I was shopping for a birthday present for a 5 year old and realized what an absolute bazooka buffet of Disney princess merchandise there is. It is princesstacular out there. And this made me start thinking about Disney heroes – and which princes and heroes were my favorite. I asked the question on Twitter and Facebook, and had such a response I wanted to ask here as well.
On Twitter, the majority liked the Beast – in beast form – from Beauty and the Beast. I figure this is a clear case of loving the bad boy who learns to grow up, take responsibility, and reveal that moral core of goodness hidden … underneath all that hair. The folks at Pocket After Dark figure it’s because he gave Belle a library – also a good reason.
My faves: Beast, Tramp, and above all, Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty. I don’t know what it is about him, but of the Disney princes, Phillip is my favorite.
So which is your favorite of the Disney animated heroes or princes? Please, tell me why you picked your fave in the comments – I’m so curious which you like, and why, especially since early male heroes in the Disney movies had little to no personality, or even names. (And dude, if I forgot one, give a holler.) Does your princely preference match your romance hero preference?
Totally Shang! I have to love a man who loves a woman who can kick butt!
You forgot Jack Skellington… 🙁
Flynn from Tangled is my new favorite. He’s a bad boy flirt who’s good at heart & he’s a commoner. Gotta love that!
(I suppose you couldn’t put The Lion King on there cause that’d be kinda creepy since he’s just a kid, huh?)
I’ve always liked the Tramp & Robin Hood cause they’re both kind of sly rascals. I guess I have a thing for bad boys.
Yeah, it’s Beast. But Charming is a close second. First animated character that I thought, “Wait, he’s kind of yummy.”
You also missed Pongo. He was a good doggy husband.
I went with Beast. He gave her a library! I’ve got my priorities…
EEEP! You’re right. I can add Skellington but if you’ve already voted you can’t vote again. Sorry about that!
You know, I voted for The Beast in beast form, but I had a thought. What about Roger or Pongo from 101 Dalmatians? Pongo was sweet, witty, and an amazing dad. Roger was a good man that stuck by what he believed in and stuck by his best friend, even though his best friend was his dog.
Beast. I have a soft spot for imperfect and/or ostracized heroes.
I voted for Flynn from Tangled, mostly because I just saw the movie and it’s fresh in my mind. I loved his smolder. (Also, he’s voiced by Zach Levi, and I am a huge fan of ‘Chuck’).
I also enjoy the Beast and Aladdin.
I was torn, because Philip is always a favorite of mine, too, but I have to go with Milo because of my lifelong love for nerds. Give me a geeky hero any day. It’s a kind of embarrassingly large part of why I’ll be applying to the artist-in-residence program at the south pole research station once I’m done with my MFA. I need to snag me some MOAR NERDS.
Hmmm, add me to the Beast camp because he appreciates a smart girl and because he gives her a library. But there’s something about a Pixar romance…I smile when Buzz gets flustered around Jesse and Carl and Ellie squeeze the heartstrings everytime.
So I voted for Philip because that movie seriously made a good chunk of my childhood.
BUT – Naveen and Flynn are my new favorites as well. They haven’t been around as long, no, but I’d totally whore out for them. Naveen is chocolate (YES) and has an actual character arc. Ditto for Flynn (even though he isn’t a prince, his ability to notice small details like ‘she has glowing hair’ and his romantic lantern side make up for it)
If only Anastasia were a Disney movie. Sigh. Then these men would totally be thrown to the rest of the romance population in favor of Dmitri, who is better than Vin Diesel Jesus in my opinion.
Well… I’m going with Phillip. He breaks into song for Aurora, having just met her. 😀 That’s what I call guts! And he was going to marry her when he thought she was just a farm girl.
Also, Beast’s name is Adam, 🙂 That’s his name as a Human Prince. Every B&B buff knows that 😀
Robin Hood and The Sword in the Stone are my perennial favorite Disney movies. I dislike the ones where the “princesses” are all “Woe is me, where is my hero to make my life all better?” ‘cause I end up just wanting to bitch-slap them and say you deserve to be miserable you whiny bitch take care of YOURSELF!!
anyway.
I haven’t seen most of the newer ones, b/c I have two boys and one girl and we seem to end up watching mostly the kinds of movies that appeal to boys or to both bunches—stuff like Cars and How to Train Your Dragon. Now *there’s* a hero for you…the name is crazy, of course, but I betcha Hiccup Haddock Horrible III will be one HECK of a man when he’s all grown up…
I do love me some Li Shang and some Prince Phillip. ACK! Torn!
Also, if you are in need of some WTF eye candy princes, check out these.
http://artsytime.com/disney-heroes-like-youve-never-seen-them-before/
I went with the Beast but it’s not so much because he’s the bad boy, at least not consciously. My subconscious might have other ideas though. I saw the film in the cinema when it came out, I was eighteen, and I liked the Beast, mainly because we saw him more than the Human Prince, but he had a sense of humour and he got over himself, and he had very expressive eyes and he rescued her from the wolves and yes, he gave her a library! A LIBRARY!! Stupid lucky Belle.
