Dr. Ed Catmull, President
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios
1200 Park Avenue
Emeryville, California 94608
Robert A. Iger, CEO
Disney
500 S. Buena Vista St.
Burbank, CA 91521-9722
Dear Dr. Catmull and Mr. Iger,
We read Linda Holmes’s wonderful letter to Pixar asking you to create a feature film with a girl or women as the main character. We’ve had enough of Disney princesses with doe eyes and Barbie doll bodies. We love your inventive, brilliant movies. We know you have it in you. We loved feisty Princess Atta in A Bug’s Life and Dreamworks' Princess Fiona in Shrek was our kind of girl, but the stories weren’t theirs to tell, nor the journeys theirs to take. We want a female LEAD character, a nonprincess LEAD character who is complex and interesting. While you’re at it, could you give her a passion for something other than fashion and shopping, and how about a realistic body type? Girls are 25% of characters in animated films and 52% of the population. Research tells us boys care less about gender than interesting characters. They’ll watch if she’s cool enough. Come on, give us just one. If you make it, we will come to the theaters in droves. Promise!
Sincerely,
Your concerned customers
Sign the petition here and pass it along to your friends!
Check out the Packaging Girlhood authors' blog about the petition
3 comments:
Pixar is releasing the Bow and the Bear in I think, 2011 which has a female protagonist.
The problem is that she's a freaking princess.
Some of my favorite female protagonists have actually come from Japanese animation. My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away come to mind, movies with a young female protagonist who face perils in a fantastical world and who must rely on their own wits and strengths. Hayao Miyazaki, who wrote the films, said he wrote Spirited Away specifically for young females friends of his family in order to give them a female heroine they could look up to (one not obsessed with boys or crushes):
http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/sen.html
If only Disney and Pixar could get on board with this!
Disney is behind the excellent show Kim Possible, still alive in reruns. Kim is a cheerleader, yes, but the squad is where she learned to use her athleticism to fight the bad guys (and girls).
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