Today’s post celebrates one of my favourite things on the Internet: Disney Princess remixes. You know the kind: “Your favourite Disney Princesses re-imagined as Hipsters“, “If Disney Princesses were Historically Accurate“, or “Disney Princesses re-imagined as your Favourite Fried-Food” (I kid you not). I actually adore Disney films, so my love of Disney remixes doesn’t come from some rebellious desire to scandalise or subvert the original texts. For me, remixes are like fan ficiton, they expand the canon and give me more content to gush over. Basically, I love these characters so much that I want to see what else they can do. If Disney won’t give me more, then the fans will (and then some).
My favourite Disney Princesses remix, aside from Disney Princesses as fried foods, of course (The Little Tempura slays me every time), is Emmanuel Viola’s rendition of Disney Princesses as tattooed gothic/glam pin-ups. True to its “alternative” appeal, the work subscribes to the popular Suicide Girls aesthetic, a standard of beauty championed by the “alt-goth” scene which celebrates body piercings, tattoos and pin-up glamour. It’s worth noting that any “standard” of beauty is limiting, even when presented as “alternative”. I don’t necessarily view this as being problematic, nor is it in any way a critique of Viola’s work (which I freakin’ love); it’s simply worth noting in the face of claims that “alt” standards of beauty are somehow more empowering than mainstream standards of beauty. At the end of the day, the pictures are So. Damn. Pretty. And the Princesses look sassy as hell. I want to eat them with my eyes. Just look at this.
Anywho, I digress. Believe it or not, this post isn’t about Viola’s work (although I defy you to stop looking at it). The point is to alert you, folk of the Internet, to the latest Disney Princess remix: Whitney Avalon’s Princess Rap Battles. Holy Shit. BEST. I found the first video after following the BuzzFeed trail to Avalon’s YouTube account. Check it out.
At first, I thought this was a one-off in honour of the 18th Anniversary of Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer (sniff). To be honest, that would have been enough for me. Watching SMG throw down as Cinderella was enough to set this fan-girl’s heart a-flutter, even if I did fall on the side of Belle. But I was wrong. There are more and they are oh-so bad-ass. Check out Galadriel versus Leia below (technically a Disney Princess now, I guess?).
And finally, Snow White versus Frozen’s Elsa.
What I love most about these videos (aside from the obvious bad-ass quality) is that they re-purpose Disney Princesses as strong, wilful characters regardless of their problematic features. Sure, I’d prefer it if women didn’t have to face off in a round of verbal fisty-cuffs in order to be empowered, but then again, there’s nothing wrong with some healthy competitive rap (like I know anything about it). Furthermore, anyone who can get SMG into a ball-gown and get her to rap deserves our respect. It’s a brief respite from the fourteen year hangover caused by Once More With Feeling. I can only hope this is the start of an ongoing series for Avalon, because clearly something magical is afoot.
Maven Tweets
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