Obviously some evil queen has messed with the official Disney princess lineup. There is absolutely no consistency nor apparent rules for determining who counts as an “official” princess. This lineup includes Cinderella, Belle, Aurora, Snow White, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Merida, Rapunzel and Tiana. Where are Elsa, Ana, and Moana you ask? That is exactly what we at Her Campus TAMU are wondering.
The Frozen Sisters
If you take a look at the official line up, you will notice that winter royalty is nowhere to be found. Elsa is technically a queen, but she was a princess at the beginning of the movie. I mean look at Ariel – she’s now the queen and rebellious Melody is the princess. But back to frozen, Anna is currently a princess and she meets all of the classic princess requirements. She sings, she’s adorable, she has non-human sidekicks in Olaf, Sven, and the trolls AND she teaches little girls the valuable lesson of “I don’t need a man to save me, I have a sister!”. Honestly, what else does she need? Frozen was also produced solely by Walt Disney further adding to the point that they should both be in the official lineup. Now some may argue that the popularity of Frozen would overshadow the other princess and so they should not be inducted into the official Disney princess lineup right away. I’m cool with that, but it’s been FOUR years Disney! What are you waiting for?! Rapunzel, the most recently inducted princess, became an official princess within a year of her movie release. Tiana only had to wait four months. I mean maybe Disney is to blame for global warming. I bet Elsa is pretty upset not being considered an official Disney princess. Disney, for the well-being of the world, add Elsa and Anna to the official lineup. Please.
Off to the Ocean
Now we get to the problem of Moana not being included on the list. The first argument I hear is “she’s not even a real princess”. You’re not wrong. She’s the daughter of a tribal chief. Remind me again of Pocahontas’s position? Oh that’s right, the daughter of a chief. Mulan, who originally wasn’t a princess or a daughter of a chief, even made the list. Disney seems to be saying “Your occupation does not have a be a princess to be considered a Disney Princess”. I can totally get on board with this, but we need some consistency Disney! Maui tells her IN THE MOVIE that ““If you wear a dress and have an animal sidekick, then you’re a princess.” Yet for some reason they haven’t officially added her to the lineup so many months later. I’m going to hope that they are simply still planning her induction ceremony since her movie recently came out.
Modern and… left out?
Another argument for the exclusion of both Frozen’s royalty and Moana is that these characters are part of the “new generation Disney”. So what constitutes this “new generation”? If there truly is a “new generation” whose purpose is to separate its characters from the “official disney princess lineup”, call it something modern like “Disney’s Leaders” or “Disney’s Role Models”. That way we would also be able to understand why certain characters get into the coveted “official princess” club and others don’t.
I’ll Make a Princess out of You
But since there is no distinction for the “new generation”, let’s focus on the current task at hand – how in the world is Disney classifying and justifying who they pick as an official princess? I think we can all agree that a Disney princess is a female character who embodies important values, like strength, courage, and kindness, and is a valuable role model for young girls. All the princess sing, expect Merida – but her accent makes up for that! All of the current princesses have animal or magical creature compatriots, except for Elsa. All of the current princesses also find romance with a handsome young man… expect Elsa. And Elsa is the only “princess” with magical powers. Tinkerbell, who used to be part of the official lineup just like Pluto used to be an official planet, had pixie dust, but not magical powers unique to her. Now that I’m thinking about it, I think Tinkerbell and Pluto should start a club called the “Used to P’s” (lol get it?). I’m also starting to think Elsa should get her own category entitled Magical and Independent Queen. Being alone never bothered her anyway.
The never-ending and all important princess debate carries on. I imagine business clad professionals sitting in a conference room giving presentations filled with charts and graphs about why certain female characters should or should not be included in the official lineup and quite frankly, I think this is the problem. Honestly, who can make it through one of those without drifting off? As someone who has attempted to write papers half-asleep, let me be the first to tell you that no logical decisions are ever made when one lacks sleep. Between school, work, organizations, money, trying to be healthy, and trying to have a social life, a college student’s life is a jumbled mess with little consistency. Please Disney, for the happiness of myself and thousands of other struggling Disney-loving college girls, add some consistency to your “Official Disney Princess Lineup”. I would like to have least have one part of my life not be in panic mode. I insist that Disney either defines some princess regulations or we allow the little princesses across the world to cast their vote on this increasingly important topic.