We’ve all grown up with Disney princesses, regardless of our gender. Who doesn’t know about the classic princesses like Snow White, Cinderella or Ariel The Little Mermaid? Then there is the new wave of princesses, who are less damsel in distress but more take-matters-into-their-own-hands type, like Merida from Brave, Moana, and Elsa and Ana from Frozen.
These princesses come into our lives at various stages, but never together. So you can imagine what a treat it is to see them all gathered comfortably in a room, chit-chatting in Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet.
The movie, as the title suggests, is about Ralph (John C. Reilly), along with his bestie Vanellope (Sarah Silverman ), venture into the wide expanse of the World Wide Web on a mission. While there, the pair encounters plenty of web-related experiences, such as spammers popping up to ask them to click, YouTube videos of the latest fad, and yes, BuzzFeed-style quizzes asking “Which Disney Princess are you?”
And this is where our princesses come in. They are housed in a comfy holding room until the said quiz is activated and they’ll all have to go on-stage when their names are being called out for the quiz.
And our Vanellope, who’s a princess in her own right, enters this holding room by accident and spends some quality time with our princesses, and this scene is easily the highlight of the movie.
Let’s take a refresher course and meet ALL the Disney princesses in the movie.
Snow White (1937 vs 2018)
She of the porcelain face and dark red lips. Being the fairest of them all, Snow White was an eyesore in her stepmother’s eye. It doesn’t help that her stepmother is obsessed with beauty, constantly asking her magic mirror who’s the fairest of them all- and it wasn’t her. We all know how the story ended. But watch out for Snow White whipping out a poison apple in the movie.
Cinderella (1950 vs 2018)
Poor Cinderella, having lost both her parents when she was young, she had to live under her oppressive evil stepmother and two equally evil stepsisters. But our Cinderella grew up to be a gracious young woman, whose only dream is to attend this dreamy ball that the King organises to find a decent bride for his son. As we know, she did attend the ball despite many attempts by her evil stepmother and sisters to derail her plans. And oops, she left behind a glass slipper when she was trying to escape before the clock strikes midnight, rendering the magic that her fairy godmother cast on her gone. Keep a lookout for Cinderella breaking her glass slipper and using it as a weapon in the movie.
Sleeping Beauty (1959 vs 2018)
Princess Aurora should be living the high life of a princess. But the spiteful witch Maleficent, incensed at not being invited to her christening party, decides to curse the princess, that on her 16th birthday, she would be pricked by the spindle of a spinning wheel and die. Mortified, the other fairies tried to undo the curse but failed. Their solution? To make Aurora sleep, until she gets woken up by true love’s kiss. After a few obstacles and challenges, we all know Aurora did get waken up by her prince charming. And yes, they do live happily ever after too.
The Little Mermaid (1989 vs 2018)
Ariel (Jodi Benson) is a princess of the Sea but has been yearning to live on land since she was young, and she would sing it to any sea creatures she see, especially to her trusty companion, Sebastian the crab. She finally got her wish, “thanks” to the witch Ursula, but that costs Ariel almost everything. This is the first time where a Disney princess movie did not end with a happy ending. But it’s ok, Ariel didn’t get her man, but she got her voice back. Watch out for her telling Vanellope to find her own song in the movie.
Beauty and the Beast (1991 vs 2018)
Only a beauty could tame a beast. And this has exactly happened to Belle (Paige O'Hara). Her poor father was imprisoned by a beast in a castle, and the dutiful daughter volunteered to take his place as a prisoner. How did this barter get exchanged is still a mystery. Anyway, our Belle, bursting with all the goodness in her heart, sees the human within the beast, and even falls for him. Eventually, the beast returned to human form, and you guessed it, they live happily ever after.
Aladdin (1992 vs 2018)
Jasmine (Linda Larkin), the spirited princess of Agrabah, being weary of her palace life, ventured into the streets outside of her palace and met and fell in love with the street urchin Aladdin. Then things get worse when the grand vizier of the Sultan wanted to make her his wife. Thankfully, our Aladdin managed to get himself a genie and with three wishes, he could teach the baddie a lesson, get the girl, and live happily ever after with her.
