Today marks the beginning of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s
‘Disney Month’, in which I’ll be honoring the best of Walt Disney Animation
Studios in preparation for the release of their 56th animated
feature, Moana. And to kick it all off,
I’m doing a very big list. Today I’ll be ranking the characters that make up
one of Disney’s biggest franchises; the Disney princesses. I’ll be ranking them
based solely on their characterizations in regards to the films that they
appear in. And for the record, when I say ‘films’, I mean the ‘original’ films
that they were in; no direct-to-video sequels or any stuff like that. Disney’s
‘Princess Line’ has certainly been one of the company’s most profitable
franchises since it was first established sometime in the early 2000’s by then
Disney Consumer Products chairman Andy Mooney. However, at the same time, the
franchise has seen quite a lot of backlash from some audiences, namely
feminists who argue that it instigates stereotyping and bad life lessons for
the young girls that it markets to. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that
pretty much all the Disney princesses before 1991 have attracted a considerably
polarizing reception. But with that said, I’d argue that there’s more to some
of these earlier Princesses than most give them credit for. Sure, by
comparison, some of the newer Princesses have technically gotten more
development because of the times but that doesn’t mean the earlier ones don’t
have their strengths too. So, with that said, I’ll be counting down the
franchise’s current 11 members, plus two characters that aren’t part of the
lineup but, in a way, technically are, from ‘least favorite’ to ‘best’. I
recognize that there might be some controversy surrounding the order in which I
rank these characters so please be civil in the comments if you disagree with
me in any way. Here we go…
12. AURORA (SLEEPING BEAUTY)
Starting this list off is ‘Sleeping Beauty’ herself,
Princess Aurora. As I noted in my 50’s Disney Retrospective, Aurora and her
prince, Phillip, are unfortunately the weakest part of the original Sleeping Beauty. In her case, it’s mostly
just due to one main reason. As her ‘nickname’ suggests, she spends most of the
film asleep after pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel after
being cursed to do so by the evil witch Maleficent when she was a baby.
Obviously that’s the main plot of the story but it does limit her as a
character. As is, she’s basically just the usual ‘nice’ Disney princess dreaming
of her true love. Because of this, I actually have to give a lot of credit to
the live-action remake, 2014’s Maleficent,
because I think the Aurora in that film is the superior interpretation of the
character. Now with that said, even in that film she’s still basically a side
character in the story. After all, the film is called Maleficent so that means that the focus is more on her and Angelina
Jolie is very much the star of the show in the title role. Still, I do have to
give Elle Fanning a lot of credit because she actually did kind of make the
most out of her somewhat limited role. I liked the relationship that formed
between Aurora and Maleficent in this film. I didn’t mind that the film portrayed
Maleficent in a more sympathetic light, which mainly stems from the maternal
instincts that she begins to have towards Aurora. It gets to the point where
she’s the one who awakens Aurora from her eternal sleep, not Prince Phillip.
Yes, I know that there are quite a few people out there who REALLY hate the live-action
remake but I’m sorry, it kind of has an advantage over the original when it
comes to Sleeping Beauty herself.
11. POCAHONTAS (POCAHONTAS)
I’ve gone on record saying that Pocahontas is one of my least favorite Disney animated films. Aside
from being a rather dull affair, it also doesn’t help that most of the
characters in it are weak, including the titular heroine herself, Pocahontas. While
Pocahontas certainly has more to do character-wise than Aurora, she’s still a
rather bland lead. Now when it comes to the problems that I have with her
portrayal in the film, I’m not referring to the fact that the film has been
generally criticized for its representation of Native American history. And at
the very least, Irene Bedard, who the character was also physically modeled
after, does a solid job voicing her. But like I said before, there’s not much
to her. Like many of the other Disney princesses of the time, she’s
adventurous, headstrong, and isn’t exactly willing to adhere to the cultural
norms of her time. In her case, it’s the fact that she’s being set to marry one
of her tribe’s most famous warriors, Kocoum, who Pocahontas dismisses as being
‘so serious’. But once the European settlers arrive, she then meets and
subsequently falls in love with settler John Smith, eventually saving his life
when he is sentenced to death by her tribe after he took the blame for one of
his settler friends killing Kocoum. But really, this romance doesn’t matter in
the long run considering that, historically speaking, they weren’t ‘lovers’ and
she instead ended up marrying another settler named John Rolfe. But, then
again, I did mention the fact that this film isn’t that historically accurate
so… yeah. Really, there’s not much else that I can say about her and that’s why
she’s near the bottom of this list.
