Meet the 13 Magical & Official Disney Princesses

Move over, Mickey Mouse! Disney Princesses are often considered the backbone of the company. These incredible girls, teens, and women come from fairytales, folklore, and storytellers’ imaginations. They show us how to overcome adversity with grace and incredible strength. Starting with Snow White in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), these characters have had an indelible impact on pop culture for generations. Now, many of them are even getting live-action adaptations of their original animated films.

Can you name every Disney Princess? Let’s meet them — in chronological order of their solo movies — and learn more about their origins below.

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There are 13 official Disney Princesses

In total, there are 13 officially recognized Disney Princesses. No, really! The Disney Princess Official Site confirms this lineup. The official princesses are Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, Moana, and Raya. While Venellope crashed a royal slumber party in Wreck-it-Ralph, she got to hang out but didn’t get the title. And sorry, Star Wars™ fans — Padmé Amidala and Leia Organa don’t count, even after Disney took over the sci-fi franchise.

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Snow White (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937)

A classic tale of good and evil, this story follows a young orphan who lives with her wicked stepmother. When Snow White’s beauty eventually outshines the aging Evil Queen, Grimhilde sends a huntsman to cut out the young girl’s heart. Snow White flees into the forest to live with seven friendly dwarfs. Later, she eats a poison apple that sends her into an eternal sleep. But a prince wakes her from her slumber with a kiss and the two live happily ever after.

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Cinderella (Cinderella, 1950)

Forced to be her stepmother and stepsisters’ servant, Cinderella lives a destitute life until her fairy godmother intervenes. This magical godmother bestows a ballgown and glass slippers on the girl so she can attend a royal dance. There, the prince falls in love with her — but Cinderella flees before the spell breaks at midnight. Fortunately, the prince searches the kingdom far and wide to return her lost slipper and when it fits perfectly on Cinderella, the two wed.

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Aurora (Sleeping Beauty, 1959)

An evil fairy called Maleficent curses newborn Princess Aurora. Upon her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die. Three good fairies adjust the spell so Aurora instead falls into a deep slumber, broken only by true love’s kiss. Years later, Aurora and the rest of the kingdom fall into this forced sleep. Prince Phillip braves the cursed castle and a dragon to rescue his betrothed.

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Ariel (The Little Mermaid, 1989)

A young mermaid named Ariel dreams of life on land. When she rescues Prince Eric from a shipwreck, she longs to join him in his kingdom. Ursula, an evil sea witch, tricks Ariel into bargaining her voice for human legs. But Ursula also transforms herself to seduce Eric instead and capture Ariel’s soul. Thankfully, love wins out in the end. Ariel’s father also accepts his daughter’s wishes to be with humans and celebrates her marriage.

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Belle (Beauty and the Beast, 1991)

Long ago, an enchantress cursed a selfish prince to change into a hideous beast and all his staff into household objects. She gives him a rose and he must learn to love before the final petal falls — or be a beast forever. Some time later, Beast imprisons an eccentric inventor for trespassing on the palace grounds but accepts the inventor’s daughter Belle in his place. Belle and Beast eventually fall in love against all odds as well as the village’s objections. They break the curse together and restore the palace’s humanity.

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Jasmine (Aladdin, 1992)

Princess Jasmine longs for freedom and adventure. Her doting father needs her to marry a worthy prince. Aladdin, a beggar, uses a Genie’s wish to pretend to be a prince and capture Jasmine’s attention with his magic carpet. Even though Jasmine eventually discovers Aladdin’s real identity, she still prefers him over her potential wealthy suitors. Notably, this Disney film marks the first instance where the male character marries into royal status, rather than the woman.

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Pocahontas (Pocahontas, 1995)

Firstly, it’s vital to understand that Pocahontas is not historically accurate nor widely accepted by Indigenous communities. But this Native American “princess” (because the idea of a princess is a solely European concept) is still an important member of this list. In Pocahontas, the eponymous lead struggles to balance her affection for settler John Smith with her love of her tribe and the land. At the end, John Smith returns to England and Pocahontas remains with her own people. Once again, this is notable because this movie doesn’t end with some sort of marriage. While love “saves” the day, romance is not the ultimate plot resolution.

