Princess Clara is a main character in the animated series Drawn Together and the series finale The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie!. She is one of the eight housemates who are the focus of the show. Princess Clara is labeled as a musical and bigoted fairytale princess. She is voiced by Tara Strong.
Biography[]
Princess Clara is a parody of Disney princesses (mostly Ariel from The Little Mermaid and Belle from Beauty and the Beast). Most of her humor revolves around her bigotry, gullibility, stupidity and religious fanaticism. Among reality show archetypes, she represents the sheltered rich girl. According to creators Jeser and Silverstein, they partially based Clara on The Real World: New Orleans' Julie Stoffer, a Mormon who had little experience dealing with gay people or people of other cultures and who tended to make offensive remarks without realizing it. Originally, while Clara was portrayed as being bigoted, she never seemed to be genuinely and completely hateful. For example, she seemed to get along with both Foxxy and Xandir despite being bigoted and homophobic, and acted surprised and confused when they were offended by her behavior, as well as having a brother-sister relationship with Wooldoor. She often clashes with (and loses to) Foxxy due to her bigotry, though she sees her as one of her best friends. Usually, Foxxy returns the same feeling, until she makes more bigoted remarks towards her. However, later episodes show her as harsh, strident, fundamentalist and intolerant. Concerned solely with crusading against sinfulness, her desire to quench sin is so strong that she shows no concern for the happiness or well-being of others. In "Foxxy VS the Board of Education", she vows to stop Spanky's gay marriage to Xandir despite Spanky's life being in danger without the insurance Xandir can provide. In "Clum Babies", she crusades against both Wooldoor's masturbation and the use of the Clum Babies to heal the sick despite the number of lives being saved and diseases being cured, but ultimately, and hypocritically, disguises herself in an attempt to procure a Clum Baby to cure her tuberculosis. On her behavior in this episode, executive producer Freiberger stated, "Clara's attitude about it all is completely in character for her as a character and for her as a symbol of the religious right. She's definitely a meat eater as we've seen in the past and she's not above killing animals. She is against harming embryos no matter how much good it will do for the living unless it benefits her directly. In that instance, she's more than willing to be a hypocrite to save her own life." Clara's vagina was originally a tentacled monster called the Octopussoir due to a curse by her wicked stepmother, but after multiple labioplasties became the Vajoana, who she likes to expose and allow to talk. Executive Producer Bill Freiberger has stated, when discussing Clara's behavior in "Spelling Applebee's", "While Clara is sometimes misguided out of ignorance or naïveté she is also very often misguided because she is a selfish, spoiled princess (figuratively and literally)." Because of her beliefs and bigotry, Clara is a frequent recipient of physical violence at the hands of the other housemates. For the most part, Clara is unaware that she is being offensive to others; her beliefs were instilled into her by her father. Throughout the first half of Season Three, Clara begins a dark, downward spiral, reaching her lowest point in "Lost in Parking Space"; believing that the Rapture had come and left her behind, Clara sells her soul to a delivery driver whom she believes to be Satan and dedicates herself to hurting others, ultimately becoming a torturer. However, when she discovers that her first victim is Foxxy, she realizes her mistake and rededicates her life to God, becoming a much kinder and sympathetic individual. In "Ghostesses in the Slot Machine", she is revealed to have a strong Electra complex towards her father, originated from him preferring to be with strippers rather than her, which causes her to have simulated lesbian sex with Foxxy in front of him. In original artwork before the show's release, Clara was originally drawn as a blonde, with a different dress and a lighter skin tone.
