Favorite Disney Princess

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Belle. She’s the nerdiest princess. Jokes about Stockholm Syndrome aside, I found myself relating to Belle a lot when I was a teen. BatB is probably my favorite Disney romance movie. The relationship is the primary focus of the plot and not a sub plot. She saves the prince and all of his servents through an act of loving sacrifice for her father. The Broadway play really plays up the peril and plight of the servents as they slowly lose their physical humanity. The stakes feel much higher then they are in the movie.

But I love Mulan too. She may have won the battle dressed in armor but she won the war in a dress. Bam! I just love how much her feminity comes out in the last battle and all to her advantage.

Oh and Rapunzel is adorable and Esmerelda is excellent. Hunchback in general is a movie I love more and more the older I get.
 
Cat said:
Tiana, from The Princess and the Frog.

A hard-working waitress from a hard-working family. Her values are my values. Her character is an example for us all.

The music in this movie is brilliant. These are not just pretty “princess songs” that someone created to please little girls. A lot of research into history and Louisiana culture went into each complex song. I’m glad that Cajun music was well-represented in the movie. My special favorite piece is Ma Belle Evangeline, since it’s my daughter’s name. But I love all of the music in the movie.

My husband is an Ariel fanatic. His office is filled with Ariel stuff, including a wall-sized applique.
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See I was really annoyed by Tiana’s Prince. I felt like he never had a change of heart and attitude and never made up for his awfulness from earlier in the movie, so I had a hard time with her “falling for him.” She also seems like a bit of a workaholic, with no time for friends or family in the beginning of the movie. But maybe I need to watch it again, I only saw it once, and I don’t think I was in a good mood to appreciate it.
 
Kamaduck said:
Mulan has 2 parents and saves all of China of her own power, with a rather small bit of help from her “prince” (who isn’t really a prince) and the other soldiers. Not saying there’s anything wrong with Media, but Mulan met your qualifications first. 😉

Mulan is my favorite, if you can’t tell. 😃
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👍
I agree. I also related to Mulan as a teen. (Probably most teens do) “Look at me, I will never pass for a perfect bride or a perfect daughter…”

I liked Merida, but the found the movie very underwhelming, (though the animation was fantastic!). I find my opinion of the princess is closely tided to my opinion of the movie as a whole, which may be a little unfair, but if I can’t enjoy the plot, the characters with whom the princess interacts, and the songs of the princess (I am looking at you Snow White), then I am not gong to like the princess as much.
 
Hmmmm…well now I feel like I have to see Mulan again. Maybe I will see it differently as an adult. Thanks for the insights!
 
Kit15 said:
Belle. She’s the nerdiest princess. Jokes about Stockholm Syndrome aside, I found myself relating to Belle a lot when I was a teen. BatB is probably my favorite Disney romance movie. The relationship is the primary focus of the plot and not a sub plot. She saves the prince and all of his servents through an act of loving sacrifice for her father. The Broadway play really plays up the peril and plight of the servents as they slowly lose their physical humanity. The stakes feel much higher then they are in the movie.
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Hi Kit 👋

Your comment about Stockholm Syndrome prompted me to write. If you enjoy reading, I think you’d love Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley. The heroine is a woman of strong and admirable character, and the story is moving and well-told. 👍
 
Cat said:
My husband is an Ariel fanatic. His office is filled with Ariel stuff, including a wall-sized applique.
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I somehow never got around to seeing the Little Mermaid after all this time, but I feel a certain fondness for Ariel after something that happened to me not long ago in a drive-thru. As I drove up to pay, the girl in the window blurted out, “Oh my gosh, I love your hair! You look like the little mermaid!” :o

So, now I think I really need to watch the movie one of these days! 👍
 
"Morwenna:
Your comment about Stockholm Syndrome prompted me to write. If you enjoy reading, I think you’d love Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley. The heroine is a woman of strong and admirable character, and the story is moving and well-told.
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Personally I find the claims of Stockholm Syndrome in the movie to be a tad intellectually dishonest. Even if we consider the Beast an abuser at the start of the movie, Belle is not taking any of it and is able to dish it back to him with some amount of safety (she treats him as all bark and no bite after she’s given a room). The support from the servants help her feel safe. Even they disobey their master by giving her a good meal. The fact that he really doesn’t hold a lot of power over her shows when she sneaks into the West Wing against his order without much concern about the consequences. The one time she was truly scared (when he finally gets physically violent around her, which he immediately regrets)…she is still able to run away “promise or no promise”. To call that Stockholm Syndrome kinda belittles the actual phenomena where the victim doesn’t have that kind of power. Belle has every bit of her mental facilities with her throughout the movie.

Nevertheless I will check out the book. 🙂
jilly4ski said:
See I was really annoyed by Tiana’s Prince. I felt like he never had a change of heart and attitude and never made up for his awfulness from earlier in the movie, so I had a hard time with her “falling for him.” She also seems like a bit of a workaholic, with no time for friends or family in the beginning of the movie. But maybe I need to watch it again, I only saw it once, and I don’t think I was in a good mood to appreciate it.
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You’re on the money. But I think both characters were *designed *to be total opposites from each other in that respect to add some obstacles to the relationship. Naveen’s “all play” and Tiana’s “all work” are taken to such extremes at the start of the movie that they have been warped into character flaws. But by the end Naveen is rolling up his sleeves and getting his hands dirty while Tiana realizes the benefits of stopping to smell the roses.
 