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Mulan (Mulan, 1998)

Mulan, unwilling to marry and become a quiet wife, takes her father’s place in war. She trains hard and impresses the men while hiding her gender. Captain Li Shang takes a special interest in Mulan, receiving quite a shock when she’s injured during battle and treated by a physician. Although exiled from the military, Mulan still serves her country by saving the Emperor from assassins. Then, she and Li Shang decide to date, with the implication that they’ll settle down as a married couple soon after.

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Tiana (The Princess and the Frog, 2009)

An updated take on a fairytale, The Princess and the Frog is your semi-typical rags to riches story. Tiana dreams of opening her own restaurant but lacks the necessary funds. Meanwhile, the arrogant Prince Naveen meddles with voodoo and gets turned into a frog. He convinces Tiana to kiss him, but then she also gets transformed! Together, the two frogs hop through New Orleans and are married in their amphibian forms. Once Tiana is a princess, her kiss undoes the spell so she and Prince Naveen can be human once more.

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Rapunzel (Tangled, 2010)

Rapunzel’s hair restores health and beauty to an old woman named Gothel. Gothel keeps Rapunzel locked in a tower, insisting it’s for her own safety. Turns out, Rapunzel is actually the kidnapped daughter of the king and queen. When an outlaw called Flynn Rider breaks into the tower, she embarks on a journey to the outside world with him. They face danger and challenges galore, though Rapunzel eventually frees herself from Gothel and reunites with her parents — alongside her future husband.

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Merida (Brave, 2012)

Set in historical Scotland, Brave follows young Celt clan member Merida. She is an archery champion who refuses to marry for her father’s political alliance, deciding to flee into the forest instead. There, she consumes an enchanted cake that turns her into a bear. Her mother and triplet brothers also fall under the spell, causing chaos in the kingdom. Ultimately, although there is a cursed prince involved, Merida brings them all back to human form by mending her relationship with her mother. And there’s no marriage or man in the end!

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Moana (Moana, 2016)

Moana, daughter of the chief, must return the goddess of nature’s heart. Her parents don’t want Moana on the sea because she needs to be the next leader. However, Moana can’t resist the call. She embarks on an incredible adventure with a shapeshifting demigod and a couple of adorable animal companions. On the goddess Te Fiti’s island, Moana finds her true calling through the ocean’s guidance and heals the wounded goddess. Having saved everyone, Moana accepts her responsibility and role as chieftess as well as wayfinder — a navigator able to lead her people on voyages throughout the waves.

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Raya (Raya and the Last Dragon, 2021)

Raya is a warrior princess tasked with protecting a precious gemstone. This gem contains all the magic left by the last of the dragons. It is stolen and destroyed, devastating the land and plunging the kingdoms into war. Raya intends to restore the gem. She also attempts to unite the factions across the Land of Heart, believing they can all prosper if they work together. This dream of reconciliation and peace eventually helps Raya defeat her enemies. Raya and the Last Dragon ends with dragons and humans living together in harmony under one land, Kumandra.

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Elsa and Anna from Frozen are not Disney Princesses

We know what you’re thinking. What about Elsa and Anna from Frozen? Unlike most other princess movies, Frozen is essentially a standalone franchise. That’s not to say other Disney Princess movies are somehow set within the same universe. Disney simply decided to separate Frozen and its subsequent films for marketing purposes. So Anna and Elsa are Princess and Queen of Arendelle, but they’re not part of the core 13 lineup.

Likewise, Jane from Tarzan, Lilo from Lilo & Stitch, and Wendy from Peter Pan aren’t princesses, either. Just being a woman or girl in Disney doesn’t earn the character that title. They have to be born into or achieve royal status through marriage. And although Tarzan is “king of the jungle” and Peter rules over Neverland, they’d never be recognized by law as rulers. Jane and Wendy don’t seem to mind, though.

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