
When Grindle was working on the first “Incredibles” film as a simulation manager focusing on the way clothes looked on the characters, she used her own body to inform the character.

On “Incredibles 2,” filmmakers inadvertently made a different kind of statement, that Elastigirl’s curvy body is beautiful. But after there was backlash including a petition begging Disney to take down the sexier Merida image because it sends young girls a negative message, the new Merida images were removed from the Disney site. "With 'Brave' there was a whole (national) conversation about her body shape," says Alicia Malone, author of "Backwards & in Heels: The Past, Present and Future of Women Working in Film." "They changed Merida to look like other princesses," she said. But then Disney temporarily gave the character a glammed-up marketing makeover online, with a skinnier waist and makeup, as part of her induction into the “Disney Princesses” collection. “Brave” featured wild-haired archer Princess Merida whose central conflict was with her parents and not with a man. But before that, in 2012, there was a tomboy heroine who became controversial. On the plus side, "Moana" is brave and strong, and "Frozen" features sisters whose central relationship is with each other. Elastigirl is a far cry from the rail-thin and one-dimensional Disney princesses of yesteryear that include a "Little Mermaid" who literally gave up her voice and changed her body for a man.ĭisney Pixar has had mixed results in its quest toward embracing women's dimensions in animation.

Sure, she does have a minuscule waist as part of her unrealistic, caricatured look but the fact that Disney has welcomed- and the public has embraced- Elastigirl's curvy bodytype and natural-born-leader attitude (there's even a social-justice "Elastigirl Persists" Twitter account) shows a step in the right direction toward female inclusion onscreen. The capable Elastigirl is notable for being the female protagonist of an action-movie film and yes, for her thighs and booty. It’s a word that has been approvingly used to describe Rihanna (“Thiccana”), and stars including Kim Kardashian and Christina Hendricks.Īnd now it describes an animated mother of three who skillfully drives a motorbike, flies a plane and devotes herself to her family. Indeed, “thicc” has become Internet-speak for having a voluptuous lower body.
