The Men of the Princesses

Most of us know the background of the Disney Princesses but what about the men in their lives? I found a great site  http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/The_Disney_Wiki that details these gentlemen. I have included excerpts from the site below. I found it interesting that the men in the newer movies are much more complex characters.

Prince Charming (Cinderella)

Prince Charming

Though elegant enough both mentally and appearance wise, he appears to be quite a swashbuckler, as shown when he challenges his father, the King, in friendly sword fights, and when he is seen racing on a horse to save Cinderella. He’s also shown to have a rebellious side, having disobeyed his father’s wishes or orders on several occasions, mostly as a result of his love for Cinderella. Additionally, in the original film, he was shown unamused by his father’s attempt at matchmaking when he threw a ball in hopes of having one of the invited, young women catch his son’s eye, romantically.

Interestingly, despite his position in power and royal status, he is far from shallow and is shown to be rather accepting of those around him, no matter their position or background, and seems to judge people more on their personalities and overall character. As seen in the original film, none of the women gushing over him caught his eyes. It wasn’t until he spotted Cinderella, a maiden wandering aimlessly about the palace, paying no attention to the high-profile prince, did he become romantically invested in the evening at hand. In addition, he supported Cinderella’s wishes to abolish peasant discrimination by inviting the village townsfolk to the king’s royal banquet, finding her untraditional way of doing things perfect.

Prince Eric (Ariel)

Prince Eric

Despite being of royalty, Eric is an accomplished mariner who is often seen partaking in various duties aboard ships in his own fleet. Eric spends much of his free time out at sea, fishing, going on explorations, or even taking the sail to celebrate his birthday. Eric is a hopeless romantic and appears to be rather dreamy.

Prince Philip (Sleeping Beauty)

Prince Philip

Phillip was the first Disney prince to be given a proper name and a developed character. He is said to have been named after the prince that Americans knew of best at the time, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Elizabeth II.

Phillip is known to be brave and heroic. On the other hand, he appears to be fairly easygoing. At times, he is able to subtly persuade people to do as he wants. Examples include Phillip bribing his horse with food so that he could find the source of the singing he heard, and manipulating his father into agreeing that he should marry the girl he loves rather than the princess he is betrothed to.

Prince Florian (Snow White)

Prince Florian

Prince Florian known as “The Prince” was the first ‘realistic’ human male that the Disney animators attempted to bring to life. It was found that the Prince was the hardest of all. The idea of him being captured by Maleficent was a discarded idea originally meant for the Prince from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, as the animators at that time had problems drawing a realistic human male characters to animate. For this reason, his role in the film was minor; he only makes two appearances in the film.

Beast (Belle)

The Beast

Though the Beast is stubborn and lacks manners, he is not without a kind side; the Beast can care for others but has difficulty in overcoming his own flaws to express empathy. In addition, his temper belies the Beast’s naivety with the world and how to display his feelings towards it. He is best described by his animator Glen Keane as “a twenty-one-year-old guy who’s insecure, wants to be loved, wants to love, but has this ugly exterior and has to overcome this”. His softer nature was hinted at during his first appearance, when he appeared to feel genuinely regretful towards Belle after he sent her father away without letting her say goodbye. Though seemingly aloof, the Beast is not completely apathetic, as he was able to also empathize with Belle and her own misery from his past experiences as a fellow outcast. In contrast to his earlier personality where he was bad tempered and easily irritated, near the end of the enchantment the Beast has matured significantly. For instance, he is unfazed by Gaston’s taunts over his ugliness during their duel on the castle rooftop, much to the chagrin of Gaston who was expecting these insults to provoke the Beast into a straight-up fight where Gaston would have the advantage. The Beast instead relied on patience and cunning to gain the element of surprise and upper hand over Gaston.

Aladdin (Jasmine)

Aladdin

Despite his upbringing, at the start of the film, Aladdin was a generally optimistic, fun-loving, and charming character. Though he was forced to steal for survival, he showed joy in escaping the brutish guards, alongside his sidekick Abu, and showed an attempt to find enjoyment in the struggles of his day-to-day life. Nevertheless, he didn’t mind stealing from the marketplace, albeit forcibly so, Aladdin was, in no way, a selfish character. Not only were the thefts for survival, Aladdin was never above sacrificing his food for the less fortunate of Agrabah, such as starving children. This is an example of Aladdin’s selflessness.

While harboring a modest amount of physical prowess, Aladdin’s true strength lies within his intelligence and wit. He utilizes these aspects to best his enemies, and such practices have proven effective in various situations. He is a quick-thinker, with the ability to formulate a scheme that ends in his favor. He also takes advantage of his societal stereotype to further his schemes, as most wouldn’t expect a meager street urchin to have the intellect to outwit others.

Flynn (Rapunzel)

Flynn

When first introduced, Flynn is presented as arrogant, backstabbing, and trouble-making. He unabashedly committed acts of thievery on the royal family of Corona, all to achieve a selfish lifelong goal of becoming as wealthy as humanely possible. Despite these antagonistic traits, Flynn viewed such acts as mere means to boost his ego which, at the start of the film, was comedic ally inflated, to the point where he would rely on his supposed charisma to sneak his way out of a potentially dangerous situation

As mentioned above, Flynn is also rather comedic, whether it’s intentional or not. Despite viewing himself as charming, a recurring situation involving Flynn includes the thief being looked down upon by other characters (such as the Pub Thugs or the palace guards) who would often perform acts that would purposely result in Rider’s humiliation.

The princess’ refusal to be fooled by Flynn’s charisma, and genuine interest in his life and struggles, would be the first motivators to dropping the “Flynn Rider” persona, and accepting who he alluded to being in the orphanage, which was caring, starry-eyed, and selfless

Once his facade is dropped, he is portrayed as a loving, loyal, and protective companion.

Kristoff (Anna)

Kristof

Kristoff is a true outdoorsman. He lives high up in the mountains where he harvests ice and sells it to the kingdom of Arendelle.

In spite of his loner nature, and dislike for society, Kristoff has a loving heart, and at his core, is rather harmless, innocent, and protective. This is first evidenced by his relationship with Sven, whom he treats as his pet and closest friend, and is shown to value the reindeer’s life above his own several times. Kristoff’s inner softness and loving aura is further emphasized by his family, the trolls, who reveal Kristoff to be sensitive and sweet when given the same treatment, which he proves through his friendship and eventual relationship with Anna

Through Anna, Kristoff is shown to be loving, respectful, and completely selfless and sacrificial. Eventually falling for the princess’ fun-loving nature, selflessness, and persistence, Kristoff allows himself to open up to the world around him, revealing himself to be rather bashful and quirky, mirroring Anna’s personality. Also as a result of his love for Anna, Kristoff is willing to risk his own life and happiness, without hesitation, all in hopes of the former’s own happiness.

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