I like him more because his and Belle’s relationship seems a bit more equal in that she gives him as much hell as he initially gives her. That is most likely because my grandmother was the matriarch in the family who ruled the roost, and so I think all heroines should be giving people hell from time to time & not putting up with any nonsense!
Li Shang. Once he got over the shock, he accepted Mulan for all of who she was.
I’m gunning for Prince Phillip. He barely knows Aurora but he knows he loves her and has to save her. He even fights a freaking dragon and a horde of baddies for her.
*Swoon*
Oh man, before I looked at the poll I was thinking “Oh this is easy – Prince Phillip hands down.” But then I saw Price Eric, who I also love (even though the Little Mermaid overall isn’t my favorite) and then I saw Li Shang from Mulan and my head started to spin. By the time I hit Aladdin, I couldn’t take all the choices.
So instead of voting, I’ll just say my top 3, in no particular order since god knows I wouldn’t be able to make any sort of decision as to the hierarchy:
Phillip
Eric
Li Shang
I would probably like Beauty and the Beast a lot more (a woman capable of independent thought? A big reader no less? awesome) but it’s been sullied for me by a former friend of mine and I just get angry every time someone mentions they like it. Just a knee jerk reaction. I have issues…
My husband and I used the “Beauty and the Beast” (Disney version) theme song for our first dance at our wedding and had the little figurines on our cake. I’ve always loved the tale, especially versions where the Beast does NOT turn into a prince at the end. 😉
It was a near a draw between Flynn Rider, because ASWESOME doesn’t cover him -hillarious and smart in a duh kind of way- Shang ‘cause as Ann said
and Beast, because… he is BEAST! the first one I loved ?, all that furr and back hair… Just kidding, he learns from his mistakes and improves after meeting Bella… There is also de library thing, it may be books pulling me over. Once upon a time -to go with the fairy tales theme- I looooved Aladdin, but i think I’ve watched him sooo many times, it is just normal, right now.
I din’t choose either Phillip or Whatshisname-Snowhite’s man because I just hate those stories, yep, totally illogical, but I do. and Eric.. now, if he could just decide between the hot mermaidy redhead and the blackhaired bitch from underwater i’d like hims better. I just don’t care he was under a spell.. (and that is really mean of me, I know.)
@tracykitn I just root for your comment!!
soooo true
and Hiccup is just awesome too… I’d love to see him grown up, just to know how he turned out (hopefully not like his father…)
I have always said my favourite Disney character is Thomas O’Malley.
And not because I have a thing for anthropomorphic animated characters (At least I hope not).
But from the list provided I have chosen Robin Hood, only it was a toss up between him and Tramp, and well… Prince John was just such a wonderful thumb sucker that through association Robin Hood gets bonus points.
Though, funnily enough Thomas, Tramp, Robin, Aladdin and the Beast(in beast form) all are character archtypes that I gravitated towards when I read Romance, now that I am older.
I obviously like my Heroes a little rough around the edges, with an interesting past. 😉
Before this week, I would have had to say Beast hands down, but I am a new fan of Flynn Eugene Rider after seeing the excellent Tangled.
I love the redeemed recluse “beast” in my romance novels, too, but I also love a reformed rake bad boy which Flynn is in spades. Flynn and his smolder were pure awesomesauce.
Does Patrick Dempsey’s character in Enchanted count? Love him, too!
I’d go with Eric—despite the fact that don’t really love TLM in general*—what with the general hotness and the sense of adventure and the liking dogs. Followed closely by Philip and Naveen (who’s totally the Disney character I identify most with, minus the royalty aspect).
Beast…has an awesome personality, and I dig the library thing, but his human form is mleh and I can’t get enthused about beastform guys. Been exposed to too many Dark Corners of the Internet.
Ties into what I posted on the appearance thread, actually. Yeah, personality, heart and soul, blah blah internal-beauty-cakes; at the end of the day, if I’m going for a…let’s say “romantic partner”, I want chiseled features, luxuriant hair, and a body that looks good in tight pants.
*Now that I’m an adult with a job and zero patience for teenage angst, I kind of think that the subtitle for that movie is “Shut the fuck UP, Ariel.” (“Bet you on land/they understand/bet they don’t reprimand their daughters”? Um…I bet they do. Actually. Especially if said daughter is being the Timothy Treadwell of their society. Shut up.)
Out of the princess movies that were out when I was a kid and that I remember seeing, Philip always stood out to me as having the most personality of the princes and I thought the fact that he was bros with his horse was fun. I guess he also came off as snarkier and more fun-loving which appealed to me more than, say, empty-headed Eric from “The Little Mermaid.”
I went through a phase in which I watched “Beauty & the Beast” EVERY DAY but that was mostly because a) it was set in Provence b) Belle was brunette like me and c) she loved books and got a library as a gift. As much as I loved the movie, though, I never crushed on Beast because I saw him as a “fixer-upper” which was something I decidedly did NOT want.
