It took me a while, but I finally narrowed down my Top Five for Disney princesses. For all the thinkpieces out there about what is or isn’t feminist in their depictions, Disney princesses were my jam when I was a kid. I had plenty of Disney princess Barbie dolls who were always going on adventures in my bedroom, and I knew every song. They still mean a lot to me today – here are my favorites.
Belle (Beauty and the Beast) – To quote the epic Princess Rap Battle, how could I not love this “nerdy, wordy princess”? My girl Belle loves to read, she’s not impressed with Gaston’s possessive chauvinism, and she places herself in danger to save her father. And while she doesn’t quail under the Beast’s tantrums, she also shows him kindness when the situation calls for it, almost immediately responding to him like a person rather than a monster.
Best Musical Bit: It’s hard to beat the reprise of “Belle,” especially the lines, “And for once it might be grand / To have someone understand, / I want so much more than they’ve got planned.” There’s my independent-minded dreamer of a princess! Also, Paige O’Hara’s voice is simply gorgeous.
Jasmine (Aladdin) – Oh man, Jasmine is just the best. She’s one of the sheltered princesses who long for a glimpse of the world that’s been closed to her, but even though she makes some missteps when she gets out there, she more than proves herself. She’s kind, she’s a quick study, she’s brave, and she stands up for herself. “I am not a prize to won” – the girl knows how to make a declaration. Young me was all over that.
Best Musical Bit: Because Jasmine isn’t the main character in Aladdin, she doesn’t get songs of her own until the Broadway musical, and later the live-action movie. However, my favorite for Jasmine remains her part in “A Whole New World.” Lea Salonga’s crisp, clear vocals in the movie are like crystal, Jasmine’s pure voice complementing Aladdin’s earnest one. I especially love, “I’m like a shooting star. / I’ve come so far – I can’t go back to where I used to be.”
Mulan (Mulan) – Be still my 11-year-old heart! Mulan was totally my late-elementary-age heroine. I liked that she felt awkward in dresses and didn’t know how to be a “perfect daughter,” I liked her finding her inner badass, and I loved her risking everything to keep her father safe. Looking back on her now as an adult, I love that she ultimately forges her own path, saving the day not just by being tough/strong but by using her head and thinking creatively.
Best Musical Bit: Is there any question? Come on, you know it’s “Reflection” – short but so, so good. Lea Salonga voicing a Disney princess is an impeccable choice, always and forever. I have to single out the line, “Somehow I cannot hide / Who I am, / Though I’ve tried.” Oh man! That one still cuts right to the heart of me.
Elsa (Frozen) – Honestly, I really like Anna too, and I’d have put both sisters on here if I had the room. But I didn’t, and if I can only pick one, it’s gonna have to be Elsa. I am all about stories about young women learning to love themselves and wield their own power, so I was an easy mark for Disney here. Plenty of Disney princesses have grown up under traumatic circumstances, and I appreciate that, with Elsa, we see head-on how that trauma has affected her and her relationships, and in the first movie, she begins the work of trying to address it and start healing from it.
Best Musical Bit: Be real, we all know it’s “Let It Go.” This is a self-love power number, with Elsa throwing off the constraints that have bound her for so long and embracing her power. I mean, yes! Plenty of good parts to highlight, but I’ll single out the bridge. It builds so beautifully to that soaring line, “I’m never going back – the past is in the past!”, which flows into the triumphant final chorus. Idina Menzel is all over this.
Moana (Moana) – I was excited for Moana for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s score and Disney’s first Polynesian princess, but I came away loving the film and Moana herself. I love her wanderlust and her desire to help her people. I like that she’s drawn to the ocean and is super gung-ho to become a wayfinder, and I appreciate that it isn’t something that comes easily for her, that she has to work at it. I love that she digs deep to find strength inside herself, and I adore that, when it really counts, the strongest tool in her arsenal is her compassion. Beautiful addition to the Disney Princess canon.
Best Musical Bit: It’s funny – even though I love my Disney princesses and the scores in their movies, most of them have just one really major number. But with Moana, it’s so hard to pick! I’m gonna have to go with “Song of the Ancestors,” that moment where the melody from “How Far I’ll Go” kicks in and the music swells, backing up Auli’i Cravalho’s voice and those beautiful lyrics: “And the call isn’t out there at all – it’s inside me. / It’s like the tide, always falling and rising. / I will carry you here in my heart, you remind me / That come what may, I know the way.” I am a mess on the floor. Incredible!
Honorary Princess: Esmeralda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) – Esmeralda’s not a princess, but that doesn’t mean she’s not a boss. An itinerant Roma dancer, Esmeralda is a ferocious woman who speaks truth to power in the face of injustice against her people. She stands up for both herself and others, but while she projects a flinty exterior, she’s also kind. She treats Quasimodo like a person, which seems like a low bar to clear, but to Quasimodo, it means the world.
(Side note: the movie repeatedly uses the word “gypsy” to describe her. Hardly surprising given some of Disney’s other less-than-racially-sensitive moments, and plenty of people still use that word freely today, but it still bears mentioning.)
Best Musical Bit: It’s hard to beat “God Help the Outcasts.” Again, when we meet Esmeralda she’s kinetic, dancing and fighting and speaking out, but her signature song is gentle and lovely. However, it still gets at the core of who she is, someone who advocates for others. I especially love the start of the last verse, where she sings, “I ask for nothing, / I can get by. / But I know so many / Less lucky than I.”
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