Appearance[]
Clara has long, brownish, voluminously straight (not bone-straight or pin-straight) hair and dark blue eyes. Her outfit mostly consists of a purple dress with a very pale purple skirt, choker, a very pale purplish-white crown, and purple high heels, accessorized by white earrings. In old artwork before the show's release, Clara was originally drawn as a blonde, with a different dress and a lighter skin tone.[1]
Personality[]
Clara represents a stereotypical upper class WASP, and is insensitive toward other culturas and those less fortunate than her. She is also very anti-Semitic, which is ironic considering her voice actress is Jewish. In this manner, Clara often acts as the (also Jewish) producers' vehicle for Jewish humor on the show. Though she makes the occasional spiteful comment, on the whole, she doesn't seem to hate or look down on people of other communities and countries, but she cannot seem to let go of the stereotypes she holds; for the most part she is completely unaware that she is being bigoted. The episode "Hot Tub" suggests that these beliefs were ingrained in her by her father. Later episodes have furthered the notion that Clara maintains these attitudes because she is simply behind the times, and has yet to recognize the social advances recent years have brought. She overcomes her prejudice to form a friendship with Foxxy Love, though her repeated mention of stereotypes sometimes puts a strain on that friendship. In the first season, Clara's racism was the source of most of the character's humor; however, beginning in the second season, her bigotry and xenophobic tendencies would be largely de-emphasized, and instead, Clara's narrow and unbending religious views would become the character's driving force. (See Religion below.)
Though she is tolerant and supportive of her gay housemate Xandir (though at one point, when he was suicidal, she encouraged him to kill himself), Clara is also severely homophobic, her homophobia being the product of her conservative religious views. Ironically, Clara herself exhibited bisexual/demisexual behavior at the very beginning of the series, though she does not seem to realize the implications of this (or realizes but is in denial). She is in a state of bliss after Foxxy Love kisses her in "Hot Tub". However, it becomes apparent that Clara is not actually bisexual herself; she was simply caught up in the moment because it was her first kiss, and did not yet understand the importance of gender roles in the romantic process, a fact the second episode makes clear. In that episode, after learning the differences between men and women, Clara begins seeking love with the opposite sex. To date, there have been no further serious implications of bisexuality on Clara's part. The show has featured occasional references to the hot tub kiss; in "Ghostesses in the Slot Machine", she performs an erotic dance with Foxxy Love as part of a strip show, and in "Charlotte's Web of Lies", she and Foxxy are seen getting frisky in the hot tub before they are killed by Captain Hero. However, in the former instance, Clara is simply trying to make her father notice her, and the latter instance is simply part of a running gag where the women of the house act wild whenever the men are not around.
Near the end of Season One, in what Foxxy called a case of "Daddy's Girl falling for the Bad Boy", Clara begins a quasi-relationship with Spanky Ham, though the relationship would prove to be short-lived. Though it has not been indicated there has been any activity between them, Clara's father, The King, behaves in such a way as to suggest he possesses sexual feelings for her. Clara doesn't seem to notice these feelings, equating his leering with paternal love. She is also extremely naïve when it comes to sex; after her lesbian kiss with Foxxy, she believes she is pregnant, and it takes a sex ed lesson from Foxxy to make her realize she cannot become pregnant by kissing someone. Clara is the least promiscuous of the eight housemates (in the movie, she mentions that she is still a virgin), and the only one who seems to possess any sense of modesty about his or her body. In Season One, it was suggested that this was because of her character's innocence (and her unusual vagina situation), but as the series has progressed, her religious nature has also become a significant factor.
Aside from her prejudices, Clara is usually depicted as a very warm and caring person with a genuine love for most living creatures. She occasionally shows a quick temper and fits of anger, though these outbursts are seldom long in duration. Though she is frequently guilty of insensitivity and closed-mindedness, she usually realizes when she is wrong about something, and always tries to make amends. Clara is often characterized as being well-educated and sophisticated, but lacking in common sense. In this regard, she is the complete opposite of Foxxy Love, who is unsophisticated and poorly educated, but with a great deal of common sense and practical wisdom.
Clara's darker side[]
While the first episode of the series designates Toot as the house's "bitch" character, that designation has begun to shift to Clara over time. While Toot is portrayed in Season Three as more sympathetic and less malicious, Clara's darker personality traits have begun to take on greater prominence than her positive personality traits.
