I watched part of Disney's The Road to El Dorado last night; it's sort of The Man Who Would Be King for 5-year-olds. It was pretty funny -- clearly made with parents in mind -- and I was pleased to see that the female lead is smart and independent; indeed, she's the savviest character, saving the buffoonish men over and over again.

I was disappointed, however, that the visual representation of Disney's female leads hasn't changed since The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin ... Honestly, do they use the same model for all of the leading women? Her exaggerated hourglass body is identical from film to film; only the shape of her eyes and the color of her skin and hair change, to indicate her ethnicity.

On top of that annoyance, I couldn't believe how the woman in El Dorado was dressed. Her clothes were as skimpy and revealing as those of the female "props" in hip-hop videos: a little strapless tube top, and a skirt/loincloth combo slit up to the hips on the sides. I honestly found it distracting, and so did the 5-year-old boy watching with me. "She's not wearing any underpants!" he cried, and, well, none of the grownups could deny it. If she had been, we certainly would have been able to see them.