By Arrianna Sumler

SAN JOSE, CALIF. — I’m sure your favorite princess (if you have one) is categorized as a “Disney Princess’ ‘, and while there is nothing wrong with that, there are some more interesting ones out there to be discovered. 

Most Disney princess tales are copy and paste aka predictable. Meanwhile princesses made by other companies have different plots and look different from each other. So here’s a list of ones who represent royalty well. 

Coming in at first place is, Princess Odette from ‘The Swan Princess’. ‘The Swan Princess’ is a classic tale of love and adventure.  In this tale, we have a prince who actually professes his love for the princess for more than just her beauty! Odette shows bravery, kindness and doesn’t let herself wait for her prince to save the day in any movie.

Next up we have Princess Anastasia in ‘Anastasia’. To make a long story short she was separated from her grandmother at a young age and her family was killed off. She grew up as an orphan, and despite all of this she is ready to face whatever danger comes at her, which happens a lot. She would be in first place if she had not left her grandma who spent years looking for her, for a man.

This princess is actually quite well known as she is the secondary main character in ‘Shrek’. As you may have guessed, it is ‘Princess Fiona’. She breaks the mold in many ways. For example, how she was accepted as an ogre instead of conforming to beauty standards. Fiona also makes fun of Disney princesses, which shows it is okay to be different and throughout movies, she proves to be more under the surface than them. Fiona is independent and a strong leader as shown in ‘Shrek Forever After’.

Moving away from 2D characters we are now onto a classic that may be on Disney+ but was not made by them, Princess Buttercup from ‘The Princess Bride’. Buttercup does not start off as a royal. She lives in a hut with the man she loves, until one day he is presumed dead. She is then forced to marry Prince Humperdinck, but alas, Westley (her true love) is not dead. We learn a lesson from Princess Buttercup to be full of love and not to be so naive because life is full of unexpected twists and turns. 

Last  on the list is Princess Mia from “The Princess Diaries”. As most of these princesses do, she starts off as a normal-class person. Out of the blue, her unknown grandmother comes around and tells her she is the next heir to the throne. Mia transforms from the geeky girl who gets bullied into the girl everyone wishes they could be or be with.  In the duology Mia stays true to herself even if she gets in trouble. She represents moody teenagers everywhere. 

 Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but these princesses show that you can be independent, smart, and brave. The most important lesson to learn from them is not to feel like you need a man to help you, you are not a poor damsel in distress. So, consider watching these movies and re-ranking your favorite princesses.