Most of us have been obsessing over Disney princesses for decades.
We have watched their movies over and over again, mesmerized all of their songs, and dressed up as them for Halloween .
Every once in a while, we’ll also brush-up on our trivia about them. That’s where these 10+ random facts come in.
These are guaranteed to blow your mind.
1. Beyoncé almost voiced the princess in *Princess and the Frog*:
We’ll never get over the fact that she could’ve been a Disney princess.
According to casting director, Jen Rudin, Queen Bey refused to audition. In the end, the role went to Anika Noni Rose.
2. The first Disney princess was only paid $20 a day in 1937:
This was the late Adriana Caselotti , the actress who voiced Snow White.
Over the course of filming the full-length film, she only made a total of $970. And get this: the movie was over budget.
3. There’s a reason Belle wears blue in *Beauty and the Beast*:
If you were to watch the movie now, you’d notice that Belle is the only person in her hometown to wear blue.
This color signifies that she’s an outsider, which means that the Beast is also wearing blue when they meet.
4. Snow White is the youngest Disney princess:
Her movie may be the oldest (made in 1937), but she’s the youngest princess at 14 years old.
Following this is Jasmine who’s 15 years old; Ariel, Aurora, Merida, and Mulan, who are all 16 years old. Cinderella and Tiana are the oldest at 19.
5. New software was created to make Merida’s curls in *Brave*:
When Pixar makes a movie, they go all out. They want their movies to look as best as they can possibly be.
Merida’s hair was made up of 1,500 individually sculpted curves, explained Claudia Chung, the film’s simulation supervisor.
These curves were programmed to “bounce and interact in relation to one another via a new software system.”
There was also another software program that was created to make the hair look more realistic by reacting to Merida’s movements and surroundings.
6. *Cinderella* was Walt Disney’s favorite:
He admitted this to Ilene Woods, the voice of the original Cinderella.
“Once I went into his office and he said to me, ‘You’re my favorite heroine, you know.’ I said, ‘You mean Cinderella?’ ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘there’s something about that story I associate with.’”
7. Jasmine’s dress in *Aladdin* was almost pink:
Turns out, the studio thought that a pink dress would sell more toys.
“Certainly, there is a lot of merchandising that goes on with these movies,” explained the film’s co-director Ron Clements.
“And sometimes the merchandising people will say, ‘Jasmine should wear a pink dress, because a pink dress will sell more than a blue dress,’” Clements revealed.
“But we don’t try to be influenced by that.”
Phew . Blue is so Jasmine’s color.
8. There’s a reason Belle’s hair is out of place in *Beauty in the Beast*:
You may have noticed that Belle is different from the other Disney princesses.
The film’s screenwriter, Linda Woolverton , explained that she didn’t want Belle to be perfect. “It was important that not every hair be in place.”
9. Ariel was almost blonde in *The Little Mermaid*:
She even had the lighter ‘do in the film’s first thumbnail sketches.
But Jodi Benson, the voice of the original Ariel, revealed that the makers changed their tune once they realized that they could have their first red-headed Disney princess.
10. *Mulan* is based on an ancient Chinese legend:
Like many Disney movies, Mulan , has a dark fairytale behind it.
The film is based on the ancient Chinese tale of Hua Mulan, who returns home to find that her mother is remarried and her father has passed.
Not long after that, her identity as a woman is revealed.
As punishment, Mulan is forced to become a concubine.
This is where things get really dark: instead of this, she chooses to take her own life. Damn, talk about a sad story.
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11. A lot of research went into *Moana’s* costume design:
According to visual development artist Neysa Bové , the team wanted to get the history right .
“With Moana, we did so much research with the Pacific Islands as far as what materials they had at that time.”
“This is supposed to be taking place 2,000 years ago, so we didn’t really have any photo reference of what they were at the time,” she continued.
“But we did get some material reference from our Oceanic Trust.”
12. Princess Tiana unintentionally sent some kids to the hospital:
You have to kiss a few frogs to get Prince Charming salmonella .
This is what happened to 50 young fans who went around doing just that following the film’s release. Most girls were under the age of 10.
13. Disney princesses don’t make eye contact with each other:
Instead of looking lovingly at one another in promotional materials, they just stare off in different directions. (The only exception is this image from Wreck It Ralph ).
According to Andy Mooney , the former Chairman of Disney Consumer Products, this is to ensure the sanctity of their “individual mythologies.”
14. Pocahontas isn’t the first Native American princess in a Disney movie:
She may be the only one who is part of the official Disney Princess lineup, but Tiger Lily from Peter Pan was actually the first.
But most people forget about that very fact.
15. Sleeping Beauty has the least lines in a movie of any Disney princess:
She only had 18 lines in the whole film!
This makes sense, though, considering the fact that homegirl was sleeping the whole time! She just needed her beauty sleep.
16. Tiana’s name is pretty literal.
The name “Tiana” in both its Russian and Latin origin actually means “Princess” , which means technically she’s Princess Princess The Princess. Now that’s a mouthful!
17. Two princesses sound a bit different from the others.
You might have noticed that there are only two princesses who don’t have American accents. Obviously one immediately comes to mind, and that’s the Scottish accent of Merida.
The other is Aurora.
We already know she had very few lines in her film, so you might’ve missed it when she did speak — Aurora has a British accent!
How fancy!
18. There are some strict qualifications for being a Disney Princess.
While an official criteria has never been announced, it’s generally accepted that in order to be an official Disney princess, the character should have central role in a Disney animated film, she must be human or human-like, and she can’t be a new star in a sequel.
You don’t have to be born into or even marry into royalty to qualify.
Mulan, for example, wasn’t a literal princess by the end of her movie.
Elsa and Anna, who were princesses the whole movie and queens by the end, aren’t officially Disney Princesses either. Who knew?
There’s even been a demotion from Disney Princess to non-Disney Princess!
Tinkerbell from Peter Pan was initially included in the Disney Princess lineup, but was demoted when she became part of the Disney Fairy franchise in 2005.
19. Rapunzel’s hair has some serious length.
{According to the film’s animators]( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398286/trivia ), Rapunzel’s hair is 70 feet long and would have weighed about 60 to 80 pounds in real life.
She must have the world’s strongest neck muscles!
20. Ariel was modelled after a real actress.
Actress Alyssa Milano revealed that Ariel was modeled after her appearance in the sitcom Who’s The Boss , and I can definitely see it! If she had red hair, they’d be pretty much identical!
