Disney Princesses Share Empowering Stories for a New Generation: 'Dream and to Follow Your Heart'

The Disney princesses might not be a tale as old as time, but they do date back to 1937 when Walt Disney debuted his first princess, Snow White, in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In the intervening 87 years, the princesses have evolved to meet the changing world, so no longer does a princess need to be rescued by true love’s kiss.

Today, there are 13 official princesses—and two queens (Elsa and Anna from Frozen)— and they are all a part of the new Disney Princess “Create Your World” campaign, which empowers fans, especially young girls, to use their imagination, embrace creativity, and believe in their potential, inspired by the timeless magic of Disney Princess characters and their adventurous stories.

Each princess brings her own special inspiration to the Disney Princess franchise, and Parade was able to meet four of the women who played Disney Princesses—Paige O’Hara (Belle), Jodi Benson (Ariel), Anika Noni Rose (Tiana) and Linda Larkin (Jasmine) to talk about what they feel their specific princess teaches young girls.

Beauty and the Beast is the story of Belle, who begins the adventure of a lifetime when she sets out to rescue her father and discovers an enchanted castle with a mysterious beast.

“Belle was not looking for a prince,” O’Hara tells Parade. “She was very independent. She wanted to see the world and she wanted to see all the places that she loved to read about. And so, I think consequently, a lot of children that have watched the movie have really turned to books, sometimes for the first time. But being able to dream and to follow your heart is basically what Belle did.

“As I’ve gotten older though, I realize that probably the most noble thing about Belle was the fact she sacrificed her life for her father without hesitating. So, her love for her family and all of that is pretty crucial. But I think it’s about following your dream and whatever you want to be. You can be it if you fight for it.”

The Little Mermaid’s Ariel also dreams of a life she doesn’t have—one on land where she would have legs instead of fins. On one of her visits to the surface, Ariel falls in love with a human prince, and in search of her happily ever after, she makes a dangerous deal with the sea witch Ursula to become human for three days to try to win his affections.

“For Ariel, she was curious to see what was beyond her world,” Benson tells Parade. “Not that she was dissatisfied, but she was yearning for something more. And she was also trying to understand the conflict that was going on between under the sea and on the land and learning how to love people unconditionally no matter where they are. So, she spends part of her world yearning for something more, trying to figure out who she is with her authenticity and her vulnerability, finding out how she can connect with everyone and yearning for something beyond. She’s very courageous. I really, really love her sense of tenacity, reaching for something that’s outside of the realm of what is proper and right for her.”

The Princess and the Frog introduced Tiana, a more modern princess who works hard to achieve her dream of opening her own restaurant, who, while at work, meets a frog prince who desperately wants to be human again, and she bestows upon him a fateful kiss that leads them both on a hilarious adventure through the magical bayous of Louisiana.

“I think that a big message that came from Princess Tiana is that it is beautiful, wonderful, and right to be a dreamer,” Rose says. “But dreams are not enough. You have to put the work in to get the things that you want. You must put your mind and your heart into the action of creating your dream. And that’s how you fulfill a dream. I think that that was a new and different and a wonderful message for children, particularly girls.”

But Rose feels that The Princess and the Frog also has a message for parents watching the film, which doesn’t come from anything that Tiana says, but from how she acts as a result of the way she was raised.

“The reason that Tiana was able to do what she was able to do in the way that she was able to do it and have no feeling at all that she wasn’t supposed to is because she was so deeply loved and supported by her parents," Rose continues. "They never once said, 'No, you can’t do that.' They always supported her and loved her. It’s important for us to love our children and support them.”

Then there is the spirited Princess Jasmine from Aladdin who is determined not to marry just because she’s turning 18 and the law says she must marry a prince by that date. Instead, she escapes the palace, setting out on an adventure.

“I think that Jasmine had a strong sense of self,” Larkin says. “She really began the story with that strong sense of self. She was in a world that limited what she could become. And Jasmine’s message for me was to listen to that voice inside and to take chances and be brave and go out there and create the life that you envision for yourself.”

The multi-year “Create Your World” campaign (#DisneyPrincessCreateYourWorld) will feature theatrical and streaming content, Disney Parks experiences, new music cover releases, new consumer products (see above photos), and more to encourage fans of all ages to discover their own brand of Princess magic that lies within them.