7 Fairytale Princesses That Still Need Disney Adaptations

Disney has been making old fairytales into some of their best movies for generations, but several princess stories still haven’t been covered yet. The likes of Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty were some of the most well-known tales, and they were adapted early in the life of Disney Studios. Since then, many more princesses have been added to the mix. It seems Disney has covered them all, but more fairytale options are still available for the studio’s future.

Traditional fairytales have always had the reputation of being surprisingly brutal for children’s stories. Over the years, Disney has taken liberties with these tales to make them more suitable for children. This is more of a challenge for some stories than others and has contributed to some fairytales being left out of Disney’s portfolio. Additionally, instead of new characters, Disney has taken to revamping some of its older princess movies that could use a fresh (or live-action) take. However, whenever the world’s leading animation studio decides to jump back into new princess films, some promising stories are waiting.

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Anastasia

Though Anastasia is a much-beloved princess, the original movie wasn’t a Disney property. 20th Century Fox released the animated film Anastasia in 1997, and as a considerably darker tale than other princess stories, it was a hit. The story of a lost girl being reunited with her family and falling in love in the process (all while avoiding an evil sorcerer) was difficult not to love.

Of course, Disney couldn’t come out with its version of Anastasia’s story too soon, especially given the success of the 20th Century Fox film. However, now that several decades have passed and nostalgia remakes are all the rage (and the fact that Disney now owns Fox), the time might be ripe for Disney to put its twist on the tale. This could potentially work as an animated movie, but it might do better in live-action instead. This way, the new Anastasia wouldn’t step on the beautifully animated toes of its predecessor.

Thumbelina

Thumbelina is another classic fairytale by Danish author Hans Christian Anderson, who inspired several of Disney’s princesses. However, the story of this tiny damsel was claimed by Warner Bros, who produced an animated film in 1994. Overall, this movie didn’t do as well as Disney’s princess movies or even some of those made by other studios. However, it was a reasonably accurate adaptation of the author’s original story and has developed a cult following over the years.

Like Anastasia, Thumbelina would need to be reworked significantly to function as a Disney film. This is especially true given the story’s themes, which center primarily on the tiny princess finding a husband—concepts that Disney has worked to get away from. However, the reworking of stories like The Ice Queen into Frozen proves that Disney has the creative power to turn Thumbelina’s story into something extraordinary.

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The Wild Swans’ Princess

The Wild Swans is another Hans Christian Anderson fairytale (and entirely independent from The Swan Princess). It follows a princess named Elisa, whose eleven brothers are turned into swans by their evil stepmother. Eventually, this villainous queen also attempts to get Princess Elisa out of the way, but through several strange events, she is able to escape and—of course—find a prince to marry.

Disney would need to get creative to add Elise to its list of princesses. Several aspects of her story are very similar to those of others (the evil stepmother trope has become somewhat overdone), but the unique detail of The Wild Swans that would make it an exciting possibility for a Disney adaptation is Elise’s bevy of swan brothers. If the tale was modernized—and new motivations provided to the character like in Tangled—the chaos of so many cursed siblings could be a lot of fun.

The Princess And The Pea

The Princess and the Pea (Hans Christian Anderson) is another fairytale that would have been difficult to turn into a full-feature Disney film. It tells of a prince who struggled to find a wife since he felt that all the women that claimed to be princesses had terrible manners. His mother decided to test one such princess (who apparently looked like a real mess) by placing a single pea beneath her bed of several mattresses. After all, only a true princess would be sensitive enough to notice such a thing.

This classic fairytale is another that Disney has avoided thus far. However, there is some promise (with some shifting around) for a well-animated story here. The prince in the tale has never seemed like a very sympathetic character, and the pea-under-the-mattress test always felt a little silly. However, if the prince and his mother were to be turned into the villains and the roughly dressed princess given a better back story, it could be pulled off.

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The Twelve Dancing Princesses

The Twelve Dancing Princesses is a story from Grim’s Fairy Tales that tells of a king who noticed that his 12 daughter’s shoes became worn out every night, even though they were locked in and supposed to be sleeping. So, he hired a soldier to spy on his sleeping children and learned that they escape through a trap door every night to dance in the woods with 12 princes. The princesses were punished, the soldier was made heir of the kingdom, and they all lived happily ever after.

Of course, this story wouldn’t fit with Disney’s other princess stories as is. However, other adaptations, such as Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses, made the story far more whimsical in a way that demonstrates its potential. In this version, one of the 12 princesses discovers a hidden portal that takes them to a magical land. This has the makings of a far better story, and perhaps Disney could do something similar—and take out the bits about a stalking soldier being the hero.

Rumpelstiltskin’s Princess

In the original tale of Rumpelstiltskin by the Brothers Grimm, a miller’s daughter is held captive by the king because her father had promised that she could spin straw into gold. She thought she would be killed, but a strange man named Rumpelstiltskin appeared and did all the work for her. After she became queen, the magical trickster announced that he would take her baby as payment unless she could guess his name. After a few nights of trying, she followed him into the forest and overheard him say, “Rumpelstiltskin,” Thus, her child was saved.

Rumpelstiltskin is a character that has existed across several fairytale adaptations over the years, most notably in the series Once Upon a Time—a production of ABC (owned by Disney). However, the Brothers Grimm story has never been featured in one of Disney’s films. Still, that isn’t to say that there isn’t potential. The unnamed Princess from Rumpelstiltskin was cleverer than many other fairytale damsels, which always makes for a good Disney story. Like several of the others from unused fairytales, the princess from the tale could make a great addition—if Disney only made a few creative changes.

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