Disney Princess

Conception Former Nike, Inc. executive Andy Mooney was appointed president of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Consumer Products division in December 1999. 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. "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. The original Disney Princess line-up was formalized in 2000, consisting of Snow White, Cinderella, Tinker Bell, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Esmeralda, and Mulan. Esmeralda was removed in 2005. Tinker Bell was also removed in 2005, but she would go on to headline the sister franchise Disney Fairies (also created by Mooney). 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. Expansions Inductions and coronations 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. Tinker Bell was already heading up another franchise, Disney Fairies, starting in 2005. On May 11, 2013, Merida became the first Pixar character as well as the eleventh member of the franchise series in a coronation ceremony in front of Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. 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 merchandise. In August 2022, it was announced that Raya from Raya and the Last Dragon would be inducted as the thirteenth member of the franchise during World Princess Week at Disneyland Paris. In January 2023, she was featured on some Disney Princess products and was later added in August that year among the other princesses on their official website. At different points, Tarzans Jane Porter, Enchanteds Giselle, and Frozens Anna and Elsa were considered to be included in the line-up but did not officially join. 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. In 2012, Harrods celebrated Christmas with a Disney Princess theme, featuring designer gowns from houses like Oscar de la Renta. 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. 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. 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. 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. , Paige O'Hara, Anika Noni Rose, Linda Larkin, and Ming-Na Wen at the 2024 D23 Disney Legends ceremony for Mark Henn, supervising animator for Ariel, Belle, Tiana, Jasmine, and Mulan. 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. Pop singer Brandy released a new single, "Starting Now", as the official anthem of the celebration. Despite not being official, Anna and Elsa from the Frozen franchise were included in parts of the celebration; they were removed from their temporary inclusion in the collection at the end of August 2022. 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. On August 23 of the same year, Disney announced the World Princess Week, as part of the Ultimate Princess Celebration. In January 2022, Mattel regained the license to produce lines of toys and dolls for the brand. ==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. Marketability is a key factor in whether a character is chosen for inclusion in the Disney Princess line. Characters from unsuccessful Disney franchises are not generally 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 the Frozen franchise has made bundling them into the Disney Princess line unnecessary. ==List of Disney Princesses==

The official lineup 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. Current Disney Princesses Former Disney Princesses ==Disney Parks & Resorts live experiences==

