Expert Article Final

 

Damn, I Love Fathers

A Fun Analysis of Beauty in Animated Films

Let’s admit it, animated dudes are hot. If it isn’t your fantasy for Li Shang from Mulan to save China for you, then it means that you’ve never seen the movie. Most animated male characters look the same: big muscles, great hair, and piercing eyes. This includes the dads. 

Digital characters now have a massive following based around their image. At a first glance, this strange obsession with fictional people (mainly fathers) seems comical. But, once you begin to analyze the science behind the madness, you can’t blame people who are attracted to Disney characters. Animation studios feel pressured to produce films with a handsome cast because of their target audience—kids. Children judge people’s personal qualities by their appearance. This explains why Ursula is the villain in The Little Mermaid—the woman has tentacles for arms! However, the target audience for dads is a little bit older (18+) so there are other aspects considered besides physical looks for deciding if a dad is a 10/10. I’ll use this list to create a ranking from the most to least attractive animated dads. The winner might surprise you. 

“Most everyone’s mad here” (Alice in Wonderland)

Proof that Disney Prefers to Feature Good-Looking Cartoons

Before you begin to judge the idea that animated characters can be hot, you should understand that Disney intentionally creates their characters to be physically attractive. Can you count more than five Disney movies where the protagonist is ugly? Exactly. This phenomenon isn’t a random coincidence. A Disney executive onceTweeted that they force their characters to be attractive (Gardam). 

When I say “force” I literally mean force. Animators are tasked with upholding this beauty standard, even if it impedes on the creativity and practicality of the character. One artist agrees with the idea that “It’s incredibly difficult to keep a female character on model and appealing within the limited directives … given,” (Jacobs). During the creation of Merida, edits were made that increased the size of her hair but decreased her waistband (Khazan). Also, the artist who designed Merida’s mom wanted her to look like a middle-aged woman. She was criticized for making her too big.

These major bodily adjustments are designed to appease to marketing executives because the more attractive the character is, the more it sells. The pressure to generate the most revenue post-production hampers the animator’s ability to draw the cast as realistic people. 

The body types in Disney films remain the same, even though they are praised for their diversity. Khazan argues that the big eyes and small noses and chins make the women appear to be baby-faced, therefore pure and innocent. Despite their efforts to be more inclusive, Disney is stuck in the past by adhering to stereotypical beauty standards. I think it’d be nice to have a short princess, or one who’s plus sized/healthy weight to show that good people don’t always have to look a specific way. 

“You think the only people who are people, are the people who look and think like you” (Pocahontas)

Exploring a Correlation Between Attractiveness and Kid Appeal

One would hope that Disney’s bias towards creating attractive characters is supported by science. And it is. In a recent study, “42 children between the ages of 6 and 12” watched Disney movies and were asked questions about the characters (Bazzini). Who would you want to be friends with? Who is more aggressive? Who is smarter? 

Overwhelmingly, the kids voted the stereotypically beautiful characters (Cinderella) as being kind, nice, and friendly. Meanwhile, the less attractive characters (Quasimodo) as aggressive and stupid. Despite showing films where both attractive and unattractive protagonists were the heroes, the kids judged them solely on their appearance (Bazzini). 

Due to Disney’s target audience being children, it’s understandable that they want to appeal to their preferences. However, one can question if the children’s attitude towards attractiveness was shaped by Disney films. Bazzini adds that “Disney movies are frequently cited as a source of the what-is-beautiful-is-good stereotype,” which argues that Disney is the culprit for children’s misinformed opinions. Although I agree with this idea, I think human nature plays a role when deciding who looks like a threat and who doesn't. 

