I've recently seen some other people making lists of Disney Princesses and Princes in order of favoritism and I thought I might do the same thing since I've never done it before. My list focuses on the princesses. I’m excluding the princesses that I don’t know, like Sofia the First, Elena of Avalor, and Moana. Moana will probably make the list after I see her movie later on this year. Elena looked pretty cool in previews too but I don’t watch TV so I’ll probably never see her. I’d prefer it if she had her own feature film - that would be badass. I think Disney needs an official Spanish princess.
14.
Ariel (1989): My feelings for Ariel are actually quite negative, much more so than my feelings for the other princesses. I see her as an antithesis to Pocahontas. Other than the fact that I always just found her to be an annoying bratty teenager, she’s very selfish and a traitor to her own people. It was her own actions which nearly led to the downfall of her entire kingdom when her father handed over his triton to Ursula to save his spoiled daughter’s life.
13.
Belle (1991): Belle’s problem is that she falls in love with her captor. She’s a victim of Stockholm syndrome, so I don’t see her as being a very strong woman character at all. She can't even recognize the folly in her own romance. Prince Adam, aka the Beast, does things that in my mind are
unforgivable. If a real man did those things to me, I would either kill him myself (figuratively, not literally) or have him thrown in jail if possible. My second problem with Belle is that she is portrayed as an intellectual when in reality she reads the most air-headed trashy romance novels on the market. My third problem with her is that she sticks her nose up at the provincial life. A peaceful country life is not good enough for her, aka she’s a gold-digger who wants a rich man to show her the finer things in life.
12.
Aurora (1959): Aurora, Aurora… I don’t really have much to say about her. She’s pretty but kind of stupid. I mean, she doesn’t even bother to find out the name of the boy she claims to be in love with. She just seems immature with her head in the clouds.
11.
Cinderella (1950): I do have a bit more respect for Cinderella than most. I mean, she’s a hard worker. But she is portrayed as a helpless victim. She never tries to stand up for herself against her bitch of a stepmother. She’s essentially a weakling and no kind of role model for me. Yet I do like her voice when she’s singing the nightingale song and I like that she’s kind to animals (the mice). When I was younger, her fairy godmother is what I pictured God to look like so she does sort of have a special place in my memories.
10.
Snow White (1938): I know. I complained about Cinderella being a helpless victim, so why am I giving an even more helpless victim like Snow White a place above her? Well I see Snow White’s helplessness as being more justified because she’s fourteen, the youngest of the Disney Princesses. She’s also very cute and charming for reasons that are beyond my comprehension. I also like how she stood up to the dwarves by making them go outside and wash up for dinner. She was taking no BS from those guys! That scene almost made me think of her as a type of person who speaks softly but secretly carries a big stick. She might even make a decent mother once she matures a bit more. However, it did piss me off when she automatically and stupidly trusted the witch. BUT AGAIN, she was fourteen and I’m sure I did even more retarded things at that age myself.
9.
Kida (2001): Kida is the first princess on the list whom I would label “a strong woman.” She is assertive and can kick people’s asses if they piss her off. Though I’m not a huge fan of hers, I have no particular reason to dislike her. She never does anything that pisses me off and she’s a pretty good princess to her people. That’s all I really have to say about her.
8.
Jasmine (1992): Jasmine is also a kick-ass princess like Kida and she has several more traits that make her interesting. I ship her super hard with Aladdin, which in itself is a sign that I like her as a character. I like that she is assertive and NOT a gold-digger. She would sacrifice herself for the sake of her people yet she also cares about finding true love. She can take care of herself and even her prince if need be. Yet I’m slightly put off by a few small details about her. Why was she so uneducated about her own people from the get-go? She didn’t even know that you need money to trade for items in the market. That’s not her fault, mind you, which is why I find it forgivable. I blame the Sultan entirely for that one. It also slightly puts me off in how she completely rejected every prince that came to court. What, so you’re the only good-hearted royal human being in the world? I feel like she didn’t even give most of them the chance, judging from her initial treatment of Prince Ali.
7.
Rapunzel (2010): Rapunzel is a very fun Disney Princess. I love how she stood up for herself once she found out the truth of her heritage. And how she used her leverage to convince Gothel to let her heal Flynn after the bitch had mortally wounded him with a dagger. I love her whole coming-of-age story. I love how courageous she was while still managing to be a naive child in the process. She’s also a fricking ninja with that hair of hers and I was sad to see it go.
6.
Merida (2012): Merida is a courageous young woman and an amazing archer. I love how neither her mother nor father are dead, unlike with most of the other princesses. In fact, her story revolved around her relations with a parent - her mom. She fought for what she wanted and showed her mother a new perspective on things. I may have been slightly off-put by the fact that she was unwilling to give any of her suitors a chance to woo her. At the same time, I understand that she was just completely unready for love and marriage. I waited until I was fully mature and ready before doing anything like that too and I support others in following the same path. Also, gotta love her fiery red hair and piercing blue eyes.
