There’s no doubt Disney is well-known for their princesses. Ever since their first princess film in 1937, and the honorary Oscar it won since there was no category for it to fit into, princesses have made up a lot of Disney’s movie line and merchandise. There always seems to be a new princess project just around the corner for Disney, whether it be a sequel for an existing princess or a new one to join the rankings.
One interesting thing Disney does with their princesses, though, is rank them based on certain criteria. There are official Disney princess rules to determine who can and can’t be a part of their strict lineup. This is how characters who aren’t necessarily princesses, such as Mulan, can still end up on the list. It’s also how obvious princesses like Anna and Elsa are only given honorary titles and not included on the official list. This list only includes the current official princesses, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other princess movies worthy of inclusion too.
12 Pocahontas - Pocahontas
Pocahontas is based on the true story of the Native American Pocahontas, though it's historically inaccurate to a sometimes insulting degree. Taking place during the arrival of English settlers from the Virginia Company, the film shows the relationship between the Native Americans and the Europeans, both friendly and hostile. It also romanticizes Pocahontas’s encounter with John Smith and how she saved his life.
Pocahontas is considered a Disney Princess because she is the daughter of the tribe’s chief, so she’s considered a royal in this regard. Though not an official requirement, she does also have an animal sidekick. Meeko the raccoon is her pet and spends a good chunk of the film by her side.
11 Merida - Brave
The only princess that is not fully Disney is Merida from Brave, which was made in conjunction with Pixar. Merida’s story is about defying the age-old custom of an arranged marriage, preferring for the time to be on her own, and choosing who she wanted to marry when she was ready for it. It’s also set in Scotland and brings some aspects of local folklore into the story, such as the will-o’-the-wisps leading her through the forests.
There’s no questioning how she has gained the title of princess in her own movie, and how she fits the normal rules to become a Disney princess either. Of course, as is with all Disney princesses, she has some animal companions as well. Her horse, Angus, is a loyal beast who tries to help her out when he can. You might also consider her brothers animal companions as well when they accidentally turn into bears halfway through the movie.
10 Tiana - The Princess and the Frog
The Princess and the Frog is based on the popular fairy tale of the same name, but with Disney’s own twist. Set in New Orleans, Tiana is the star of the movie, focused on trying to open her own restaurant. Instead of the princess kissing the frog and the frog turning back into a human prince, however, Tiana gets turned into a frog with him, and they have to work together to find a different way to break the curse.
Though not initially a princess, Tiana does earn the title by the end of the movie when she marries Prince Naveen. Marrying into the title is an approved way to get onto the list, especially since she’s not the only one. Tiana could also technically have animal sidekicks in the alligator Louis and the firefly Ray, because while they might not be together at the beginning of the movie, they become fast and nearly inseparable friends.
9 Aurora - Sleeping Beauty
The tale of Sleeping Beauty is a classic. Princess Aurora is cursed as a young child to fall into a deep sleep after pricking her finger on a spinning wheel, only to be awakened by true love’s kiss. Of course, if you’ve ever read the original story, the basic concept has remained for the Disney movie while making it all more family-friendly. We get to see Aurora leave the castle and live with her fairy caretakers in an attempt to save her from this inevitable fate, as well as her blossoming love for Prince Phillip.
She’s one of the oldest Disney princesses and one of the building blocks for the guidelines of what a princess is. Her movie also cemented Disney’s insistence to build stories based on these fairy tales but changing them to be more appropriate for kids.
8 Mulan - Mulan
Mulan is based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, bringing to life much of her story. Though the time period of the movie is unclear, it is definitely set in China during an imperial dynasty that is under attack by the Huns. Mulan doesn’t hesitate to pretend to be a man to take her father’s place in the conscription, knowing that only men were supposed to answer and her father’s health was too frail to go to war.
Mulan is one of the few on the list that, while officially a part of the Disney Princess franchise, isn’t actually a princess at all. Instead, she earned her place in the ranks by taking the lead and performing a heroic deed in her movie. She even manages to fit the unofficial rule of having animal sidekicks, with the ever-popular Mushu always by her side once she goes off to war. She also keeps her lucky cricket around and has a loving dog at home.
