My Top Disney Princesses: 2020
I’m sure this list will change over time, but here are my favorite Disney princesses from least to most. Now, I don’t dislike any of the Disney Princesses, but I just like some more than others. I also am not counting Anna and Elsa because A Disney technically doesn’t, and B because their Queens darn it all! And I love them all the more for that! Or Elsa is number one with Anna as number two, and Elsa is because I relate to her very deeply or else it would be Anna because she’s just the better developed character from what the creators made. The fans made Elsa better character than Disney itself did, so that’s why Anna would win, but with that out of the way, let’s look at the list.
12: Merida
I don’t dislike her by any means, but she gets the bottom spot just because I always forget she’s one of the princesses. She also has the least unique traits I feel like. I love her bow! But she’s a little too overtly stereotypical of fairytale retellings of the 80’s and 90’s so she just doesn’t stand out. I think she’s great, but still. That puts her at the tail end of the list.
11. Snow White
This is just because, like Merida, she doesn’t have a ton unique about her. She’s the typical princess you find in most fairytales. She has a unique voice. And I’m glad she started Disney on the path it’s on, but again, not much to say for her, so that’s where she sits.
10. Mulan
From here on out it got REALLY hard to pick. But Mulan is here only because she technically is not a princess. I think she earns a place here easy! I think she is awesome and she’s still an all time favorite overall, but when I have to put them in order, she gets low only because she’s not really a princess. She’s pretty much better than that. I would put her on th same with Anna and Elsa, but Disney says she’s a princess in the lineup, so she’s at number 10.
9. Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)
I adore her movie. It’s still a favorite to watch. But as a character, she has very little as she spends most of the movie asleep. Though her movie has the most female lines of any Disney movie or Disney Princess movie. I’m not sure which, because the fairies are the ones who carry the story. So I love that fact, but when I have to line them up, as a character Aurora goes down. Though her live action version would be higher, but I’m only doing animated.
8. Pocahontas
No real reason she’s low. Just others are ahead of her. I think it’s because I didn’t own her movie growing up. I always wanted to watch it at my friends house, but I think that just got her a lower spot on the list.
7. Ariel
Because darn it she was the most boy obsessed bad example of how to handle romance there is on this list, but she is such a fun, spunky teenager, and what child who was born in the 90’s didn’t want to be a mermaid because of her. I think she gets more credit than she earns, as her boy need is really something them feminists should really talk about, but they don’t. They pick on Cinderella, but it’s because Airel was the most popular when most of us were young.
6. Cinderella
It’s not because Cinderella is a bad story. In fact, I think this one gets bagged on a lot more that it deserves by feminists and others. I think it’s a story that victims need to help them remember we all need help. And she endured that abuse well, and is a powerful figure of enduring and finding hope even in the worst of time. It’s okay to need help. It’s okay to fall short. This happens to many real victims. They often need help. So don’t dare bag on the abuse victim princess!
5. Rapunzel
Only because others I like more, but her creativity is wonderful. And her movie is easily one of the best animated Disney films in its over all story, but it bugs me how they made her wait forever to get married just because that’s what our culture says, and I took a class on marriage relations and they actually said waiting if you’re already pretty much a thing like that is really bad for a future marriage, so that bugs me. But the rest of her movie is easily one of the best in my option. But that one pet peeve, and the fact I like others more gets her at number 5.
4. Tiana
This girl deserves so much more credit than she gets! She is a girl who shows what a modern process should be. She should dream big, work hard, and know what truly matters. Her movie is so underrated! I think it’s because people feel like she is black just because, but I think that adds to her power because who would have to work harder to overcome the race issues than a black woman who wants to run a buisness in the deep south in the age of jazz? That girl is gutsy, powerful, and learns a lesson about what life should really be about. She deserves better. We deserve better.
3. Jasmine
The live action almost made her number 2 but I had to remind myself this should be cartoon only. I’ll do live action sometime soon. But she has the best line for a Disney princess “I am not some prize to be won.” And because of that, she weas my favorite princess growing up apart from number one. They always were trading when I was young because, again, I did not have Aladdin when I was young, but this girl is powerful, and knows what she is worth even in a world that tells her she’s not. She is my favorite warrior princess, not with weapons but with sharp words. And Aladdin is one of my favorite princes. The live action one is like, my husbando, but not so much cartoon. His face when with girls in the brothel and in “Friend Like Me” is just too much.
2. Moana
This is partly because my niece loved her movie to death. But really, it’s because Moana is like, what a princess should be. 16 and single. Good girl. She has the right balance of what is important, honoring tradition but knowing how to balance that with change. She’s a great example. Her story is top notch, again one of the best, and I have a soft spot for Polynesian growing up with them in my church as a youth. So all that made her easy number 2.
1. Belle
Of course! Now I admit, the live action also has a bit of this because the live action Belle is like my spirit animal! But I loved Belle growing up because she, like me, loved books, did not let beast push her around, and she has a ballroom dance scene. And I love ballroom, so I loved that.
So that’s my 2020 favorite princesses list. It may change, so I likely will update this each year if it changes, but tell me your favorites and why. And remember, just because your princess isn’t high on the list, doesn’t mean I don’t love them. Just means for me, the other princesses mean more.