bits & pieces of a life lived, fully or otherwise.
but Mulan? NOT A PRINCESS.
Shang wasn’t a Prince, he was a…what, a Captain? his father was a General, but I’m not actually sure what Shang was; but either way, he was in the military. he’s not royalty. and they don’t even get married in the movie, he just shows up at her house and we all kind of hope that they’ll reconcile and live out their happily-ever-after (I don’t know what happens in the sequel, maybe they get married then. I have a tendency to disregard all Disney sequels period, they rarely continue the story in any satisfactory way).
and Mulan wasn’t a Princess before meeting/falling in love with/marrying Shang. her father is respected because of his own military service, if I’m remembering correctly, but she’s not royalty either.
I understand the frustration of people not accepting Tiana and Rapunzel as Princesses. Tiana marries a Prince, and Rapunzel was born royalty. they can both be considered ‘Disney Princesses’.
but I also understand why people have a certain view of what the term ‘Disney Princess’ means and why the last two Princesses don’t fit, in their minds. there were only six, originally. in all the adverts and groupings and what-have-you, they only ever talked about the original six. Pocahontas wasn’t really included until recently, and we never hear about Kida, who is an actual Princess, from Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
this turned into something I wasn’t intending it to be. a lot of people have a problem with Tiana and Rapunzel not being lumped in with the rest of the Princesses? I have a problem with Mulan being lumped in with the rest of the Princesses. because she’s not. a princess.
she can sit with Megara (Hercules) and Anita (101 Dalmatians) and Jessie (Toy Story) and Jane (Tarzan) and Esmerelda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) who are also not princesses, but pretty badass female characters anyway.
it also grates on my nerves when people add Anastasia in with Disney movies in general, but I can understand the confusion. it feels very much like a Disney movie.
final note: my Disney Princesses? Snow White, who was born royalty. Cinderella, who married into it. Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), born royalty. Ariel (The Littler Mermaid), born royalty. Belle (Beauty and the Beast), married into it. Jasmine (Aladdin), born royalty. I’ll give you Pocahontas, born royalty. Tiana (Princess & the Frog), married into it. and Rapunzel (Tangled), born royalty.
nine princesses. ten if you count Kida, I kind of don’t even though I suppose I should. eleven when Brave comes out.
eleven princesses.
mulan is not one of them.
