Is there a method to naming Disney characters?
After reading many articles that analyze Disney movies, it has become apparent to me that there is a method behind the naming of Disney's characters. For example, in his article "The Strange Case of The Princess and the Frog: Passing and the Elision of Race," Ajay Gehlawat writes that "Naveen," the name of the prince from Maldonia, means "new" in Hindi (Gehlawat 423). While to me this seems like just a coincidence, Gehlawat believes that this double meaning "would technically make him Disney's "new prince" (Gehlawat 423). However, there are many other characters whose names sport double meanings. The article "Disney Character Names with Meaning" from the official Disney blog gives a list of some Disney characters along with the double meaning of their name. This list includes Simba, whose name means lion in Swahili; Lumiere, whose name means light in French; Rafiki, whose name means friend in Swahili; Belle, whose name means beautiful in French; LeFou, which means fool in French; Flotsam and Jetsam (the eels from The Little Mermaid), which is an English phrase referring to the "floating wreckage of a ship."
While the double meanings of these names are very logical in that they reflect the character, they are very uncreative. For a company that is a hub of imagination, I would hope for a little more fun and originality. Perhaps they don't spend much time brainstorming creative names because many people don't time looking into them, but I don't think this is any excuse for a company that prides itself on creativity and ingenuity. I would like to see Disney try a little harder and have more fun in naming the characters of their future movies.
Thanks for sharing this article, Sierra! It was definitely interesting and fun to look through the various Disney names and their true meanings. I also did not know that Disney had official blogs, so I will definitely be keeping tabs on these in the future.
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing this out, Sierra! I'd always loved the character names Flotsam and Jetsam, but I never realized there was a hidden meaning behind them. I always enjoy learning about hidden meanings behind the Disney films/characters. For instance, did you know that Pascal in "Tangled" was created because one of the animators for the movie had recently bought a pet chameleon that she named 'Pascal'? Also, although I agree with you that Disney should maybe try a bit harder to come up with completely original names, I believe that names with hidden meanings are far better than character that have names like Flit from "Pocahontas" because the character literally flits around.
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