The whole cast of Disney Princesses get together to sing “If You Can Dream,” a song written and recorded specifically for the Disney Princess franchise. Walt Disney’s famous line, “If you can dream it, you can do it,” takes on a new meaning from the Princess perspective…
For Walt, the dream was about ambition and innovation. For Walt’s Princesses, it’s all about finding love. The dream is “Just a kiss away” and about how ”love will save the day if you can dream.” Cinderella sings “One day the slipper fits and you see the love in his eyes”; the dream is about longing for the Prince. The dream is also passive: “the wish we’re making on a star is coming true.” Why not, the dream we’re making happen with our own initiative and action is coming true? Pocahontas sings “the colors of the wind will lead my heart right back to you” turning her message from the movie about the majesty of nature and the respect it demands into a glorified match-making service. Jasmine and other Princesses sing, “there’s a whole new world waiting there for us, waiting just for us… if you can dream,” but what exactly is this “whole new world”? To me it looks strikingly similar to the traditional world of feminine domesticity in marriage especially taken with the few clips of Princess weddings at the end.
If Disney is trying to make these Princesses strong, progressive role models for girls (which I don’t think they are), they need to try harder. Though I have to admit, it’s a very catchy tune.
Other Disney Princess original songs include:
- “The Way To Bake (A Delicious Cake)” (sang by Snow White)
- “Every Girl Can Be a Princess” (sang by Cinderella)
- “I’m Giving Love for Christmas” (sang by Cinderella)
- “Waiting For My Prince” (sang by Princess Aurora)
- “Christmas With My Prince” (sang by Princess Aurora)
- “Manners And Etiquette” (sang by Princess Ariel)
- “I Just Love Getting Dressed For Tea” (sang by Princess Ariel)
- “The Perfect Princess Tea” (sang by Belle)
- “The Princess Dance” (sang by Belle)
4 Comments
May 9, 2007 at 9:39 am
It’s also interesting to note that, while at least she’s included in the video, the vast majority of the images we see of Mulan here is in her full make-up, hair, and kimono — the outfit she spends only a few scenes in the movie wearing, as well as the “reflection” that DOESN’T show “how [she feels] inside.” This video takes the two princesses whose journeys involve real girl power moments (Pocahontas and Mulan) and, like you said, makes them all about finding your Prince.
You might also be interested in how these “Princess Dreams” are being made into extreme Princess experiences for little girls, so check out my post “Of Princesses,” at http://princessculture.wordpress.com/2007/04/30/of-princesses/
May 13, 2007 at 8:26 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapunzel_%28film%29
Thought you might be interested in taking a look at this.
May 13, 2007 at 10:33 pm
[...] Classics” has all of the Princesses and their Princes dancing to Disney’s original song “If You Can Dream.” But what stands out the most in this scene (in addition to the fact that, in the end, some [...]
May 16, 2007 at 11:51 pm
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