Malaysian artist creates artwork of 17 Disney princesses wearing traditional costumes including from Singapore, Brunei

PETALING JAYA, February 10 — A freelance artist’s passion for learning local cultures and watching Disney princess movies resulted in her creating animated drawings of the characters.

The unique thing about it is that she has reimagined the Disney princesses wearing intricately-designed local costumes.

Farah Lina Mohamad Noor Daim from Kuala Kangsar added details into their traditional costumes that are in accordance with the local costumes of Malaysia’s 13 states and of Singapore and Brunei’s local attire.

“Anna, the first Disney princess I drew, is wearing a green Kebaya Perlis with intricate designs.

“That same green colour was seen when she wore her green gown during her auguration as Queen of Arendelle.

“But she identifies with the Perlis state because just like Arendelle which is a small kingdom yet powerful, Perlis is a small state and yet it is flourishing and doing well.”

Farah Lina, 35, added that the whole process from identifying each state’s local dress to conceptualising the Disney princesses and their local attires took about three months.

Farah Lina said that while local dresses were used for the Disney princesses, the colours and patterns of their attire were based on their movies. — Picture courtesy via Farah Lina

“The most important aspect was for people to identify the Disney princesses and that for me is a measure of success of my animated drawings.

“That was why I had to choose which poses and angles were suitable for them too before deciding how the costumes would match their figures and styles.”

She added that Rapunzel, whose purple dress is a familiar sight, was adapted into a purple Baju Melayu — a traditional costume for women that consists of a top and pants with a matching waist wrap.

“My drawing of Rapunzel in the Baju Melayu also shows her waist wrap with the sun crest that is also seen in the Kingdom of Corona in the movie Tangled.”

She also incorporated the Malaysian Indian and Chinese communities’ traditional attire worn by Princess Jasmine and Mulan wearing the saree and the kebaya with the Chinese collar blouse.

“I am blessed to live in a multicultural country where I can learn about the cultures of other races and also know about their attire and design them according to their styles.

“And for Singapore’s local wear, I chose the Nyonya kebaya with the same blue and yellow that resembled Snow White’s iconic blue and yellow dress.

“Indeed, Snow White turned out beautiful especially with the red ribbon around her hair and yellow shoes that just weaved in so well with her character and style.”

Farah Lina added there was a lot for Malaysians to read about and discover about their history and folklore. 

“There is so much to learn and we have the opportunity as Malaysians because we live in a multicultural country, so why not take the extra initiative to read up and learn more about it?” she said.

Farah Lina completed her drawings two days ago and the post on Facebook has been liked by over 1,800 users.