Originally, while Clara was portrayed as being extremely bigoted, she never seemed to be genuinely hateful; for example, she seemed to get along with both Foxxy and Xandir despite being both racist and homophobic, and acted surprised and confused when they were offended by her behavior. However, later episodes have her as harsh, strident, and intolerant; concerned solely with crusading against sinfulness, her desire to quench sin is so strong that she shows no concern for the happiness or well-being of others. In "Foxxy vs. the Board of Education", she vows to stop Spanky's gay marriage to Xandir despite Spanky's life being in danger without the insurance Xandir can provide. In "Clum Babies", she crusades against both Wooldoor's masturbation and the use of the Clum Babies to heal the sick despite the number of lives that are being saved and diseases that are being cured, but ultimately, and hypocritically, disguises herself in an attempt to procure a Clum Baby to cure her tuberculosis. On her behavior in this episode, Executive Producer Bill Freiberger stated, "Clara's attitude about it all is completely in character for her as a character and for her as a symbol of the religious right. She's definitely a meat eater as we've seen in the past. And she's not above killing animals. But she is against harming embryos no matter how much good it will do for the living... unless it benefits her directly, then she's more than willing to be a hypocrite to save her own life."[2]
This version of the Clara character is used to satirize the right wing conservative Christian side of society; thus, Clara goes into evangelical mode whenever that angle is needed for a story. To this purpose, she serves as the villain in these episodes, trying to foil whatever she objects to. In fact in some episodes, she is depicted as having witch-like powers (most notably the ability to teleport in a flash of black smoke).
In the episode "Ghostesses in the Slot Machine", Clara seems to be aware of how her behavior comes across to others, and she wants to let everyone know this is not all there is to her character. In that episode, when Foxxy thinks she plans to object to exotic dancing, Foxxy sarcastically says, "I know, there's probably something in the Bible about 'Thou shalt not grind thou's coochie into thy neighbor's boner tent,'" to which Clara responds, "You have me all wrong - I'm more than just the same joke over and over! You're thinking of Toot." (in reference to her weight) Clara even parodies this aspect of her own character in the episode '"Wooldoor Sockbat's Giggle-Wiggle Funny Tickle Non-Traditional Progressive Multicultural Roundtable!" Convinced that Wooldoor's new children's show will turn the world gay (a charge which turns out to be accurate), she angrily bursts onto the set of Wooldoor's show and shrieks, "What in the name of one-dimensional characters and predictable reactions is going on here?"
In the third season, Clara's characterization took on a decidedly negative turn. For several consecutive episodes at the beginning of the season, Clara was shown treating her housemates quite harshly. In the past, Clara had been sweet on the surface and insulted people mainly through ignorance. In Season Three, however, she was shown behaving with actual malice and spite. Additionally in the first two seasons, whenever Clara behaved badly toward one of the other housemates, she was usually allowed to realize she was wrong and given the chance to make amends; however, in Season Three, she shows little or no remorse for her behavior, and her character receives no real redemption. In "Spelling Applebee's", she coldly manipulates Captain Hero into satisfying her sexual fetish for car crashes, realizing--but not caring--that he actually has real feelings for her. However, she is overcome with grief after her closest friends are killed in one of the crashes; Hero states he did it to "teach [her] a lesson," but it was obviously revenge-based punishment. (See the "Spelling Applebee's" article for Executive Producer Bill Freiberger's explanation on her character there). In "Unrestrainable Trainable," she mistakes Wooldoor for a Jew and pushes him into the pool in order to baptize him. When Wooldoor contracts hypothermia, Clara expresses obvious annoyance for being forced to take care of him, despite having played a big sister role to him in earlier episodes, and despite the fact that his condition is her fault to begin with. When she begins receiving accolades for taking care of him, Clara develops Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy and deliberately keeps him sick and/or injured in order to keep him in her care; when he later confronts her about this, Clara becomes remorseful and promises to make amends, but then has him step into a bear trap while she is helping him recover. In "N.R.A.y RAY", she spitefully insults Toot seemingly for no reason, interrupting Toot's happy mood to say, "What are you so happy about, do you know how fat you are?" (However, it should be noted that most of the other housemates treat Toot very poorly as well, often making cruel comments about her weight.)
No specific explanation is given for this trend in Clara's behavior, though the episode "Unrestrainable Trainable" gives some possible insight into Clara's mindset on the issue. When her housemates first begin praising her for taking such good care of Wooldoor, a surprised Clara exclaims, "Gosh, my roommates always hated me." This seemingly indicates some ongoing tension between Clara and her housemates that the show never fully explores.
