All of which brings us back to Frozen, a film that dares to have not just one, but two leading female characters, both given time to develop on screen and both given senses of humour and defining characteristics. Here, at last, we see Disney moving past the iconic, to embrace women in films as fully realised characters.
It is fair to say that a huge amount of this is down to the brilliance of Jennifer Lee, acting as both co-director and sort-of-writer (Hans Christian Anderson may have created the story, but Jennifer Lee wrote all of the best jokes). Having a woman writing female characters brings a completely different dynamic to the generic role of “Princess,” Here are young women faced with terrible choices, confronted by difficulties at every turn, who do not simply turn to the nearest man for help or companionship, even if it might seem that way for a while. They are not waiting around for a charming prince to rescue them, they are getting on their horses and are damn well rescuing themselves. Which, if you are a young girl, bombarded with female images in the media, must make a refreshing change.
However, this is more than just a female story, as shown by the staggering amount of money it has taken in around the world. This is a story that speaks to universal themes of love and sacrifice, and anyone, regardless of race or gender or age, can buy into that. Evidently, they have been, and that has led to the movie raking in the money across the globe.
What should be remembered is that if you create great stories, with relatable characters and talking snowmen, then audiences of all genders will go to the cinema, and that greatly increases your demographic.
In the end, sad as it is to say, that is what will sway the major studios. More than a century of female liberation will have had less effect on the minds of those at the top of the film industry than a great bottom line will. However they come to this understanding, it is vitally important to see one of the largest and most profitable businesses in the world starting to take women more seriously both in front of and behind the camera.
There is still a long way to go, and as optimistic as I am, it is always galling to see women discussed in films as props or sex objects. What we can at least see with the success of Frozen is that there is a worldwide audience for the kind of story that was previously considered the remit of only little girls, and that must surely lead to a change in the way that films are made and who they are made for. It has taken a long time, but films might be able to lead mass media in depicting women outside of their conventional boundaries, and start challenging the pre-conceived notions of what female characters do on screen.  As one of the great male heroes of cinema might say, “Welcome to the party, pal.”
