A Comparative Study of the Leading Female Characters in Popular Old and New Hollywood Animated Movies

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to conduct a comparative analysis of the portrayal of leading positive and negative female characters in animated movies. Such movies mostly attract young people as their potential audiences and believed to have quite strong impact on the viewers. Animated movies said to inculcate gender stereotypes in the minds of their audiences. The researcher has analyzed how the personalities of females are portrayed in Popular Hollywood animated movies both in positive and negative characters. Additionally she has also analyzed the stereotype, concerning “submissiveness” associated to the leading female heroines in the popular Hollywood animated movies. For this purpose a detailed content analysis of six popular animated movies was carried out.  The full-length animated feature films are categorized in to popular old and new animated movies with the focus on the leading female heroines. The findings of the study show that heroines depicted in old movies were relatively more submissive as compared to the heroines portrayed in new movies. There is a noticeable shift from being passive and not demanding to be brave, strong and assertive.  A positive step towards change in thinking pattern of the animated movie makers has been observed  when there are many gender stereotypes attached to women’s role in society; and these stereotypes shape up the mindset of the audiences whether true or not. Leading heroines in the new animated movies are depicted to help the hero, unlike the heroines of old animated movies who are always in need of a male savior to rescue them from the villain.