If you follow the Disney Princess franchise, you may notice that there are some that are missing, perhaps even your favorite one. Here I’ll go over the 14(ish) Disney princesses that just didn’t make it as Disney Princesses.
In this coverage, I’m focusing only on princesses featured in Disney animated films. Anything that’s from live action, a TV show, a movie made by a company purchased by Disney prior to the purchase (e.g., Pixar or LucasFilm) and similar things won’t count (though I’ll be cheating a bit by including Enchanted).
1. Faline (Bambi, 1942)
Voiced by: Cammie King (young Faline) and Ann Gillis (adult Faline)
Description: Bambi’s love interested in the eponymous film
Why she’s a princess: She ends up with Bambi, the Great Prince of the Forest
Why she’s not a Disney Princess: She’s a deer.
2. Tiger Lily (Peter Pan, 1953)
Voiced by: Corrine Orr
Description: The Indian princess in Never Land
Why she’s a princess: She’s the chief’s daughter, and is referred to multiple times as “princess Tiger Lily”
Why she’s not a Disney Princess: Let’s face it: Disney’s portrayal of Native Americans in Peter Pan is not that flattering. Added to that is the fact that Tiger Lily has only one spoken line in the entire film (“Help!” she shouts, with the word being partially garbled as her head goes under water). All in all, she’s not that marketable.
3. Maid Marian (Robin Hood, 1973)
Voiced by: Monica Evans
Description: Robin Hood’s love interest.
Why she’s a princess: Robin Hood is the “Prince of Thieves”, which would make Marian the “Princess of Thieves” (or at least the “Duchess of Larceny”, I’m not exactly sure how these things work…).
Why she’s not a Disney Princess: She’s a fox. And I don’t mean she’s an attractive lady. She’s an anthropomorphic fox. She’d stand out like a sore thumb beside the more human princesses.
4. Eilonwy (The Black Cauldron, 1983)
Voiced by: Susan Sheridan
Description: She is the female companion of Taran on his quest for the Black Cauldron.
Why she’s a princess: While her father is a commoner, she is descended from royalty on her mother’s side. This is made apparent in the original source material, but not quite so much in the film. She often refers to herself as “Princess Eilonwy.”
Why she’s not a Disney Princess: This is probably a combination of the fact that the film only establishes her as a scullery maid posing as royalty, but does not reveal her noble heritage, and the fact that this film is rather dark, making her not that viable a candidate for princessdom.
5. Ariel’s sisters (The Little Mermaid, 1989)
Voiced by: Kimmy Robertson and Caroline Vasicek
Description: Ariel’s sisters, Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Attina, Adella, and Alana are the other daughters of King Triton.
Why they’re princesses: They’re the daughters of the king
Why they’re not Disney Princesses: First, because Ariel is. It’s hard to stand up against that (especially when you have fins instead of feet). Secondly, they’re not as “beautiful” as Ariel. They sort of have “stepsister” noses (like Cinderella’s stepsisters) in The Little Mermaid.
6. Nala (The Lion King, 1994)
Voiced by: Moira Kelly (adult Nala), Sally Dworsky (adult singing voice), Niketa Calame (young Nala), Laura Williams (young singing voice)
Description: Simba’s best friend and eventual wife.
Why she’s a princess: Simba, being the heir apparent to the kingdom, marries her.
Why she’s not a Disney Princess: She’s a lion. It wouldn’t be fair to make Nala a Disney Princess and not Faline, or vice versa (and it wouldn’t be fair to Faline to have to spend so much time with a creature that sees her as a ready food source).
7. Esmeralda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1996)
Voiced by: Demi Moore, Heidi Mollenhauer (singing)
Description: A Gypsy in Paris in the 1480s.
Why she’s a princess: She obviously hold significant clout among the Gypsy community, being in many ways a “princess,” if not explicitly indicated as much.
Why she’s not a Disney Princess: Have you seen The Hunchback of Notre Dame? It’s dark. Plus Esmeralda is somewhat sexualized in the film. This isn’t the kind of princess parents would want their little girls emulating.
8. Megara (Hercules, 1997)
Voiced by: Susan Egan
Description: Hercules’ love interest. Sold her soul to Hades to win the heart of a man who eventually jilted her love.
