My Top Six Non-Princess Disney Heroines

Disney is best known for their princess franchise, which has kept heroines like Cinderella in the public imagination more than decades after their creation. But what about their other leading ladies?
1. Megara

Her song "I Won't Say in My Love" is a childhood favorite, falling just behind "Be A Man" from Mulan. She's sassy, elegant, and manipulative. Plus, I always thought she looked like a pillar. Slender and lined. She actually is a princess. In the myths, she's a daughter of King Creon.
2. Alice

She's not royalty at all. Although in the sequel, Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, she becomes a queen. She's got the grace and class of a princess and holds her own with the Queen of Hearts. Some early Disney Princess products included her, along with Tinkerbell, who eventually gained her own franchise.

There she is! 

3. Kida

I loved Atlantis when it came out, because crystals! Explosions! Princess with weird white hair! This sci fi film doesn't fit well with Disney's fairy tale image, so it's largely forgotten. Kida wasn't included in the franchise. Either because her outfit is too minimal (hey, Ariel, I'm looking at you) or she becomes a queen at the end (Elsa, Elsa).

4. Melody
If I have to be honest, this is my all time favorite princess movie. The Little Mermaid made me want to grow fins, but Return to the Sea showed me that maybe, just maybe, a human girl stood a chance of becoming a mermaid. They did release a doll and a computer game to go along with the video, but Melody died off there. She didn't join her mother in the franchise. At thirteen, she's younger than most of the other princesses. Having a child around would make Ariel look older. Plus, Return to the Sea was just a direct to video sequel. Few people remember her today.

5. Lilo
I think I liked this so much because Lilo is a little girl, not a young woman. As with Melody, this is probably a factor in her exclusion. The Disney princesses are often criticized for their mini waists and airbrushed supermodel features. Lilo, with her chunky body and potato nose, is a refreshing take on the average Disney heroine.

6. Jane Porter

Jane, along with Meg, was originally considered for the franchise. She's not a princess, but if Pocahontas and Mulan make it in, so can she. After all, she is Queen of the Apes. Jane doesn't let jungle living knock the proper English lady right out of her, but that doesn't mean she's above a romance with her jungle-dwelling man.

Four Things I Learned from Doing a Musical

1. How to appreciate a show
I've always liked theater. My friends and I worked out that I've seen twenty live shows while in high school. That never seems like much, but the other day I cleaned out my car and found just as many playbills as movie tickets. Writing books helped me appreciate the written word better. Participating in Thoroughly Modern Millie did the same thing. Now that I've painted set pieces, fixed torn costumes, and drilled through the same dance steps a thousand times, I know I'll understand the time and effort that went into everything next time I watch a show.

2. How to be helpful
I love the backstage camaraderie. A girl can walk in and shout, "I need blush! Who has a straightener? Someone shove this mike down my bra!" and three people will rush forward to help her. I like helping people. I've loaned pearl earrings, applied makeup, buckled shoes, and zipped up costumes for girls I don't even know. Is this what it's like to have sisters?

3. Time management
Last year, I thought I was too busy to do the musical. Because, you know, homework. I did have more homework then than I do now. But last year I wasn't juggling eight school clubs and applying for college. The more I do, the more I can fit in. I filled out an entire application while waiting for the leads to finish so our group could get some practice time in.

We had this object lesson in church when I was about five. If you try to put the little things in first, they take up too much space. But if you put the big things first all the other stuff comes in to fill up the cracks. I'm amazed at how much I can get done between numbers when I couldn't do it at home.

4. When to stop
Some of the girls were put in a different dressing room than the rest of the cast due to crowding issues. This room was actually a storage room/computer lab/choir practice place, so it didn't have a mirror. Our director made an offhand comment about how it would be helpful if any of us brought in little mirrors from home.
I have a full length mirror in my bedroom. Nobody asked me to bring it, and it probably wouldn't fit in my trunk, but surely I could shove it into the backseat. So at 10:30 P.M., I hauled it down from my room, propped open the door, and collapsed the front seat. I experimented with different angles, but I couldn't get it to go in.
Then I heard the crack. A long line ran up one side of the stand.When I pulled it out for closer inspection, the entire left half of the stand fell off. Well, now it fit in the trunk. I tossed in the broken pieces, laid out the rest of the mirror on my driveway, and unscrewed the other half of the stand.
I stopped. What was I doing here, kneeling on cold concrete in my torn nylons when I should've been getting ready for bed? Why was I here? Because I hoped the other girls would praise me for loaning them a mirror? Because I wanted to walk into the dressing room, shout, "Someone help me haul my mirror across the parking lot!"  and get an answer?
Since I was already halfway there, I ended up taking the mirror. But this is the last time I go out of my way to help people just so I feel helpful.

If Disney Guys Got Criticized Like Disney Girls

Liar and thief who mooches off his friends to get ahead

Needs a woman's touch before he can even come to life.

In the last three minutes of the movie, he leaves behind the only family he's ever known for a girl he's just met

Player

Beastly, grumpy, and flat out abusive

Stronger than any man or beast around, but his weakness is a woman

Stands around during the climactic showdown while the ladies solve every problem in the kingdom

Exhibits stereotypical male qualities, namely strength and bravery. What if our boys think they need to be like him?

Gets less than four minutes of screen time, has no name, and serves as a deux ex machina plot device to save his love interest.

Leaves behind a kingdom that's counting on him because there's a slight chance everyone blames him for a catastrophe