Friday, April 25, 2008

Female Underrepresentation in Pixar Films

I love Pixar Studios. I love Pixar Films! One of my top 10 favorite animated films would be Cars (a Pixar Film directed by John Lasseter, an alumni from Cal Arts). But, just like many other 3D animated movies produced within the past 10 or so years, there are no female lead characters in their movies. The list of movies with male leads in them is ever expansive! Other movies include: Chicken Little (apparently, Disney concept artists and writers were originally going to make Chicken Little a female character, but since in the particular movie, Chicken Little is small and vulnerable, Disney decided to switch the character since women/girls are already stereotyped as such. They were doing a bit of gender bending there, which I have to give kudos for!), B Movie is another, Meet the Robinsons, Shrek, Shrek 2, Ice Age, Ice Age 2, Robots, Treasure Planet (2D and 3D composited animation), Barnyard, Madagascar, The Wild, Dinosaur, Open Season, Antz, Horton Hears a Who, Shark Tale, etc. The list is endless, and so far (please please please correct me if I'm wrong!) I haven't found a completely 3D animated movie where the LEAD character is female. Although, in defense of the animated movies listed above, every single one of them contains a very strong secondary female character, which usually helps the male character to succeed or see the light. So, essentially, the female character is still a strong catalyst that helps point the main character (generally) in the right direction. Another great thing about all of these movies, which is another kudos toward the male leads, is that the main male character has a very diverse personality, showing both strength, weakness, intelligence, and love. But, in the future, I would like to see a female main character that also embodies all of these qualities, and a male secondary character that helps the latter on their life journey.

1 comment:

psychoticartists said...

RIGHT ON SISTER! what about those non gender specific toys in toy story (pig, dinosaur, slinkydog), aren't they all male voice actors too? What is a young girl like me to do? I have no animated heroines to look up to. If it was a female racing champion with a supportive male companion, would that reversal of expectation be perceived as the main theme of the film? (or at least the #1 discussion point)History is once again a ball and chain.