“Let’s get down to business” (Mulan)

Characteristics that Make a Dad Attractive

Moving onto a different target audience, young adults are fascinated with the father-figure characters in movies. They use different traits to consider who the hottest Disney dads are than the children did in the academic study. These identifiers are (ordered by importance):

• Physical looks

• How they treat their children

• Childhood attachment 

Physical looks

Sex appeal is a huge factor when ranking animated people because it’s beauty contest—contestants are first judged on their appearance. Those who are younger and ripped are ranked higher than those who are old and overweight. Characters with smaller noses, bigger eyes, luscious lips, and a wart-free face also place high on the list.

How they treat their children

Since the contestants have kids, the viewer can see their parenting style. Dads are more desirable if they don’t abandon their children, physically harm them, or discourage their goals. We want to see that they aren’t selfish and could treat us right.

Childhood attachment 

It’s extremely difficult to be attracted to characters who we were emotionally attached to when we were younger. Sexualizing your parental role-model feels like chains rubbing up and down your stomach, making you want to puke. Which explains why it’s easier to imagine side-characters or newer cartoons as our metaphorical love interest’s.

“Can you feel the love tonight?” (Lion King)

A Ranking of Cartoon Dads

(I would like to preface that these are not my personal ratings, but the average of the lists I have seen online) (Animated). I agree with the top four contenders, but I am unable to decide on the hottest dad. I wish Li Shang (Mulan) or John Smith (Pocahontas) had children because they are Disney eye candy. Alas…

Wouldn’t Swipe Right: Goofy. The buck teeth, weird giggle, and fashion travesty makes Goofy a character people want to stay away from. Although he was an amazing father to Max, Goofy was integral in everyone’s childhood. 

One Date Couldn’t Hurt: Gru. Not very easy on the eyes but has a heart of gold and wallet full of cash. This man would steal anything for you, all you’d have to do was ask. 

Taking Him Home to Meet the Parents: Mr. Incredible. The true attractiveness of Mr. Incredible is his amazing personality and desire to—just kidding! Obviously, it’s the man’s muscles that make him at the middle of the list. A little too egotistical though. 

We Have a Joint Bank Account: James (Tiana’s dad). This man is gorgeous! James motivated his daughter to pursue her dreams of opening her own restaurant. Overall, a good guy, he’s just a little… dead. 

I Hear Wedding Bells: Scar. Clearly bestiality isn’t an issue amongst most people for their metaphorical husband. Scar is a bad boy because he killed his brother, which adds to his power and prowess. 

The film industry knows that looks sell, which is why attractive actors don’t always have to be real people. Our bias of beautiful faces—and bodies—being associated with positive personality traits stems from our childhood. Animation studios capitalize on this and intentionally force their artists to design hotter characters to generate revenue.

Works Cited

Alice in Wonderland. Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske. Walt Disney Pictures. 1951. 

“Animated DILF+ Tier List (Community Rankings).” TierMaker, 14 Dec. 2021, https://tiermaker.com/categories/cartoons/let-me-make-my-dilf-tier-list-604279. 

Bazzini, Doris, et al. “Do Animated Disney Characters Portray and Promote the Beauty–Goodness Stereotype?” Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Oct. 2010, https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/asu/f/Martz_2010_Do_animated_Disney_characters_orig.pdf.X.pdf. 

Gardam, Tansy. “Looking from the Outside In – Gender Representation in Animation.” 4:3, 29 Oct. 2016, https://fourthreefilm.com/2015/09/looking-from-the-outside-in-gender-representation-in-animation/. 

Jacobs, Tom. “Disney Films, Beauty Is Far from Beastly.” Pacific Standard, Pacific Standard, 5 Nov. 2010, https://psmag.com/social-justice/in-disney-films-beauty-is-far-from-beastly-25119. 

Khazan, Olga. “The Psychology of Giant Princess Eyes.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 8 May 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/11/the-psychology-of-giant-princess-eyes/281209/. 

Mulan. Directed by Barry Cook. Walt Disney Pictures. 1998. 

Pocahontas. Directed by Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg. Walt Disney Pictures. 1995.

The Lion King. Directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. Walt Disney Pictures. 1994.