Beast
because: 1) he has a personality apart from just Hero, 2) the library 😉 , 3) he let her go – a huge risk/sacrifice, 4) heroine tames big bad beast through love *sigh*
My princely preference matches my primary romance hero preference. I like to read about other Romance hero types though, betas especially. Which is the core of Beast, maybe? A good man without alpha trappings.
I went with Flynn from Tangled because I did love how much his character had to work with. Also, I thought that movie modernized the princess story fairly well. I also have always had much love for Prince Eric, and now my brain connects him with John Hamm because of that episode of 30 Rock where his character claims he was the model for Eric. (There was also a contestant on last season’s So You Think You Can Dance who I thought looked an awful lot like Prince Eric.)
I went w Charming – IIRC he comes around during the story. And i like the tall, dark, handsome – even if a lil bad boy, esp in my romance books too. Cinderella is the disney I ma the most familiar with – it was mom’s favorite.
but to be honest, I’m more o fa pizar girl than disney. i love eve and wall-e and lightening in Cars. and I havent seen princess and frog or tangled yet – i think I’m going to like tangled! 🙂
I voted for Tramp because my husband & I have sort of accidentally self-identified with Lady & Tramp….scruffy rascal meets elegant lady, discovers he can settle down to semi-elegant but still scruffy home life. I must also say that the previous poster who mentioned Roger from 101 Dalmatians is on to something though…he’d be a lot better in the long run than some of the “heroes”…
I love Beast. The clenched teeth, “Please” and “She is being so difficult” just make me laugh every time I see it. He is just so sweet once you get past the gruff exterior. I like my man tough on the outside but with a heart of gold. I like Li Shang too but he can’t hold a candle to Beast.
I’ve always loved the Beauty and the Beast story so Beast in the Disney movie has always been my favorite. The scene where the Beast lets Belle go and when Belle fights to get back to the Beast – sob. The library – icing on the cake!
I went with Li Shang, though it was such a hard choice. Mulan has to be my biggest fav and when i was a preteen, i just thought Shang was absolute gorgeousness. And strong, and I loved how he let Mulan live even though it went against Chinese law.
Aladdin and the beast were such close seconds though.
Whatshisname is Charming, that’s what! I always wondered if Snow White’s name would become Snow Charming, or if “Charming” was a title, like Ivan the Terrible.
I’m not going to vote in the poll, and this is why: for years, my idea of the perfect prince was The Beast. But now, Prince Naveen has captured my heart. And I don’t want to cheat on the The Beast. So I can’t vote in the poll.
Beast all the way.
The reasons, they are threefold:
1) The Library
2) He has opinions/feelings/personality instead of just a castle and a nice horse (euphemistically or literally)
3) He learns to love Belle for who she is, not just for her looks n sweetness a la Cinderella (what is so friggin great about being PATIENT with the people who enslave you?)
Can I pick Eugene from Tangled? Because I loves me a con man—-especially an orphaned con man who protects his heart with his ego . . .
Phillip. Mostly due to my undying love for that movie.
Though, I just recently watched Robin Hood. I forgot how much I used to love him :/
I voted for Naveen because A) he’s cute, B) I like his character arc, and C) he ends up helping the heroine achieve HER dream instead of just whisking her off to be a princess.
Beast – with Honorable Mentions for Jack Skellington and Dmitri from Anastasia.
Beast always struck as the kind of man who I could actually love in real life – guys who are bad-tempered and grouchy on the outside, but have a warm, squishy center. I’ve never been that impressed with Mr Suave and Sophisticated (he always seem to be hiding way too many insecurities inside) to be impressed with all the other princes.
Yes, he’s a fixer-upper, but they ALL are. The Beasts flaws are obvious (other than the, you know, whole Beast thing) while the others’ are hidden and won’t be revealed until 6 months after the wedding. Like finding termite damage in your new home – I want to know the flaws before going in.
(Plus the library? *SWOON*!!!)
Oooh, Disney heros! swoon
I am in the “can’t possibly decide on one” camp. It is definitely a toss-up between Beast and Phillip – oh, and Milo and Li Shang are VERY close runners up.
Beast because of the library and how he turns out to be such a cute and somewhat shy guy.
Yep, gets me every time. And the yelling contest after he saves her!
Phillip: because he falls off his horse and tells his father: it is the 14th century after all. LOL He has a personality and goes after what – or maybe better – who he wants.
Milo: nerd factor and such a nice guy
Li Shang for accepting her and how he deals with the situation with his father – in the beginning and when he finds out he’s dead.
But I have to admit, I like those “older” heros better.
What about Phoebus from the Hunchback of Notre Dame? I guess he is not really the hero, but he accepts Esmeralda as she is and admires her right from the start and his horse? just awesome!
O! I love this one!
Beast. For all the reasons mentioned above. Followed closely by Flynn from Tangled; again for all of the reasons above (especially Zach Levi as voice, I could listen to that man talk all day and night).
Winner hands down of animated hero has to be Dimitri from Anastasia. Not a Disney movie, but he still is the hottest and most appealing animated character ever drawn/voiced. (Though almost dethroned by Flynn in Tangled.)