The New Guy

I absolutely enjoyed Gillam's "The New Man in Pixar." I thought his analysis was absolutely spot on. Disney is undergoing a gender revolution through Pixar. The characters both male and female consist of more dimensions. No more ideal princess who only yearns for true love, and no more princes who are have the physical appearance of ideal masculinity but does little to earn the love of the girl. The unequal gender rolls have been a constant critique of Disney's films during their early era. However, Pixar tries to revolutionize this idea.

In this article, Gillam focuses on the concept of the "Alpha Male" being altered by pixar films. An Alpa Male, based on my opinion, is a man who shows masculine traits. They tend to be emotionless and not easily effected. In the context of Disney films, all the princes are alpha males because they don't show any sign of vulnerability during the films. Furthermore, these males are typically goal oriented. Pixar spins this idea of the Alpha Male. They use it as a foundation for character traits. Gillam analyzes Lighting McQueen and Mr. Incredible. Both of them are portrayed as alpha's male's at the start of the film. However, they undergo character transformations and both of them lose their original alpha male character traits. The fact that McQueen stops and helps "The King" after his car crash shows that he alters from his original goal of winning and shows compassion toward his competitor. Mr. Incredible changes from a self reliant male to someone who can put faith in his family. For example, at the end of the film, Mr. Incredibles relies on his family to defeat the villain at the end.

Taking Gillam's analysis even further, I think in general Pixar portrays a much more full view of women compared to older Disney films. If we look at Pixar films, which have female heroines like Merida in Brave and Rapunzel in Tangled, both characters don't simply rely on male figures. Furthermore, they don't rely solely on the male character for their own personal happiness. Elsa and Anna in Frozen takes this idea even further. Disney seems to prioritize family love over romantic love. This is a clear from the traditional Disney films from the romantic era like Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast.

It is interesting to ask the question: Did Disney make these changes by themselves? Or are they just conforming to a social shift which portrays a multidimensional gender?