A Top 40 Countdown of Disney's Heroines

[Wonderlands]

Though I'm only eighteen years old, Disney has been in my life since the day I was born. Ever since my parents decorated my room in a Winnie the Pooh theme and gave me my first stuffed Mickey Mouse. Disney was the most frequent staple in my childhood, and it's still there today. Disney has become my passion, inspiration, and dream.

About a year ago I did a rewatch of most Disney films, and I thought to myself, I really want to jot down my feelings on one of the most beloved aspects of a Disney film, the heroines.

Whether they be princess, peasant, animal, human, adult, or child these animated ladies have dug their way into our hearts and imprinted their stories and traits into our minds since the day we saw them grace across the screen. (Well most of them anyways.)

This countdown will consist of forty animated ladies from Disney's 53 animated classics, from Snow White to Frozen. I will however note that this list will not contain any villains, or heroines from Disney Pixar films, as those will be saved for future countdowns.

I would also like to point out that this is not a favorites list. Though some biased thoughts may be inserted into some of my explanations, this list will not be in the order I'd rank them based on how much I personally love them. For an example, Belle is my favorite Disney princess and heroine in general, but that doesn't mean she's going to be number one on this list.

Without further ado, join me on this magical carpet ride as we look at a countdown of Disney's forty most notable heroines!

 

[Wonderlands]

These first two heroines can really be swapped around, as they both come from the same film, and they're not much different from each other.

40/39. Duchess and Marie from the Aristocats (1970)

Another point I'd like to make before giving my thoughts on these two is that even though they rank the lowest doesn't mean I don't like them and that I don't find them to be good heroines. I just find them to not be AS good as others. I love both Duchess and Marie for different reasons, just not in a heroic sense.

Anyways, I think I should start with Duchess seeing how she's the mother. Duchess right away is shown to be our leading lady, from being adored by her lovable owner, to being the responsible mother of her three kittens, and her blooming love with Thomas O'Malley. I will give Duchess credit where its due, and that credit goes to her love for her children and her owner. However, when it comes to the conflict of the movie when she and her kittens are abducted her exact words to her children were;

"Well, darlings, I-- I just don't know. It does look hopeless, doesn't it?"

I'm not saying that it's wrong to be a hopeless mother, because let's face it, their situation was looking pretty grim. Another reason why she will not be listed higher is because she doesn't exactly do anything to help when something bad happens to go wrong. Her daughter getting left behind or her family getting locked into a safe for example. Those scenes all went to Thomas O'Malley and Roquefort. Though I do love Duchess for her brilliant voice acting and her loving scenes with her family, Duchess doesn't scream Disney Heroine to me.

Moving onto Marie, there really isn't much to say in regards to her, she's the only daughter of Duchess and she's wants to be like her mother and loves to stand her ground to her two brothers. She loves romantic things or "sissy stuff" as her brother would call it, and it's clear that she loves the adventure they received during her movie. I do believe that Marie could definitely hold her own as a hardcore alley cat along with her brothers (under the watchful eye of Duchess and Thomas of course) but she's too young and too small to do much in her respective film to be classified as heroic. Especially since most of her scenes consist of her being saved by Thomas O'Malley.

Now there we have it, the first two done on my countdown. I would love to hear everyone's thoughts, whether your agree of disagree with my statements and reasonings, let me know!

 

[Wonderlands]

38. Jenny Foxworth from Oliver & Company (1988)

Now I want to point out that though Jenny doesn't appear as much as Duchess and Marie, she however does do something somewhat heroic in her film. When she finds Oliver tied up in those wires in her butler's car, she immediately untangles him and takes him in as her own pet.
This obviously contributes her to being a young lonely girl who would most definitely jump at the chance to help a kitten in need.
So long story short Jenny helping Oliver and becoming fast friends with him along with showing him love was heroic in its own way.

Sure one might argue that during the whole third act of the film she's captured by the film's villain and needs saving might just make her a damsel.
I just don't see that as something to disregard her love for Oliver that truly is heroic, and seeing how she is only eight years old, what could she have possibly done against a cold-hearted loan-shark with a pair of vicious dobermans?

37. Penny from The Rescuers (1977)

Fun fact! Jenny's story in Oliver & Company was originally going to be Penny's story. Since the film was originally going to be a sequel. This is why Jenny and Penny are so similar including their rhyming names.

Now why is Penny higher on this countdown than Jenny? Well, Penny may be the person our main heroes are trying to rescue like Jenny in her film. However, Penny has one notable difference from Jenny. Penny is in the conflict from the very beginning of the film right to the end and was captured by Madame Medusa even before we meet our main heroes! So throughout the film Penny is constantly doing things to help Bernard and Miss. Bianca. Inside the cave is a particular scene that comes to mind when the cave is being filled with water and Penny always makes sure her mouse friends were safe. Penny also plays an active role in the villain's downfall, when she reminds the mice about the fireworks.

So is Penny an all-star heroine? Not really, but her role in the film's conflict and her bravery during her scenes are enough to make me call her a heroine in her own right.

 

[Wonderlands]

36. Lady Kluck from Robin Hood (1973)

I want to take a moment to say that Robin Hood's leading lady will not be appearing on this list. I'm sorry to all you Maid Marian fans out there, but the reason why she is not appearing is because she doesn't do anything heroic in her actual film except for pleaing for Robin's life. However Marian's lady-in-waiting Lady Kluck is a fantastic heroine.

