What It Takes To Be a Princess

What does it take to be a princess? According to Disney, 1. You must have a primary role in an animated Disney movie. 2. Must be human 3. Not primary in a sequel. They must meet all three criteria in order to qualify. The next round of qualifications is about the characters themselves. The next three criteria a princess only needs to pass one of them. 1. You must be born royal 2. Must marry royal 3. Perform a significant act of heroism. Besides the characteristics to be a Disney Princess there is a unspoken rule based off the given film’s box-office success. Shocking it has to do with money. Even to be considered an applicant at the Disney Parks takes much effort and requirements from their applicants.

Each of the official Disney Princesses can be grouped respectfully. The classic era, Snow White (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), Cinderella and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), share the characteristics of being highly romantic and just hope to end up with a handsome man. They are more reaction characters, meaning that they don’t take a lot of action themselves, instead letting the plot happen to them, enduring the consequences of other people’s actions and often serve as the damsel in distress.

Next is the renaissance era, Ariel (Little Mermaid), Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Jasmine (Aladdin), Pocahontas, and Mulan. All are very feisty, free willed and have a grand sense of adventure. They are not motivated by romance but they do end up with someone at the end of the movie.

Finally, is the modern era princesses, Tina (Princess and the Frog), Rapunzel (Tangled), and Merida (Brave), and Anna and Elsa (Frozen); who are not official princesses. These women are extremely independent, curious, hard-working and idealistic. Romance and relationships are based upon getting to know somebody and Merida and Elsa does not even end up with someone by the end of the film.

One of the most progressive characters at the time for Disney in 2001 is Kida from The Lost Empire of Atlantis. She fit into the category of Disney Princess except for the profit, making $189,000,000 at the box-office, being an obvious failure.

Anna and Elsa should stand out the most, with not being official princesses. One could say that it hasn’t been long enough since Frozen has been released in, but Merida had her coronation after a year from being released in theaters. A huge sign that shows that Disney is not adding the sisters anytime soon is their absence from Disney's Official Princess website. It seems as if Disney is playing off of the success of the two sisters in marketing, making parents pay more for toys. The picture above is of a Disney princess toy set, leaving out the two biggest box-office successes in all of Disney.

From the examples that little children, mostly young girls, receive from these movies is that it takes a man to make her happy, or true love is waiting around the corner. Problems from this teach these children bad lessons such as the abusive relationship in Beauty and the Beast or touching a person is okay in Sleeping Beauty. With the modern era of Disney characters ever changing and becoming more progressive in the sense of character development, Mulan, Merida, and Elsa, it does not seem like fans of Disney would have to wait long for the idea Disney Princess to emerge in box-offices.