Clara hits her lowest point in the episode "Lost in Parking Space, Part One". In that episode, Clara, believing that the Rapture came and left her behind, signs away her soul to a man she believes to be Satan (though he is actually a delivery driver who merely wants her to sign for a package). Shortly after doing so, she embraces the dark side and rededicates her life to hurting others. She goes on a murderous rampage through a sanctuary for handicapped people, then, craving chocolate, heads for the mall. There she encounters a torture enterprise (similar to the film Hostel) and eagerly takes part in it. However, when her would-be victim turns out to be Foxxy Love, Clara realizes the mistake she made, and after rededicating her life to God, helps Foxxy escape. For the rest of the season, the darker elements that dominated Clara's portrayal in the first half of the season are gone. Clara becomes much nicer than she had been previously, and behaves with genuine concern for her housemates' happiness and well-being, suggesting that the ordeal Clara went through may have been a real turning point for her character.
Behind the scenes[]
- Princess Clara is a parody on Ariel from The Little Mermaid. Ironically, she is also voiced by Tara Strong who did the voice of Melody from that very movie, she also has an Ariel-based hairstyle.
- She is also hinted to be a parody of Snow White from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs from Disney, due to her gorgeous singing voice, but Aurora, the Sleeping Beauty also had a voice that could call animals and so did Cinderella, so she is a mixture-combination parody of all of them!
- She is the first person in Drawn Together history to use the confessional.
- It is ironic that Clara hates Jewish people due to the fact that her voice actress is Jewish.
- She was completely ignorant of how sex works until Foxxy taught her in the second episode.
- Strangely, the inside of her vagina resembles a garbage truck tank. It is unknown whether this was result of the curse her stepmother put on her genitalia or if it was just like that by birth.
- Although Clara is homophobic, she was temporarily a lesbian in the episode "Hot Tub."
- In the episode "Requiem for a Reality Show," Clara sang a song which made a bunch of forest animals come out and dance with her, meaning that she is not only a parody on Ariel, but also Snow White.
- In the episode "The Other Cousin," it was revealed that Clara had a mentally challenged cousin.
- Clara was very ashamed of her cousin which could imply that her cousin is an ableist, adding more intolerance to Clara's xenophobic character.
- She is the only character who is drawn without an outline.
- In ''Dirty Pranking No. 2,'' Clara started a relationship with Spanky Ham. This relationship would last until Foxxy vs. the Board of Education where Spanky broke up with Clara to get married to Xandir.
- In the episode ''Foxxy vs. the Board of Education,'' it was revealed that she was a member of the KKK.
- Clara's Octopussoir showed that the was gay which is ironic due to the fact that Clara is homophobic.
- Her name Clara might be a pun on or reference to Klara Hitler.
- Clara is clearly a strongly homophobic woman, but on countless occasions has she expressed sexual attractions for Foxxy. She temporarily became a lesbian she she made out with her in "Hot Tub" and she made out with her once again in "Ghostesses in the Slot Machine". She was also seen coveting with her in the shower in "Terms of Endearment" and again in the hot tub in the episode "Charlotte's Web of Lies". In "The One Wherein There Is a Big Twist, Part II", she was in a big pile of naked with the other housemates, which included two other girls and she was seen near of Foxxy ,turn Foxxy sucks foot xander. The best answer for all of this, is that Clara is maybe demisexual (only occasionally) and she chooses to deny the urges of her homosexual side for her religion.
- In the episode Alzheimer's That Ends Well, Clara removed her Octopussior and had it replaced with a new vagina that was a parody on Joan Rivers called the Vajoana.
- This would later be denied in the American Idol Parody Clip Show when Clara's Octopussior was seen attached to her body again during the reprise of La-la-la-la Labia. It can be said that one of these moments was a gag, but it is unknown which one.
- Clara had no spoken dialogue in The Drawn Together Clip Show (not counting clips, or booing at Xandir) and Breakfast Food Killer.
- In the episode Spelling Applebee's, it was revealed that Clara had a car crash fetish.