Disney Princesses are second only to Mickey Mouse when it comes to the brand’s most recognizable symbols. The group includes some of the studio’s most iconic characters like their very first princess, Snow White, all the way up to the latest addition, Moana. It’s also become a media franchise unto itself with all kinds of merchandise and supplementary content available to fans of the feminine side of Disney.
That said, when anything is as iconic and pervasive as Disney, fans are going to put their own spin on it. Disney Princesses lend themselves particularly well to fan art, considering how long some of the characters have been around and how many of their stories take place long ago in far-off lands. As much as we love Cinderella’s transformation for her night at the ball, it’s hard not to wonder what she would’ve looked like if the Hot Topic Fairy had visited her instead of her Fairy Godmother.
This list features just that – modern updates of classic characters that’ll totally change the way you see some of your favorite Disney Gals.
Not everyone on this list is technically a princess (it’s actually an oddly restrictive group), but in the spirit of inclusivity (not to mention great art), we’re including some of those princesses-in-spirit.
Here are 18 Crazy Modern Redesigns Of Disney Princesses.
GOTH SNOW WHITE
Snow White was Disney’s very first princess and she and her apple have been an iconic representation of Disney ever since. That said, if any character was begging for a modern update, it was Snow.
In the original movie, she’s an adorable (if impossibly high-voiced) young woman, but she doesn’t do much in the way of controlling her own destiny. Disney reimagined her for their hit series, Once Upon a Time, presenting audiences with a Ginnifer Goodwin’s Snow White, who had far more agency - not to mention a new wardrobe for the first time in almost a century.
This piece by artist Hanasu represents her less as an adult, but more as the teen she is in the original. But this time she’s traded in her gown for casual cocktail dress. The red ribbon in her hair and the apple in her hand pay tribute to Snow’s roots.
CHIC JASMINE
In his review of Aladdin way back in 1992, Roger Ebert pointed out what probably seemed obvious to anyone of Arab descent – Jasmine and Aladdin look pretty Caucasian, at least when it comes to their facial features.
That kind of weird whitewashing has been a problem that’s dogged Disney for some time – next time you’re taking a ride through “It’s a Small World”, take a close look at the different nation dolls. You’ll notice they all have basically the same facial structure and features, regardless of race or ethnicity.
Canadian-Pakistani artist Anoosha Sayed’s Jasmine rectifies the movie’s subtle ignorance by dressing her in Western clothing along with a traditional hajib. Disney’s getting better at diversity with its newer films, but fanart’s great for giving old characters a cultural facelift.
GLAM CINDERELLA
Cinderella remains insanely popular today, even 70 years after the original animated feature premiered in 1950.
It spawned one of Disney’s most popular live-action reboots starring Downton Abbey’s Lily James as Cinderella and Cate Blanchett as iconic Disney villain, Lady Tremaine, Cinderella’s wicked stepmother. But despite the fact that the reboot was an update in terms of filmmaking, in terms of fashion, it very much was not.
Lucky for us, there’s Evvi Art and her Disney Princess vision. This Cinderella wouldn’t have time to deal with her stepsister’s superficial BS. She’s far too busy out-slaying them in the accessories/Prince department.
Check out the artist’s website for other fun princess re-imaginings – Belle goes goth and Snow White gets a hipster makeover. Aside from Cinderella, our favorite might be Aurora exploring a new career as a tattoo artist.
CHICAGOAN AURORA
Despite featuring stunning artwork and a score adapted from Tchaikovsky’s ballet, Sleeping Beauty was actually a commercial and critical disappointment. After that, Disney didn’t release anymore animated features for nearly thirty years until finally revisiting the fairy tale genre in 1986 with The Little Mermaid.
It’s a shame, too – Maleficent was a phenomenal villain and Aurora’s fairies fighting over which color dress to make her is comedy gold.
That’s why it’s nice to see nikkibelle18’s vision of this woefully underused Disney character after a few years of wedded bliss to Prince Philip. Apparently the couple broke with tradition and settled in Chicago as opposed to taking up their royal duties. They’ve clearly learned to appreciate the simple things like a summer afternoon in Millennium Park, undisturbed by vengeful fairies and/or their dragon alter-egos.
SCENE ALICE
Alice isn’t technically a Disney Princess, but she’s definitely iconic.
Alice in Wonderland is a timeless story about challenging perspective. Disney’s animated version is one of their most visually stunning productions, featuring the still-very-creepy Cheshire cat as well as the delightfully dumpy Queen of Hearts. But no character from that movie is repped more than Alice herself, and usually with some very cool adjustments.