: 1 Current as of April 14, 2024. : 2 Denotes an experience yet to resume following the COVID-19 pandemic. : Does not include shows or parades featuring characters across the Disney franchises/IPs. Disneyland , the Prince; Ariel, Prince Eric; Tiana, Prince Naveen; Rapunzel, Flynn Rider; Cinderella, Prince Charming; Prince Phillip, Aurora; Aladdin (as Prince Ali), Jasmine; Belle, and the Beast (before returning to his human form) on February 14, 2012. 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. Fantasy Faire 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. 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. Walt Disney World 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 meet-and-greet attraction called Princess Fairytale Hall opened in Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom behind Cinderella Castle. 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. ==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. Belle had her live-action television series Sing Me a Story with Belle. The first eight Disney Princesses also appeared on the animated TV series House of Mouse. Cinderella, Belle, and Snow White also made cameo appearances in the TV animated series Mickey Mouse. The television special The Little Mermaid Live! starred Auliʻi Cravalho as Ariel. The 2022 TV special Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration starred H.E.R. as Belle. In 2006, a bonus feature included on the Disney Princess Sing-Along Songs, Volume 3 DVD teased a new series of direct-to-video films with original stories entitled Disney Princess Fairy Tales. The first film Disney Princess Fairy Tales: A Kingdom of Kindness which was scheduled for released in September 2006, was to feature story segments with Aurora and Belle. By February 2007, Disney renamed the series as Disney Princess Enchanted Tales, and revealed the first film would feature segments with Aurora, Belle, and Jasmine. In March 2007, the Belle segment was revealed to be excluded from the premiere film, which was renamed Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams. The first film in the series, was released on September 4, 2007. It is a musical film featuring a new tale about Jasmine and the first new tale about Aurora since the original Sleeping Beauty. Originally, Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: A Kingdom of Kindness contained a different Aurora story and had a Belle story rather than a Jasmine story. Disney made this change without any sort of notice. A second installment in the series, Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Honesty featuring new stories with Cinderella and Mulan, was planned to be released in February 2008. Merchandise for the second film began production, starting with children's books, though they never released. The series was cancelled, and only Follow Your Dreams exists. 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 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. In the TV series Sofia the First, premiered on January 11, 2013 on Disney Junior, the protagonist, Princess Sofia (voiced by Ariel Winter), can summon the Disney Princesses. Cinderella appeared in the pilot film, Once Upon A Princess. Jasmine, Belle, Aurora, Snow White, Mulan, Tiana, and Merida appeared on the show as guest appearances. Ariel and Rapunzel appeared in the TV specials The Floating Palace and The Curse of Princess Ivy, respectively. 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, and in March 2025, Tiana'' was announced to be cancelled and no longer moving forward as a series. In the films Maleficent (2014) and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019), Elle Fanning plays Aurora. Lily James portrays Cinderella in the eponymous 2015 film. Emma Watson is seen as Belle in the 2017 film Beauty and the Beast. Naomi Scott stars as Jasmine in the 2019 film Aladdin. Liu Yifei appears as Mulan in the eponymous 2020 film. Halle Bailey plays Ariel in the 2023 film The Little Mermaid. Rachel Zegler portrays the title character in the 2025 film Snow White. Catherine Laga'aia has been announced to play Moana in the upcoming 2026 film of the same name. Teagan Croft has been cast as Rapunzel in a live-action film adaptation of Tangled. In the 2018 film Ralph Breaks the Internet, Vanellope von Schweetz meets the Disney Princesses, along with Anna and Elsa (and Moana, who was not included in the line-up until the following year), in short guest appearances. This film marks the first direct interaction between the characters in an animated Disney feature. 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". 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. An animated Lego special, Lego Disney Princess: The Castle Quest, was released on Disney+ on August 18, 2023. The special stars Snow White, Ariel, Tiana, Rapunzel, and Moana, in an adventure to stop the evil plans of Gaston (the main antagonist of Beauty and the Beast). A sequel, Lego Disney Princess: Villains Unite, was released on Disney+ on August 25, 2025. The Princesses of the previous special returns in the story, with the addition of Cinderella, Aurora, and Belle, again trying to stop the plans of Gaston, and his new villain allies. The characters of the franchise, excluding Merida, appeared in the short film Once Upon a Studio (2023) in celebration of Disney's 100th anniversary. 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 Comics 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. 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. Rapunzel can be found as a playable character in the 2013 game Disney Infinity, like with the rest of the playable characters being released a figure of her. Disney Infinity 2.0 has the addition of Jasmine and Merida. In the case of Merida, being included with Stitch in the Toy Box Starter Pack for the game. 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 Snow White, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Mulan, Tiana, Merida, Moana, and Raya are limited time characters. Almost all the Disney Princesses, with the exception of Pocahontas, are playable characters in the role-playing game Disney Mirrorverse. Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, and Moana appear as villagers in Disney Dreamlight Valley. Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Mulan, Rapunzel, and Moana 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 maidens with entirely pure hearts who can open the way to Kingdom Hearts if gathered together. Five of these maidens include the Disney Princesses Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, and Jasmine. The remaining Princesses of Heart are Alice from Alice in Wonderland and series-original character Kairi. Introduced in Kingdom Hearts (2002), the Princesses of Heart make subsequent appearances in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (2004), Kingdom Hearts II (2005), Kingdom Hearts Coded (2008), Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (2009), and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (2010). Disney Princesses Ariel and Mulan are not Princesses of Heart; they are instead guest party members in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II respectively. Kingdom Hearts III (2019) introduces the "New Seven Hearts", a new set of princesses inheriting the roles from the previous princesses. Kairi, Rapunzel, Anna, and Elsa are known to be among the New Seven Hearts, with the other three currently being unknown. ==Awards and recognition==

By 2022, five Disney Princess films had been selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant": • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937; added in 1989) • Beauty and the Beast (1991; added in 2002) • Cinderella (1950; added in 2018) • Sleeping Beauty (1959; added in 2019) • The Little Mermaid (1989; added in 2022) ==References==