10. SNOW WHITE (SNOW WHITE AND
THE SEVEN DWARFS)
Snow White, the young girl with ‘hair as black as ebony,
lips as red as the rose, and skin as white as snow’, is the original Disney
princess in what was the original Disney animated film; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. And just like the film itself,
Disney has come quite a long way in terms of its Princess characters following
Snow White. But that doesn’t mean that Snow White is a ‘bad’ character, per se.
It’s just that nowadays her characterizations are very simple when compared to
other Disney princesses. She’s kind, innocent, and wishes for her prince to
come for her one day, hence the name of her song ‘Someday My Prince Will Come’…
and that’s basically it. Does she do much in the film? Not really. Like Aurora,
at one point she’s put into an eternal slumber, in this instance by means of
the Wicked Witch’s poisoned apple, and this lasts until she is woken up by her
prince. Speaking of her prince… yeah he’s only in it for a few scenes. But
despite the limited nature of the role, I still think that Snow White is a
decent enough main character for the time. As Roger Ebert noted in his review
of the film, the filmmakers arguably made a smart move by not outright focusing
on Snow White, instead spending more time on the Evil Queen/Wicked Witch and
the Seven Dwarfs. So, in short, Snow White may not be one of the best Disney
Princesses but of course, there wouldn’t be any other Disney Princesses if it
wasn’t for her.
9. MERIDA (BRAVE)
Merida, the star of 2012’s Brave, was the first Pixar character to be inducted into the Disney
Princess lineup. The film itself did ok with critics but not exactly on the
same level as Pixar’s most famous efforts. It also didn’t help that this was
the first Pixar film that was released after their first critically-maligned
effort, Cars 2, which came out the
year before. So, in other words, the generally ‘meh’ reception towards this film
effectively continued the growing doubt that the internet began to have over
Pixar in terms of the quality of their work that would only be cooled, for now
at least, by Inside Out and Finding Dory. But anyway, the first time
that I saw this film, I liked it okay though I’ll admit that I was a bit
disappointed by it. But when I saw it again recently, I found that I did warm
up to it quite a bit. Sure, it ultimately ends up being a rather
straight-forward family film, despite starting off on a much different kind of
note, but it’s still an enjoyable Pixar flick that mainly benefits from what makes
up the heart of the story. And that is the mother-daughter relationship between
Merida and her mother, Queen Elinor. Right from the get-go, the film
establishes the main conflict that emerges between the two of them. Elinor is
constantly trying to get Merida to act more like a princess while the latter clearly
does not want to live that kind of life, especially once she learns that she is
being forced into betrothal to one of her father’s allies’ sons. So, when
Merida goes to see a witch to try and change her fate, she accidentally ends up
turning her mother into a bear and now they must work together to reverse this
curse before it becomes permanent.
And sure, despite the shift into kid-friendly territory that
occurs from this point on, the relationship between the two is the best part of
the film as both end up learning from each other while on their journey. Elinor
learns to lighten up and not follow tradition all the time but Merida, who
proves to be a likable heroine and talented marksman with a bow and arrow,
learns that there are times where one must take responsibility for their
actions, especially if they’re of royal status like herself. After all, when
she was arranged to be wed to the son of one of her father’s allies, she ends
up breaking tradition by shaming the other clans of her kingdom in an archery
competition as an act of defiance, effectively causing a stir amongst the clans
that threatens to tear the kingdom of Dunbroch apart. But in one of the best
scenes in the film, she manages to calm the feuding clans by admitting her
mistake but at the same time also convincing them that she and her ‘suitors’
should be free to live their lives and fall in love with whoever they want,
instead of being forced into it. Really, her only major downfall as a character
is that when her mother is first turned into a bear, she tries to shirk
responsibility by constantly saying that it wasn’t her fault, even though the
facts clearly say otherwise. But despite that, Merida is a solid protagonist
and while Brave may not have been one
of Pixar’s most beloved efforts, it seems as if, at the very least, she is
commonly regarded as being one of the best things about it.
