Disney's Modern Princess Standards Don't Give Cinderella Enough Respect
The protagonist of Disney's animated Cinderella (1950) deserves the same respect as the company's more modern princesses. These more recent heroines are often regarded as better role models for children; meanwhile, Disney's early princesses, such as Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella are condemned as outdated–poor examples of what present-day audiences should look up to. However, Cinderella is just as admirable and heroic as these newer princesses.
Cinderella is Disney's 12th animated film and, at the time, its greatest commercial success since Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. Since then, however, the film has been criticized for having a static heroine who waits for other people to save her. She is looked down on as being weak and unable to stand up for herself. This was particularly prevalent when more modern movies like Frozen received praise for phrases like «You can't marry a man you just met,» which appears to poke fun at the arcs assigned to these older Disney heroines.
Related: How Each Disney Princess Is Changed From Their Original Fairytale
It is true that Cinderella doesn't ride off to war, shoot arrows with deadly accuracy, have ice powers, or navigate the ocean to confront ancient gods. But very few people do–and the mundane nature of the evil that everyday people face doesn't make their bravery in facing that evil any less important than the bravery of confronting a malevolent god. Cinderella's indomitable spirit in the face of years of abuse makes her a character worth admiring.
Cinderella is orphaned as a young child, putting her in a position of total dependence on her stepfamily. Meanwhile, that same stepfamily despises her and, taking advantage of her dependence, deprives her of an education,
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