his place so he can be free. She gives up the one thing we know she wants (adventure in the great wide somewhere kind of requires not to be locked in a tower) because she loves her father so much.

THEN she stands up to the beast. she doesn't let him push her around or allow him to treat her like she is inferior or a prisoner. And once she does that, she sees past his anger and despair. She sees beyond his outward appearance and falls in love with the man inside. 

Here's what Belle has taught me:

1) Belle taught me that even when people call you weird or strange, keep being you. You'll never live up to the expectations of other - and you shouldn't have to. If your ideas or interests or even what you like to wear are "different" and don't live up to the standard of what other people are doing, do it anyway. Love yourself enough to go after your "adventure in the great wide somewhere" even if people might judge you for it.

2) It's okay to not want what others want. Belle wasn't obsessed with Gaston like the bimbettes. In fact, she didn't even set out to find "true love". She wanted adventure - and on her adventure her love found her. So....even when your friends are getting married and having babies, it's okay to not want that stuff so soon. Be adventurous, don't worry about you life being "on track". It'll all come when it comes.

3) Look for the best in people. Behind mask of anger or happiness or shyness there is a person and you never know where there's a prince hiding. Don't judge a book by it's cover, a prince by his curse, or a person by their hurts. Belle teaches us the great lesson of Beauty and the Beast - things aren't always what they seem. 

There are obviously so many more lessons that come from the entire movie of Beauty and the Beast (Gaston alone could probably fuel a million pages of criticism and lessons), but here are the things that Belle has taught me. What lessons have you learned from Disney movies? Is there a princess you want to be featured in this series? Do you even read my blog? What is the meaning of life? 

If you have answers to any of the above questions: comment below! If you don't, tell me your favorite flavor of ice cream! 

love + pixie dust,

sarah 
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