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Recently, Disney released a new, 2D image of Merida. This prompted outrage because the character's design was altered, for no good reason. The new Merida has been "prettified"--made more conventionally attractive in a way that undercuts the character's strengths, to the detriment of the children who view her as a role model.

In response, A Mighty Girl released a petition to Disney that outlines the reasons why the redesign is problematic. The petition culminates with a request: to pull the new 2D Merida and restore the character to her original form.

Yesterday, Disney executives went on record regarding the petition. They're refusing to retract the new Merida--and their comments show they've missed the point.

The L.A. Times reports on the refusal to retract the new Merida:

No one ever doubted that the original Merida would still be available on products; the objection is to the new Merida redesign. Full stop. The fact that it's "part of a limited run" doesn't make it any less problematic.

A Disney representative expanded on their stance in an exclusive interview with fan site Inside the Magic, calling the controversy "blown out of proportion." This makes clear that Disney execs either don't truly understand the objections, or are willfully ignoring them.

According to Inside the Magic:

So, Disney's justification for making the change is that Merida herself wanted to dress up for her coronation ceremony. This seems disingenuous: Merida is a fictional character who doesn't want anything – and besides, at the actual coronation in the Magic Kingdom, Merida was dressed in attire more closely resembling her outfit from the film than from the new 2D art.

And where is this "limited line of products" to be sold? At Target, according to Inside the Magic. Have a look at Target's main page for the Disney Princesses.

It's all about the new Merida, and it features rather frightening products, like this doll with spindly space alien arms.

Ugh.

In their exclusive piece about Disney's response, Inside the Magic concludes:

This brings us to the crux of the matter: If Disney hopes that the girl empowerment community and our allies will be placated because 2D Merida is only temporary, they're missing the point. People are up in arms because the changes to Merida -- even if temporary in nature -- completely undercut the character, selling girls short.

Let's review the chief problems:

- They took a strong character and weakened her.

- They took a natural beauty and glamorized her.

- They took a youthful 16-year-old and made her look like she's 22.

- They disrespected the fact that Merida is a princess who goes against the grain, eschewing the trappings of being a princess in favor of being an individual.

By squeezing a character so widely regarded as a barrier-breaking role model into a cookie cutter mold, Disney's Consumer Products Division sent the message that in the end, looks are all that matter.

In short, if Disney's response is, "Don't worry, folks; this new Merida is only temporary!", they've missed the point. Let's call on Disney to address their poor decision to redesign Merida in the first place--however temporary and "limited" that change might be and reassure us that they will treat this character with integrity in the future.

Sign the petition here.

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P.S. I hope A Mighty Girl will consider updating the petition to a) include Target, which is apparently to be the main retailer of products featuring the new 2D Merida; and b) respond to Disney's response, outlined above.

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To read my previous posts on Merida, click here.

To read my previous posts on the Disney Princess brand, click here.

º£½Ç´óÉñ has assembled a diverse group of the best family and parenting bloggers out there. Our contributing and guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor, and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. Rebecca Hains blogs at rebeccahains.wordpress.com.