Yesterday the kids and I watched Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. It’s a cute 2-D movie featuring Buzz Lightyear in full space ranger mode, fighting Zurg and setting the galaxy to rights.
In the film, Buzz gets a new partner in Mira Nova, an alien princess who can fly, move through walls, and snap a one-liner like a wet towel:
She’s voiced by Nicole Sullivan, and she is cool beans.
Partway through the movie, Little Miss Sunshine says:
“What is the princess doing?”
Me: “They are fighting the bad guys. The space rangers are good and they are fighting Zurg.”
She: “But, she’s a princess.”
Me: “Yes, and also a space ranger.”
She: “But, princesses can’t fight. She might get hurt! She should just watch.”
MOTHER. OF. GOD.
Memo to self: Force a viewing Buzz Lightyear of Star Command every single day, until the Disney Princess brainwashing is reversed.
AS LONG AS IT TAKES. Good grief.
TurtleHead 
my daughter who is also a lover of princesses calls herself Cake the self rescuing princess (after a shirt she got for christmas last year) she warms my heart every time she says this!! Ha!!
Heh – interesting how your perspective on a movie changes when you have boys instead of girls.
We discovered this a few weeks ago. The kids liked it well enough but it didn’t really stick with them. What stuck out for me was the sidekick, voiced by the unmistakeable Diedrich Baber. But all in all, it was kind of forgettable (and I’m not immune to the charms of kids’ TV and movies…).
Oh, I should watch this – my 5yo’s favourite thing in Disneyland was the Buzz Lightyear ride. We haven’t even watched Toy Story in this house, due to super sensitive kids…
Our kids are sensitive too – we started then out on Toy Story 2, it is the most gentle. Gentleist? Gentlist? English is hard.
Funny, I never picked up on the differences between the various Toy Storys (in terms of which ones were more difficult for the kids to watch) but anecdotally, we watched Toy Story 2 for ages and rarely watched Toy Story – maybe our kids found it gentler too?
(FWIW “more gentle” is what you want there; you might be able to argue for “gentlest”, but probably not “gentlist”.)
Gah! Get her to watch Mulan, too. She’s kick-ass.
GREAT idea. I adore Mulan. We are off to the video store today!
I remember you commenting once that this was not a very good movie, and I actually think it’s not bad. Obviously it pales compared to the original.
Nicole Sullivan rocks as always. The kids watched it frequently for a week or two, and now it’s collecting dust waiting to be returned to the library.
Did I really say that? I’m not going to deny that, but apparently after 50+ viewings it has grown on me. Zurg in particular has been known to make me giggle, and that XR really cracks me up (Buzz: “This is a message for the three most talented cadets to ever come out of the academy…” XR, standing with the other two cadets: “That’s me and two others!”).
It’s definitely a lesser film but a must for all Buzz Lightyear OBSESSIVES, of which the Captain is one.
Yeah, ain’t it great what comes out of the little princesses’ mouths? The first time Eve saw Enchanted she was disapointed that Giselle got together with Patrick Dempsey instead of the prince. Cue the visual of my head exploding while trying to explain how COMPLETELY SHE MISSED THE POINT. We expect them to get it and sometimes…they just don’t. She’s much better now.
hahahaha!
hmmm. strong female character but still interesting for the jellybean. must find this movie.
Wow,Lynn this has to be one of my favourite posts of yours! Hats off to all the mothers of girls out there, having to deal with this issue. Yes, Virginia, you can be a Princess and a Space Ranger too! Gloria Steinham would be so proud.
This is why my 3 1/2 year old daughter hasn’t been introduced to the Disney Princesses yet. She also hasn’t seen any full-length animated movies yet (also a sensitive one here … I showed her the animated short movie of Stellaluna and she gets anxious about it). I’m actually anxious about her starting Kindergarten because I know I’ll lose control over what she’s exposed to. In teh meantime, we’re trying to build up her exposure to good female characters through stories.
Maybe it’s time to introduce Little Miss to She-Ra!
Aside from the clothes, I love having only boys.
The lack of strong female characters in movies and literature would be a real problem for me. We’ve been reading fairy tales lately in our house and I have to keep reminding the boys that this isn’t real and that princesses are often the ones to choose the prince.
You need Robert Munch’s “The Paperbag Princess”. 🙂
Heh – totally. That is a fine role-model princess.