#EVEN atlantis lilo & stitch tangled wreck it ralph frozen franchise big hero 6 (that one is obvious) moana raya and the last dragon and

[idiosyncraticrednebula]

Ngl, I would love to see a Lego video game adaptation of all the Disney Princess movies, although I have zero idea how the devs at Lego could make that work properly. If not that, then at least an adaptation of the Renaissance movies or even some of the Post-Renaissance/Experimental and Revival ones. A combo of the three eras, perhaps? The possibilities are endless!

[theatresleepovers]

disney princesses vs. Disney Princesses

Disney Princess is a franchise separate from characters in Disney movies who are canonically princesses. I’ve often noticed how Disney Princess products sometimes like to emphasize certain (*cough*white) Princesses over others, even though Disney Princesses are all equally Princesses, regardless of the story in their movies.

Using this list as a reference: (List of Walt Disney Pictures films), I decided to try to find out who qualifies as a disney princess or a Disney Princess. There are other movies that Disney has produced besides this list, however. Feel free to peruse the Wikipedia links for more information, but that link is complete enough for my purposes here.

The current (2018) Disney Princesses are as follows: 

Snow White

Cinderella

Aurora

Ariel

Belle

Jasmine

Pocahontas

Mulan

Tiana

Rapunzel

Merida

Tinker Bell was originally a Disney Princess, but no longer.

First, I figured that to be either a disney princess or a Disney Princess, the character must be fictional and animated. So, starting with the list of Disney films linked above, I excluded all films that are either documentaries or completely live action (some examples removed from list: Treasure Island, Sacred Planet, Parent Trap). This leaves 106 movies.

Secondly, I figured that a disney princess/Disney Princess must be humanoid, and should have a name and a speaking role. So I eliminated 29 movies that have no animated humans that speak (some examples removed from list: The Lion King, The Jungle Book 2016). This leaves 77 movies.

Third, I assumed that a disney princess/Disney Princess must be a woman or a girl. So I eliminated 18 movies that have animated speaking men/boys, but no animated speaking women/girls (some examples: The Jungle Book 1967, The Dumbo, The Tigger Movie). This leaves 59 movies.

Fourth, I decided that a disney princess/Disney Princess cannot be a villain. Are there any movies still on the list whose only women are villains? Yes, indeed: The Sword in the Stone is off the list. This leaves 58 Disney movies with at least one animated, humanoid, speaking, non-villainous woman. (see bottom of post for the list)*

Now, I wondered how many of those movies feature a canon princess as the leading animated-humanoid-speaking-non-villanous woman? My definition for “princess” here is this: 1. must be a royal in a monarchy; 2. must be EITHER the daughter of a royal, OR the wife of a royal, and this must be DURING the movie.

I counted 13 disney princesses (this list is NOT SPOILER-FREE):

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Snow White is the stepdaughter of a Queen, and presumably the daughter of a king or prince consort).

Cinderella (the last scene wordlessly depicts Cinderella and Prince Charming leaving their wedding).

Sleeping Beauty (Aurora’s parents are a king and a queen).

The Black Cauldron (Eilonwy is referred to as a princess in the movie; I’m not sure if it’s explained in the movie but the book makes clear that her mother was a princess).

The Little Mermaid (Ariel’s father is a king).

Aladdin (Jasmine’s father is a sultan**).

Atlantis: the Lost Empire (Kida’s father is a king).

The Princess and the Frog (Tiana marries a prince and turns human again after becoming a princess).

Tangled (Rapunzel’s parents are a king and a queen).

Arjun: the Warrior Prince (Draupadi’s father is a king).

Brave (Merida’s parents are a king and a queen).

Wreck-It Ralph (Vanellope is a princess in the monarchy previously headed by King Candy).

Frozen (Anna and Elsa’s parents are a king and a queen. Elsa is queen for part of the movie, but she’s also a princess during the movie).

So, here are the characters who are both disney princesses (of the list of 13) and Disney Princesses (of the earlier list of 11): 

Snow White

Cinderella

Aurora

Ariel

Jasmine

Tiana

Rapunzel

Merida

Cinderella and Tiana became princesses by marriage, and the rest were born princesses.

Canon princesses who are not Disney Princesses: 

Eilonwy

Kida

Draupadi

Vanellope

Anna

Elsa

And finally, Disney Princesses who are not canonically princesses: 

Belle (is not of royal blood; dances with the prince at the end, but neither marries him nor becomes engaged to him).

Pocahontas (belongs to a chiefdom**, not a kingdom; does not marry a royal from a monarchical society.)

Mulan (is not of royal blood; does not marry a royal).

And that’s about all I have. I spent too much time reading about this so I figured I’d share. Hope you found it mildly interesting.  

*(the list of 58 below the cut)

**(also a note on types of government)

*Here are the 58 movies with at least one one animated, humanoid, speaking, non-villainous woman, along with an example of such (sometimes the only one). I tried my best on this, but I haven’t seen all of them recently so I could be wrong on some. Organized chronologically.

snow white and the seven dwarfs: snow white

pinocchio: blue fairy

cinderella: cinderella

alice in wonderland: alice

peter pan: wendy

lady and the tramp: aunt sarah

sleeping beauty: aurora

one hundred and one dalmatians: anita

the aristocats: madame

the rescuers: penny

the fox and the hound: widow tweed

the black cauldron: princess eilonwy

oliver & company: jenny

the little mermaid: ariel

beauty and the beast: belle

aladdin: jasmine

pocahontas: pocahontas

toy story: bo peep

the hunchback of notre dame: esmeralda

hercules: megara

mulan: mulan

doug's 1st movie: patti

tarzan: jane

toy story 2: jessie

the emperor's new groove: chicha

atlantis: the lost empire: kida

monsters inc: boo

recess: school's out: becky

lilo & stitch: lilo

return to never land: jane

treasure planet: sarah

brother bear: tanana

finding nemo: darla

the jungle book 2: shanti

home on the range: pearl

teacher's pet: mary lou

the incredibles: helen

the nightmare before christmas 3d: sally

enchanted: giselle

meet the robinsons: lucille

ratatouille: colette

bolt: penny

wall-e: mary

a christmas carol: belle

the princess and the frog: tiana

up: ellie

tangled: rapunzel

toy story 3: bonnie

mars needs moms: ki

arjun: the warrior prince: draupadi

brave: merida

frankenweenie: elsa

wreck-it ralph: vanellope

frozen: anna

big hero 6: honey lemon

inside out: joy

moana: moana

coco: coco

**On monarchies and terminology: 

1. I counted “sultan” as a monarch, because he’s depicted as a monarch in the movie. Wikipedia says: 

The term is distinct from king (ملك malik), despite both referring to a sovereign ruler; the use of "sultan" is restricted to Muslim countries, where the title carries religious significance,[2][3] contrasting the more secular "king", which is used in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries. In recent years, "sultan" has been gradually replaced by "king" by contemporary hereditary rulers who wish to emphasize their secular authority under the rule of law.

2. The Powhatan government is not a monarchy, neither in real life nor as depicted in the movie. Chief Powhatan (the father of Matoaka, the woman who “inspired” Pocahontas) seems to have been a somewhat less democratic chief than other Powhatan chiefs, and political power seems to have been largely family-based in the 16th century, but I don’t think that makes it a monarchy. At least in the 19th century, Powhatan chiefs were elected to the position and served as one branch of government with a council comprising the other branches. It appears that this form of government continues to this day, with formally elected chiefs. Settlers sometimes call chiefs “kings” but I don’t think the Powhatan people use the terms “king” or “princess” themselves.