This portrait of Kinbatsu Cosplay’s sister as a tatted-up Alice is rife with delicious Easter eggs. There’s an Unbirthday cake on the tea party table in the background, the roses above her head are dripping red paint and there’s a very concerned-looking white rabbit barrette in her hair. The vial hanging around her neck even says, “Drink Me.” Where do we get one of those?
SULTRY ARIEL
While the gown Ariel wears when she walks out the sea for the last time is extremely anachronistic, the girl’s never looked better. The animation on the gorgeous sequine gown makes it look like it’s made of the very water Ariel’s just walked out of after her father blesses her with new legs. Who knew King Triton was a closet fashion designer?
In any case, we’ve never gotten enough of that look, especially considering the meringue marshmallow she wears for her wedding to Eric in the next scene.
That’s why we love, love, love Sweet-Amy-Leah rendering of Ariel. Ariel finally puts that dress to good use and serves up some serious Jessica Rabbit vibes. We presume Eric’s somewhere shouting “That’s my wife!” to anyone who passes by.
HIPSTER BELLE
Belle was always little ahead of her time, even in her own movie. She lived in a town where she was probably one of four people who knew how to read, and she had the audacity to care less about marriage than she did about having adventure, learning new things, and not needing a man ever.
Belle does fall victim to the happily-ever-after ending that ties up most fairy tales, but that doesn’t take away the fact that she’s still the only person in that movie we’d go for coffee with.
That’s what makes her hipster makeover so utterly perfect – Belle actually did like everything cool before her town did. They were ready to burn down an entire castle full of talking household items instead of exploring something outside their bubble.
Ailinne’s rendering of Belle with her eyes rolling out of her head actually feels more appropriate than the real thing.
STUNNING JASMINE
If you’re into Disney fan art, you’ve probably come across Fernanda Suarez’s series of modernized Disney Princesses. We sure did, and this is only the first entry of hers on this list (see if you can guess the other one without reading first!). Her Jasmine is simply stunning and gloriously plays up some of the character’s best physical features as well as featuring some phenomenal detail. Her outfit’s a clever update of the two-piece set she wears in the movie, and Rajah’s been downsized to large orange tabby.
If you look closely, you can see the cat has a piece of fabric hanging out of his mouth that might look familiar. It’s clearly supposed to call back to Rajah’s epic booty bite of one of Jasmine’s more odious suiters.
SKATER MULAN
Mulan was such a breath of fresh air when it came to Disney Princesses. She bucked feminine tradition and joined Emperor’s Army when she realized it was her true calling. Interestingly, the Mulan story is actually an old Chinese legend about a woman named Hua Mulan who joined the army and served for 12 years before returning to her hometown, refusing to accept any awards or recognitions for her bravery.
Artist Ailinne’s Mulan updates the character, but her quote about fighting for yourself is vintage Mulan. Of all the Disney Princesses, we think Mulan probably would’ve adjusted the best to modernity. She would’ve welcomed the amount of freedom the 21st century would’ve allowed her - especially in terms of her appearance. Mulan definitely would’ve been here for the #nomakeup movement.
HIPSTER MEGARA
If there’s one thing most Disney Princesses are, it’s sweet. They represent the best of Disney values: kindness, innocence and generosity, and they’re never grouchy unless they have a very, very good reason. Cinderella had all the reasons, and she didn’t shed a tear until the last third of her own movie.
Megara was a horse of a different color, though. She was pretty crabby for most of Hercules, but you kind of couldn’t blame her. She did have a very, very bad job.
That’s why this rendering by ninjakitsune slays us every time. We don’t get to see the sarcastic side of Disney very often, so Meg speaking very pointedly about her awful job warms our cynical little hearts. If ever there were a princess with a right to complain, it was Megara.
TRAVEL BLOGGER ANASTASIA
Everyone raise a vodka to Anastasia, the newest-ish Disney Princess since Disney’s recent acquisition of Fox’s IP. Now that the Mouse owns her story, Anastasia can officially be called a Disney princess.
Fans of the ’90s animated movie about the lost Russian princess are ecstatic to have her brought into the fold. And we’re ecstatic because we get to share this dope depiction of her.
Set against a backdrop of an IRL European city (she could be in her native Russia or in Paris where her grandmother settled), IrisAnimae’s Anastasia looks like she’s finally living her best life. Always on the lookout for adventure and seeing the world, this Anastasia looks like she’s ready to explore all the travel opportunities at her disposal now that there isn’t an undead Russian sorcerer out there trying to off her.
HUMAN NALA
Nala, Simba’s friend-turned-queen, isn’t an official Disney Princess, but she should be! For one, she’s actually royalty, even if it’s only animal royalty. And she’s a fiercely great role model for young women.
