The franchise does not include all princess characters from the whole of Disney-owned media but rather refers to select specific female lead characters from the company's animated films, including only protagonists of theatrical animated films from Walt Disney Pictures, with twelve characters from the Walt Disney Animation Studios films and one character from a Pixar film, with the term "Princess" for the franchise being used as a title in a way unrelated to the royal title, being used as a term for specific heroines who have shown notable inspiring qualities.[3][4] The thirteen characters in the franchise consist of Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, Moana, and Raya.[5]
The franchise has released dolls, sing-along videos, apparel, beauty products, home decor, toys, and various other products featuring some of the Disney Princesses.[6] Licensees for the franchise include Glidden (wall paint), Stride Rite (sparkly shoes), Fisher-Price (plastic figurines), Lego (Lego sets), Hasbro and Mattel (games and dolls).[7]
History
Conception
Standing in line in the arena [of a Disney on Ice show], I was surrounded by little girls dressed head to toe as princesses...They weren't even Disney products. They were generic princess products they'd appended to a Halloween costume. And the light bulb went off. Clearly, there was latent demand here. So the next morning I said to my team, "O.K., let's establish standards and a color palette and talk to licensees and get as much product out there as we possibly can that allows these girls to do what they're doing anyway: projecting themselves into the characters from the classic movies."
—Mooney, on his creation of the Disney Princess franchise as reported by The New York Times[8]
Former Nike, Inc. executive Andy Mooney was appointed president of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Consumer Products division in December 1999.[9][8][10] While attending his first Disney on Ice show, Mooney noticed that several young girls attending the show were dressed in princess attire—though not authentic Disney merchandise.[11] "They were generic princess products they'd appended to a Halloween costume", Mooney told The New York Times. Concerned by this, Mooney addressed the company the following morning and encouraged them to commence work on a legitimate Disney Princess franchise in January 2000.[8] Walt's nephew, Roy E. Disney, objected to the creation of the line, as the company has long "avoided mingling characters from its classic fairy tales in other narratives, worrying that it would weaken the individual mythologies."[2]
The original Disney Princess line-up consisted of Snow White, Cinderella, Tinker Bell, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Esmeralda and Mulan. Esmeralda was removed soon after.[12] Tinker Bell was also removed; she would go on to headline the sister franchise series Disney Fairies. This was the first time the characters would be marketed in a separate franchise from their original films. Mooney decided that, when featured in marketing advertisements such as posters, the princesses should never make eye contact with each other to keep their individual "mythologies" intact. "[Each] stares off in a slightly different direction as if unaware of the other's presence."[8]
In an unconventional manner, Mooney and his team launched the Disney Princess line without utilizing any focus groups and with minimal marketing. By 2001, Disney Consumer Products (DCP) had generated about $300 million, but by 2012, the division had increased revenue to $3 billion, making it the top seller of consumer entertainment products globally.[13] DCP issued princess product licenses to Hasbro for games, Mattel for dolls, and Fisher-Price for plastic figurines in 2000, allowing the franchise to meet the $1 billion mark in revenue in three years.[7]
Expansions
Inductions and coronations
The Princesses at Merida's coronation on Cinderella Castle's forecourt stage at the Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World on May 11, 2013.
Tiana became the first additional character to the Disney Princess franchise officially on March 14, 2010, taking Tinker Bell's short-lived place as the ninth member. Her "coronation" took place at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.[12][14] Tinker Bell was already heading up another franchise, Disney Fairies, starting in 2005.[12]
In May 2019, Moana was added to the line-up as the twelfth member of the franchise without having a coronation ceremony, but rather being included in new future merchandise.[19]
In August 2022, it was announced that Raya from Raya and the Last Dragon would be inducted as the thirteenth member in the franchise during World Princess Week at Disneyland Paris.[20][21] In January 2023, she was included in some Disney Princess products and has been later added in August that year among the other princesses on their official website.[22][23]
A line of Disney Fairy Tale Wedding gowns were designed by Kirstie Kelly, based on the Princesses, and were available in January 2008.[24]
In 2012, the Princesses were given modern redesigns. While some like Tiana and Rapunzel just had added glitter on their outfits, others like Belle, Ariel, and Jasmine received new hairstyles or modified outfits. The most drastic of these was Cinderella, who was given side-swept bangs and an outfit with sheer sleeves.
