Top 10 Disney Films With Princesses

One of the most popular attributes of Disney is their Disney Princess franchise. It strikes millions of little girls, so Disney obviously knows where the money is. But why are these fictional heroines so popular? There are many reasons, I suppose. They are beautiful, pure of heart, live in fantasy worlds and end up with handsome princes. Every girl's dream, right? I figured the best order to put them in is chronological. That is, when the movie was released. So, here they are. The Top 10 Disney Movies with Princesses.

1. "SNOW WHITE" (Snow White) - Though Snow White is of noble birth, she is treated as a maid in rags by her evil stepmother the Queen. Snow White, being innocent and the "fairest in the land" motivates the Queen to send and assassin to kill her. Fortunately, Snow White is too cute and innocent for the assassin to pull it off, and he lets her go. We all know the story: Snow White meets seven dwarfs, Queen tricks her into biting into a poison apple, Snow White is brought back to life by "true love's kiss"

There is no way that Snow White couldn't be on this list. She is, after all, the original Disney Princess and she has the dainty grace and sweetness that all the other princess probably strive for.

2. "CINDERELLA" (Cinderella) - Though not born into nobility, Cinderella has the makings of a Princess. Treated as a virtual slave by her cruel stepmother and neurotic step sisters, she endures her misery by dreaming. An invitation from the King for all women to attend the ball gives her the chance for happiness, and she doesn't let it go without a fight. Well, she doesn't punch her step relatives in the eyes, but she does work herself to the bone to prove that she has a right to attend. This gets thwarted by her step mother and sisters when they destroy her dress. Her fairy godmother comes to the rescue, she attends the ball, blows everyone out of the proverbial water, and lives happily ever after.

What makes Cinderella a true princess/heroine of Disney is that she wasn't weak with naivete, like Snow White. She had a fighting streak in her and went to show that you can dream all you like, but sitting around and waiting for it won't necessarily make it come true.

3. "SLEEPING BEAUTY" (Aurora) - On the day of her christening, Princess Aurora is given gifts of song and beauty by good fairies. But all it takes is one bad fairy, Maleficent, to see to it that the child is cursed to die by the prick of a spinning wheel needle before she turns sixteen. The kingdom is frantic to avoid this, and so the princess is put in "protective custody" of a sort in the care of the same good fairies who blessed her. She meets Prince Phillip and falls in love with him, unaware that she was betrothed to him at birth. After Aurora learns of her true identity, she's less than thrilled. Maleficent finds her and fulfills her end of the bargain, pricking her with the needle and putting her into a deep sleep in which there is no waking. Well, naturally there is one hope somewhere between the lines: True loves kiss! Enter Prince Phillip, commence snogging, and happily ever after.

What makes Aurora interesting is that she is in all respects a teenaged girl. She fantasizes and dreams, and when she can't be with the guy she's in love with, its the end of the world.

4. "THE LITTLE MERMAID" (Ariel) - Lovely, but curious to a fault, Ariel is a teenaged mermaid who dreams of life with the humans. Though her father, King Triton, forbids her to have anything to do with the dry world above, she feels pretty confident she can make up her own mind. So, she sells her give of song, along with her voice as a whole, to the evil sea-witch Ursula so that she could replace her fin with legs. All she has to do to keep them is to win over Prince Eric. Sounds easy, but she's a mute. There are conflicts and trials, but in the end, Ursula is defeated and Eric is won over. They marry and sail away on his white steed- I mean ship.

Ariel is probably one of the favorites because, not only is she a mermaid, but she's pretty spunky. Not that it should be encouraged to young girls to go against their daddy's rules, or sell anything to get what they want. But, it must be remembered that Ariel tried to fix things in the end.

5. "BEAUTY and the BEAST" (Belle) - A nonconformist of sorts, Belle doesn't want to fall into the usual life of other girls in her small "provincial town". She doesn't want to marry the tall, handsome, oaf names Gaston. She would rather go to far off places and live a life found only in her books. But, when her father goes missing, she rides off to save him and finds him as the prisoner of a beast in a dark castle. A bargain is made for her to take her father's place, and while she is kept as the Beast's prisoner, she sees that he isn't as cold and cruel as he thinks he is, and the two fall in love. But, she needs to proclaim her love to him before the last petal falls from an enchanted rose. Thankfully, Disney always satisfies with happy endings. The Beast transforms into a handsome young prince, and he and Belle live happily ever after.