7 Ariel - The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid takes very loose inspiration from the Danish fairy tale of the same name. This is, again, because the original tale is a lot darker, and not very family-friendly at all. Ariel sits in the center of this story, a mermaid with a strange fascination with humans and all of their items that end up at the bottom of the sea.
She is the reason one of the rules for being a princess is to be mostly human-looking, as she’s the only non-human on the list but still deserved her spot here. She also manages to become a princess twice, once by being the daughter of King Triton and again when she marries Prince Eric in the end.
6 Rapunzel - Tangled
Tangled uses the basic idea of Rapunzel’s fairy tale and creates its own story from it. The idea of a woman locked up in a tower with really long hair stays prevalent, but there are many differences between the two stories. Staying within Disney movie guidelines, the movie turns away from some of the story’s components and instead makes it about Rapunzel learning about the outside world she was never allowed in and truly discovering herself to get away from Mother Gothel, who was keeping her locked in the tower for her own gains. Of course, she also gains the signature animal sidekicks, her chameleon Pascal and the horse Maximus, which are definitely only part of the movie.
5 Cinderella - Cinderella
Perhaps one of the fairy tales with the most adaptations is Cinderella. The original tale has no specific origin as a similar story repeats across many different cultures throughout time. However, Disney chose to adapt French author Charles Perrault’s version, who brought the pumpkin, glass slippers, and the fairy godmother into the story.
They didn’t have to change too much to still bring Cinderella her own happily ever after, but her stepmother was definitely even meaner and eviler in the original fairy tale. The addition of the pumpkin carriage into this particular story also lent a hand to designing her animal companions, as it wasn’t hard to turn the mice who drove the carriage into her friends.
4 Moana - Moana
Moana definitely shows the more recent change into making more movies, especially in the princess category, that let the princess be the heroine instead of being saved by the prince or other similar figure in her life. It’s set in ancient Polynesia, and while the plot is completely original, there’s no doubt that it draws inspiration from several different Polynesian myths.
As the daughter of the village chief, Moana gets to make it onto the list by being considered a princess but also completing a heroic deed. Leaving her island alone to find the demigod Maui and save Te Fiti to save her island from a blight is definitely a worthy heroic deed.
3 Belle - Beauty and the Beast
Based on the fairy tale of the same name, while also bringing in ideas from a French film of the tale, Beauty and the Beast is a classic Disney princess movie from the Disney Renaissance era. As the daughter of an inventor who gets looked at strangely by everyone in town, she definitely wasn’t born a princess. Instead, she marries into the title when she falls in love with the Beast and returns him and the rest of the castle to their previous states after breaking the spell.
Belle is, technically, one of the few Disney princesses who doesn’t really have an animal companion. While you might be able to consider her horse, he isn’t used in the same way as most princess companions do. Instead, the role falls onto the enchanted objects in the castle, like Lumiere and Chip.
2 Snow White - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs holds a lot of firsts. Snow White was the first Disney princess to be in a feature film (historians point out that, actually, Persephone from the 1937 short Silly Symphonies was the 'first Disney princess,' though she's often omitted from most lists). This was also the first full-length traditionally animated feature film, as well as Disney’s first animated feature film in general. It’s based on the German fairy tale of the same name, bringing a lot of the same themes of the tale. This includes the Evil Queen seeing Snow White as a threat and trying to kill or otherwise get rid of her several different times.
Though it can be easy to forget, Snow White is actually a princess in her own birthright and was forced to be a maid by her cold-hearted stepmother. While Snow White eventually does end up with the prince as well, it’s not what made her princess-worthy in the first place.
1 Jasmine - Aladdin
Jasmine is the only princess on the list who manages to make princess status while the title of the movie doesn’t include her at all. Instead, it’s titled after the other main character, Aladdin. It’s based on the Arabic folktale of the same name that can be found in the collection One Thousand and One Nights.
Since she’s not the titular character, Jasmine isn’t in the whole movie, but she is central to the plot and why Aladdin begins to change his ways and try to gain her favor in the first place. She even has an animal companion in her tiger Rajah and does play an important role later in the film in trying to save the city from Jafar.