Becoming a face character

With the Disney theme parks being a major part of their income, Disney need to keep the magic up through use of the characters from their films. They have many different types of characters - fur characters or 'fuzzies' (masked characters such as Minnie Mouse and Chip & Dale), dancers and face character (who play people such as Cinderella or Peter Pan).

Auditions include (from my research) the auditionees being assessed on their looks and figures. To be a Disney princess you have to be a certain height (5'5") otherwise you are not considered. I read somewhere that fairies such as Tinkerbell could be 5'1" but then when I looked into this further and read peoples own accounts, most people seemed to be rejected unless they were 5'5" and above. I've seen that most girls who are chosen as princesses have to have an 'average' face due to the fact that lots of girls will play this role over the years, however beauty is still needed. 

"So how do you become a face character? Well, let’s start with the audition. Hundreds of girls, hoping to move out of fur character “hell” or just hoping to play more face characters, show up. This audition is based purely on looks. The judges/managers look at your height (villains are 5’7’’ to 5’10’’, princesses are 5’5’’ to 5’7’’, and little girls are 5’0’’ to 5’4’’), your body type (no heavy girls), ethnicity, face structure (a good shape with no acne), and how much you look like one of the animated characters. You’re pulled into a room and have to stand in a straight line with about ten other girls. The judges look at you one by one and ask you to show your left and right profiles followed by a head-on smile. They point and talk about you, trying to compare you to pictures of animated characters that they have on a desk in front of them. Finally they tell you which characters, if any, they want you to come back and audition for." Andrea Schwartz (source)

This shows how not only do Disney present a certain message to girls through films, but also through visits to the park. A young girl who meets Cinderell - a beautiful, slim blonde haired princess - is naturally going to aspire to be her even more as seems real and possible.