Holding Out for a Heroine

After reading an article about sexism in children’s films—particularly the absence of female leads in Pixar movies, and the general absence of female leads who are not princesses overall—I started thinking about how wonderful it would be to have a bunch of new kid flicks starring strong female leads. Wouldn’t you love to see movies like that?

It’s true that a few such films do exist. Monsters vs. Aliens, Mulan, Ferngully, Coraline, Flushed Away, Lilo and Stitch, and…what else? Is it really that hard to find good female-led kid movies? Incredible!

Oh Hollywood, how about giving us something we can really enjoy—something that gives young girls a movie to look forward to that they can actually relate to, instead of yet another little boy off on his adventure, occasionally with a female sidekick, friend, voice of reason, or nurturing caregiver?

Here are a few ideas. Feel free to add your own.

Any Fairytale with a New Female Lead

What if Sir Kaye’s squire was a girl? And who says that Chicken Little had to be a male? Take any traditional movie or fairy tail, add a female lead and some twists, and we could go somewhere.

Any Fairytale with Its CURRENT Female Lead

There are plenty of books out there with fantastic female heroes. Christopher Pike’s Alosha series and Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness series both come to mind.

A Girl Animal Lead

Instead of The Lion King, how about The Lion Queen? Why should all of the elephants, deer, and other animals that don’t die be male? Some great animals that we haven’t really tapped into yet might include puffins, coyotes, pandas… How about an amazing bat heroine, or a sweet sloth with unexpected skills who saves the rainforest?

Role Reversals

How about a kingdom where the son must marry by the time he’s 18—and is saved by a patch-wearing, law-breaking female pirate?  Or a man who has to clean his stepfather’s toilets and sleep by the chimney who is saved by a resourceful female ninja who escaped from her princess-hood to protect her parents from certain death by a neighboring kingdom?

A Real Female Hero

I like the idea of Hilary Swank as Amelia Earhart—but what about an animated version? Maybe it would be far-fetched to put Clara Barton in a musical, but I’d much rather watch an animated film featuring Sally Ride than Space Chimps.