Disney unveils Princess Sofia, aimed at toddlers

[Imagineer1981]

I just think they have enough princesses right now. Adding Rapunzel to the list already made the cast of princesses enormous. I get why they are doing it though, they need a heavily themed girl show on Disney Junior, especially if and when it moves to its own network. Right now its got some neutral shows, but then it has Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Handy Manny, which skew more towards boys

[AgentC]

They cater to fantasy when it comes to boys, too, though. Pirates, talking cars, toys coming to life, Star Wars stuff. And lots of girls get into all that instead of the princesses, too. Especially, as Ian pointed out with his daughter (and the same happened with mine), maybe as they get older and view the princess attraction as kid stuff. The thing with girls is that I think most feel free to find something they like instead of sticking to strict gender roles. Lots of girls will love princesses. Some will prefer the pirates or Star Wars characters. The same is not usually true for boys. You won't find many boys admitting to a love for the princessy things, even though there might very well be a number of young male princess fans.

I am so on the same page with you today, Sherri. I see this all the time with my children.

My daughter is 3 and she loves princess but has no problem watching The Incredibles or even Ben 10 with her brother and she will play cars just as easily as baby dolls.

My son is 6 and every time we wait in line for his sister to meet the princesses you would think I am torturing him. Funny thing is as soon as we get in, he loves the attention he gets from them.

[waymickey]

Honestly I am over the Princesses. Enough. Seems like all of Disney is gearing toward little girls and just slightly little boys. Walt wanted Disney to be a place for all ages, a place where family's would enjoy going together.

[Ian]

Honestly I am over the Princesses. Enough. Seems like all of Disney is gearing toward little girls and just slightly little boys. Walt wanted Disney to be a place for all ages, a place where family's would enjoy going together.

I think that might be a bit of an over-generalization. All of the new Pixar films are geared to a more mature audience and that's really the bulk of the new material they've put into the marketplace in the last few years.

[waymickey]

OK maybe I had a mini melt down. I did over generalize.

I just feel that when I walk into the Disney store it is geared to young children 10 and under. I tried to find something to buy in the store when it opened recently in my mall but after an hour I left empty handed. And when I go the parks lately it seems to be more about the younger set then any of the other age groups.

[EeyoresBestFriend]

Can't wait to see the character meet n greet for that one. Aren't there child labour laws???

[DVC2004]

I'm late to this party, but I wish Disney would put more effort/money into creating better films or new park attractions. Yes, I totally love Pixar films. I'm not talking about those. But ,they don't need any more meet n greets at the park nor junky merchandise and PJs etc. Spend on things everyone can enjoy like the films and park attraction (they'll still make money! more people will go see the movie or visit the parks because of it) that a more diverse audience can enjoy. No one in my family is interested in princesses or in the toddler age group. How about money be allocated to fix the Yeti? OK I'll get off my soapbox now.

[DisneyDog]

Personally, I think Disney should do something along the lines of American Girl. Focus more on different ethnicities and time periods, show girls who are smart and brave...they are on the right track with Mulan and Pocohontas and Princess and the Frog. Let's see more of that. Maybe an Hispanic heroine, maybe a Jewish heroine during (or just after) the Holocaust. I would love to see something like that. And, I would love to see more role models for boys as well.