THESE SKETCHES REDEFINE `FAIRY TALE PRINCESS'





And they lived happily ever after,“ was the way all fairy tales ended, but for those of us who wondered what followed the `ever after'­ we can probably find our answers in the reimagining of Disney princesses in various avatars. When artiste Andrew Tarusov recently illustrated the princesses as pin-up girls, it followed in the long line of reimaginings of the princesses ­ be it with no makeup or a ghoulish version of the cartoons we loved as children.

DOMESTIC ABUSE

Nothing hits home quite like seeing your favourite cartoon with a bruised face. Artist Saint Hoax depicted battered princesses in a series called Happily Never After, which comes with the tag line `When did he stop treating you like a princess?' He explained his decision to draw the sketches, saying, “Disney princess are perceived as ideal females. But what happens after the `happily ever after'?
By portraying Disney princesses as victims of domestic violence, I'm proposing the idea that no girlwoman is safe from being emotionallyphysicallysexually abused.“

HALLOWEEN GHOULS

While most of the princesses' makeovers aim to fight some gender bias, some are made for pure shock value ­ like the princesses as zombies, voodoo masters and vampires, which make sure you'll never look at them in the same way again. Among the weirdest makeovers the ladies have received are them as men and even as Jurassic World's raptors, where they're usually eating their princes.

SUPERHEROES

If you never liked the idea of the princess waiting for her prince to come and rescue her, the recreation of Pocahontas as Hunger Games' Katniss or Ariel as The Avengers' Black Widow is right down your alley. “Some people think (the princesses) place negative and unrealistic gender roles for young girls to follow, but as an artist, I've always enjoyed looking past their exterior and actually paying attention to the story being told,“ Isaiah K Stephens, the creator, explained.

REALISTIC BODIES

Who hasn't heard a critique of the princesses' unrealistic bodies, but while most people talk, others draw out what they'd like to see. Loryn Brantz, who recreated the princesses with more realistic measurements, explained, “As a woman who loves Disney and has dealt with body image issues, it has been something I've always wanted to comment on, particularly after seeing Frozen. While I loved the film, I was horrified that the main female character designs haven't changed since the '60s.“ This famous reimagining led to a variety of realistic reimaginings, like the princesses with shorter hair, no makeup and even body hair.

ETHNIC DIVERSITY

If you don't want to tune into Princess And The Frog (which featured the first African American princess) to see ethnic diversity in the cartoon universe, then this reimagining is for you. The artist, stating that there was “no political agenda“ behind the drawings, also explained, “Fairy tales are constantly being taken out of their cultural context. Most of the fairy tales that we know now were taken out of their original cultural context and altered. Aladdin was originally set in China. The Frog Prince was Latin and was altered over and over again in several countries.“