Minnie and the Green M&M will more than likely change in the years to come, and a once hip generation will mourn.
The Walt Disney Company has decided to bring Minnie Mouse’s clothes “up-to-date” with a new pantsuit designed by Stella McCartney. What would seem to be an innocuous decision has, in some quarters, drawn anger. Check out this world’s longest headline from The Daily Mail:
Outrage as Disney debuts woke new look for Minnie Mouse, ditching iconic red dress in favor of a ‘progressive’ blue, sustainable pantsuit designed by Stella McCartney – after vowing to take ‘new approach’ to Snow White remake
“Outrage as Disney debuts woke new look for Minnie Mouse, ditching iconic red dress in favor of a ‘progressive’ blue, sustainable pantsuit designed by Stella McCartney – after vowing to take ‘new approach’ to Snow White remake,” Lisslian Gisssen, The Daily Mail, January 27, 2022
Outrage? Outrage over Minnie Mouse? Let’s face it, Minnie has never been a fashionista. That polka dot dress and flower pot hat are cute, but not because they made her look stylish. Yet, it was a look, and the change to a pantsuit is hardly sufficient to cause outrage…or is it?
Minnie is not the only anthropomorphic character taking heat. The knives are out over the decision to cool down some of the Green M&M’s sexiness. Gone are the high heels, replaced by tennis shoes. Her pose, once provocative (one hand on her head, the other hand on her hip), is now rather sedate. And her legs, once a peachy skin tone, are now white.
Here is what I think: When we are young, the world around us appears to be fixed. As we get older and things change (an M&M gets less sexy or Minnie Mouse wears pants), we feel a sense of alarm as if the world is changing right under our feet. What was fashionable in our youth is now passé, outdated, and old-fashioned. We want our world back. So does every generation whose sense of style is cast aside for something new and seemingly strange.
Minnie and the Green M&M will more than likely change in the years to come, and a once hip generation will mourn. Until then, accept the new Minnie and Green M&M. They are not meant for you.
Perhaps it would have gone over better, had the pantsuit not been so unattractive. (No offense to Stella McCartney). No one minds characters evolving and updating, but this one was a dud, in my humble opinion.