If Disney guys can have body diversity then I don't see why the girls can't be diverse as well (this excludes female villains who display greater body diversity than the heroines).

It annoys me in general when people complain about animated characters being too skinny. I mean honestly; they are fictional characters they don't necessarily have to have realistic body standards. What bugs me the most though (and I don't mean to tell parents how to parent) is when parents won't let their kids play with Barbies/Bratz or watch the princess movies because 'it makes the child have unrealistic expectations.' I can't speak for everyone, but when I was little I didn't think twice about the size of the princess' bellies, I watched the movie for the plot and because I liked the characters. I would pretend and imitate their adventures not their weights. Hell, I don't think I even realized that they were 'unrealistically skinny.'

Now where diversity is concerned I can see where the problem lies. I think Disney could use at least one heavier character. Or a princess with a bigger booty or rack instead of the same body type every movie.

But overall I don't think body type should keep one from appreciating a good movie/character.

I don't really care.

Boring argument, and as old as time.

I agree with zanhar1. I think most of them are decently realistic. I mean Ariel, Aurora, Jasmine and Rapunzel are probably the most unrealistic ones. I also happen to think they aren't all that close in figure. Pocahontas is tall, curvy and athletic, Tiana and Merida have rounder hips, Snow White is short and not so curvy, etc.
Anyway, most kids aren't influenced by their bodies.

They're drawings!

@Mallo That's another good point, they actually do show some more body diversity than some shows and movies *CoughWinxCoungh*.

@Tygers My point exactly!

It's just animation. It's a fairy tale. Fiction.

I think it's legitimate to say that the DP bodies lack diversity. Honestly, I don't care if you didn't compare yourself to the DP's as kids, other people do. I think some people are too obsessive about it, but when all a child is seeing is extremely skinny women even in children's movies, it sets an ideal weight. I do agree that a lot of girls that don't even pay attention to the weight thing, that's a reason why it kind of annoys me. I just think we need more diversity.

Again, I can't speak for everyone. But most of the people I've talked to have told me as kids it didn't set anything for them. I don't think DP movies and Barbie movies are what set those ideals in children especially since they are drawings. What sets those ideals are magazine edited images of real people like Katy Perry--people see real people and think that it's healthy to be that skinny. I also think that--more than DP's--society is what sets those ideals; how many stories do you hear about people being bullied for not being thin. It isn't fictional characters, it's the real people; it's easy to realize that animated women have unrealistic body standards, whereas it's hard to tell when a real person has been photoshopped for a magazine.

I hope I don't come off as rude or argumentative here, because I don't intend to.

No, you sounded fine. I see what you mean, but even though the models in magazines or whatever are one of the biggest reasons why this is happening, the combination of children's movies with only skinny women and real people adds up. We should at least try to not contribute to this by adding just a little more diversity. It's not going to hurt anyone after all. I don't think we should have an obese princess but maybe someone like Merida or something like that would do. I do agree that I think most kids don't really pay attention to that, but I can't really speak for everyone. I believe we should have a bit more diversity but I think some parents go too far with the concern over this.

Awesome. I can agree with that, I do think there should be some diversity in there. I like the idea of a chubbier princess, like she doesn't have to be huge but she could be a bit thicker or a bustier one or maybe a princess with a bigger booty. Because that's realistic. Yeah, I mean I understand their concern but when they get to the point where the child is banned from Disney that's kind of over doing it.

Absolutely...it's a cartoon! Proportions are exaggerated! Funny how people complain that their waists are unrealistically tiny but they don't complain about unrealistically giant eyes? Exaggeration is the entire definition of a cartoon, like how with goofy characters they exaggerate the large nose or the ridiculous Adam's apple...its a cartoon! It's never meant to be realistic! And obviously children do not pick up on these things anyway...