With Target Corporation as its marketing partner, Disney held the first National Princess Week on April 23, 2012. During the week, there was the release of The Princess Diaries on Blu-ray and The Very Fairy Princess book.[25] Harrods already has a Disney Store within, followed by their Christmas theme, Disney Princess, by having Oscar de la Renta designed dress for the Princess on display.[26] In August, the dress was on display at the D23 Expo before being auctioned on November 13 to benefit Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity.[27]
Mattel added a Barbie princess-themed line in late 2010 and the fairy tale-based Ever After High in 2013. With these competing lines and an expiration of the brand license at the end of 2015, Disney offered Hasbro a chance to gain the license, given their work on Star Wars, which led to a Descendants license. DCP was also attempting to evolve the brand by marketing them less as damsels and more as heroines. In September 2014, Disney announced that Hasbro would be the licensed doll maker for the Disney Princess line starting on January 1, 2016.[7]
Logo used for the franchise from 2014 to 2024.
The June 2013 release of the Disney Princess Palace Pets app from Disney Publishing led DCP to turn Palace Pets into a Disney Princess franchise extension, with the release of the Palace Pets toy line in August from licensee Blip Toys. The line was also selected by TimetoPlayMag.com for its Most Wanted List Holiday 2013.[1] In 2015, Disney Publishing released the animated short series Whisker Haven Tales with the Palace Pets. The short journey to the magical world of Whisker Haven, a secret realm deep in a fairy tale land between the Disney Princess kingdoms.[28]
Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media launched the Princess Comics line, which was started with Princess Comics graphic novels by Joe Book, in August 2018 at Target with Hasbro figures and Hybrid Promotions apparel. This expansion featured Belle, Jasmine, Ariel, Rapunzel, and Pocahontas.[29]
On April 27, 2021, Disney launched the Ultimate Princess Celebration. This year-long event brought back the princesses' classic designs and included many special events, products, and performances. Despite not being official, Anna and Elsa from the Frozen franchise were included in parts of the celebration;[30] they were removed from their temporary inclusion in the collection at the end of August 2022.[5] When the celebration launched in South Africa on April 29, 2021, Sofia from Sofia the First and Elena from Elena of Avalor were also included in its territory, though in a lesser capacity than the other princesses.[31][32]
In January 2022, Mattel regained the license to produce lines of toys and dolls for the brand.[33][34]
Criteria
To be included in the Disney Princess line, a character must be a protagonist or main supporting character in an animated theatrical film produced by a studio owned by The Walt Disney Company that is the first film in its franchise (thus excluding characters introduced in sequels, direct-to-video films and television series), must be human in her standard form and in general should be a princess by way of either marriage to a prince or through herself descending from a monarch or tribal chief. Exceptionally heroic characters who do not have a royal title can also be included.[3]
Marketability is a key factor in whether a character is chosen for inclusion in the Disney Princess line. Characters from unsuccessful Disney franchises are never seriously considered. In the case of Elsa and Anna, they are eligible by Disney standards but have only sporadically been included (particularly in the aforementioned expanded "Ultimate Princess" line) because the standalone success of Frozen merchandise has made bundling them into the Disney Princess line unnecessary.[3]
Official canon of Disney Princesses
The official canon of Disney Princesses consists of the female protagonists from thirteen selected Disney films, most of whom have royal ties within their fictional universes. They were given an official number in the franchise line-up based on the chronological order in which their films were released, starting with Snow White as the first and original Disney Princess and Cinderella as the second, followed by Aurora and so on.[35]
All the princesses are available for meet-and-greets at Disneyland Resort in California. Additionally, in 2006, as part of the "Year of Million Dreams" celebration, the Fantasyland Theater began hosting the Disneyland Princess Fantasy Faire, a show featuring "Lords" and "Ladies" who taught young boys and girls the proper etiquette to be a Prince or Princess and featured appearances from the Disney Princesses. In 2010, Rapunzel was given a Tangled meet-and-greet location. The Carnation Plaza Gardens bandstand, adjacent to Sleeping Beauty Castle, was closed to replace a new Fantasy Faire area in the Spring of 2013.[48]
