Disney's violent women in quest of a 'fully real' violent woman in American cinema

Abstract

This paper discusses the violent female characters in the Disney World and argues that although the Disney Studio seems to be a rather unlikely candidate for giving us some of the most memorable and complex violent women in Hollywood, it still seems to be the case. From the Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to Merida in Brave (2012), Elsa and Anna in Frozen (2013), Maleficent in Maleficent (2014), Judy Hopps and Bellwether in Zootopia (2016) or Moana and Te Fiti in Moana (2016), Disney created 'fully real' violent women who are well-rounded figures, and mostly, but not exclusively, femmes fatales. After definitions of the femme fatale and the discussion of how these violent female characters/Disney femmes fatales were/are represented in the Disney(/Pixar) animated (as well as some live action) films, a cultural-historical overview and analysis follows by focusing on the most outstanding violent woman characters in Disney history from the beginnings up until the latest productions.