Disney gained its reputation for excellence in animation with its first animated female-led feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, in 1937. Realizing the fairy tale lent itself to animation, Disney used this concept to begin churning out one animated hit after another. Even incorporating animation into its live-action films, like Mary Poppins (1964). What resulted would eventually become a collection of leading ladies that would become branded official Disney Princesses in 2000. The brand itself has had a rotating roster of princesses over the years, but one has never been given the honor of joining its ranks — Megara from Disney’s Hercules (1997).
Known as “Meg” throughout her movie, Meg presented an alternative to the traditional Disney heroine. While other technical non-royals like Esmerelda, Mulan, and even Alice from Alice in Wonderland (1951) have been labeled Disney Princess at different junctures, Meg had never received the honor. But this might be because she really lives in a league entirely of her own.
Early Disney Princesses Followed a Fairy-Tale Formula
Many Disney Princesses started out as traditional damsels in distress. Drawing from classic fairy tales, Disney did little to change their personalities, as presented in the original tellings. Snow White was a sweet and unassuming young princess. Princess Aurora is similarly coded and actually has almost no dialogue after the midpoint of her film Sleeping Beauty (1959). Cinderella has some spunk, commenting that even the castle clock “orders her around,” but she still manages to stay mostly cheerful despite being forced to live as a servant in her own home by her wicked stepmother, Lady Tremaine. Modern audiences have commented on the perceived helplessness of some of these early Disney Princesses.
While Disney was one of the first production companies to adapt these fabled stories to the screen, viewers have questioned how these princesses are presented. In retrospect, critics have claimed that early Disney Princesses might be poor role models for young women. Choosing to wait around for their prince to rescue them instead of carving out a path of their own. This might simply be due to the fact that the fairy tales the company chose to work with were essentially products of their time. Still, Psychology Today noted that Disney Princess merchandise also pushes this narrative. One article stated:
“The Disney princess dolls also tend to be very thin with tight clothing and high-heeled shoes. This is concerning since research finds that exposure to unrealistically thin bodies in media may make some women more likely to report feeling bad about their own bodies.”
Since the Disney Renaissance, starting with The Little Mermaid (1989), Disney has added more depth to its female leads. Ariel has a dream of her own to live among humans before she meets Eric. Her “I Want” song “Part of Your World” makes little to no mention of romance or meeting the perfect man. The happenstance of rescuing Eric and wanting to then go to the surface as a human is an inciting incident that causes her to take action. However, Disney seemed to feel like this wasn’t enough after the criticism it had received from fans. The studio gave Ariel and Eric more time for their romance to develop in the 2023 live-action remake starring Halle Bailey — and made it clear that the two had more than just a chance meeting in common.
Many of the 1990s princesses were written with more three-dimensional personalities than their predecessors. In Beauty and the Beast (1991), Belle was seen as odd by the people in her town for reading and being somewhat of an intellectual — unhappy with a provincial life. Princess Jasmine saw herself as more than “just a prize to be won” by a wealthy prince and wanted to marry for love, not simply by arrangement. Disney also updated her character in the live-action version to have a vested interest in cartography — she even received her own song, “Speechless.” Mulan and Pocahontas, too, fall into the line of updated heroines. They both have love stories but also save their people through their selflessness and acts of bravery.
Meg From Hercules Broke the Mold of Disney Heroines
When Hercules came along, it presented audiences with a new type of Disney feminine energy that audiences hadn’t really seen before. Like most of the movie, Meg is a fairly different version of the character from the original Greek myth. She is the wife of Hercules, who is killed after the goddess Hera sends the demigod into an insane rage in which he kills Megara and their children. Obviously, Disney couldn’t use that version of the tale for a family-friendly film. So, the animators and writers chose to build a new character from the ground up. And she basically resembles her source of inspiration in name only.
One of the main aspects of Meg’s character that makes her stand out from other modern Disney Princesses is her duality. Meg is both a protagonist and a villain in Hercules. She begins the movie with selfish motives for seducing Hercules to gain her own freedom from external enslavement under Hades. And while Jasmine, Mulan, Pocahontas, Esmerelda, and even Tiana have unique and dynamic personas, they’re all innately virtuous from the beginning to the end. Aside from Meg, the men opposite these leading ladies grow and change for the better through their connection with their female romantic interests. Conversely, Meg is influenced by Hercules’ innate “goodness” and kindness after her lackluster experiences with members of the opposite sex — she has her own arc.
Hercules Main Voice Cast |
Megara (Susan Egan) |
Young Hercules (Josh Keaton [speaking], Roger Bart [singing]) |
Hercules (Tate Donovan) |
Philoctetes/Phil (Danny DeVito) |
Hades (James Woods) |
Bobcat Goldthwait and Matt Frewer (Pain and Panic) |
The creators of Hercules worked intentionally to set Meg apart. Reviews at the time noticed, stating how “Meg may mark a breakthrough in the roll-call of Disney heroines, as the company’s first (albeit implied) non-virginal female romantic lead.” Directors John Musker and Ron Clements took inspiration from old Hollywood screwball comedies in their creation of the dynamic between Hercules and Meg. Meg was based specifically on Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve (1941). Clements and Musker stated how working under the constraints of Disney was similar to writing under the Hays Code of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Clements said, “It means you have to be cleverer about how you talk about these issues. They’re for a general audience, and we make them so that they’ll work on slightly different levels for adults and children.”
Disney Has Yet to Write Another Disney Heroine Like Meg
As Disney continues to try to escape the princesses of movies past, it continues to rewrite and reform its approach to writing women. The studio even attempted to wink at itself in a scene from Wreck-it Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet. Vanellope stumbles upon a room full of Disney Princesses and Rapunzel asks her, “Do people assume all your problems got solved because a ‘big strong man’ showed up?” The whole dialogue between the princesses and Vanellope almost feels like Disney is trying a tad too hard to atone for its perceived past sins. It could be argued that the original Disney Princesses followed a formula. The Disney Renaissance broke that formula, and now Disney is creating a new one all over again.
This new formula has Disney Princesses eschewing ideas of romance in some ways and might be an over-correction. In 2023, Rachel Zegler — who’s starring as Snow White in the live-action remake — made disparaging comments about the 1937 classic that started it all. She and costar Gal Gadot (Evil Queen) stated in interviews that the new Snow White would not be saved by the prince and would come into her own in her own story. Fans responded in droves on social media, claiming that people need to see all types of women on screen, and each is allowed to have different dreams. Whether those dreams are to fall in love or marry a prince or be a “girl boss,” all female stories should be treated equally.
In general, it appears that Disney has trouble toeing the line like they did with Meg. She was a woman with a mind of her own who had a plethora of flaws but an essence of relatability with modern women that has yet to be matched. Its heroines either have excusable foibles or are too sweet for this earth (according to critics). That’s not to say these princesses can’t still be beloved by generations of audiences. They all play their roles. But Meg is certainly a standout among the rest.