Top Ten Disney Princesses

Disney princesses have been quite a part of my life growing up. They have becomes icons of the ambition to one day find true love and live happily ever after. It's every little girls' dream. Now over seventy years since the first Disney princess, they have become icons of heroinism and even gone through a feminist movement where they've become stronger and independent, stepping out of the norm of "traditional" princesses. And I'm here today to name my top favorites out of all of them. Welcome to...

~Liz's Top Ten Disney Princesses~

10. Snow White

While Snow White remains to be a favorite of mine... She is unfortunately the weakest out of all of them.. But does that make her a bad character?

Snow White is by far the youngest princess at age 14 (coinciding with the age of consent at the time the film was made which was 1937) and is of course, "the fairest of them all". With "lips red as a rose, hair black as ebony, and skin white as snow", she is a beautiful young girl. And her signature dress is the most unique out of the Disney princesses. And even though she does have a voice similar to Betty Boop (in fact her design was pretty much inspired by that character), she can sing pretty well. And do I even need to mention the communication with animals and somehow being able to understand them?

Being forced to become a scullery maid, she does have great knowledge on cooking and house-keeping. And despite how cruel her stepmother was to her, she remained kind and sweet. In fact her whole entire character is kind, sweet, child-like, lovable, and innocent. It's good that she is that kind, but the burden unfortunately is that she's a bit too kind.

Snow White is sadly very gullible, naive and a complete pushover. Example, letting the evil queen disguised as a rather terrifying old woman into the house and getting herself poisoned. She's pretty incapable of grasping the idea of when her life could be in danger with the exception of when the huntsman almost killed her. But I gotta admit she has some guts to just run into a forest without any second thought to escape with her life.

Overall, Snow White is as sweet as pie, but extremely naive.

9. Aurora/Briar Rose/Sleeping Beauty

Like Snow White, Aurora is definitely down there as one of the weaker princesses.

What's good about her? Well there's the obvious extreme beauty especially for someone who's supposed to be sixteen, with her long blonde hair and "red as the rose" lips. And of course, she has that amazing singing voice. That voice will stick in my head for the rest of eternity. Along with her obvious traits, she's also kind, obedient and polite. When I was little, she was my top favorite princess. But now that I'm older and able to analyze more about characters, Aurora is a pretty bland character.

She is naive and insecure about her sheltered life growing up, but that's not her fault because she's being protected by the fairies from being killed. I guess you could argue that she's strong that moment she pulled back from almost pricking her finger on the spinning wheel, but that was only for a moment. Overall, she's not really that interesting of a character, but I guess it could be argued that she is asleep for half of a film that mostly focuses on its side characters, which is why she wasn't given as much focus as say the three fairies.

While Aurora isn't an engaging character, she is most memorable for her beauty and singing.

By the way, I did see that there's some sequel or something with Aurora, and I'll just point this out right now: If I am forced to analyze any character based off a Disney sequel that is crap in the first place, I will probably destroy the DVD before I watch it. So no sequels!!


8. Ariel

Not only is Ariel the first mythical creature for a princess, she is in the film that marked the beginning of the Disney Renaissance era.

She's most memorable just on appearance. Well yeah, she's a mermaid. How can you not forget that? Plus, that red hair. Nuff said. Even when she becomes a human, she's still just stunning. I loved the two dresses they designed for her cause they just look beautiful on her. But while her beauty is memorable, what about her character?

Well to put it simply and not really that positive, she's kinda a brat. Ariel displays stereotypical 16-year-old daughter cliches like hating her parent, dreaming about boys, wanting to be with someone parent disapproves of, need I say more? She's stubborn and impulsive and willing to do anything to achieve her dream of being on the human world, even to the extent of hoarding items from the human world. But I do appreciate her determine and adventurous spirit, and she is the first Disney princess to display a sense of rebelliousness compared to the kind and sweet princesses before her.


Looking back, when she was on dry land on her date with Eric, I love her extreme sense of curiosity, and she doesn't even need to speak. Just her actions make her hilarious and enjoyable to watch with her bright curiosity. And it was also great to see the first relationship that actually had to be built before marriage (even if it was just 3 days).

But what everyone remembers her most is her singing ability. Everyone remembers the song Part of Your World where Ariel sings of her desires to escape to the human world. With the singing voice of Jodi Benson, it is a beautiful song very well done.

By the way, I know I said I wouldn't mention Disney sequels, but am I the only one that finds it odd that Ariel is the only Disney princess who has a kid? Personally, that to me is just really weird.. But anyway..

Overall, Ariel is a stereotypical 16-year-old brat but is so full of determination and a rebellious spirit that separates her from the other princesses.

7. Cinderella

Another beautiful woman forced into servitude by a vain stepmother, Cinderella is sweet like say Snow White, but she's also clever, hardworking, hopeful, and a very mature and strong-willed person displaying a heavy amount of patience and calmness. Re-watch this movie and just look at all the crap she's had to put up with ever since her father died. Her step-family is probably the cruelest trio of people you'd ever meet, but the fact that she remains kind and hopeful through all that pain truly makes her strong. Plus she's also the oldest Disney princess at an approximate 19 or 20 years old.