8. RAPUNZEL (TANGLED)
And now we go from one computer animated Disney princess to
another; in this case, the first computer animated member of the Disney
Princess line. Tangled, of course, is
the story of Rapunzel, the girl with the long golden hair who was trapped for
years in a tall tower. The film expands upon this story by having her be the
daughter of the king and queen of the kingdom of Corona. Her long hair was the
result of a magical golden flower that possessed healing abilities. The King of
Corona used it to save his wife when she was sick while pregnant and thus,
Rapunzel inherited some of the flower’s magic in her hair. This ends up getting
Rapunzel kidnapped from the kingdom and locked away in a tower by an old woman
named Gothel who had been using the flower to maintain a youthful appearance.
It isn’t until her 18th birthday when she finally leaves the tower,
with the help of a thief named Flynn Rider, so that she can see the kingdom’s
annual releasing of lanterns, which was the King and Queen’s way of hopefully
finding their daughter. Now there was some controversy over the film’s change
in title from Rapunzel to the
arguably more generic Tangled.
However, it does prove to be a fitting title considering that the film does equally
balance the roles of Rapunzel and Flynn Rider in the story. Rapunzel proves to
be a lovable free-spirited heroine and the many creative ways in which she uses
her hair are awesome. And a lot of Rapunzel’s likability comes courtesy of her
voice actress, Mandy Moore. Not only does Moore give Rapunzel an infectious enthusiasm
for experiencing the world outside her tower but she also succeeds in
establishing her as a no-nonsense young woman who is very much capable of
taking care of herself. Say what you will about the film’s title but Rapunzel
is very much one of the best parts about Tangled.
7. MULAN (MULAN)
Technically speaking, Mulan isn’t actually a Princess. Sure,
she’s the main character of her film and she does save the day and become a
hero of China but she’s not a member of the Royal Family. But she was made a
member of the Princess line so, yeah, now she’s counted as one, I guess.
Regardless of the legitimacy behind this decision, she is an excellent
protagonist in what is one of the most underrated films of the Disney
Renaissance. The daughter of an aging war hero, Mulan ends up taking her father
Fa Zhou’s place in the Chinese army when he is summoned to help fight the Hun
army, as she knows that he’s too old to fight anymore. In doing so, Mulan
proves to be an excellent role model for young girls by showing that they can
do just as much as the boys can. At the same time, there’s also some fun humor
that comes from having Mulan pose as a man, from hiding from her army buddies while
swimming in a lake to speaking in a ‘manly’ voice as ‘Ping’ to following the
[questionable] advice of her ‘protector’ Mushu. Mulan is voiced by Ming-Na Wen (AKA
Melinda May from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
and she does a fantastic job in the role, both in terms of handling the humor
and giving Mulan her inner strength and likability. Mulan also proves to be
quite a badass warrior. In fact, she’s the only Disney princess to, no joke,
have a kill count due to the scene in which she defeats the Hun army by causing
an avalanche. The only real aspect of her character that has been commonly
criticized is the romance that develops between her and her commander, Captain
Li Shang. However, this doesn’t bother me that much because it’s never the
focus of the film. In fact, it’s only brought up right at the end, for the most
part. Sure, that still arguably makes it very tacked-on but the film is still
primarily about Mulan going against all sorts of societal and gender norms at
the risk of bringing dishonor to her family.
