Ranking Disney Princesses

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Ranking Disney Princesses

Music and princesses. Those are the two things that instantly come to mind upon hearing the word Disney. I have already made all songs lists, but now is the time to delve into the girls themselves. Disney Princesses are famous in terms of merchandise as they bring a lot of money for the studio, but they remain a lovely, very diverse group of heroines with each one bringing a lot of charm and charisma to their films. So without further ado, here is my ranking of all fourteen Disney Princesses.

14. Pocahontas

Let’s face it. All fourteen Disney princesses are at least good, if not great characters. So putting Pocahontas in the last place was difficult and it certainly doesn’t mean that she’s bad. She’s very likable, brave and such a tough female character. I also loved her Native American heritage and how well she’s depicted and representative for that community. However, as is the case with all of the movie’s characters, Pocahontas is also underdeveloped owing to slight, quite weak characterization. She’s fine, but overly perfect in a way and a bit bland. That’s why she ended up being last on my list.

13. Jasmine

Now, this one is personal. Jasmine is a great character undoubtedly. She’s tough, sexy and again an ethnic Disney Princess, this time an Arab one. But, Aladdin is not her movie so she was reduced to too little screen time and honestly she is simply too unlikable to me personally. I do realize why everybody loves her, but just like Al himself, Jasmine is overly cocky, arrogant and insufferable at times. That’s why they are such a great couple as they’re so similar in personalities.

12. Moana

Moana being in the twelfth place is also somewhat of a personal choice as I just found the character rather annoying and unlikable in certain scenes in the film. Yes, she’s a competent, brave and tough, yet very flawed and at times, scared and insecure girl who certainly got some terrific character development throughout the many dramatic moments in the film. But the deconstruction of who a Disney Princess should be and the constant ridicule of the concept from both the movie and especially her made the character rather unfortunate and simply not as likable as she should have been.

11. Elsa

Elsa is an intriguing creation obviously. She is a powerful, magically enhanced girl whose journey proved to be immensely relatable to many of the oppressed/minorities in the audience. She’s definitely badass and highly memorable. However, she’s also very much a plot device in a movie which obviously favors her sister Anna more when it comes to screen time, leading to Elsa herself being pretty underdeveloped. And she’s also more of a queen than a princess when you think about it.

10. Aurora

This is another character who just never got enough screen time and thus we ended up not really getting to know her properly. However, even though most fault her for that, I actually found her serviceable in the context of the story which, as the title itself says, makes her asleep throughout most of the runtime. She’s thus actually rather commendable in that she manages to make an impact in just the minutes of time that she got, in particular thanks to her beautiful musical number Once Upon a Dream.

9. Snow White

I have already touched upon in my review of the film how immensely underrated this princess is and I am not just talking about her being the first Disney Princess ever. Yes, most audiences today absolutely despite Snow for being prince-obsessed and for cleaning the dwarfs’ house when in actuality she just longed for a better life and she cleaned the house so that she can stay there. She’s very endearing and although definitely not as well developed as the dwarfs are, she still makes an impact and her relationship with the little men is beyond charming.

8. Merida

My main gripe with Merida is that she simply doesn’t belong in this group of characters and merchandise having in mind that she comes from a Pixar, not a Disney film. But Disney bought Pixar so obviously she was bound to get in here. Although not at first, I actually came to really like her upon my second viewing of Brave. Merida is not just tough, competent and spirited, but also still caring and family-oriented. Her relationship with her mother is so heartwarming and obviously her curly red hair and fine archery skills make her instantly recognizable.

7. Anna

Not only being one of Frozen’s best characters, but also definitely better than her more famous sister, Anna truly is terrific. Her spunky, nerdy and warm personality makes her highly endearing and easy to root for. I loved her infectious energy and a sense of humor too. Frozen is basically her movie and although overly feminist in approach, the film still presents a solid deconstruction of a Disney Princess and romance in making Anna learn that true love takes time and doesn’t happen in an instant.

6. Belle

Although definitely somewhat overrated and far from my personal favorite princess, I still really like and definitely admire Belle. They managed here to create a character who is, yes, brave, capable to make her own decisions and basically saves a prince in the end, but she still retains her feminine qualities. Her best quality is her reading hobby which I so loved and, coming from a small town, I really empathized with her struggles fitting in. Also, her famously more natural look was groundbreaking for its time.

5. Cinderella

Yes, Cindy gets this very high spot on my list despite her being somewhat hated by today’s boring liberals. In actuality, she is far from a passive hero such as Snow is. Quite the opposite, not only did she obviously want to escape her torments, but she herself went to the ball and got the prince. And that makes her a powerful heroine. Also, she is the definition of a Disney Princess meaning that she’s one of the first to spring to mind when the term is brought up – from the glass slippers to her transformation to that famous dress, she simply is an icon.

4. Tiana

Probably the most underrated character on this list is Tiana from The Princess and the Frog which is itself a highly underappreciated, very good movie. In spite of how most people would praise Anna or Merida or Moana, in actuality it is Tiana who’s literally the first of the newest princesses and the first really modern one. She is the only one who has a job which is obviously groundbreaking in itself, but she also learns that work is not everything. I love that balance along with her romance with Prince Naveen and her very tough demeanor.

3. Mulan

By far the strongest, most powerful and active Disney Princess so far, Mulan is a true female warrior and thus deserving of every top five spots on any list out there in my opinion. She’s still highly feminine, very gentle and sweet, but also becomes an action hero and literally saves the entire country of China. Genuinely charming and likable, Fa Mulan is also very well developed unlike Pocahontas who’s also brave and active, but never as well realized as Mulan is. She’s so far the finest of the ethnic princesses.

2. Rapunzel

Now we come to my two personal favorites, the ones that do not really appear on many other top lists, but I personally adore them to pieces. Rapunzel gets the second place as this new, but still absolutely phenomenal character. Tangled is just such a wonderful film and Rapunzel is the heart and soul of it. Her relationship with Flynn Ryder is natural and superbly realized, her spunky attitude is great, her magical hair is so cool and above all else, she’s a magnetic, extremely cute,  immensely endearing and simply very sweet person whom I just want to hug every time she’s on screen.

1. Ariel

And this is it. My number one Disney Princess is and will always be Ariel! And I have a lot of reasons for that, but simply my joy at seeing her face, my care for her and me rooting for he every single time I watch the film speaks volumes as I rarely care for protagonists so deeply. She’s the most beautiful Disney character ever created visually speaking, but she’s also a wonderful soul, very likable and so charming. Her relationship with King Triton is powerful for sure as is her romance with Prince Eric, but her immense desire to visit another world is very relatable to me and the biggest reason why the film is a classic and why she remains the most relatable Disney character of them all.