For over seventy years Disney has been thrilling audiences with stories of adventure and romance - and has given us some characters that we have cherished forever.
While we may have had dashing heroes we have also had beautiful leading ladies from Snow White to Belle from Ariel to Tiana.
So here are a few leading lady facts that you may not have known about!
1. Nine Disney leading ladies have been officially recognised as princesses by the company. They are (from oldest to newest) Snow White (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), Cinderella (Cinderella), Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Ariel (The Little Mermaid), Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Jasmine (Aladdin), Pocahontas (Pocahontas), Mulan (Mulan), and Tiana (The Princess and the Frog).
2. Adriana Caselotti, the voice of Snow White, was cast immediately when the 20 year old interrupted her voice coach father on the phone and sang to Walt Disney
3. Snow White so captured the public’s imagination that she is one of the only fictional characters to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of fame.
4. Snow White’s graceful animation was based real-life dancer and choreographer Marge Champion, who provided the animators with demonstrations.
5. Disney’s Cinderella was based on the Cinderella of Charles Perrault from way back in 1634!
6. In the 1950 film, Cinderella had dark orange hair, but has since undergone a makeover to have blonde hair in her more recent outings.
7. Ilene Woods, the voice of Cinderella, didn’t know she had auditioned until she received a call from Disney. Her friends had submitted her singing without telling her!
8. Lucky Sleeping Beauty Princess Aurora has three fairy godmothers, who present her with the gifts of beauty and song. The third crucially weakens the evil Maleficent’s deadly curse.
9. Aurora was the first Disney leading lady to be drawn in a new stylised look following the softer rounded look of the earlier films.
10. Princess Aurora’s name is changed to Briar Rose when she is sent with her fairy godmothers into hiding, unaware of her royal blood.
11. The Little Mermaid’s Ariel has been voiced by Jodi Benson in all of her animated appearances. Jodi also voices Barbie in the Toy Story movies!
12. Ariel’s best friend under the sea is Flounder, a bright yellow and blue Atlantic blue tang tropical fish.
13. Ariel was one of the first Disney leading ladies to display a rebellious streak – going against her father King Triton to pursue a life on land.
14. The mermaid’s hair flowing underwater was modelled on footage of astronaut Sally Ride in space!
15. The animation of Belle in Beauty and The Beast is modelled on Sherri Stone, who also portrayed Ariel in development.
16. Belle stumbles upon Beast while looking for her father, who disappeared on his way to a fair.
17. Belle’s confession of true love is enough to break Beast from a spell and return him to human form.
18. Belle is voiced by multi-talented Paige O’Hara, who is a star of the stage, voices and sings for Belle, and paints fine art!
19. Jasmine, the princess in Aladdin, has three different voices. Linda Larkin for speaking, and Leo Salonga and Liz Callaway for singing.
20. Princess Badroulbadour In Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, a tale from One Thousand and One Nights, serves as inspiration for Jasmine.
21. Jasmine meets Aladdin when he quickly saves her from having her hand cut off in punishment for stealing apple. She had run away from home, refusing to marry the snobbish princes her Sultan father had lined up for her.
22. Pocahontas is the only Disney Princess based on a historical figure. In real life Pocahontas lived from 1595 until 1617 when she died in England.
23. The daughter of a Native American chief, Pocahontas was the first American Disney Princess.
24. Pocahontas means 'naughty one' or 'little mischief' in her native tongue.
25. Daughter of a Chinese warrior, Fa Mulan pretends to be a man named Ping and goes to war to fight a Hun invasion.
26. Mulan is accompanied on her adventure by a small dragon called Mushu. Mushu has a habit of getting her into trouble, but redeems himself when the time comes.
27. Chinese poem The Ballad of Mulan features a legendary character called Hua Mulan, whom the Disney character is based on.
28. The second American Disney princess, and the first of colour, Tiana’s story in The Princess and the Frog takes place in the bustling New Orleans of the Jazz Age.
29. Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson and Tyra Banks were all considered for the role of Tiana, Disney finally settled on Broadway star Anika Noni Rose.
30. In a twist to the usual frog-to-prince story, when Tiana kisses a frog Prince Naveen, she become a frog herself!
Buy one get one free on over 30 amazing Disney Blu-ray and DVD titles 26 September - 31 October 2011
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