Robyn Muir provides an exploratory and holistic examination of this worldwide commercial and cultural phenomenon in its key representations: films, merchandising and marketing, and park experiences. Muir highlights the messages and images of femininity found within the Disney Princess canon and provides a rigorous and innovative methodology for analysing gender in media.

Including an in-depth examination of each princess film from the last 83 years, the book provides a lens through which to view and understand how Disney Princesses have contributed to the depiction of femininity within popular culture.

“This engaging and thought-provoking book will intrigue not only scholars but also anyone who has ever been, or is the parent of, a child infatuated with Disney princesses.” Rainbow Murray, Queen Mary University of London

“An excellent study of the Disney Princess Phenomenon and its merchandising machine – a must-read for anyone wondering why it has been so important to so many over the last 30-plus years.” Amy Davis, University of Hull

Robyn Muir is Lecturer of Media and Communication at the University of Surrey. She has researched and published on the images of femininity within the Disney Princess Phenomenon, using facet methodology to explore the different areas of the wide ranging facets of the princesses. She is the founder and leader of the Disney, Culture and Society Research Network.

Introduction: Once Upon a Time

Part 1: The Films

Introducing the Film Analysis Framework

1. ‘Passive Dreamers’: The Beginning of the Disney Princess Phenomenon

2. ‘Lost Dreamers’: A Narrative Shift in the Princess Phenomenon

3. ‘Active Leaders’: Transgressive Princesses

4. ‘Sacrificing Dreamers’: A Regression in the Disney Princess Phenomenon

5. ‘Innovative Leaders’: A Progressive Era of Princesses

Part 2: The Consumer Experiences

6. Playing Dress Up: Disney Princess Merchandising and Marketing

7. Playing in the Parks: Meeting ‘Real Life’ Princesses

Conclusion: Happily Ever After?