The Evolution of the Disney Princess

By Sadie, Grade 6

The evolution of Disney princesses is impressively noticeable, and is still happening. Don’t forget, the last Disney princess movie to come out was Moana, and it came out just a few years ago in 2016. Moana is an example of a strong female lead, because of her longing for adventure, and her reluctance to get help from Maui. That is more than I can say for some others, though.

Snow White

Let’s go way back to 1938, when Disney’s first princess movie came out. It was called Snow White. Although Snow White had a sweet personality and a sad backstory or whatever, she maybe wasn’t the best role model for young girls. She may not have been the smartest, either. After the first time, wouldn’t know not to let strange old ladies into her house? Not to mention the fact that she slept through almost the entire last half of her movie. But hey, no shade. And if you want to talk about sleeping, let’s fast forward about 20 years to the sleepiest one there was.

Sleeping Beauty

Now let’s talk a little about Sleeping Beauty, a film that came out in 1959. What can I say about this girl. She’s a damsel in distress. The movie was barely even about her, I feel. It was more like her fairy godmothers led the whole thing. So basically, this girl pricks her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel. Its cursed, so she falls into a deep sleep. Then her fairy godmothers do some singing and dancing, and some prince comes and kisses her, and she wakes up. Then they get married, blah, blah blah. You can see why she isn’t favored by many people. Now, I’m not trying to throw any shade at Disney. I usually love their movies, and it wasn’t their fault Sleeping Beauty was a pretty boring story. They adapted a lot of their fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, and so on.

Cinderella

Go back a few years to Cinderella, which came out a couple years before Sleeping Beauty in 1957. She was sort of an average girl. She wasn’t super needy, but not super courageous, either. I’m gonna leave it at that for Cinderella.

The Little Mermaid

Now in 1989, a new type of princess was made, in fact a mermaid princess. She was too gullible though, she was just... well, not educated you can say. This shines through when she trades her voice to Ursla in exchange for legs, and she does it all for Prince Eric, who she’d only seen once before. Did you know that in the original fairy tale, the little mermaid dies at the end? Yeah, Disney has a way of sugarcoating things like that.

Beauty and the Beast

The next movie to come out was Beauty and the Beast, in 1991 Belle, in my opinion, is a pretty selfless girl. In the beginning, she thought the Beast was truly a monster, but was still willing to give herself up to him in exchange for her father’s freedom. I also respect that she turns down the “best” guy in the village, Gaston. But in the end, the Beast ends up defeating Gaston, not Belle.

Aladdin

A year later, Aladdin came out in 1992. Jasmine was the first Disney Princess of color, which was sort of a big deal. It’s true that she needed a man to go on the adventure of her life, but, to be honest, I sort of like Aladdin’s personality. Honestly, she could have done much worse… cough-Jafar-cough! But Aladdin couldn’t do that by himself either. He needed to have the help of a genie, first.

Pochahontis

In 1995, Pochahontis hit the theaters. This movie is the most controversial princess movie yet. The way Disney portrays the Native Americans may have been offensive to a lot of people. In my opinion? Well, I like the fact that Pochahontis wasn’t exactly a fairy tale, but a legend. Also, in the movie, Pocahontas doesn’t end up with the guy! For once… She’s also a total free spirit and a daredevil, which I can appreciate.

Mulan

Next up is Mulan, which came out in 1998. Mulan is very strong, in my opinion, and brave. She goes out to fight in her father’s place, because she doesn’t think he’s strong enough. She chops her hair off with a dagger, and pretends to be a man so that she can fight. She falls in love with the leader, and I was afraid he was gonna save her from something, but in the end, Mulan ended up being the hero in her story.

The Princess and the Frog

Next comes Tiana’s movie, The Princess and the Frog, which came out in 2009. I liked Tiana, because she was hard working and persevered. The only complaint I had about her character is, she spends the majority of the movie as a literal frog. And she ended up marrying the prince in the end! But can I just say, the two of them make an amazing power couple?

Tangled

And of course, we can’t forget Tangled, which came out in 2010. So, Rapunzel spent her entire life cooped up in a tower until Flynn Rider showed up, so I guess that’s her excuse for being kind of… strange. No shade or anything, I was just saying she was a little quirky. Just look at the interior design of her tower! A problem I have with the story is, Flynn Rider saved her from the tower, instead of her being able to save herself. But, at the end, all her hair gets chopped off, and a lot of Disney fans were horrified. Me? I was happy for her that all that hair was gone, because she must have gone through like, 10 bottles of shampoo each week. Also, since Flynn Rider (Eugine) cuts it all off, it shows that he doesn’t care about looks.

Brave

That brings us to Brave, which hit the theaters in 2012. Merida is brave, but I’m not so sure she’s really a princess. The movie isn’t really about her and her journey, or bravery, or whatever, but about her parents turning into bears. But she still qualifies because of her ancestry and lineage. But you know I’ve got to give her credit for her skills with the bow and arrows.

Frozen

One year later, Frozen came out in 2013. Ooooh, Frozen. Did you know that Frozen has sold more merchandise than any other Disney movie? Plastic toys, princess dresses, jewelry, you name it. I think this is because it’s a story of sisters and bonding and such, so a lot of sisters around the world can relate. So, a lot of people think that Elsa and Anna shouldn’t be considered as Disney Princesses. To that I say… Why not? Is it because Elsa became a queen at the end of the movie? Is it because their parents passed away and that somehow means that they aren’t royal anymore? None of that makes any sense. Also, can I just name a few other former princesses that are now Disney Queens: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Rapunzel, and a few others. Also, Frozen II is hitting theaters on November 22, 2019! Don’t forget to buy tickets beforehand so it doesn’t sell out before you get them!

And I talked about Moana in the beginning so… That’s it! We’ve gotten through each and every Disney Princess Movie! Nice work, crew. Thank you for getting through this article. I know it is ridiculously long, but I hope you learned more about women empowerment and Disney!