Keira Knightley: 'Why my daughter won't watch Disney films'

Keira Knightley has banned her three-year-old daughter Edie from watching certain Disney classics. Photo / AP

Keira Knightley might be starring in the latest big budget Disney movie, but that doesn't mean she's going to tow the company line.

The actress made a surprising admission during a recent interview on The Ellen Show, telling host Ellen DeGeneres that she's banned her three-year-old daughter Edie from watching certain Disney classics because she thinks they'll send bad messages to the impressionable toddler.

"Cinderella: banned. because she waits around for a rich guy to rescue her. Don't! Rescue yourself, obviously," she said of the 1950 Disney film.

She didn't end there: 1989's The Little Mermaid is also on the banned list.

"This is the one that I'm quite annoyed about because I really like the film … I mean, the songs are great, but do not give your voice up for a man, HELLO," she said.

"I love The Little Mermaid, so that's a tricky one, but I'm keeping to it. She is, however, allowed to (watch) — (Finding) Dory is a big favourite in our house. Frozen is huge; Moana is totally fine. There are some great ones."

We're sure her employers at Disney will be relieved to hear that: Knightley was on The Ellen Show to promote her starring appearance as the Sugar Plum Fairy in the upcoming live action blockbuster, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.

Disney classics aren't the only targets the outspoken star has had in her sights recently: Earlier this month she blasted Kate Middleton's "perfect" post-birth appearance.

She said Kate's perfectly made-up appearance as she left hospital just hours after giving birth to Princess Charlotte in 2015, one day after Keira had Edie, is a far cry from reality.

In her essay "The Weaker Sex", which appears in the collection Feminists Don't Wear Pink (And Other Lies), Keira wrote: "We stand and watch the TV screen.

"[Kate] was out of hospital seven hours later with her face made up and high heels on. The face the world wants to see.

"Hide. Hide our pain, our bodies splitting, our breasts leaking, our hormones raging.

"Look beautiful. Look stylish, don't show your battleground, Kate. Seven hours after your fight with life and death, seven hours after your body breaks open, and bloody, screaming life comes out.