The Fantasy Faire area at Disneyland officially opened on March 12, 2013, as the permanent home for the Disney Princesses, consisting of a Royal Hall, a Royal Theatre, Maurice's Treats food cart, and a Fairytale Treasures gift shop.[49][50] The theater features two small shows based on Beauty and the Beast and Tangled. The hall is used for meet and greets with the princesses, which have a rotation schedule with three princesses scheduled to appear at a time.[49]
At Walt Disney World, the Princesses are available for meet-and-greets in more specific locations. Character dining for multiple Princesses is located at Cinderella's Royal Table at Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom and at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, which is named after Akershus Fortress in Oslo and is set inside a partial recreation of the fortress/castle at the Norway Pavilion at Epcot. Snow White, Dopey, Grumpy, and the Queen can also be met at "Story Book Dining at Artist Point with Snow White" at Artist Point at Disney's Wilderness Lodge.[52] Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Ariel and Rapunzel, along with Prince Eric and Flynn Rider, could also be met at the "Bon Voyage Adventure Breakfast" at Trattoria al Forno at Disney's BoardWalk Resort, but it is yet to resume.[53] Similarly, the Perfectly Princess Tea party at the Garden View Tea Room at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa featuring Aurora is also yet to resume following the pandemic.[54] In April 2024, 1900 Park Fare at the same resort reopened with "Wish Makers Enchanted Dining" featuring Cinderella and Tiana, among others, including Aladdin and Mirabel from Encanto after having previously hosted "Cinderella's Happily Ever After Dinner" (formerly known as the "Cinderella's Gala Feast Dinner") featuring Cinderella, Prince Charming, Anastasia and Drizella before the pandemic.[55]
Several Princesses are also found in their respective pavilions around the Epcot World Showcase, such as Snow White in Germany, Mulan in China, and Belle and Aurora in France. On September 18, 2013, a new meet-and-greet attraction called Princess Fairytale Hall opened in Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom behind Cinderella Castle.[49][56][57]
Disneyland Paris
A meet-and-greet location for a single Disney Princess is located at the Princess Pavilion near It's a Small World. In addition, Paris' Disneyland Park also hosts a Disney Princess character restaurant, L'Auberge de Cendrillon (Cinderella's Inn), beside Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant (Sleeping Beauty's Castle) in a building similar to a classic French inn and resembling Cinderella's Castle from the film. Since 2023, princesses and their princes have greeted guests at the character restaurant La Table de Lumière (Lumière's Table) in the Disneyland Hotel.
Shanghai Disneyland
A Disney Princess meet-and-greet location called Storybook Court is operational and is located at Enchanted Storybook Castle.[49]
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Disneyland's Castle of Magical Dreams has a meet-and-greet location being The Royal Reception Hall for the Disney Princesses.
Aulani
The Aulani Disney Vacation Club resort at the Ko Olina Resort in Hawaii also hosts Kakamora Chaos with Moana at Aunty's Beach House, its kids club. The experience includes traditional Hawaiian children's games as well as the Kakamora Relay from her homeland of Motunui.[58]
Media
Films and television
Princess Party Palace (formerly known as The Princess Power Hour) was a programming block on Toon Disney from 2000 until 2007. It used to air episodes of The Little Mermaid and Aladdin.
The Disney Princesses' television appearances were compiled into the Disney Princess Collection, a series of compilation VHS cassettes containing episodes from Aladdin and The Little Mermaid, as well as two Beauty and the Beast specials. A later DVD series, Disney Princess Stories, featured content similar to the previous release.
In early 2007, Disney announced Disney Princess Enchanted Tales, a new series of direct-to-video features that feature new stories for the Disney Princesses. The first film in the series, Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams, was released on September 4, 2007. It is a musical film featuring a new tale about Princess Jasmine and the first new tale about Princess Aurora since the original Sleeping Beauty. Originally, Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: A Kingdom of Kindness was announced as the first film in the series, which contained a different Princess Aurora story and had a Belle story rather than a Princess Jasmine story. Disney made this change without any sort of notice.[citation needed] The series was cancelled, and only Follow Your Dreams exists.[61]
The TV series Once Upon a Time, which aired on Disney-owned ABC, featured live-action versions of Snow White, Cinderella, Belle, Aurora, Mulan, Ariel, Rapunzel, Merida, Jasmine, and Tiana. Snow White and Belle are the main characters, while the rest make recurring and/or guest appearances. Beginning in season 7, Cinderella, Tiana, and Rapunzel are the main characters. Many of these characters are patterned after the Disney versions, but a few draw inspiration from older stories.