She never gets frustrated or sorrowful with whatever happens to her; she's still able to find some amount of happiness. Even when her mother's dress is torn to shreds and her chance of escaping her terrible life, she still has some amount of hope, even though she doubts herself. I appreciate this movie for its sense of karma displayed, and I think that's what it was going for. Cinderella remains kind and sweet and good things happen to her that leads her to have a happy ending while her cruel step-family is left with nothing (Again, not analyzing based off sequels). To this day, she has remained the most popular Disney princess and one that every little girl fantasizes about.

"No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dreams that you wish will come true." That part of the song is Cinderella in a nutshell. She has a lot of crap to put up with, but she still remains hopeful that her dreams will come true.

6. Pocahontas

Ignore that the movie was historically inaccurate and she's not a twelve-year-old. I'm just looking at her based on what content the movie gave.

Based off of the real-life Native American named Matoaka (Pocahontas was a nickname for her) instead of a character from a fairy tale, this was a different approach for Disney. People either like or dislike this film, and despite its flaws, I rather enjoy it. And I really like the character Pocahontas herself. I personally find her quite interesting.

She's a highly spiritual woman who's adventurous and outgoing but has a great amount of wisdom for her age and is noble and open-minded. Like in American history, Pocahontas acts as a peace-keeper between the Powhatan natives and the white English settlers. She's also able to communicate with nature with shamanic abilities. Compared to the rest of the natives, she remains patient and tries to think things through before going to war against the English.

And of course, she's beautiful. Before Rapunzel became part of the Disney princess franchise, I'm pretty sure Pocahontas had the longest hair. God, she could be in a L'Oreal commercial or something. Compared to the princesses before her, Pocahontas has a completely different style of animation that makes her appear more realistic. It was another different approach for Disney and I think it looks great.

Pocahontas is a great princess in her own unique way.

5. Jasmine
Disney's first Middle Eastern (and not Caucasian) princess from another film of the Disney Renaissance era.

Like Ariel, Jasmine really stands out on a beautiful appearance alone. Big gorgeous hair, a stunning hourglass figure, large expressive eyes, the works. Actually there's quite a bit to Jasmine that's pretty similar to Ariel.

Jasmine is stubborn, rebellious, headstrong, free-spirited, adventurous, and desires freedom from a royal life. But unlike Ariel, she's initially not seeking romance for some boy she barely knows, and she's also a bit more mature. She actually tries to talk to her father about being forced into marriage even though it results in both of them being in stubborn and foul moods. Her idea of love is just taking time to fall in love with someone and not solely for political purposes. Even though she only knew Aladdin for just a couple days, they fit together perfectly. She's still caring and sweet but also spunky and independent. She can be slightly naive about the outside world, but she as fast learner.

While I think she is pretty similar to Ariel, Jasmine still has her unique personality and appearance that I enjoy seeing again and again.

4. Tiana

Not only is Tiana Disney's first African-American princess, she's the first princess who's a freaking workaholic! After Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, there was a lot of focus on the princesses actually working to get their happy ending instead of sitting on their butts and hoping that one day their lives will turn around for the better for a "happily ever after". And Tiana is no exception. I'm not gonna reflect on any controversy with her originally being a chambermaid and other crap revolving around The Princess and the Frog cause I'll probably just go off ranting.

Let's start off with appearance. Tiana is the second oldest princess of the franchise at 19 years old. She's also really beautiful too. Going back to traditional Disney animation, they did really well on their first African-American princess. I'm still deciding if I like her in the blue dress or the green ballgown. Either way, she still looks beautiful.

She is smart, determined, independent, and motivated to accomplish her dreams on her own without anyone else's help. And of course, she's obviously hardworking and the most modern out of all the princesses. She's a realist and doesn't rely that wishing and magic alone will achieve your dreams. But the big problem with her, in the beginning of the film especially, is that she works too much. She's a bit too absorbed in her dreams to take time to relax, have fun and find romance. But as the film progresses, she becomes really dynamic as she begins to fall in love with Naveen. She discovers that love, friends and fun are important to life as well. And she proved to be strong when she denied Doctor Facilier's offer to just get her restaurant. Not only does she want to achieve it on her own, but she refuses to lose the people and things that are most important to her.

Whether you like or dislike this film for whatever odd and controversial reasons it may or may not have, Tiana is one of the greater princesses who I love greatly.

 3. Rapunzel

Rapunzel marked the first CGI princess for Disney. I gotta be honest, I wasn't really too looking forward to seeing Tangled and thought it was gonna be bad, but thank God I was wrong. And Rapunzel is a really great character.

Her blonde hair is confirmed at 70 feet long and it's beautiful. I can never keep my hair as neat as she does. I really like it when the girls in the kingdom put it all in one giant braid with the flowers. That was really beautiful. But of course I also loved her hair when she becomes a brunette and it's really short. I think it looks adorable along with those giant green eyes. Overall, she's just a cute 18-year-old. And it helps that the same guy who designed Ariel was the same guy who designed Rapunzel. And he did a great job.

