Love ’em or hate ’em, the Disney Princesses are an unassailable fixture of pop culture. With 15 of these spunky, golden-voiced lasses now running around, viewers of all ages and backgrounds can find one they relate to; whether it’s their dreams of adventure in the great, wide somewhere, business aspirations, or desire for true love.
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With such a diverse range of characters starring in a variety of movies, it can be tough to pick out which of these radiant royals is the best. We’ve taken the liberty of ranking them all, so fire up your favourite Disney playlist, grab a snack (ensuring it isn’t a poisonous apple) and enjoy!
A quick ground rule: we will only be considering the princesses Disney considers ‘official’ (as seen in merchandise and the famous princess scene in Ralph Breaks the Internet) for this ranking.
While we love the likes of Kida, Esmeralda, and Meg as much as the next pixie duster, for the sake of conciseness we’ve got to play it by the Mouse’s ear!
15
Pocahontas
Marred By The Realities Of History
From a character design perspective, Pocahontas ranks up there amongst the most beautiful of the princesses. It was no accident: behind the scenes, the animators famously gathered a line-up of real Native American women and selected the best attributes from each to base her on. She was literally designed from the ground up to be a stunner.
However, prettiness (and a killer set of pipes, just listen to ‘Colors of the Wind’) can never overcome how generic she is. She wants to follow her dreams? Big whoop! Then there’s the unfortunate aspect that she’s based on a real historical figure, whose tragic life is sanitized for easier cartoon digestion here.
14
Snow White
She Set The Trend, Others Surpassed It
Obviously, Snow White deserves major respect for kicking off the entire Disney movie enterprise (and indeed, the modern animation landscape as we know it today). Many of her traits, including her unyielding sweetness and trust in others, laid the groundwork for her successors to capitalize off.
However, taken on her own, there’s not a great deal to her. She spends most of her movie stumbling passively from one situation to the next, and is even gullible enough to accept a clearly suspicious apple from an even more suspicious stranger!
13
Aurora
Sleeps Through Most Of Her Own Story
If there was a way to calculate the ratio of a movie’s runtime to the amount of time a princess actually appears onscreen in it, Aurora would not be winning that particular contest. Make no mistake: despite the title, Sleeping Beauty belongs to Prince Philip and the three fairies, all of whom have more development than she does.
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Her entire arc involves growing up in a forest, mingling with the local woodland detritus, only to prick her finger and fall into a cursed sleep, where she remains until the climax. Philip versus Maleficent is the highlight of this masterpiece, and she’s nowhere to be found in it.
12
Raya
Wasted By An Atrocious Script
Of Disney’s two 2021 releases (this and Encanto), poor Raya certainly got the rawer end of the deal. On paper, she sounds like she should work great; a badass warrior who must navigate a post-apocalyptic landscape to restore a land torn asunder by greed.
Alas, the screenplay and themes of the film let her down badly. Since the entire conflict hinges on learning to trust – and Raya repeatedly allows Namaari, a traitorous snake who has never done anything but treat her horribly, into her heart – she comes off like a bit of a numpty. Sick cape and sword, though.
11
Merida
She’s From The Other Studio
Ironically, Merida, the only official Pixar princess (justice for Atta!) suffers from the exact same shortcomings that Raya does. Looks badass, writing lets her down. We’ve notched her just one spot higher, however, because the morals of her story don’t fumble the landing in quite the same way.
That fiery mane of red hair is iconic, and apparently doubled the usual necessary processing power for one of these movies to render it properly. She’s also a crack shot with a bow, which is always handy – but it doesn’t do her much good when the second half devolves into a buddy comedy between her and her newly ursine mum.
10
Anna
Frozen delivers a two-for-one deal when it comes to princesses, serving up two unforgettable leading ladies. Of that sisterly duo, Anna is the lesser character, and feels more like an accessory that follows Elsa around like a shadow and lost puppy mixed together.
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How many ‘leave me alone’ signals does a girl need to send? She’s frozen a lake, stormed off up a mountain, and locked herself in a giant castle. Anna, however, ignores all those red flags and slogs after her – and additionally spends the movie’s denouement being duped by a prince she agreed to marry inside of a day.
9
Cinderella
Don’t Date Her After Midnight
If Snow White laid the template for a Disney princess, Cinderella iterates on it marvelously. She’s the quintessential fairytale lead: kind and mild-mannered, and a romantic through and through, but she also adds a dash of sass and agency that elevates her above her predecessor.
Her lot in life is not enviable in the slightest, being pressganged into servitude by her wicked stepfamily, but Cindy never lets it get to her. Friends with all the animals around the house, you really root for her to escape, and so it feels satisfying when Prince Charming successfully identifies her as the woman he loves.
8
Jasmine
Shining, Shimmering, Splendid
Disney makes its thesis statement with Jasmine abundantly clear in one of her first lines of dialogue: “I am not just some prize to be won!” Here’s a princess that isn’t going to sit idly by and allow her life, lovers included, to be spoonfed to her. In a moment of daring courage, she scales the palace walls and escapes.