Pocahontas (1995 vs 2018)
Pocahontas (Irene Bedard) isn’t strictly a princess but the daughter of a Chief, well in some cultures, she may very well be a princess. She is set to marry a brave warrior but fears being tied down with his serious ways. Instead, she meets an Englishman and falls in love with him instead. The clash in cultures did not end well, as did their doomed love. But we will always have that lovely number by Vanessa Williams- Colors of the Wind.
Mulan (1998 vs 2018)
Like Pocahontas, Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) isn’t a princess, nor the daughter of a chief. She is merely a girl who decides to pretend to be a man and take her dad’s place to serve in the army during the war. In the end, she fought well in the war, thwarted an attempt at killing the emperor, and brings honour to her family. Oh, and she caught the eye of the general too.
Princess and the Frog (2009 vs 2018)
Tiana (Anika Noni Rose), too, was not a princess. At least not at the beginning. She’s just a hardworking girl who wanted to earn enough money to buy and run her own restaurant and look after her mother. Fate, however, has other plans for her. While desperately trying to gather enough money to buy her restaurant, she was inadvertently turned into a frog. Along with Prince Naveen, who’s also turned into a frog, the pair traverses dangers aplenty to find true love with each other.
Tiana’s look in Ralph Breaks the Internet caused an outrage, even from Anika Noni Rose, the actress who played Tiana, for not looking African-American enough. This caused the filmmakers to go to back after early released footage to tweak her face. The animation style from Snow White to Princess and the Frog has been in 2D, and these nine princesses have been upgraded to 3D for this movie, and during this process, their features have been slightly altered, causing them to look somewhat different from their original counterparts. It’s also interesting to note that Pocahontas, too, looked different from her original Native American look. Her more angular features have been softened and her smaller eyes have been enlarged.
Rapunzel (2010 vs 2018)
Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) was kidnapped as a baby by the evil Gothel who wanted the healing qualities in Rapunzel’s hair to maintain her youth. Marooned at a tower for 18 years, she only has her hair and voice for company on a daily basis. Gothel, who pretends to be her mother and kept her at the tower for her own safety, only visits her every time she needed her power to regain her youth. But restlessness envelops Rapunzel, and she goes on a journey that would eventually bring her home, and finds her a man, of course.
Brave (2012 vs 2018)
Merida (Kelly Macdonald) is a feisty redhead who wants equal rights for girls. She’d rather be a warrior than a wife, much to the chagrin of her father. Through a series of unfortunate events, which include her mom and brothers turning into bears, Merida shows her father what she can do, and changes his mind about marrying her off to another chieftain’s son. Merida shows us a heck lotta girl power. Watch out for her thick accent in the movie, where no one seems to understand what she’s saying!
Frozen (2013 vs 2018)
The royal sisters of Arendelle used to be close, until Elsa (Idina Menzel) almost killed Ana with her mysterious magical powers where she could create ice and snow. She shuts out everyone after one frightful incident and only re-emerges after her parents, the King and Queen, perished at sea.
Revealing her powers by accident, Elsa escaped into the mountains, with Ana (Kristen Bell) hot on her trail, determined not to give up on her sister. Frozen shows us true love doesn’t need to be between a dashing prince and a damsel in distress.
Moana (2016 vs 2018)
The latest princess is Moana (Auli'i Cravalho), the daughter of a chief who believes her destiny lies beyond the confines of her surroundings. Her bravery, wit, and never-say-die spirit is an inspiration to little girls everywhere.
The princesses appeared in updated versions of their costume in Ralph Breaks the Internet, but also look out for a scene where they are all lounging in casual wear like singlets and sweat pants, and relishing in it. And it’s hilarious to see them outside of the only clothes we’ve ever see them in.
Watch out for the details on their casual wear. Snow White’s top has a poison apple on it, Moana’s top has the words #shiny. Elsa’s top says “Just Let It Go”, and Mulan’s jacket sports two dragons, and we know Mushu (Eddie Murphy) was her trusty companion during her time in the army.
