The Jambar
To waltz for hours with an attractive woman, forget what she looks and search with a shoe to find her doesn’t leave high hopes for an enduring love story. For almost 100 years, The Walt Disney Company has animated prince after prince, but who among them wears the crown of the true Prince Charming?
The Jambar ranked the top animated Disney princes based on personality, character development and relationship dynamics with respective princesses. Each prince was judged within their debut movies only.
Clawing his way into No. 3, Prince Adam, commonly known as the Beast from “Beauty and the Beast” in 1991, follows the most-involved character arc, and embodies thoughtfulness and accountability towards Princess Belle as he sacrifices for love.
In his beastly form, Adam develops from selfish and quick-tempered to considerate and gentle, learning to love like the curse originally intended. He pays attention to Belle’s tastes and refuses to judge her like the village people.
However, despite its plot device, taking Belle and her father as prisoner weighs down his ranking. While he does learn from his mistakes, he still has more to learn as a prince to not return to selfishness.
As the titular character in 1992’s “Aladdin,” Prince Aladdin makes one jump into No. 2. With a charming, resourceful attitude, Aladdin’s spirit compliments Princess Jasmine’s head-strong kindness as they show love and equality toward others.
Aladdin prioritizes treating Jasmine with respect as he refuses to objectify her unlike other royalty — a strong foundation in their relationship. Additionally, Aladdin experiences a well-paced character arc to embrace authenticity, which improves his relationship.
However, his character development was ranked heavier than others as the only prince with his own movie, keeping him one wish from the top.
Before the No. 1 ranking, one character deserves an honorable mention despite his unofficial prince title. With a determined, hard-working attitude, Li Shang from “Mulan” in 1998 can stand proud as a popular love interest, whose desire to uphold honor mirrors Mulan’s own conflict.
Shang gradually gains respect for his military unit and Mulan as he learns to prioritize others for China’s greater good. While Shang and Mulan do not act on romantic feelings until the end of the film, their dynamic brings a level of respect and autonomy to the budding relationship.
In a tower above the rest, No. 1 belongs to Prince Eugene Fitzherbert, or Flynn Rider, from “Tangled” in 2010. With design input from a meeting of female animators, the thief-turned prince steals hearts with his confident charisma, playful dynamic with Princess Rapunzel and gradual sacrifices for love.
Between his comedic beats, Fitzherbert slowly develops to show vulnerability in his stoicism, which makes his character dynamic and admirable. Juxtaposed by the conditional terms of the pairs’ lantern quest, his arc connects to audiences as he learns to love unconditionally.
Ultimately, his small sacrifices for Rapunzel, such as taking her to see the lights and explore the wild, culminate in the final sacrifice to die to save her from a lifetime of solitude — a pinnacle act of fairy-tale love.
Regardless of ranking, the benefits to developing and analyzing dynamic characters give people hope for their own stories, which can last the test of time.