The TV series Sofia the First premiered on January 11, 2013, on Disney Junior. Cinderella appeared in the first film, Once Upon A Princess. Jasmine, Belle, Aurora, Snow White, Mulan, Tiana, and Merida appeared on the show. Ariel and Rapunzel appeared in the TV specials The Floating Palace and The Curse of Princess Ivy, respectively. However, Sofia is a minor princess and not in the royal court. She is voiced by Modern Family star Ariel Winter. In 2017, the TV series Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure debuted with the television film Tangled: Before Ever After serving as the pilot. In December 2020, it was originally announced that Tiana and Moana would have spin-off TV shows, both airing on Disney+, with Moana: The Series debuting in 2024 and Tiana set for a later date. However, in February 2024, Moana: The Series was transformed into Moana 2, which was released on November 27, 2024, while Tiana will still be airing on Disney+ at a later date.[62]
The Princesses, along with Anna and Elsa (and Moana, who was not included in the franchise until the following year), make guest appearances in the 2018 film Ralph Breaks the Internet. This film marks the first direct interaction between the characters in an animated Disney feature.[72]Rich Moore and Phil Johnston, the directors of Ralph Breaks the Internet, said that a film focusing on the Disney Princesses could be made depending on the audience's response and "if there's a good story to be told."[73]
In 2021, Disney Channel began to air shorts in the Chibi Tiny Tales series, a loose follow-up to Big Chibi 6 The Shorts, based on the Disney Princess franchise. The first episode, "Moana As Told By Chibi", was released on August 27, 2021.[74]
The Princesses, excluding Merida, appeared in the short film Once Upon a Studio (2023) in celebration of Disney's 100 anniversary.[76]
Literature
Disney Princess Chapter Books
Ariel: The Birthday Surprise
Belle: The Mysterious Message
Cinderella: The Great Mouse Mistake
Tiana: The Grand Opening
Jasmine: The Missing Coin
Aurora: The Perfect Party
Rapunzel: A Day to Remember
A Jewel Story
Ariel: The Shimmering Star Necklace
Cinderella: The Lost Tiara
Belle: The Charming Gift
Jasmine: The Jewel Orchard
Tiana: The Stolen Jewel
Merida: Legend of the Emeralds
Comic adaptation
In Kilala Princess, a Japanese fantasy/romance manga produced by Kodansha that debuted on Nakayoshi in April 2005, a girl named Kilala and her adventures to find her kidnapped friend with the help of the first six Disney Princesses (Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine). However, Kilala herself is not considered part of the franchise.
On February 24, 2016, a Disney Princesses anthology ongoing comic book's first issue hit the stands. The series is published by Joe Books.[77] Joe Books expanded Disney Princess to a graphic novel line as an exclusive for Target along with a Hasbro figure line and a Hybrid Promotions apparel line.[29]
Rapunzel can be found as a playable character in the 2013 game Disney Infinity. Disney Infinity 2.0 has the addition of Merida and Jasmine. However, Merida is also included with Stitch in the Toy Box Starter Pack. Disney Infinity 3.0 has the addition of Mulan.
All Disney Princesses are also playable characters in the mobile game Disney Magic Kingdoms, with Cinderella, Aurora, Pocahontas, and Rapunzel being part of the main storyline, while the rest are limited time characters.
Almost all the Disney Princesses, with the exception of Cinderella and Pocahontas, are playable characters in the role-playing game Disney Mirrorverse.[79]
Ariel, Belle, Rapunzel, Moana, Mulan, Tiana and Merida appear as villagers in Disney Dreamlight Valley, with Cinderella, Aurora and Jasmine set for future updates.
Jasmine, Belle, Ariel, Rapunzel, and Mulan are all playable characters in the kart racing game Disney Speedstorm.
Kingdom Hearts
In the Kingdom Hearts game series, the seven "Princesses of Heart", are young ladies with entirely pure hearts who would open the way to Kingdom Hearts if gathered together. Five of these maidens include the Disney Princesses being Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, and Jasmine. The remaining Princesses of Heart are Alice from Alice in Wonderland and game series' heroine, Kairi. While both Ariel and Mulan are not Princesses of Heart, they are instead party members of their respective worlds. The Disney Princesses make various appearances throughout the series:
While Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Alice, and Kairi all appear in the first game, only Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine reappeared in Kingdom Hearts II with Kairi, though the others are mentioned. Mulan, however, makes her first appearance as the player visits her world. She serves as a party member similarly to how Ariel was in the first Kingdom Hearts.
Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Alice, and Kairi appear in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories as figments of Sora or Riku's memory, but their roles as Princesses of Heart are not brought up.
Belle and Jasmine reappear in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days when they each meet Roxas. Wonderland reappears as well, but without Alice.
Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, and a young Kairi appear in the prequel Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, as the game's playable characters Terra, Aqua, and Ventus assume prominent positions in the princesses' original stories.
Kingdom Hearts III introduces the "New Seven Hearts", which is a new set of princesses inheriting the roles from the previous princesses, with Kairi being the only princess from the original seven retaining her role. Rapunzel is the only Disney Princess currently known to be among the New Seven Hearts, while non-members Anna and Elsa from Frozen are also known to be members. Ariel also appears in a minor role, as one of the characters that can be summoned by Sora in battle.
As of present, Pocahontas, Tiana, Merida, Moana and Raya all have yet to appear in the series.
Awards and recognition
As of 2024, five Disney Princess films have been selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant":
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