Disney Princess

• 1. Introduction

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  Disney Princess began in the audience of a Disney on Ice show, when a newly hired executive looked at the crowd and saw a problem. Andy Mooney, a former executive at Nike, Inc., had been appointed president of Disney Consumer Products in December 1999. At his very first Disney on Ice show, he noticed several young girls dressed in princess attire. None of it was authentic Disney merchandise. Mooney later described the outfits to The New York Times: "They were generic princess products they'd appended to a Halloween costume". To him, this meant the company was missing a key element in how it merchandised its characters. That one observation produced a media franchise and toy line that is counted among the highest grossing of all time. Why did a company with so many famous heroines need a new franchise to hold them? Who counts as a princess, and who does not? And what happens to a character once she has been welcomed in, and then removed?

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• 2. The Mooney Plan

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  The morning after that ice show, Mooney stood before the company and urged his colleagues to start work on a legitimate Disney Princess franchise. Work began in January 2000. His plan was to bring the heroines together under one franchise for the first time, separate from the films that made them famous.

  Roy E. Disney, Walt's nephew, objected to the idea. The company had long avoided mixing characters from its classic fairy tales into other narratives. The worry was that doing so would weaken each heroine's own mythology.

  Mooney answered that worry with a rule for the artwork. In marketing such as posters, the princesses should never make eye contact with one another. As one description puts it, each "stares off in a slightly different direction as if unaware of the other's presence".

  The launch was unconventional. Mooney and his team used no focus groups and very little marketing. In 2000, the division issued princess licenses to Hasbro for games, Mattel for dolls, and Fisher-Price for plastic figurines. The franchise reached $1 billion in revenue within three years.

  The numbers for the whole division tell a similar story. Disney Consumer Products had generated about $300 million by 2001. By 2012 its revenue had grown to $3 billion, which made it the top seller of consumer entertainment products in the world. A lineup that valuable needed firm rules about who could join, and the word "princess" turned out to mean less than it seems.

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• 3. Who Qualifies

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  Thirteen characters make up the current lineup: Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, Moana, and Raya. Twelve of them come from Walt Disney Animation Studios films. Merida is the single Pixar heroine. Each is numbered by the order in which her film was released, so Snow White is first and Cinderella is second.

  The title itself does not require royal blood. The franchise uses "Princess" as a label for specific heroines who have shown certain inspiring qualities, and it does not refer to the royal rank.

  The formal criteria are narrow. A candidate must be a protagonist or main supporting character in an animated theatrical film made by a studio that Disney owns. That film must be the first in its franchise, which rules out characters introduced in sequels, direct-to-video films, and television series. She must also be human in her standard form. In general she should be a princess through marriage to a prince or through descent from a monarch or tribal chief. An exceptionally heroic character without a royal title can still be included.

  Marketability matters as well. Characters from unsuccessful Disney franchises are generally not considered. Elsa and Anna of Frozen are eligible by Disney's standards, yet they have joined the line only sporadically. The standalone success of Frozen made bundling them into the Princess line unnecessary.

  Other names came close. Jane Porter from Tarzan, Giselle from Enchanted, and the sisters Anna and Elsa were all considered at different points, and none officially joined. The first lineup, in any case, was not the one that exists today.

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• 4. Coronations

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  Ten names made up the original lineup formalized in 2000: Snow White, Cinderella, Tinker Bell, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Esmeralda, and Mulan. In 2005, both Esmeralda and Tinker Bell were removed. Tinker Bell went on to headline Disney Fairies, a sister franchise that Mooney also created.

  Tiana became the first new member on the 14th of March 2010, taking Tinker Bell's short-lived place as the ninth princess. Her "coronation" was held at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.

  Rapunzel was inducted as the tenth member on the 2nd of October 2011, at a London event called "Rapunzel's Royal Celebration". The other Princesses attended, along with the Fairy Godmother and Flynn Rider. A procession through Hyde Park ended in a ceremony at Kensington Palace, a residence used by the Royal Family since the 17th century. Disney staged the event with Historic Royal Palaces, a British nonprofit that maintains the State Rooms.

  Merida became the eleventh member on the 11th of May 2013, and the first from Pixar. Her coronation took place in front of Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida.

  Moana arrived in May 2019 as the twelfth member with no ceremony at all. She was simply included in new merchandise.

  In August 2022, Disney announced that Raya, from Raya and the Last Dragon, would become the thirteenth member during World Princess Week at Disneyland Paris. She appeared on some products in January 2023. She joined the other princesses on the official website in August of that year. Her induction put the question of what the line was actually selling back on the toy shelf.

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• 5. Toy Aisle and Beyond

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  A line of Disney Fairy Tale Wedding gowns, designed by Kirstie Kelly and based on the Princesses, went on sale in January 2008. By then the franchise stretched well past dolls. It had produced sing-along videos, apparel, beauty products, and home decor. Licensees included Glidden for wall paint, Stride Rite for sparkly shoes, Funko for vinyl figures, Lego for building sets, and Jakks Pacific.