6. ARIEL (THE LITTLE MERMAID)
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Ok, I can tell that this one is going to be rather
controversial; especially because I ranked Ariel above some of the more recent
Disney princesses. While Little Mermaid is
widely regarded as a Disney classic and the film that effectively redeemed the
company by kick-starting the Disney Renaissance, its title character has been
much more polarizing amongst critics and audiences. I went over the reasons why
in my 80’s Disney Retrospective but I’ll go over them again here. The main
issue that some have with Ariel is that they feel that she doesn’t learn
anything from the whole ordeal that she goes through to live in the human
world. And, technically speaking, they do kind of have a point there. Because
Ariel goes to see Ursula to change her into a human, she basically ends up
letting Ursula take her father Triton’s powers without much opposition. And
even though Ursula is defeated without Ariel still not ‘learning’ from this
whole ordeal, her father allows her to become human anyway. But here’s where
Ariel is a better character than most give her credit for. Some claim that she
gave up her undersea life just to be with a man that she hardly knew and that’s
not entirely the case. Sure, once she laid eyes on him, she basically fell in
love with him right then and there but her desire to explore the human world
had already been established at that point. So, you could say that Prince Eric
was just an added incentive for her. And through it all, she is a likable character
voiced excellently by Jodi Benson. So, when it comes to Ariel’s best strengths
as a character, it comes down to her curiosity and for having a desire that was
different than previous Disney princesses. Sure, she has her flaws and it’s
understandable why some aren’t that big on her because of it, but these aren’t as
big of a problem as some say they are.
5. TIANA (THE PRINCESS AND THE
FROG)
Tiana was Disney’s first African-American princess… and yet
she’s a frog for most of the film. Yeah, some people weren’t too pleased about
that given how, again, this was Disney’s first African-American princess.
Still, Tiana’s a pretty great main character even though she does spend most of
the film as a frog. And the main reason why is because she is something that
most Disney princesses usually aren’t; a hard worker. As The Princess and the Frog begins, it references the classic Disney
song ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’. But then it pulls the rug out from under it
by having Tiana’s father tell her that to achieve your dreams, you must work
for it. And so, after her father dies (because this is a Disney film, after
all), Tiana starts to work towards the collective dream that they had of owning
a restaurant. So, at the expense of a social life, she spends much of her time
working as a waitress at two different restaurants so that she could earn
enough money to open her own restaurant. However, despite managing to earn
enough money to rent a potential site, she soon learns that someone else has
made a higher bid for it. And if that wasn’t enough, she then gets turned into
a frog when she kisses one; a reversal of the typical ‘Princess-Frog’ story.
This frog is revealed to be Prince Naveen of Maldonia, who was turned into a
frog by the evil Shadow Man as part of a plot to inherit the fortune of the
richest man in New Orleans and now the two of them must find a way to become
human again. As for the romance that develops between these two, it’s sort of
like Beauty and the Beast in that
they don’t immediately like each other. In fact, Tiana pretty much hates Naveen
at first for getting her turned into a frog; but of course, they do warm up to
each other by the end of the film. Thanks to those great character traits as
well as a spunky and charismatic performance by her voice actress, Anika Noni
Rose, Tiana proves to be one of the best role models in the entire Princess
line.
4. JASMINE (ALADDIN)
If I were to list the best ‘romantic pairings’ in Disney
films, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine are definitely near the top of the list. The
romantic chemistry between them is easily one of the best parts of the film and
this is a case where both are generally treated as equals in the plot. The film
begins with both trying to get out of their current societal predicaments. Aladdin
wishes to be more than just a worthless street rat and Jasmine is annoyed with
the fact that she’s being forced into marriage before her next birthday. When
she decides to sneak out of the palace, the two of them meet and a connection
immediately emerges between them. However, Aladdin is soon dealt with the
reality of the situation; that he’s not a prince and therefore has no chance
with her. But when he finds the mystical being known as the Genie, it allows
him to pose as a prince so that he can be with her. Now with all of this said,
there does come a point where Jasmine becomes a damsel in distress for Aladdin
to save. But that’s only during the finale. In the rest of the film, she’s a
spunky heroine who can even stand up to the likes of Jafar because she’s a no-nonsense
gal. And even after Aladdin does manage to ‘become’ a Prince, it takes him a
bit before he’s able to properly woo her. So, in short, while she may not
necessarily be the most pro-active Disney princess of the bunch, Jasmine is
still a very likable female lead and has always been one of my favorites in
what is one of my favorite Disney films.
