Link (Archive)
This Illustrator Has Been Drawing Female Disney Characters With Fuller Body Types And It's Refreshing To See
Twenty-four-year-old Wyethe Smallishhas been drawing all her life. "I come from a family of illustrators, so you could say it’s in my blood! I am currently in art school, specifically at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. My area of study is illustration and communication design," she told BuzzFeed.
And Wyethe caught the attention of millions of people after she started reimagining Disney characters with fuller figures.
Wyethe's slight alterations are making women realize just how much society has molded their idea of what their bodies should look like.
And it's been a sad reality to look back on how much TV and movies have influenced young girls.
"Like many people, I have struggled with self-image and disordered eating, probably from as early as 10 years old. I have been using my art to learn to love my body just the way it is," Wyethe said. "I started with Cinderella, and once I had her drawn, I had an unexpected emotional response. I felt this sense of comfort and she felt so real to me. It would have made a huge impact on me as a young girl to see Cinderella with a proportionate waist and fuller arms!"
After drawing Cinderella and connecting with nearly 3 million people through the video, Wyethe started drawing more, like Sleeping Beauty.
One commenter wrote, "I was going to say something about plus size representation, but honestly this is just an average size! Disney just makes us feel like medium is large."
Here's her interpretation of Jasmine:
Putting the images side by side really allows you to see how much slight alterations make the characters seem more realistic.
Here's her version of Ariel:
"When only one body type is accepted as the norm, we pick out the special qualities that make us all different and we start to look negatively upon them. Including variation in body representation — it is [essential] to healing inner self-image," Wyethe said.
And Tiana:
Wyethe believes movies and cartoons have an enormous impact in shaping our minds, especially when we are young. "Having this representation can hopefully begin to heal our inner child," she said.
Here's Mulan:
She gave her more defined muscles in this drawing:
Here's Rapunzel:
"Thousands and thousands of people commenting about how this 'healed' them, made them cry tears of joy! People saying how they wished this is how it had been when they were little really touched my heart and motivates me to keep making more," Wyethe said.
Let's move on to Belle:
And Megara:
Lastly, we have Elsa:
I am LIVING for them all!
If you want to see more of Wyethe's work, you can visit her website or follow her on TikTok and Instagram!