  In 2012, the Princesses received modern redesigns. Tiana and Rapunzel mostly gained glitter on their outfits, while Belle, Ariel, and Jasmine received new hairstyles or modified clothes. Cinderella changed the most, with side-swept bangs and an outfit with sheer sleeves.

  Competition arrived from inside the toy business. Mattel added a Barbie princess-themed line in late 2010, then the fairy tale-based Ever After High in 2013. The brand license was set to expire at the end of 2015. Disney offered Hasbro the chance to take it, given Hasbro's work on Star Wars, and that led to a Descendants license. Disney Consumer Products was also trying to market the Princesses less as damsels and more as heroines. In September 2014, Disney announced that Hasbro would make the dolls starting on the 1st of January 2016. In January 2022, Mattel regained the license.

  Events kept pace with the products. With Target Corporation as its marketing partner, Disney held the first National Princess Week on the 23rd of April 2012. That week brought The Princess Diaries to Blu-ray and the release of The Very Fairy Princess book. Later that year, Harrods celebrated Christmas with a Disney Princess theme and designer gowns from houses such as Oscar de la Renta. One dress was shown at the D23 Expo in August, then auctioned on the 13th of November to benefit Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity.

  The Disney Princess Palace Pets app, released in June 2013, led to a toy line of the same name in August from the licensee Blip Toys. The line made the Time to Play Magazine Most Wanted List for Holiday 2013. In 2015, Disney Publishing released the animated short series Whisker Haven Tales, set in a secret realm between the Princess kingdoms.

  On the 24th of February 2016, the first issue of a Disney Princess anthology comic reached stands, published by Joe Books. In August 2018, Joe Books and Target expanded the line into graphic novels, alongside Hasbro figures and Hybrid Promotions apparel. That expansion featured Belle, Jasmine, Ariel, Rapunzel, and Pocahontas. A Japanese manga, Kilala Princess, had already debuted in April 2005 from Kodansha. It sent its heroine Kilala on a quest with the first six Princesses, though Kilala herself is not part of the franchise.

  On the 27th of April 2021, Disney launched the year-long Ultimate Princess Celebration. It brought back the classic designs, and the singer Brandy released a single called "Starting Now" as its official anthem. Anna and Elsa appeared in parts of the celebration despite not being official members, and they left their temporary place at the end of August 2022. When the celebration reached South Africa on the 29th of April 2021, it also included Sofia from Sofia the First and Elena from Elena of Avalor, in a lesser role. The celebration's World Princess Week, announced on the 23rd of August 2021, would later be the setting for Raya's induction announcement.

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• 6. Meet and Greet

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  All of the Princesses can be met at the Disneyland Resort in California, where the Fantasy Faire area officially opened on the 12th of March 2013. It became the permanent home of the Princesses, with a Royal Hall, a Royal Theatre, a food cart called Maurice's Treats, and a Fairytale Treasures gift shop. The hall rotates three princesses at a time. The theater stages two small shows, one based on Beauty and the Beast and one on Tangled.

  The area had precursors. In 2006, during the "Year of Million Dreams" celebration, the Fantasyland Theater began hosting the Disneyland Princess Fantasy Faire. Costumed "Lords" and "Ladies" taught young visitors the proper etiquette of a prince or princess. In 2010, Rapunzel was given a Tangled meet-and-greet location. The Carnation Plaza Gardens bandstand, beside Sleeping Beauty Castle, closed in the spring of 2013 to make way for the new Fantasy Faire. For meals, the Disney Princess Breakfast Adventure is served at Napa Rose in Disney's Grand Californian Hotel and Spa.

  At Walt Disney World in Florida, the encounters are tied to specific places. Cinderella's Royal Table sits inside Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom. Akershus Royal Banquet Hall at Epcot takes its name from Akershus Fortress in Oslo and sits inside a partial recreation of it at the Norway Pavilion. Princess Fairytale Hall opened in Fantasyland behind Cinderella Castle on the 18th of September 2013. Around the Epcot World Showcase, Snow White stands in the Germany pavilion, Mulan in China, and Belle and Aurora in France. Snow White, Dopey, Grumpy, and the Queen appear at Artist Point in Disney's Wilderness Lodge.

  The pandemic left some Florida experiences unfinished. The Bon Voyage Adventure Breakfast, with Ariel, Rapunzel, Prince Eric, and Flynn Rider, had not resumed, and neither had the Perfectly Princess Tea featuring Aurora. In April 2024, 1900 Park Fare at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa reopened with Wish Makers Enchanted Dining. It featured Cinderella and Tiana, among others, including Aladdin and Mirabel from Encanto. Before the pandemic the same room had hosted Cinderella's Happily Ever After Dinner, with Prince Charming, Anastasia, and Drizella.

  Disneyland Paris has a Princess Pavilion near It's a Small World, where a single princess greets guests. Its restaurant L'Auberge de Cendrillon sits beside Sleeping Beauty's Castle in a building like a classic French inn. Since 2023, princesses and their princes have also greeted diners at La Table de Lumière in the Disneyland Hotel. Shanghai Disneyland has the Storybook Court at Enchanted Storybook Castle, and Hong Kong Disneyland has the Royal Reception Hall in the Castle of Magical Dreams.

