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Disney’s New Protagonist Is A Plus-Size Ballet Dancer

 

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Disney’s New Protagonist Is A Plus-Size Ballet Dancer

Disney has released their new short film featuring a plus-size female protagonist for the first time. Reflect is the story of Bianca, a plus-size ballet dancer who “battles her own reflection, overcoming doubt and fear by channeling her inner strength, grace and power”. The film is part of the Short Circuit Experimental Film series, and is now available to stream on Disney+. Disney shared a trailer for the same on Twitter.

Disney animators have often stumbled into controversies regarding their portrayal of unrealistic body standards for female protagonists. Many viewers heavily criticized the way Disney’s princesses like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty look on screen with their disproportionately small waistlines. In fact, research even proves that it is almost impossible for a real person to naturally have the body proportions that most Disney princesses do.

But the trailer has received mixed responses. Some people also believe that making body dysmorphia the film’s central theme takes away from the attempt at inclusivity. Plus-sized characters can and should be more than their body. While some viewers feel like their struggles are finally represented on screen, some others are expressing disappointment at the fact that Disney is reducing Bianca’s story to her body image issues.

That being said, Reflect is still a step towards inclusivity in the Disney universe. With recent successful endeavours like Turning Red and Encanto, and the casting of Halle Bailey, a black woman, in The Little Mermaid live action film, Disney’s ethos is changing significantly. We may take some respite in the fact that the new generation will not have to grow up watching white-washed, sexist and fatphobic stories on screen.


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