Kit15 said:
Personally I find the claims of Stockholm Syndrome in the movie to be a tad intellectually dishonest. Even if we consider the Beast an abuser at the start of the movie, Belle is not taking any of it and is able to dish it back to him with some amount of safety (she treats him as all bark and no bite after she’s given a room). The fact that he really doesn’t hold a lot of power over her shows when she sneaks into the West Wing against his order without much concern about the consequences. The one time she was truly scared (when he finally gets physically violent around her, which he immediately regrets)…she is still able to run away “promise or no promise”. To call that Stockholm Syndrome kinda belittles the actual phenomena where the victim doesn’t have that kind of power. Belle has every bit of her mental facilities with her throughout the movie.

Nevertheless I will check out the book. 🙂
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Oh, I agree with you! That’s why I think you’ll enjoy Robin’s retelling; her heroine is spirited like Belle. 🙂
 
No poll? 😉 Well, I guess there are now offcially 11 Disney princesses and a max of 10 poll options. 🙂

I’ve been informed by my daughter that my favorite princess is Belle. I don’t remember telling her that (or even thinking it), but I must have said that to her one time when answering a question she asked. Of course, then she started getting really excited at the store whenever she would see Belle’s picture and would loudly proclaim, “Daddy, look! It’s your favorite princess!” :o

As father of a girl, I know way more about Disney princesses than I ever thought I would. I am somewhat in awe of Dinsey’s ability to permeate the world with their products. My daughter knew all the princesses by name without ever having seen any of the movies and without me having told her. I’m still trying to figure out how that slipped past my parental radar. 😛
 
I always like Aurora, she was sweet although a rather flat character in the movie. Let’s face it, I really liked Prince Philip and his horse. 😛

I like Belle as a child because she had brown hair and so did I. 😃

Ariel drives me nuts, I actually have that movie barred from the house. She refused to listen to reason and all of the warnings given to her, and got rewarded for it. :mad:

When Aladdin came out, I went nuts for Jasmine. She was strong, but not annoying. She was wise and humble. She cared little about a Prince and more about her father and people.
 
Belle

We love all things Disney here. My husband & I honeymooned there, & have been back two times since (plus times we had both been there prior).
 
I would say Belle.

However, Princess Sofia the First is a great Princess!
 
Belle!!! Easily, Belle!

She devoted her life to taking care of her father, when other people called him ‘crazy’, she stood up for him, she turned down the handsome but shallow and mean suitor, she saw past the Beast’s appearance to love him anyway, she was kind but firm, she stood up for herself and her friends, and she always had her nose in a book! I love that they portrayed such a beautiful girl as someone who was so curious and smart.
 
Snow White 🙂

When I was a little girl I had a picture disc record of the soundtrack (still have it) and my Grandma made me a costume. I played the record at least a billion times, dancing around the house with my toy broom, brush/pan etc, and imagine I was her… 🙂
 
My husband is a huge Ariel fan (and mermaid fan in general). He has more Ariel swag than most little girls!

Can you post a link to a source where I can find the original version of The Little Mermaid? I have a fairy tale book that has a version of the story and yes, it has the “sad” ending. But it’s not the version that you have printed here.

Thanks so much! (His birthday is coming up next week.)
 
Cat said:
My husband is a huge Ariel fan (and mermaid fan in general). He has more Ariel swag than most little girls!

Can you post a link to a source where I can find the original version of The Little Mermaid? I have a fairy tale book that has a version of the story and yes, it has the “sad” ending. But it’s not the version that you have printed here.

Thanks so much! (His birthday is coming up next week.)
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I don’t have a link for you, but it shouldn’t be hard to find. What he posted was the original version by Hans Christian Anderson.
 
Not sure if it qualifies, and I barely remember the movie (and it screwed up the book horribly) but I loved Princess Eilonwy from the Lloyd Alexander books. Just don’t remember what Disney did to her in the movie…

Never saw the Frog Princess. Can’t say I’ve got any desire to; I think the Muppets did the definitive version of that story. (It’s also the first story with Sweetums in it!)

But I have to go with Merida. Gorgeous movie. OK plot. Liked the anti-cliche on the princes.

Tom A.
You want strong female leads, look at Studio Ghibli’s offerings:
You have the more traditional super-heroines like Princess Mononoke and Nausicaä (although the latter preceded Ghibli and led to the creation of the study).
The overcoming huge odds heroines, like Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle.
Personal growth and maturing heroines like Ponyo, and Chihiro from Spirited Away.
And regular girls who navigate and meet real life with courage like Shizuku in Whispers of the Heart, and Umi in From Up on Poppy Hill.
And not sure where to put the two girls from My Neighbor Tortoro; certainly they are confronted with real life problems with their mother in the hospital, but the supernatural is in there, too, but not in a threatening way.
 
Me: Mulan
Daughter 8 Anna (frozen)
Daughter 6 Anna (frozen)
Daughter 4 Belle
Wife Belle
MIL Cinderella
 
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