  The Aulani resort at the Ko Olina Resort in Hawaii offers a different kind of meeting. Its kids club, Aunty's Beach House, hosts Kakamora Chaos with Moana, which pairs traditional Hawaiian children's games with the Kakamora Relay from her homeland of Motunui.

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• 7. Princesses on Screen

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  Princess Party Palace, first called The Princess Power Hour, was a programming block on Toon Disney from 2000 until 2007. It aired episodes of The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. Those appearances were also gathered into a series of compilation VHS cassettes called Disney Princess Collection, and a later DVD series, Disney Princess Stories, followed. Belle had her own live-action television series, Sing Me a Story with Belle. The first eight Princesses also appeared in the animated series House of Mouse.

  In 2006, a bonus feature on Disney Princess Sing-Along Songs, Volume 3 teased a series of direct-to-video films with original stories. The first was first called Disney Princess Fairy Tales: A Kingdom of Kindness, and by February 2007 the series was renamed Disney Princess Enchanted Tales. The film that arrived, Follow Your Dreams, was released on the 4th of September 2007. It was a musical with a new tale about Jasmine and the first new tale about Aurora since Sleeping Beauty. An earlier version had carried a different Aurora story and a Belle story instead of the Jasmine one, and Disney made that change without notice. A second film, Honesty, with new stories for Cinderella and Mulan, was planned for February 2008. Children's books for it went into production but never came out, and the series was cancelled.

  Sofia the First premiered on Disney Junior on the 11th of January 2013. Its heroine, Princess Sofia, voiced by Ariel Winter, can summon the Disney Princesses. Cinderella appeared in the pilot film, Once Upon A Princess, and several others made guest appearances. The ABC series Once Upon a Time featured live-action versions of ten of the Princesses. Snow White and Belle were its main characters at first. From season 7, Cinderella, Tiana, and Rapunzel took the lead.

  The film Ralph Breaks the Internet, from 2018, marked the first direct interaction between these characters in an animated Disney feature. Vanellope von Schweetz meets the Princesses, along with Anna and Elsa, in short guest appearances. The directors, Rich Moore and Phil Johnston, said a film focused on the Princesses could be made if there were a good story to be told.

  Live-action remakes have followed. Elle Fanning plays Aurora in Maleficent in 2014, and Lily James plays Cinderella in 2015. Emma Watson is Belle in 2017, Naomi Scott is Jasmine in 2019, and Liu Yifei is Mulan in 2020. Halle Bailey plays Ariel in 2023, and Rachel Zegler stars in Snow White in 2025. On the Disney+ side, Moana: The Series was turned into Moana 2, released on the 27th of November 2024. In March 2025, a planned Tiana series was announced as cancelled.

  The Lego special Lego Disney Princess: The Castle Quest reached Disney+ on the 18th of August 2023. It sent Snow White, Ariel, Tiana, Rapunzel, and Moana against the plans of Gaston. Its sequel, Villains Unite, arrived on the 25th of August 2025 with Cinderella, Aurora, and Belle added. The short film Once Upon a Studio, made for Disney's 100th anniversary in 2023, featured every character of the franchise except Merida.

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• 8. Games and Hearts

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  In 2013, Rapunzel became a playable character in Disney Infinity, with a figure released for her like the rest of that game's cast. Disney Infinity 2.0 added Jasmine and Merida, and Disney Infinity 3.0 added Mulan. In the mobile game Disney Magic Kingdoms, every Princess is playable. Cinderella, Aurora, Pocahontas, and Rapunzel are part of the main storyline, and the rest are limited-time characters. In the role-playing game Disney Mirrorverse, almost all are playable, with Pocahontas the exception. Nine of them drive karts in Disney Speedstorm, and twelve appear as villagers in Disney Dreamlight Valley.

  The Kingdom Hearts series, introduced in 2002, gave the Princesses a different role. Seven maidens called the "Princesses of Heart" have entirely pure hearts, and if gathered together they can open the way to Kingdom Hearts. Five of the seven are Disney Princesses: Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, and Jasmine. The other two are Alice from Alice in Wonderland and Kairi, who was created for the series. Ariel and Mulan are not Princesses of Heart. They are guest party members in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. Kingdom Hearts III in 2019 introduced the "New Seven Hearts", in which Kairi, Rapunzel, Anna, and Elsa are known to be included.

  Five of the franchise's films had been selected by 2022 for preservation in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, which honors works judged culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, from 1937, was added in 1989. Beauty and the Beast, from 1991, followed in 2002. Cinderella, from 1950, was added in 2018, and Sleeping Beauty, from 1959, in 2019. The Little Mermaid, from 1989, joined in 2022. The oldest of the five entered the registry thirty-three years after its release was already behind it, and the newest, The Little Mermaid, took until 2022.

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