Watching the film as a young boy and even today Lady Kluck made a huge impression on me. She's feisty and dedicated to Maid Marian. These attributes made her my favorite character in this film. She fights the guards and the Sheriff and she even attacks Prince John during the fight. When the cowardly prince commands the guards to seize her Kluck turned into an all-star football player and mowed down guard after guard. Lady Kluck is amazing, and if you don't think so, shame on you.

35. Snow White from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

"OH MY GOSH! HOW CAN YOU PUT DISNEY'S FIRST HEROINE SO LOW?!" If you're thinking this I truly apologize, but I just cannot bring myself to put Snow any higher on this countdown. She gets major props and love for being the first princess, heroine, and downright "good guy" in Disney other than Mickey and the gang of course. Snow also gets major points in my book for surviving the emotional abuse from her evil queen stepmother. Having to work as a slave in rags is just terrible for the young princess.

With that said, Snow doesn't exactly do anything else, she survives running through the woods after the huntsman lets her go free, she cleans the cottage, meets the dwarfs, sings, and then bites into a poison apple before falling under the sleeping curse and gets kissed by her prince and finally lives happily ever after. That's it, she doesn't have any heroic moments like charging through guards or thinking up fireworks as a distraction. However her ever lasting positiveness and her love and compassion while being treated as a slave is something to look up to, Snow is a heroine in her own right, and I think this is the perfect spot for Disney's original princess.

 

[Wonderlands]

34. The Blue Fairy from Pinocchio (1939)

The beautiful fairy that gives Pinocchio his chance and a life, as well as giving Jiminy his gold badge. She represents all things good and pure, by telling the little puppet made of pine to be brave, truthful, and unselfish. Though Blue doesn't appear in the film for very long she's a staple in Disney, for she once had a part in Disney's electrical parade, and she still is one of the hosts of Wishes the fireworks show at Magic Kingdom. Her voice rings in our minds as she tells us all to put our hearts together and made a wish come true. She's a classic Disney character, and a classic heroine.

33. Lady from Lady and the Tramp (1955)

From the moment we see Lady come out of that box our hearts melted. She was adorable, and her love for her owners was astounding. However the moment where I knew she was a true heroine was her new love and protectiveness of her owner's newborn baby. She wasn't jealous, she wanted to protect the child with all her might, and she did! She did her best to keep those pesky Siamese cats out of the baby's room, and if she hadn't met her love Tramp then who knows what would have happened if that rat did anything to that baby? Lady's heroics may not have been as obvious as Lady Kluck's, but it was shown through her bravery when it came to protecting her loved ones.

 

[Natara]

Wonderful list so far! I agree with everything. It's making me want to go and re-watch all of these films!

 

[Wonderlands]

32. Aurora/Briar Rose from Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Another classic princess bites the dust. Now, Aurora happens to be my favorite Disney princess design-wise. Even when she's walking around in the forest barefoot she just looks so regal, poise, and elegant. Her character design was just fit to be a princess. However, these attributes do not make her a top notch heroine. Though her belief and hope of finding someone once upon a dream is inspiring and heroic in its own right, Aurora is asleep for the whole third act of the film and sadly doesn't get any chance to do anything groundbreaking. She doesn't necessarily do anything heroic, but her tale and her being imprinted into our minds makes her a very well-liked heroine. I love Aurora for many reasons, but heroics is not one of them.

31. Alice from Alice in Wonderland (1951)

One of the things I like most about Alice is that she actually tries to help the colorful characters of Wonderland even if they're not so helpful themselves. She tries to help the card soldiers paint the roses red, and she even feels bad for Bill the lizard. She also attempts to help the White Rabbit even though he continues to screams at her and call her "Mary Anne."

Watching the film you can't help but to hope for Alice to find her way out of Wonderland's nonsense filled world. And the best part of this story is Alice's lesson, which is basically 'Be careful what you wish for.' Though Alice doesn't do anything outrageously heroic, she still keeps a level head (for the most part) during her experience and will always remain a classic Disney heroine for years to come.

 

[Wonderlands]

30. Wendy Darling from Peter Pan (1953)

Like Alice, Wendy doesn't do anything outright heroic during her film. She does however spark feelings buried deep within the lost boys who all miss their mothers. She stood up to those jealous mermaids, and her loving spirit while being there for her brothers is another example of a loving heroine. She doesn't fight, but she inspires and still remains to be a popular Disney character and heroine.

29. Princess Eilonwy from The Black Cauldron (1985)

Like a lot of people, I'm not the biggest fan of The Black Cauldron, but that was actually because I didn't like our hero very much. Taran annoyed me so much that I just couldn't root for him. However I did like two things about the movie. The villain and the heroine. Eilonwy was actually the first Disney heroine to downright save their love interest, with her magical bauble she saves Taran along with the other character who's so irrelevant I can't even remember his name from the Horned King's dungeon. She stands up to Taran's misogynist words and reminds him that it was HER that saved HIM. Eilonwy could have been amazing if we just learned more about her, she was intelligent and kept my attention. She's a true heroine.

 

[ardent2]

Wow, great dedication in putting this together! I may not 100% agree with your ordering of the disney princesses, but you certainly give a lot of food for thought.