Which Disney Princess Movie is the Best Disney Princess Movie?

So last night I was watching Tangled on the Disney Channel. I really like Tangled. It has lots of my favorite things: Mandy Moore, magic hair, self-sacrifice, Zachary Levi (quite honestly, Zachary Levi is enough to make me love anything, I loved him as Fandral in Thor: the Dark World and he was TERRIBLE in that movie--being Chuck in Chuck wins you a lot of slack with me), and some of the most beautiful animation in any of the Disney Princess movies. Anyway, during the scene when Flynn and Rapunzel are in the boat watching the floating lanterns drift up into the air and singing a song that I used to keep on my standard playlist for many years ("I See the Light" a song that 100% of the time makes me tear up) I started thinking to myself "this movie is amaze-balls." And, because of who I am and how my mind works I immediately asked myself "but how does it stack up against the other amaze-balls Disney Princess movies?" What follows is a short meditation on that question.

Now, this is not going to be a complete ranking of ALL of the Disney Princess movies. There are 12 movies and that is too many to discuss all at once. Instead, I'm going to focus my attention on the creme de la creme, the best of the best, the peak of the Matterhorn that began with Snow White and includes some of the greatest animated features of all time, i.e. the top five.

I will be thinking about this question through four very important categories that to me speak to the most important aspect of any princess movie:

1. Strength/Roundness of Princess Character: the recent movies, really since 1991, have really been crushing this category in a profound way. Early princesses like Snow White and Aurura were not nearly as developed as the modern princesses are. This is, from a certain perspective, understandable. There has been substantial evolution on the question of the agency and strength of women in the movies (particularly the animated movies) since Snow White. Obviously that isn't to say that the situation is perfect now, but it has improved.

2. Quality of the Music: one of the essential parts of any of these movies is the music. The improvement in this category is not uniform over time. Sure the songs in Sleeping Beauty were not very good, but neither were the songs in Brave. Only a few of the movies have totally impeccable soundtracks and that counts for something.

3. Quality of the Animation: this seems pretty obvious, but there is a key distinction to be made here: quality of animation does NOT mean historical significance of the animation. Snow White, for instance, does not ace this category on the grounds that it was the first animated feature to have movement across multiple planes of action, it would (theoretically) ace this category because of of the scene where Snow White runs through the forest at night (a roller coaster ride of fear and relief).

4. Quality of the Story: it is not lost on me that there is a certain kind of narrative conformity through all of these movies. You have to hit certain beats in order to have one of these movies work properly. That being said, the story of Sleeping Beauty is not nearly as interesting as the story of The Little Mermaid for demonstrable narrative reasons like the number of agents making decisions, etc. Some movies get absolutely hammered in this category for being kind of racist (Pocahontas being a prime example).

So, which five Disney Princess movies are the best?

5. The Little Mermaid:

Some of the Disney Princess movies are overrated, but The Little Mermaid holds up surprisingly well. Strong music, Ariel is a better than average character, and the story includes an interesting element (the loss of Ariel's voice on land) that is clever and works well. The animation, however, is largely unremarkable--which is why Mermaid is a bit lower on the list than some might want it to be. 

Princess: 7/10

Music: 8/10

Animation:7/10

Story: 7/10

Total: 29/40

4. Snow White:

A maxed out score for animation carries Snow White into contention. It would be hard to overrate not how important the Snow White animation is, but how GOOD it is. That in combination with some iconic songs provide a counterweight to some character and story deficits.

Princess: 6/10

Music: 8/10

Animation: 10/10

Story: 6/10

Total: 30/40 

3. Tangled:

I think I might just be in the tank for this movie. It doesn't win any single category hands down, but it is has strengths across the board. The scene with the lanterns is absolutely stunning, and Rapunzel is fascinating as a character in the same mode as Ariel--but better. The story is also underrated here, with the resolution of the kidnapped princess plot line doing good service. Plus, a bonus point for Zachary Levi.

Princess: 8/10

Music: 7/10

Animation: 8/10

Story: 8/10

Zachary Levi bonus point: 1

Total 32/40

2. Frozen:

Great songs, great animation, very solid story, and not one but two princesses. This movie deserves every ounce of acclaim it has received.

Princess(es): 9/10

Music: 9/10

Animation: 8/10

Story: 8/10

Total: 35/40

1. Beauty and the Beast:

As good as Frozen is, it can't beat what is, for my money, the greatest traditionally animated film ever made. Belle is a fantastic character: curious, open-minded, compassionate, and heroic. The songs are the best in the whole Disney catalog. The story is beautiful, with multiple characters undergoing transformative arcs, a great villain, and a beautiful conclusion. It is also the first animated film to take advantage of the burgeoning capacity for computer animation to move through space in the final, gorgeous, ballroom scene. A total triumph!

Princess: 10/10

Music: 10/10

Animation: 10/10

Story: 9/10

Total: 39/40