5.
Ana (2013): Ana was just so amazing and friendly and outgoing and fun and courageous and self-sacrificing. I felt her pain on a deep level because I’ve experienced estrangement from a sibling whom I used to be very close to as a child. She literally saved her own life with true love that she showed toward her sister to save Elsa’s life, and that was just about the most touching ‘true love’ scene that I’ve ever seen Disney put on. Although she was fooled by Prince Hans, I do not hold her responsible for that. It is entirely understandable given how little love there was in her life for her to be very impatient to marry and move out of the gloomy castle. On the other hand, I wasn’t super in love with her actual love interest, Kristoff, because that guy implied that he picks his nose and that’s just straight up gross.
4.
Elsa (2013):
Like Ana, I felt Elsa’s pain on a very deep level. I would have been at a loss for what to do in her position as well. Thank God she was able to come together with her sister in the end and end their longstanding estrangement. Those years they spent apart made me want to cry. I can’t hold any negative feelings towards Elsa because of all the pain she went through. She’s also mature, amazing, dignified, regal, reserved, and powerful. I got very excited at all the scenes where she was using her ice powers and feeling free for the first time, and when she was using her ice powers to fight for her life. All in all, I’m a pretty big fan of Elsa’s yet still I couldn’t quite get into her enough to actually write fan fiction for her. There was also something about Elsa's celibacy that gave her a certain charm as a female role model.
3. Tiana (2009): Tiana is the hardest working princess and for that, she has my respect. I like how she told Prince Naveen off in the beginning because, let's be honest, he was a spoiled brat. Yet still their relationship had chemistry to me and I totally ship them by the end of the film. Not only was Tiana determined and unwavering in her desire and effort to get what she wanted but her desires were also tempered by her being a good person. She was not willing to do the morally wrong thing and sacrifice Naveen's life to get her restaurant. So while she wanted to own a prestigious restaurant very badly, she would not turn to dishonorable means to obtain it. To be perfectly honest, I can't think of anything I don't like about Tiana. I may be a big fan of hers, yet I still haven't been inspired to create any fan work for her, and I don't particularly know why. I suppose she just doesn't have quite the right combination of personality traits that make me fall deeply enough in love with a character to draw or write about her. Go figure.
2. Mulan (1998): Mulan is on this list not because she is a princess, but because she is SO MUCH MORE than a mere princess. She saved an enormous country full of people who would have been conquered by a tyrannical invader if not for her courageous actions. She is literally "the Hero of China" and she's a woman. Her accomplishments must have changed the entire country's perspective on what females are capable of. She opened up new possibilities for all women. She is a glass ceiling breaker and for that, she will always be one of my greatest heroes. I sort of ship her with her love interest but at the same time, I'm not super in love with the couple. Mulan has a man because she wants one, not because she needs one. And I respect that. Shang was definitely handsome and it's pretty cool that he's going to have a wife capable of giving him a run for his money. It makes me wonder what the dynamics of their married life will be like. Also, I sympathize with Mulan's pain at the beginning of the movie for being a misfit.
1. Pocahontas (1995): There is no Disney Princess that has ever come close to making me feel the love I feel for Pocahontas as a character. There are no words to describe how amazing she is. Her movie was an absolute masterpiece and work of art that has inspired me not just as an artist but also as a storywriter for decades. Pocahontas, the Princess of Peace, is my number one movie heroine of all time. I've always wanted to be like her ever since I was ten years old and I saw the movie for the first time. If I make it into Heaven and get to design my own little paradise, it will be Pocahontas's world that I will spend eternity in. She's courageous and self-sacrificing for her people. At the same time, it was her ability to understand and love someone so unlike herself that opened the eyes of two nations and brought peace between them. Even though she's a 'mere' princess, I love her even more than Mulan perhaps because of how much I dislike war. Violence is simply the bane of human existence. Mulan was a victor of war. She destroyed thousands of soldiers single-handedly, which in her case was a necessary evil. Pocahontas, on the other hand, prevented war entirely and saved hundreds if not thousands of lives on both sides. What I respect about her so much is that she is even above the 'kick-ass' princesses whom I love so much. She doesn't need violence to be a strong woman, yet at the same time she is capable of it because she is physically strong. Second of all, she's more realistic than the others because her first love did not turn out to be her true love. Still I was fully in love with both of her choices and I fully approved of both of them in their respective movies. John Smith was just right for the younger Pocahontas to help her bring peace. John Rolfe was just right for the more mature adult Pocahontas who is finally ready to settle down and start a family. Honestly, I have a lot more to say on the topic of Pocahontas but if I don't limit myself, I'll ramble on for eternity. If you want to know more, just ask!