3. BELLE (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST)
As I said before, prior to 1991, pretty much all of Disney’s
princess characters received extremely polarizing responses from critics. They
had their fans but they also had their naysayers. Belle from Beauty and the Beast was pretty much the
first major member of the Disney Princess line to attract universal acclaim.
And while all throughout this list I’ve been going over why some of the earlier
princesses are better than most give them credit for, I do agree that Belle is
a terrific lead who would set the standard for all future Disney princesses to
come. As the film begins, it’s established that she is a smart and independent
young woman who is a mystery to the rest of the people in her town because of
her non-conforming ways. Eventually she comes across the Beast and while
initially terrified of him, the two come to better understand each other and
they eventually fall in love. And unlike other Disney couples that come
together quite sporadically, the film does take time to develop a relationship
between the two. But of course, it all comes together beautifully in the end.
Now, for the record, that doesn’t mean that Belle hasn’t faced some criticism
from certain audiences. Some have argued that Belle displays a case of
Stockholm syndrome, a condition in which prisoners (because part of the plot
has her voluntarily taking her father Maurice’s place as the Beast’s prisoner)
begin to sympathize with their captors. Personally, I never look too deep into
that kind of stuff and at the end of the day, all her other traits stand out
much more. And that is why Belle is easily one of the best Disney princesses to
date.
2. ANNA AND ELSA (FROZEN)
Ok I’m kind of cheating here because, technically, Anna and
Elsa aren’t members of the Disney Princess line. Why? Well I remember reading a
report saying that they were intended to be inducted into the line sometime in
2014 but then nothing happened. It wasn’t until recently when I found out why
this is the case and it’s actually a pretty legit reason. Seeing how Frozen has become one of Disney’s most
popular franchises, there’s really no need for the two to be included in
another franchise at this point. Still, I wanted to include them in this list
because not only are they ‘Disney royalty’ (heck, technically Elsa outranks all
the Disney princesses because she is a queen) but they truly are a great pair
of characters. This was the first time that a Disney animated film truly
focused in on a pair of sisters as their main protagonists… though with that
said, as I’m sure many will point out, it’s technically not the first time that
a Disney film has done this. 2002’s Lilo
and Stitch also focused around a pair of sisters, Lilo and Nani, namely
through them struggling to keep their family together after their parents died
in a car crash. However, the thing is… that wasn’t the main plot of the film. Instead,
it was about Stitch trying to adapt to life on Earth. Thus, I consider Frozen to be Disney’s first true ‘sister
story’ and it ends up giving the film so much heart. It’s about how Anna and
Elsa try to reconnect after spending so many years apart. That’s because their
parents kept Elsa locked away from the world due to her icy powers, with Anna
being completely unaware of them because when she was younger and did know
about Elsa’s powers, her memory of them was wiped after Elsa accidentally
injured her.
While Elsa is certainly the more popular of the two sisters,
if I had to choose a favorite it’d have to be Anna. Because technically Anna is
the main character of this story. She’s the one who goes off to find her sister
after Elsa flees the Kingdom of Arendelle and ends up causing an eternal
winter. She’s a determined, free-spirited, and optimistic young woman who won’t
give up on her sister no matter what and that’s what makes her such a terrific
lead. And at the same time, she has her own personal flaws that make her a
relatable protagonist. These primarily stem from all the time that she’s spent
locked up in the castle along with her sister. She’s often quite naïve at
times, mainly represented by how quickly she falls in love with Prince Hans of
the Southern Isles and then immediately deciding to marry him despite having
just met him that day. Which, for the record, I find hilariously ironic because
Anna’s voice actress, Kristen Bell, starred in a film, 2010’s When in Rome, in which this exact same
situation occurred. And yet in that film, Bell was the ‘Elsa’ in that scenario,
warning her sister about going too fast with her current relationship. And
obviously, this backfires on her by the end of the film when Hans reveals his
true colors. But in the end, her optimism, endearing social awkwardness, and the
unabashed love that she has for her sister truly make her a lovable protagonist
and Kristen Bell does a phenomenal job in giving Anna that warmth and
likability.
