A couple of thoughts as to the gender thing...1) sometimes kids just gravitate towards specific toys/characters.
For example, I love nature and spent tons of time trying to get my boys into animals (right up until probably 2nd grade with each of them) - we had sets of both domesticated and wild animals of varying sizes for them to play with, including corrals, etc. I even bought a complete set of dinosaurs hoping that would help... Nope. Neither of my sons has ever been interested in playing with toy animals or dinosaurs. Real animals? Sure. Toy ones...not even 1 hour of play-time (unless it was a stuffie tied to a specific vacation or attraction visit).
Now, put something - ANYTHING - with wheels in front of either of my boys, and they'll be content playing for HOURS, and this statement has been true pretty much from birth.
2) I think that these days advertising and seeing what a peer's preferences are play more of a role in conditioning gender roles than families do. We've always had Barbies around (I collected for a short while), and my sons loved playing with Barbie along with all their other Toy Story toys. It wasn't until my older son was in probably 2nd or 3rd grade that playing with Barbie became a "girly" thing. My younger son tends to follow his older brother around, so as interest in Barbie waned for my oldest, it also did for his younger brother.
As much as it pains me to say it, Disney has dropped the ball when it comes to Disney Jr. and pre-teen programming. Sofia the First was fairly popular in our house, but only for a super-short time. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was watched daily for years until they switched it to the racing show, and the new shorts have generally been ignored. Jake and the Neverland Pirates was a hit with my sons, but it wasn't on very often, and they gradually lost interest. The same could be said for the Tangled and Big Hero 6 animated series. Neither of my boys has ever shown an interest in any of the live action shows played on the Disney cable networks. My boys are now 13 and 8, and the Disney cable networks are rarely on anymore unless I happen to spot something I want to watch. They'll watch virtually any movie from any Disney-owned studio, but television is where Disney fell short for us. (Funny enough...they both love My Little Pony!)