10

Disney princesses are often quite young.

  • Snow White: 14
  • Jasmine: 14/15
  • Ariel: 16
  • Aurora: 16
  • Mulan: 16
  • Merida: 16
  • Belle: 17

It seems like they often end up with older men. For example Aladdin has been various listed as being either 18 or 21. Many of these films end with the princess either engaged or married or at least in a "true love happy ever after" relationship.

Am I imagining this or do a lot of Disney princesses end up this way?

Improve this question
8
  • Just nitpicking: but is merida in a romantic relationship? as far as i recall, the romance in "Brave" was cut.
    – BestGuess
    Commented Mar 8, 2019 at 14:13
  • @BestGuess I didn't mean to imply that she was in a relationship, merely young.
    – user
    Commented Mar 8, 2019 at 14:41
  • 8
    I mean, this would be fairly normal in reality, especially for the upper class. I wouldn't even call a four year age gap as them marrying "older men".
    – pboss3010
    Commented Mar 8, 2019 at 14:46
  • 1
    I was going to ask something slightly different but realized that this baseline needs to be established first. Some of the stories are more problematic than other... Like Ariel who marries literally the first man she ever meets and then murders her aunt, or Jasmine (a child) who marries the adult man who tricked her into starting the relationship by pretending to be a prince.
    – user
    Commented Mar 8, 2019 at 14:53
  • 2
    How do you know their ages? They kind of strike me as "young adult" age - other than Sleeping Beauty whose age is part of the story.
    – komodosp
    Commented Mar 11, 2019 at 8:41

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
13

TL;DR: Of the 12 present or former Disney Princesses who "end up with" a man, 7 (most likely 8) of them are known to be younger than the man, and only Belle is known to not be younger.

Going through the official list of Disney Princesses, from the top:

  • Snow White: Yes. As you stated, she's 14 (15 by the end of the story) and according to production notes, Prince Florian is intended to be 18.
  • Cinderella: Unknown. She's 19, older than most Disney Princesses, but I can't find an age for Prince Charming.
  • Aurora: Yes. She's 16, and while I can't find an age for Prince Philip either, he met Aurora shortly after her birth and was already a young boy by then, so he's a few years older than her.
  • Ariel: Yes. She's 16, and according to the film's novelisation, Prince Eric is 18.
  • Belle: No. She's 20 at youngest, and possibly older. The Beast is 20 for most of the film and turns 21 right at the end, when the last petal falls (it's fated to do so on his 21st birthday). So Belle is the same age as him, if not older.
  • Jasmine: Yes. She's 15, and Aladdin is 18 - although he was initially planned to be as young as 13 before they aged him up.
  • Pocahontas: Unknown. While she doesn't end up with John Smith, the direct-to-video sequel has her getting together with John Rolfe, as the real-life Pocahontas did. Pocahontas is 18-19 in the first film, but I don't know how much later the second film takes place or how old Rolfe is intended to be (for the record, the real-life John Rolfe was 28-29 when he married Pocahontas).
  • Mulan: Most likely. Mulan is 16. I can't find an age for Shang but, given that he's already a captain in the army, he is probably older than that.
  • Tiana: Unknown. She is apparently 19 (there's a sequel book about Naveen trying to find a 20th birthday present for her), but I can't find an age for Prince Naveen.
  • Rapunzel: Yes. She turns 18 halfway through the film, her birthday being a significant plot point. Flynn Rider, meanwhile, is 26, the largest known age gap between a Disney Princess and her love interest.
  • Merida: No. She doesn't fall in love with anyone.
  • Moana: No. She doesn't fall in love with anyone.
  • Raya: No. She doesn't fall in love with anyone.

For the sake of completion, let's also look at the two former Disney Princesses, plus two unofficial ones:

  • Tinker Bell: No. She doesn't fall in love with anyone.
  • Esmeralda: Yes. According to TV Tropes (obligatory time-sink warning!), she's in her 20s whereas Captain Phoebus is 31. (Quasimodo, funnily enough, is actually younger than her.)
  • Anna: Yes. She's 18, and Kristoff is 21.
  • Elsa: No. She doesn't fall in love with anyone.
Improve this answer
5
  • 2
    I'm surprised they even have ages for these characters! I always just assumed their ages were kind of free-floating.
    – Obie 2.0
    Commented Mar 12, 2019 at 9:48
  • 3
    So am I. I particularly wasn't expecting many of the princes to have ages.
    – F1Krazy
    Commented Mar 12, 2019 at 11:26
  • Thanks. I was thinking about a follow up question as to which of the marriages are legal, but as the time period and/or location are often difficult to place in the real world it might not be possible to determine.
    – user
    Commented Aug 14, 2023 at 10:45
  • Naveen is stated to be twenty in one of the tie-in books, if I recall correctly.
    – Valorum
    Commented Jan 27 at 17:43
  • Early concept art for Li Shang has him as 23, but he's very different in the early images.
    – Valorum
    Commented Jan 27 at 17:46

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .