Ranking the Disney Princesses (With Some Help from Julia, Shroomie, Pebbles and Deetzy)

Believe it or not, a series of dolls, dresses, videos, CD's, makeup, and all sorts of treasures and toys little girls can have is one of the most profitable ventures the Walt Disney Company has.  The Disney Princess chain is almost as big a money absorber as all of Marvel and Star Wars combined for the company, raking in almost a billion dollars in revenue all around the world each year.  All these animated girls have to do is stand there and look pretty while girls emulate and dream to live the lives they live and have a Happily Ever After of their own.

But what exactly does this franchise mean to us as a people?  To little girls, it could be used an initial starting point for your dreams to begin.  To boys, these girls could be your very first interaction with the opposite sex and could actually be a boy's first actual crush (I know Ariel was mine).  To some, it could be a way to bond with your children over movies and characters you enjoyed as a kid.

One thing we cannot deny about this chain, however, is that they have had both a positive and negative impact on worldwide reaction to fairy tales and all sorts of stories that we grew up with.  Perhaps some of these arguments hold ground, but I think we have become too overanalyzing as a society (but that's for another post).

In this post, I will be discussing how these lovely ladies work as characters, plot points, singers, and a few other categories that surprisingly more and more men seek in a female companion.  This is a Countdown of the 20 Greatest Disney Princesses.

Criteria:
1. The Characters Must Be a Female in a Disney Movie or a Product distributed by Disney
2. She must hold a specific title as a monarch or be a highly important/respected person in their kingdom.  

That's pretty much it.  Let's get started:

20. Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)

Of all of the Disney Princesses in the Major Line of princesses, only one character is in their movie for only about 18 minutes and leaves almost no impact on us as an audience whatsover.  Congratulations, Aurora.  Aurora is quite simply the most bland and uninteresting of all of the princesses.  All she really does is dance and look pretty.  And feminists think Cinderella is the bad role model for girls?

19. Princess Eilonwy (The Black Cauldron)

This movie did serious damage to one of my all time favorite characters in literature.  Eilonwy was spunky, hot-tempered, and often always risked her own well-being to prove she is just as capable of taking part in battle as Taran.  But the only element this film gave to Princess Eilonwy is the fact that they made her a girl.  She has almost no personality and serves only as a love interest to Taran and no other reason.  She has no scene of standing out and is just another reason this movie pisses me off as much as it does.  

18. Princess Kida (Atlantis: The Lost Empire)

While some Princess's get flak for being overrated, others get too much praise as underrated princesses.  Kida is one of the latter.  She serves to teach Milo and the explorers all about Atlantis and is even a fairly important part of the survival of her people.  But wherein she has a good backstory and serves an importance to her people, her personality is one of the things that detracted me from the movie.  But hey, not all princesses have to be Belle or Rapunzel, right?

17. Kairi (Kingdom Hearts Series)

Unlike Kida, Kairi has another chapter in her story to have her character fleshed out in the upcoming final installment in the Kingdom Hearts saga.  In the first game, Kairi serves as a driving point for Sora and Riku to both travel on their journeys and even take opposite sides in an effort to rescue her heart from the darkness.  It is heavily implied that she has strong feelings for Sora that should be realized in the next game and ultimately the rest of the series.  Though Kairi lacks the true personalities and turmoil her two close friends endure on their journeys, she does have the potential and perhaps even the wherewithal to overcome some of the doubters of her character and serve as a vital cog in the final battles to come.

16. Nala (The Lion King)

The fact that I can put the one aspect of this film I criticized the most over Princess Aurora ought to tell you guys something, right?  Nala serves little purpose in The Lion King other than love interest to Simba, as her attempts to motivate Simba fail to galvenize him the way Rafiki and Mufasa manage to later on.  While she is noble and cares deeply for her pride and kingdom, these are her only character traits.  Honestly, this is why I skip most of her scenes.


15. Snow White (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)

There is nothing seriously wrong with Snow White, aside from her bad dubbing in Birth By Sleep.  She is the first Disney Leading Lady that didn't just look like Mickey or Donald dressing in drag.  Adriana Caselotti has a beautiful voice that fits well in the era the film came out in, and she actually does have a part in the film aside from being a damsel.  She is the romantic and emotional foils to not only the prince, but the dwarfs as well.  We get to know about her more than Aurora and she actually does things in her movie, unlike other females in this list...

14. Pocahontas (Pocahontas)

When your preachiness is the most memorable character trait you have how can you possibly be a memorable princess.  In the marketing of the Disney Princesses, Pocahontas is almost never involved and even almost got booted out in favor of Tinker Bell (which would have been the dumbest thing Disney did since they booted Jeffery Katzenberg out).  She is just too preachy to make enough of a serious impact on any of the young girls out there.  I guess she fills the Native American quotient, and she does have a damn good singing voice...so she's still better than Aurora and Eilonwy...

13. Atta (A Bug's Life)

Atta has got to be the most overlooked of all the Disney Princesses, including Eilonwy.  While she isn't the most memorable part of this movie in any light, she still manages to evoke different traits that were frowned upon by most of the other Disney Princesses.  Her entire motivation is not to win Flik's love or be free from the colony, but to learn how to be a good leader and to keep the colony protected from Hopper and his gang.  Her as a romantic foil is almost a cliffnote in the movie and she plays her part as a princess fairly well.

12. Merida (Brave)


Had she been more of a memorable character in this film (the Mulan effect), I might have liked Brave a bit more than I currently do.  But instead, Merida is a blend of most of the princesses that preceded her (including Mulan, Jasmine, Belle, and Pocahontas), which isn't a bad thing, except for the fact that she doesn't bring anything new to the table, which is what I criticized the movie for in general.  However, I will admit she was more memorable than both Snow White and Pocahontas, both of whom don't have enough of a personality to carry them up the list...

11. Megara (Hercules)


Well, her boyfriend is the son of the King of Olympus, so Meg does count here.  Susan Egan does a brilliant job portraying one of the many out of place characters that makes this film so memorable.  Meg is not the typical DID.  Instead, she is contracted by Hades to be a DID and a bit of a siren to lure monsters and villainous beings to his cause.  But it is the first meeting face to face with an innocent but good-intentioned young man with superhuman strength that breaks the dense wall she had put around her heart.  And it's her character arc alongside the wacky performance of James Woods that will never let me hate this movie...

10. Princess Jasmine (Aladdin)

Jasmine is easily the most polarizing of these Disney Princesses.  In most cases, she should be near the bottom for failing to be as galvanizing and captivating as her two predecessors were.  But again, she has a great personality to go along with her desires and it is nice to see that she falls in love with Aladdin not because of his title or his power, but for his heart and his true being.  She can see through the facades that Jafar puts up, along with being able to quickly think her way out of a lot of situations as her man.  While Jasmine isn't exactly original, she isn't exactly a bad influence.  She teaches girls to find love in the person behind the money and power, not the power itself.  And I think that's a good message.  (Plus, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a crush on her too as a little boy)

9. Elsa (Frozen)

I didn't think I'd be able to get away with putting Elsa on this list, since she is the Queen for most of the movie, but I figured she still is an integral part of the new Disney Princess chain and should get the credit she deserves.  Like Kairi, I firmly believe that Elsa will get a serious character upgrade in the sequel to Frozen that will likely solely develop her and her sister's relationship.  On her own, however, Elsa is a very intriguing character, who can be used to represent people who are afraid of allowing people in and hurting them.  She chooses to isolate herself and even allows herself to become a more dynamic character through doing so.  I honestly see a lot of myself in her.  Elsa was one of the best parts of her own movie and I definitely look forward to fighting alongside her in Kingdom Hearts III and watching her sequel (so long as it's not a DTV).

8. Cinderella (Cinderella)

It's time for me to take down a few harsh criticisms this poor girl gets from feminists.  Many believe she represents this belief that girls should just sit around and wait for something to happen to make their dreams come true.  I have to disagree.  The only Disney Princess I see working harder to obtain their goal is Tiana, and unlike in the POS live action remake, Cinderella is kept isolated inside the chateau.  Remember, the Grand Duke and the King have never seen her before at the ball.  Plus, imagine all the horrible stuff she has to deal with, from her obnoxious stepsisters and evil stepmother, I would have cored those bitches a long time ago.  But she holds onto her dreams even through adversity and only breaks when Anastasia and Drizella rip apart her dress.  She is one of the strongest characters in Disney History that gets way too criticized for this guy to like...

