Gallery: How Disney Princesses Have Evolved From Helpless Damsels To Feminist Role Models

With the emergence of the #MeToo Campaign, as well as the general continued focus on Women's Rights and Gender Equality, we wanted to re-examine the common attributes of Disney's leading ladies. We set out to answer one question: How feminist are Disney Princesses? 

Walt Disney Studios released its first animated film with an all-female focus in 1937, called Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Since then, Disney has created over 10 more animated films in ode to the "princess" in all of us. 

We started our historical research with the year 1920, nearly 17 years before Snow White was released to the public. This year, in particular, provided a pivotal moment in the ever-evolving Women's Rights Movement—women were granted the legal right to vote in the United States. How in sync with pivotal moments in the country's history were the stories of the female protagonist role models served up by the animation giant?

We discovered that, when compared to Snow White, and especially Princess Aurora, many Disney Princesses that followed have embodied at least parts of a feminist mindset. However, anti-feminist undertones are still apparent in the majority of films.