Why she’s a princess: Hercules is a god, or at least a demi-god. You marry a god, you can call yourself whatever you like.
Why she’s not a Disney Princess: I doubt that selling your soul is a good trait for Disney Princesses to have.
9. Jane Porter (Tarzan, 1999)
Voiced by: Minnie Driver
Description: Tarzan’s love interest. An English explorer who helps bridge the gap between the wild kingdom and civilization.
Why she’s a princess: Tarzan is often called the “king of the jungle.” In addition, Edgar Rice Burroughs can’t seem to write a book without a princess. Jane fits that role well.
Why she’s not a Disney Princess: Possibly because Tarzan didn’t attract a large female audience. She’s also somewhat skinny.
10. Kidagakash “Kida” Nedakh (Atlantis: The Lost Empire, 2001)
Voiced by: Cree Summer
Description: The princess, and eventual queen, of Atlantis. Also Milo’s love interest.
Why she’s a princess: Her father, Kashekim Nedakh, was the king (and voiced by Spock!).
Why she’s not a Disney Princess: I don’t think Disney Princesses are supposed to kill people. Just a guess. Plus, by the end of the film, she’s queen.
11. Giselle (Enchanted, 2007)
Voiced by: Amy Adams
Description: She is the stereotypical Disney princess.
Why she’s a princess: She’s set to marry Prince Edward.
Why she’s not a Disney Princess: Either because she didn’t end up marrying Prince Edward (should I then be talking about why Nancy doesn’t count too?) or because Disney didn’t want to pay “likeness rights” on Amy Adams to add her to the list.
12. Charlotte “Lottie” La Bouff (The Princess and the Frog, 2009)
Voiced by: Jennifer Cody, Breanna Brooks (young Charlotte)
Description: The daughter of a rich sugar mill owner. She is Tiana’s best friend, for what it’s worth.
Why she’s a princess: She was made princess of Mardi Gras. Does that count?
Why she’s not a Disney Princess: Okay, so pretend you’re Disney. You’re making the FIRST BLACK DISNEY PRINCESS. You’re already walking on eggshells, what with originally trying to name her Maddy, and making Naveen much lighter than her. Are you really going to risk facing the wrath of the universe by, at the same time, adding a blonde, white girl to the pantheon?
13. Vanellope von Schweetz (Wreck-It Ralph, 2012)
Voiced by: Sarah Silverman
Description: The usurped ruler of the racing game Sugar Rush.
Why she’s a princess: She’s the Princess of Sugar Rush, deposed by King Candy.
Why she’s not a Disney Princess: Aside from the fact that she’s about a third of the height of most Disney Princesses, she also abdicates in favor of being president.
14. Anna and Elsa (Frozen, 2013)
Voiced by: Kristen Bell (Anna), Livvy Stubenrauch (5-year-old Anna), Katie Lopez (5-year-old Anna singing voice), Agatha Lee Monn (9-year-old Anna), Idina Menzel (Elsa), Eva Bella (8-year-old Elsa), Spencer Lacey Ganus (12-year-old Elsa)
Description: The royal daughters of Arendelle, left orphans in their teens.
Why they’re princesses: They are the daughters of the king and queen of Arendelle.
Why they’re not Disney Princesses: The jury’s still out on these two. While Anna is a more likely candidate for the pantheon, it would be odd to not include both of them, even though Elsa is technically a queen.
Honorable Mentions
Here are some characters who weren’t princesses, but deserved some respect.
- Minnie Mouse. How can you not?
- Alice (Alice in Wonderland, 1951). Technically, she became a queen in the book.
- Little Girl Squirrel (The Sword in the Stone, 1963). I have a theory that this is really Guinevere enchanted as a squirrel (I’m apparently not the only one…). That helps me watch this part of the film without feeling too sad at Arthur’s departure.
- Kuzco (The Emperor’s New Groove, 2001). I think we can all agree that this is true.
As far as I can tell, that’s all the theatrical princesses who aren’t Disney Princesses. As I mentioned above, I’m not including live action (so no Princess Protection Program) or TV (no Sofia the First or Gummi Bears) or pre-Disney films (no Bug’s Life or Star Wars) or Disney-produced films (no Princess Mononoke).
Did I miss any? Got anything you’d like to share? Let me know!
No comments:
Post a Comment