7. Giselle (Enchanted)

This was the funniest movie I have seen in a long time.  I didn't watch this when if first came out, but I am kicking myself for every second I missed this film.  And most of it is because of Amy Adam's incredible performance as Giselle, who is the stereotypical princess that needs to learn that sometimes, the fairy tale way of doing things isn't the right thing.  She knows she's a stereotype and she enjoys every second of it.  But she also teaches the sourpusses in New York that sometimes, love should conquer everything from divorce and even physical attraction.  How else could I judge a character who is as ditzy and funny as she is?

6. Mulan (Mulan)

Mulan is probably the one "Disney Princess" who does not belong on this list.  Not only is she herself not related to the Emperor of China, but she also doesn't marry into royalty like Cinderella and Belle do.  I guess she was there to appeal to young Asian-American girls, and I guess that works.  It definitely helps to have a strong-willed woman who can kick ass on the roster.  Mulan is one of the best female leads in ANY Disney film and she definitely keeps the film from being an abject failure in my eyes.  She is kind, but will not hesitate to stand up for what she believes in and will not duck away in the face of danger.  This kind of bites her in the ass in the sequel, but I'm done talking about those films...Mulan is still an awesome lead...

5. Tiana (The Princess and the Frog)

If Aurora is the first extreme Disney Princesses can reach, Tiana is the second.  Instead of waiting for her dreams to come true, she takes action immediately and sets out to achieve the dream she and her father had of opening a restaurant in New Orleans.  She ignores the wishing aspect of her dream until she is pushed to her emotional breaking point, which is when fate drops the frog Naveen into her life.  Through her adventuring around the bayou, she eventually learns that both dreaming and doing are important in achieving a dream and that sometimes, what you want and what you need are two different things.  It's very surprising of Disney to have someone this proactive in the plot, but it shows that the company has matured since the mid-2000's.

4. Rapunzel (Tangled)

Rapunzel, in many ways, is the modern equivalent to Quasimodo, except she's a girl and much better looking.  She is eager to break free from the tower she's locked away in and is willing to do anything to see the lights in the Kingdom.  She loves adventure and learns to let her guard down in front of not only a man she learns to love, but also thugs in a bar, a horse, and so many people in the Kingdom.  She is kind, adventurous and stands out as a stark contrast to both Giselle and Tiana as the true revival of the Disney Princess Line.  She is the most well balanced and perhaps the best Disney Princess of the new millennium...well...

3. Princess Anna (Frozen)

If Elsa represented one end of the isolation spectrum, Anna is (like Tiana) the exact opposite.  While Elsa refuses to trust anyone, even herself, Anna proves to be far too trusting and almost gets her and her sister killed because of it.  Nevertheless, it is almost nostalgic to see this new princess fawning and dreaming all about a new life for herself in a style reminiscent of the films I grew up with in childhood.  Perhaps that's why I was drawn more to Frozen than I was to Tangled.  I see a lot of people I know in Elsa and Anna, two whom both take very different roads in trusting people and allowing the world to know them.  Kristen Bell is virtually flawless as Anna and as I watch this film again making this list, she reminds me a lot of another Disney Princess I haven't gotten to yet...

2. Ariel (The Little Mermaid)

Maybe it is pure nostalgia that draws me to Ariel.  Or, maybe it's the fact that she is such a dynamic character in her plot.  Unlike most of her fellow Princesses, Ariel impacts almost the entirety of her film's plot, from missing the concert, to rescuing Eric from drowning, to sealing the deal with Ursula.  And, if I may just say so, Jodi Benson's voice is electrifying as this little mermaid almost every boy I knew had a crush on in school.  She's passionate, innocent, loving, daring, and loves anything that isn't from her own undersea kingdom.  And if it weren't for her passionate drive and love for all things human, my childhood would most certainly have been a different place...

1. Belle (Beauty and the Beast)

But there is honestly no character Disney has made in recent memory better than Belle.  I can honestly say I have not found a single flaw in her character.  She is kind and caring, but has her limits with certain people and will certainly not take insults or mockery towards her or her father lying down.  And when it comes to dealing with the Beast as his prisoner, she brings this attitude and does not learn to see the Beast more than a monster until he stops acting a like a jerk to her.  She is a bookworm, looks for the best in people before the worst, and has a goal and dream even she doesn't know the answer to.  She hopes to find adventure and magic in her dreary and boring little town and manages to find both in the last place she ever expected she would.  And this is why Belle is the best Disney Princess of all time.