I think her personality really does stand out. Like quite a few other princesses, she's adventurous, smart, spirited, and playful. Though she is a bit naive about the world outside of the tower, she can be brave and stand up for herself when she feels like it's necessary and it's the right thing to do. Being isolated for 18 years in a tower, there's room for her to give herself a great education in literature, music, baking and astronomy. Though her greatest passion is of course art. I think she's the one princess with talents in just about every field. Oh, and any moment when she has the frying pan with her is freaking hilarious! It's like Princess Peach if she went through a feminist movement. How can you not laugh at that? Never has a cooking tool been more frightening before Rapunzel.

I also love when she finally leaves the tower she becomes so brightly curious about everything like Ariel. But she's also determined to see the floating lanterns on her birthday no matter what stands in her way. She's also a great charismatic speaker. Again she has a lot of guts to stand up to danger and influence characters to find their humanity. Even towards the end, she does show that she's a really caring person for the ones she love. She was willing to throw away her freedom to save the boy that became "her dream". It's quite a tear-jerker. On top of which, I thought Mandy Moore for the voice was pretty great. She's fun and energetic and of course has that beautiful singing voice.

While Rapunzel has made it to my top three princesses, there are just a couple more that I personally find better above everyone else.

2. Merida

If you haven't seen this movie, you need to find it when it comes out on DVD. This is truly a masterpiece done by Pixar especially with it having its first princess to contribute to Disney.

I just love Merida. Out of all the rebellious 16-year-old archetypal princesses in Disney, she does it the best. Headstrong, stubborn, free-spirited, defiant, brave (duh..), and of course, one of the few (and I think only) Disney female leads where the character is a complete tomboy. I just find it fascinating when women are displayed not being into all the girly stuff like being a princess and just wanting to be a great warrior and taking part in skills like archery and sword-fighting. Yet of course she is very bitter towards her mother like a stereotypical teen when her mother is pushing all these expectations and princess lessons on her when Merida just wants to live her own free life away from tradition and marriage. It leads to her making rash decisions that put her whole family at risk. Yet through it all, she changes and learns how important family is to her and how she should care for them too. Again, I love how dynamic a character can be to change for the better not for herself but for her family. It's one of the reasons why I love the movie Brave so much now. Plus I don't know why it's so appealing that she's Scottish too. I just love Kelly Macdonald's accent and how she gives Merida her wild spirit.

But of course what everyone remembers of Merida is that freaking hair. I mean, good God. Just look at it! You see all the other princesses with this beautiful manageable hair, and Merida's is just so untamed, so curly(One thousand individually animated curls mind you), so red, and I am in love with it. It really does give off her fiery and wild spirit. It just makes her so unique. And of course I like the rest of her physical appearance as well. Navy blue is beautiful on her, doesn't flaunt her beauty too much, but she's still a really pretty girl.

Now how can I top possibly my new favorite Disney princess? Well in case it's not obvious enough, there's one that's better. And like I really gotta name her but I'll do it anyway.

1. Belle

Yeah I don't think I'm giving anything away now am I?

Yes, Belle is by far my favorite princess. I know it's weird to say seeing as how I'm a total fan for the really strong girls, but Belle is still strong in her unique way. At the time Beauty and the Beast came out, she really did revolutionize the Disney princess franchise. She was actually one of the first ones to be adventurous, heroic and independent. Her strength was pretty much an inspiration for characters like Pocahontas and Mulan (Don't worry I'll explain why she's not on here). She is pretty much a symbol for intelligence among women too with her love of literature. In fact she just stands out alone cause she's freaking smart! I know I said Rapunzel does have quite a bit of knowledge and other princesses have shown to be adventurous, but again, Belle was really the first princess to have these qualities and present it well instead of in the body of a bratty teenager.

Belle has ideas and opinions and she could really care less if anyone else thinks she's weird just cause she doesn't show cleavage or gets googly-eyed over boys. I like that. You don't need to show off that you're pretty all the time, and you can be a smart individual with your own thoughts. Yeah, she doesn't wield any weapons like Merida does and doesn't get involved in fights, but she's still strong in her own way. I think being able to live with Beast is pretty scary enough and she had a lot of guts to sacrifice her own life as a prisoner to save her ill father. She's selfless and thinks of the ones she loves, including eventually Beast with who she grows to like and eventually love. It's pretty interesting because she "saves" him, instead of him saving her. A bit of a backwards thing for Disney at the time. Belle saves Beast by helping him learn to love and not act like a giant spoiled brat. She's able to find beauty within, breaks the spell, and turn Beast back into human (which yeah, wasn't a fan of the human form either). That's what makes Belle what I consider the best Disney princess ever.

So that were my top ten favorite princesses. Now I know I didn't include every princess (or "princess") in a list of just ten. Just wait and see for another post soon~