But while I consider Anna to be my favorite of the two
leads, that doesn’t mean that I don’t like Elsa as well. She’s just as
important to the film as Anna is, but in a different way. In the early stages
of the film’s production, she originally started out the same way that her
character is portrayed in the original fairy tale that the film is loosely based
on, ‘The Snow Queen’ by Hans Christian Andersen. At first, she was the main
villain. But ultimately I think many of us can agree that it was for the best
that they decided to change that and instead have her be a sympathetic,
misunderstood protagonist struggling to control her icy powers. And part of
that change, of course, came from the decision to have Anna and Elsa be
sisters. Right from the get-go, the film establishes the struggle that Elsa
faces due to her icy powers. Sure, it’s never explained how she got her powers
but it’s made clear that they could become a problem and result in her becoming
feared by the people of Arendelle. And so, Elsa is locked away from society
until her Coronation Day and even then, they do end up getting unleashed,
forcing her to flee. However, at that point, she finally embraces who she is,
which of course is represented perfectly by the film’s iconic number ‘Let it
Go’. It’s quite easy to see why Anna and Elsa have become such prolific role models
for many people. They’re arguably some of Disney’s most relatable protagonists
to date. Anna may be a Princess but she’s not exactly a prim and proper one
like some of the other Disney princesses. And while, obviously, no one has icy
powers like Elsa (that we know of…), her characterization as a young woman
who’s scared at first to embrace who she is before it all culminates in her
liberation, is very much capable of inspiring others who share a similar
struggle. Is it any wonder why ‘Let it Go’ became the anthem that it is?
1. CINDERELLA (CINDERELLA)
Oh, boy I can hear the feminists now… did I seriously just
pick Cinderella as my favorite Disney princess? Yes, yes I did and in this
case, I’m counting her both in regards to the original animated film, in which
she was voiced by Ilene Woods, as well as the 2015 live-action remake where she
was played by Lily James. As I’ve noted many times before, the main issue that
some have with Cinderella is that they argue that she’s just a passive
character who does nothing until her Prince comes to save her. But as I’ve also
been saying time and time again, there’s more to her than that. After all,
we’re talking about a young woman who for years has been the subject of abuse
from her Evil Stepmother and Stepsisters. And yet through it all, no matter
what they put her through, she always maintains an optimistic outlook on life.
To me that is what makes her such a great character and like I said, this is
well reflected in both versions of Disney’s Cinderella.
On that note, let’s go over the character as was portrayed by Lily James in the
remake. I do not consider this Cinderella to be a ‘passive’ protagonist. This
film does a much better job at establishing the relationship between her and
the Prince, as they first meet ‘as equals’ because she doesn’t yet know that
he’s actually the Prince. By comparison, the romance between the two in the
original was basically a ‘shotgun wedding’. And through it all, she’s still the
same Cinderella that we know and love from the original, strengthened even more
by the fact that the film opens with her mother giving her the crucial life
advice to “have courage and be kind” And ultimately I feel that this is one of
the best life lessons that kids can learn from. Sure, Cinderella may not
exactly be as pro-active as characters like Anna and Elsa, Tiana, or Mulan but
her inner strength is what makes her one of the most iconic members of the
Disney princess line.
And those are my
rankings of the current members of the Disney Princess line. Obviously, I know
that the way I which I specifically ranked these characters could pose some
controversy so if you do sound off in the comments in regards to how you’d rank
them, please be civil about it. Disney Month will continue next Tuesday with a
‘Double Feature’ of Top 5 lists as I rank my Top 5 favorite Disney
‘Protagonists’ and ‘Sidekicks’.
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