Things We Never Knew About Disney Princesses

The current official lineup of Disney Princesses includes Jasmine, Ariel, Rapunzel, Tiana, Belle, Merida, Cinderella, Pocahontas, Aurora, Mulan, and Snow White.

Snow White is supposed to be 14 years old. She remains the youngest Disney Princess.

Belle is the only Disney Princess to have hazel eyes.

Mulan’s story is based on an ancient Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, a female warrior famously described in the poem “The Ballad of Mulan.”

Ariel is the only Disney Princess who was not born a human.

Pocahontas is the only princess based on a real person. (Mulan is legend, and impossible to know whether she was real or not.)

Tiana is the only Disney Princess with dimples.

Both Mulan and Tiana are left-handed.

Mulan and Jasmine’s singing voices are performed by the same person, Lea Salonga.

Snow White is the only Disney Princess to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This happened in 1987.

Walt Disney once told Ilene Woods (the voice of Cinderella), that Cinderella was his favorite heroine.

Belle is supposed to be 17.

Ariel translates to “lion of God” in Hebrew.

Rapunzel’s eyes are the biggest compared to her Disney Princess counterparts.

Frozen’s Anna and Elsa are expected to join the lineup as official Disney Princesses this year.

Pocahontas actually isn’t the first Native American Disney Princess. It’s actually Princess Tiger Lily in Peter Pan (but, clearly, Tiger Lily is not an official Disney Princess).

Jasmine’s character is based on the princess from an Arabic folktale called One Thousand and One Nights.

Rapunzel and Snow White are both from Bavaria.

Princess Aurora is the first Disney Princess to have violet eyes.

Walt Disney has said that the transformation scene in Cinderella — where Cinderella’s dress goes from rags to a ball gown — was one of his favorite pieces of animation.

Kristin Chenoweth was originally cast as the voice of Rapunzel, but she dropped out. Reese Witherspoon was then cast, who also dropped out. (Jeez.) The role eventually went to Mandy Moore.

Cinderella is supposed to be 19.

Princess Aurora had only 18 minutes of screen time and 18 lines of dialogue in the film, making her the most quiet Disney Princess.

Belle is the only person in her town to be seen wearing blue, symbolizing her position as an outsider. Later, you see the Beast wearing blue as well.

Ariel makes a cameo in Peter Pan’s Flight in Disneyland. She can be seen hanging out in the mermaid lagoon.

Mulan and Merida are the only two Disney Princesses trained in archery.

Belle’s physical appearance was inspired by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz, and Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music.

Tiana’s redesign was extremely minimal. Illustrators added two new strands of curls, and a print of reeds went onto her dress.

Merida’s hair is CRAZY: “Merida has more than 1,500 individually sculpted, red strands that generate about 111,700 total hairs.” Also: “If Merida’s curls were straightened, her hair would be four feet long and reach the middle of her calf.”