Viv Groskop: Did you know Miss Piggy is really a man?

No cartoon is complete now without some ball-breaking girl who proclaims her independence

I happily got exactly what I was expecting from the new Muppets movie. The ultimate in divadom from Miss Piggy, kamikaze stunts from Gonzo. And the most crazed drumming yet from the most muppetational of Muppets, Animal, who also had the best line of the film. Jack Black: "Animal, what are you doing?" Animal, wild-eyed and foaming at the mouth: "Acting. Natural."

I also got something I was not expecting. The revelation that feminism is alive and well in Hollywood. Sort of. Trailed ahead of the film and coming soon to a screen near you: Brave, the Disney Pixar story of a Viking princess, and Mirror Mirror, featuring Snow White turned Boudicca and Julia Roberts as a super-bitchy evil queen. Hey, I didn't say it was subtle feminism. Even The Muppets: The Movie was gender-aware. Amy Adams sent up the idiot romantic lead beautifully, just as she did in Enchanted. Miss Piggy appealed to the sisterhood. And the sharp-suited, ambitious TV executive trying to shut down the show was, of course, a woman.

Children's movies now make a point of reaching out to mothers. A smart move. Because we paid for the tickets. Including £7 for an empty seat for an 18-month-old who sat on my lap throughout. Do we buy the message, though? "Just because you're a girl, it doesn't mean you can't do whatever you want." Who would disagree with that? The trend started with Mulan in 1998, a story about the only daughter of a warrior. I haven't seen Brave yet but I'm guessing it is basically Mulan with ginger hair and Scottish accents. Billy Connolly's booming tones feature heavily.

Now, no cartoon is complete without some ball-breaking girl who proclaims her independence or intelligence: the Rapunzel character in Tangled, the geek reporter girl in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, the Princess who really wants to own a restaurant in The Princess and the Frog. (Yes, that really is the plot. It is quite good.) At Toy Story 3, the audience cheered when Barbie got her revenge on Ken. I thought it was a bit unfair. He gave good outfit.

All this is to be applauded. But it also highlights a massive disconnect. You pays your money, you gets your feminism for 90 minutes. Then the credits roll and the fake world of feisty equality represented in these films collapses. All the main Muppets are voiced by the same seven men. Thirty-six star Muppets! No women! It's time to start the music and light the lights. But it is not time to let a woman voice Miss Piggy.

Mirror Mirror has a woman writer on the team but was directed by a man and exec-produced by a team of – count them – 13 men. Brave is hopeful: a woman co-director, a woman co-producer. More of this, please. In the meantime, thank you for the thought, film-makers. Maybe when you extend the effort to the names on your roll call, we can wake up from the fairy tale.

twitter.com/VivGroskop

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

For men only: A pilgrimage to Mount Athos in Greece

For men only: A pilgrimage to Mount Athos

On a secluded peninsula in north-east Greece lies an enclave that's way off the tourist map, especially for women...
48 Hours In: Faro

48 Hours In: Faro

More than just the gateway to the Algarve, this city has much to tempt you off the beach.
Here, the coast is always clear: Celebrating sixty years of Pembrokeshire's National Park

60 years of Pembrokeshire's National Park

Mick Webb reveals a land of puffins, tanks and Hollywood blockbusters.
Free Range: Meet the designers of tomorrow

Free Range

Meet the artists of the future
Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

As scientists at Rothamsted's GM trials plead with activists not to sabotage their work, Michael McCarthy visits the battle field
Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Deep in Cameroon's rainforests, poachers are killing primates for food. Evan Williams reports from Yokadouma on a practice that could create a pandemic
Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Government urged to take abuse more seriously as London study shows 41 per cent are harassed
Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Militant Tuhoe tribe members defiant amid claims race relations had been set back 100 years
Fatal crashes are cyclists' fault, says Boris

Fatal crashes are cyclists' fault, says Boris

Mayor condemned for saying that two-thirds of riders killed on the road were at fault in accidents
Move over Brangelina, this night belongs to Kingston Bagpuize

Move over Brangelina, this night belongs to Kingston Bagpuize

Unlikely community movie beats the stars to get prized Leicester Square premiere
Solved after 33 years? Case of first missing boy shown on milk carton

Solved after 33 years?

Case of first missing boy shown on milk carton
Like mamma used to make: Pizza Pilgrims is proving a word-of mouth sensation

Pizza Pilgrims: Like mamma used to make

A van dispensing purist pizzas is proving a word-of mouth sensation
The supper on its uppers: Why we need to learn to entertain lavishly for less

Supper on its uppers: Entertain lavishly for less

Dinner parties are buckling under the pressures of food snobbery and belt-tightening...
The 10 best summer cookbooks

The 10 best summer cookbooks

From Claudia Roden's The Food of Spain to The Art of Cooking with Vegetables by Alain Passard...
Gorgeous Georgian: Now we can enjoy the cuisine of Russia's fiery neighbour nearer home

Gorgeous Georgian cuisine

The food of Russia's fiery neighbour is among the world's most inventive and original