Disney Pulls 'Sexy Merida' From Website, Sticks to Original Character
Disney quietly responded to a petition and outcry over the change of one of its female characters, Merida, by pulling the new, "sexier" image from the shelves. Disney will now feature the original Merida that many fans loved, making the general public, and Merida's creator, satisfied.
Merida was officially made a Disney princess on Saturday, and Disney prepared her by changing her physical features a bit and adding sparkle to her clothing. Yet the public quickly became outraged and called for Disney to leave the character alone and stick to her more natural look; creator Brenda Chapman added to that call and even called Disney herself to ask for the changes to be revoked.
"I think it's great that they've taken that image off of their Princess site, but I believe it is still on their other sites world wide," Chapman wrote in an email to The Independent Journal. "And I will stay dubious until they give an official statement about changing the image to match the original version of Merida. All that said, the move to remove the sexed up Merida from their U.S. site gives me some hope."
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A petition calling for Merida's makeover to be undone received over 200,000 signatures and begged for Merida's original look back.
"Merida is an empowering role model who speaks to girls' capacity to be change agents in the world rather than just trophies to be admired. Merida was the princess that countless girls and their parents were waiting for – a strong, confident, self-rescuing princess ready to set off on her next adventure with her bow at the ready," the petition read.
"She was a princess who looked like a real girl, complete with the 'imperfections' that all people have. This new Merida is a paler reflection of her former self without the spark and the 'you go girl' quality that her creator intended," it continued. "We ask you to keep Merida Brave!"