From there, she’s just as much the lead of the movie as Aladdin is. The two have an electric chemistry, and obviously, you don’t need us to tell you what a banger ‘A Whole New World’ is. Even looking past those Scooby Snack earrings, Jasmine is an iconic force to be reckoned with.
7
Ariel
The Rebellious Trailblazer
Responsible for igniting the Disney Renaissance after almost two decades of stagnation, Ariel is one of the crown jewels of the Mouse House. It’s easy to see why: she is a driven, capable, visually unique character that had the most direct autonomy of any female lead prior to her.
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A common criticism levied at her is that she turns to mush when Prince Eric arrives, and only signs the Faustian contract with Ursula in order to be with him… which is entirely unfair. Did these people miss the film’s whole first act? She had wanted to go to the surface for years, and Eric was just the icing on the aquatic cake that sealed the deal.
6
Moana
Her Name Means ‘Ocean’, Of Course It Chose Her
Moana feels the same yearnings that many of her fellow princesses do; she wants to see what lies beyond the reef, which the villagers are forbidden to cross. Those plans have to be put on hold while she trains to become the next chieftess, but inevitably destiny comes calling in the form of Te Fiti’s Heart, a magic gemstone that needs returning. How very video-gamey.
All told, Moana (Vaiana in some territories, the reasoning is hilarious but we dare not specify it here) is effortlessly relatable and likeable, and she and Maui make the perfect pair. In the TV show – sorry, official full-budget sequel – she even levels up and unlocks some new divine wayfinding powers.
5
Elsa
The Cold Never Bothered Her, Anyway
Elsa represents that rare breed of character – where her popularity has transcended her IP, such that she’s an evergreen part of the zeitgeist regardless of whether you’ve even seen the movie she’s from. The likes of Mario, Mickey Mouse, Pikachu, Spiderman; that’s the level we’re talking about.
Luckily, she’s a pretty solid princess too. Far more compelling than her sister, she suppresses her mysterious ice powers (well, mysterious until the sequel muddied things horribly with talk of elemental spirits) to keep them hidden. ‘Let It Go’ is an anthem for the ages, and we especially like how she knew Hans was a bad apple from the get-go.
4
Tiana
Should Have Never Kissed That Frog
The Princess and the Frog marked the long-awaited return of traditional 2D animation to the Disney studio, after an awkward stint with CGI in the 2000s brought us such classics as… Chicken Little. As the company’s first black princess, the writers and animators took great care to ensure Tiana was a three-dimensional protagonist, and they sure succeeded.
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With her eyes set on opening a restaurant in 1920s New Orleans, workaholic Tiana lets nothing stand in her way, until a chance snog with the froggified Prince Naveen sees her turning green as well. A jazzy journey through the bayou is thus necessitated, and the way her self-actualizing lifestyle rubs off on Naveen is a joy to behold.
3
Rapunzel
Good Thing She Learned How To Braid
If you thought Merida’s hair was impressive, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Rapunzel’s 50-foot long locks required the animators to create (very expensive) new modelling software, and it was treated by the team as its own character, with people being assigned to work on it alone.
Underneath all that hair, though, Rapunzel herself is still a sweetheart. Kind of like a genderbent Quasimodo, a manipulative villain has kept her locked away in a tower all her life, so she has no clue how to behave when the dashing rogue Flynn Rider comes a-callin’. She swings a mean frying pan, is best buds with a chameleon, and can switch to a brunette at will. Enough said, really.
2
Belle
The Eponymous Beauty
Belle is a woman of many layers. To the simple townsfolk, she comes off as an airhead who’s always got her nose stuck in a book and is oblivious to the world around her, let alone the advances of the burly Gaston. However, in truth she’s a sharp-witted dreamer, daughter of a genius inventor and saddled with the requisite princess desire for adventure.
Said adventure finds her when she’s locked away in an enchanted castle, staffed by sentient furniture and lorded over by a ferocious Beast. Over time, Belle’s patience and good manners chip away at his tough exterior, and she discovers he’s a human prince who must learn to love in order to break his curse. Gorgeous, determined, and loyal, Belle’s a practically perfect princess.
1
Mulan
Casually Saved All Of China
The choice for the top spot was easy. Mulan is phenomenal, combining the very best aspects of all her forebears and adding her own (surprisingly hard-edged) flair to the mix. Though she starts off as a relatable everywoman, warbling about societal expectations, the war against the Huns molds her into a warrior.
Move over, Raya: this is how you do a battle-hardened princess with a comedic dragon sidekick. Mulan gets through not via magic powers, but due to her own ingenuity and guile. How many other Disney leads can you name that wipe out thousands of enemy soldiers in a single avalanche? And that final sword fight against the villainous Shan Yu is a top-tier battle. Shang, you have yourself a keeper.
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