What makes Belle interesting is that even though she is, according to the fairy tale, supposed to be beautiful, she is still likeable and sympathetic. And you can't blame her one bit for wrinkling her nose at Gaston.

6. "Aladdin" (Jasmine) - The daughter of the Sultan, Jasmine is to marry, by law, a husband by her sixteenth birthday. But, she doesn't want to marry just anybody. She wants to marry for love. Because of this romantic notion, she flees from the palace and winds up meeting Aladdin, a street thief. There's an instant connection between the two, but there's no future for a princess and a thief. So, after a series of mishaps, Aladdin returns in a new guise calling himself "Prince Ali" in hopes of winning the princess's hand in marriage- with the help of a genie of course. Jafar, the Sultan's vizier, has his own plans of marrying her and becoming Sultan. But, he is ultimately defeated and Jasmine and Aladdin have the blessings of her father to marry.

Okay, Jasmine doesn't quite look sixteen years old to me, and she certainly doesn't act like it. But, compared to the other princesses, she brings a diversity and an exotic persona. She acts tough, but she's really just a frail teenage girl.

7. "The Lion King" (Nala) - She isn't human, and she isn't a princess. But, she is betrothed to her best friend Simba, the prince of the Pride Lands. But, Simba is assumed dead when his evil uncle Scar kills his father with a stampede of wildebeest and sends the young prince into exile. Nala grows up in the horrid existence of Scar as king and watches the Pride Lands die and waste away around them. Desperate, she runs away in search of help and happens across Simba, who is alive, well, and all grown up. Love is in the air, and she tries to convince him to return to his old home to take his place as king. But, Simba refuses, under the false believe that he was responsible for his father's death. So, naturally it takes seeing his father's ghost in the sky (a lot like Hamlet, I think) and is then thoroughly convinced that a lion's gotta do what a lion's gotta do. He returns, beats the stuffing out of his Uncle Scar, and becomes the King of Pride rock, with Nala at his side to be his queen.

Nala needed to be on the list, I think, because she took initiative and wouldn't take crap from the males. After all, she beat Simba at pouncing every time.

8. "Pocahontas" (Pocahontas) - Daughter of the Powhatan Chief, Pocahontas is curious and very strong willed. When English settlers arrive, she meets John Smith (a famed "injun killer") but instead of a bloody mess, a friendship sprouts. While they learn more about each other, and she teaches him how to appreciate things that aren't gold and shiny, there is a brewing war between the settlers and the indians. So, it's up to Pocahontas and John Smith to stop the war before it's too late. Unfortunately, it ends with John taking a shot for her father. The war is stopped and John is sent back to England, Pocahontas staying behind with her own people.

Okay, maybe I was wrong about those happy Disney endings, but all in all everything ended up okay. Even if you end up crying. Pocahontas was a very interesting addition to Disney females as she has the facade of a Native American Jessica Rabbit. I don't think any one would have envisioned Pocahontas being so... sultry and half naked. (My God! This Princess is showing her knees!)

9. "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" (Kida) - Not one of the best Disney films, but it has a princess after all. The city of Atlantis sank a few millenniums ago and a group of 20th century researcher go after by the lead of the nerd, Milo Thatch. When they find the lost city, Milo meets Kida. She is the daughter of the king and though she looks relatively young, she is actually over 9000 years old. Apparently they crystals that power and protect the city also grant longer lives. Her father is killed by the villains of the story and she becomes queen. A romance sparks between her and Milo sometime while they're saving Atlantis from the baddies.

Kida was included on this list more or less because she was a genuine princess. The story and the movie, however, don't necessarily qualify compared to the others on this list.

10. "Enchanted" (Giselle) - Giselle is a tribute of all the Disney Princesses put together. She lives in an animated and colorful fairy tale world where animals talk and singing is as common as simple conversation. She is rescued by Prince Edward, and the two decide to get married the next day. Prince Edward's evil stepmother, however, wants to keep her stepson single and therefore remain queen, so she throws Giselle into a magic portal. Giselle winds up in the Times Square of the real world. Here she meets Robert and her naivete, innocence, and optimism are all too apparent. Throughout the story, she matures and falls in love with Robert, all the while Prince Edward scouring New York to find her. After defeating the evil queen, Giselle remains in the real world where she lives happily ever after with Robert. Don't worry, Prince Edward went home with his own "true love", so no one got burned here.

Giselle is one of the most recent princesses to come from Disney, and she was wonderfully dingy in her character, if often cheesy. The fact that she was a tribute to all those originals make her something worth noting.