Nala gets Simba back on track after he decides to abandon his duties in favor of his uncle, and she’s instrumental in the battle to take back the Pride. Also, she’s an awesome huntress.
That’s why we’re so glad Fernanda Suarez created a gorgeous portrait of what a human Nala would look like in modern times. Disney can always use more diversity, and considering Nala is the only African princess in the pantheon, we’re thinking of petitioning Disney to add her to the official roster.
BAKER TIANA
Tiana is the Disney Princess we’d most like to meet in person, mostly because we’d like to eat some of the mouthwatering food she cooked up working in the restaurant she opened with former frog prince, Naveen. No other Disney Princess got to our hearts through our stomachs, and after we watched The Princess and the Frog, all we could think about were her beignets (and Naveen’s jawline).
This rendering (another by Anoosha) of her looking a little more updated than her 1912 persona is just what we’d expect from a princess that’s as busy as Tiana turned out to be. Her hair’s a little frazzled and it looks like she’s in the middle of a bunch of different things, but the smile on her face and the whisk sticking out of her purse show us she’s right where she needs to be.
SPORTY MERIDA
Like Mulan before her, Merida spent the bulk of her story trying to convince pretty much her entire family that arranging her marriage without letting her have a say in it was categorically unacceptable. Of course, then she accidentally turned her mother into a bear, so she’s not perfect - but perfect’s boring anyway. We prefer our Disney Princesses to have some rough edges here and there.
We think artist FF69’s portrait of Merida is a phenomenal representation of the Scottish princesses contrary nature. Hers is not a face of someone you’d mess with, especially considering she looks older and has probably only gotten better with that bow and arrow. We like to think that this Merida got an archery scholarship to Sarah Lawrence and never looked back.
PUNK RAPUNZEL
Rapunzel is by far one of the most adorably charming Disney Princesses in history. Her reactions to escaping Mother Gothel after spending her entire life in a tower are a hilarious mix of euphoric, terrified and really, really excited. Voiced by Mandy Moore, Rapunzel is a little quirkier than any of the other princesses, and that’s why we love this piece of fan art. It captures what makes us love her.
Unfortunately, the artist responsible for this Photoshop is woefully unknown to us - show yourself in the comments if you’re that artist or if you know them! But the curious, wide-eyed Rapunzel in a Slipknot shirt feels really right to us. We love the juxtaposition of Rapunzel’s sunny nature with a little bit of punk rock. She’d have been a blast to hang out with in high school.
REALISTIC ELSA AND ANNA
Just mentioning the word “frozen” in conjunction with Disney causes all of the Alexas within a three-mile radius to start inexplicably playing “Let It Go”. That’s how popular that movie was.
Elsa and Anna’s story of sisterly love and self-acceptance struck so many chords with people, especially women and girls, because its primary love story was between two sisters, not a princess and her suitor.
It feels like this modern update of Elsa and Anna was inspired by the relationship they grow into by the end of the film. Artist, fortheloveofpizza, nails Elsa’s sophisticated, reserved nature as well as Anna’s playful, loving side (and bonus points for inserting some body diversity when virtually every Princess is lanky and graceful). We like this piece especially because it captures the relationship between the two sisters perfectly.
STYLISH MOANA
Moana is Disney’s latest female-centric animated feature. Soon to be the new chieftain of an isolated Polynesian tribe, she shirks her duties in favor of helping her island overcome the blight that’s befallen it.
Polynesian culture isn’t one Disney visits too, too often, so Moana, was a cultural education as well as being super entertaining. But that doesn’t mean we weren’t happy to see its principle character glammed up a bit.
This gorgeous fashion plate by Archibald Art sports a chic, almost Parisian Moana looking like she’s about to head to brunch. Just because she saves her island and defeats an underwater demon doesn’t mean she can’t look cute and grab mimosas with her friends. Get you a girl who can do both, right? Right.
TEAM PRINCESSES
If there’s one thing we want more than seeing our princesses tricked out in the style of the 21st, it’s seeing them tricked out in the style of the 21st century together. Okay, so that’s basically the plot of ABC’s Once Upon a Time, but not if we eliminate all the other characters and keep the idea solely to princesses. There’s got to be a crime fighting unit these women could form if they could just get rid of their long dresses.
Thankfully, we have artist viria13 to show us what such a team might look like. She’s carefully updated Cinderella, Pochahontas, Snow White, Ariel and Tiana so their costumes reflect the present. We’re seriously in love with Cinderella’s tights/jorts combo and Snow White’s general air of “over it” strikes all the right chords. Team Princess FTW.
What’s your favorite Disney Princess redesign? Let us know in the comments!
