Summary

• Disney Princess movies blend different time periods and cultures to create timeless stories for audiences to enjoy.
• The source material, architecture, and fashion within the princess movies give clues to the era the stories are set, though not with complete accuracy.
• From Medieval Scotland to 1920s New Orleans, each Disney Princess movie offers a glimpse into different historical settings and time periods.

Disney Princess movies take inspiration from different folktales and the Disney Princess timeline shows the various time periods that have been explored in these animated movies. Although Walt Disney Pictures has produced a variety of films over the decades, their princess movies have struck a special chord with audiences. The studio’s first animated movie was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, released in 1937, and since then, Disney has taken viewers to different times and places, such as Germany, Jordania, Scotland, and even the bottom of the sea to meet all types of princesses.

Given that the Disney Princess movies are animated adventures that are not overly concerned with the historical elements of their story, it can be a little tricky narrowing down exactly when some of these stories take place. However, looking at elements like princess movies' source material, the architecture, and the clothes of the characters, the movies can be placed in certain eras, though not with complete accuracy – especially as Disney tends to blend different styles, perhaps in an effort to make the stories as timeless as possible.

Raya And The Last Dragon - N/A

Disney Princess: Raya

Raya and the Last Dragon is the most recent Disney Princess movie which introduces the heroic and skilled warrior Raya. Set in a world in which dragons and humans coexisted until the dragons were wiped out protecting humanity from a powerful evil. When that evil returns, Raya bravely ventures out to find the last dragon who could possibly save the world.

While most Disney Princess movies contain elements of fantasy, Raya and the Last Dragon is the only one that directly sets itself in an alternate fantasy world, the kingdom of Kumandra. Like a fantasy series like Game of Thrones, Raya and the Last Dragon is not meant to take place in Earth's timeline despite having some similarities to Earth and is therefore impossible to place.

Moana – c. 100 AD

Disney Princess: Moana

Moana may be one of the most recent Disney princesses to be introduced, but her story is set further in the past than any of her peers. The story of Moana is set on a Polynesian island. It focuses on a time when the Polynesian communities abandoned their culture of long-distance ocean exploration which took place roughly 3000 years ago.

However, as the culture has been this way for some time, more time has passed with the Disney Princess Moana trying to encourage her community to embrace that way of life once again before deciding to go out on the ocean by herself. The filmmakers have cemented the movie taking place two thousand years ago. With the live-action Moana remake on the way, it might give a more accurate timeline.

Aladdin – c. 300s

Disney Princess: Jasmine

While Robin Williams' Genie in Aladdin is often seen as the highlight of the movie, Jasmin makes for a strong and likable Disney Princess who helped define the new era of the Disney Renaissance. She is the daughter of a sultan who is being pressured to choose a suitor to secure her future but wants to choose based on love rather than on the wealth her partner could provide. Aladdin is based on the Arabic folktale of the same name from the One Thousand and One Nights collection, setting it around the 300s.

Brave – c. 900s

Disney Princess: Merida

Brave is the first Pixar movie to also be a Disney Princess movie. With the more modern approach comes one of the most heroic princesses from the studio in the form of Merida who refuses to bow to the customs of her time and fill the role society thinks is appropriate for a woman.

It’s clear that Brave takes place in Medieval Scotland, but exactly when was a bit hard to figure out. Brave takes many elements from Scottish folktales, such as the will-o’-the-wisp, and Merida defies age-old customs, which can be difficult to place. However, at D23 Expo in 2011, it was confirmed that it takes place in the 10th century, fitting with the elements shown in the movie.

Merida is the first Disney Princess to have brothers.

Sleeping Beauty – c. 1300s

Disney Princess: Aurora

Though it was a box office bomb that nearly ended Disney's animated movies, Sleeping Beauty has become one of its iconic movies. This is partially thanks to Princess Aurora, the protagonist of the story who is cursed by a sorceress upon her birth and must be protected from her untimely death at the age of 16. Though a classic, Sleeping Beauty is often looked at as an early example of the Disney Princesses without agency of their own.

Sleeping Beauty is based on the fairy tale of the same name by Charles Perrault with a lot of changes to make it kid-friendly. However, despite the changes, the setting is helpfully provided thanks to Prince Philip when he tells his father he’s “living in the past! This is the 14th century!”.

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Mulan – ~1400s

Disney Princess: Mulan

The original Disney Mulan movie provided a Disney Princess like no other with Mulan being the action hero of her own story rather than relying on a heroic prince to save her. It is another example of the more independent Disney Princesses of the Disney Renaissance as Mulan pushes back against the desire for her to be a "proper lady" and takes her father's place in the war by posing as a male soldier.

Mulan is based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, which goes all the way back to around the 300s. However, there are many versions on the legend’s origins, and the movie took elements from different eras, making it difficult to place in just one. Taking the addition of landmarks like the Forbidden City as well as the use of gunpowder as reference, then Mulan is set around the 1400s, or maybe earlier.

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Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs - c. 1500s

Disney Princess: Snow White

The very first Disney Princess is still one of its most iconic. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs follows the beautiful and kind Snow White whose only crime is being more beautiful than the evil queen. In an attempt to hide from her wrath, Snow White finds a new home in the woods with the helpful seven dwarfs.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is based on the 1812 German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm and was released in 1937. Details like the storybook’s style and the fact that the dwarfs yodel (as yodeling was first recorded in Europe in 1545) place Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in mid-to-late 1500s Germany.

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Pocahontas – 1607

Disney Princess: Pocahontas

As Disney entered the Disney Renaissance era, there was more of an effort to use the movies to highlight other cultures while still telling entertaining stories. Pocahontas was one of the earliest examples, taking a look at early Native Americans and their ways of life. While the real-life figure who inspires the story is far more interesting and complex than what the movie explores, Pocahontas was seen as an early inspiration for other brave Disney Princesses who can act on their own desires.

Pocahontas is among the easiest ones to place thanks to its historical context (even though the story is not accurate, which has infuriated fans for years). Pocahontas is based on the life of the Native American woman of the same name who met Englishman John Smith when he and company arrived in Virginia in 1607.

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Beauty And The Beast – c. 1700s

Disney Princess: Belle

Belle in Beauty and the Beast is the Disney Princess at the center of one of the studio's most beloved romances. She is also one of the rare Disney Princesses that starts the story as a commoner. When her father is taken prisoner by a vicious beast, Belle takes his place. While the imprisonment aspect of the story remains controversial, Belle coemes to see another side of the Beast beyond his monstrous exterior and violent temper.

Beauty and the Beast is based on the 1756 French fairy tale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. Looking at the style of the clothes, how Cogsworth describes the castle’s style (“unusual Rococo design” and “another example of the late Neoclassic Baroque period”), and the fact that the Beast is a prince, Beauty and the Beast would then be set before the French Revolution in 1789.

The Little Mermaid – ~1700s

Disney Princess: Ariel

Often regarded as the movie that kicked off the Disney Renaissance, The Little Mermaid also helped to usher in a new era of Disney Princesses. Ariel is the daughter of King Triton of the merpeople. However, while she is expected to attend court and be among her people, Ariel dreams of another world above the water and the lives of the humans above.

The Little Mermaid is, perhaps, the trickiest one to place as Disney blended styles from different centuries. The story is based on the 1837 Danish tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen (again, with various changes to make it appropriate for a young audience), but it takes elements from the 1600s and early 1900s. Many fans and experts on the matter choose to place it in the 18th century due to the relation between pirates and mermaids, so there’s that.Watch on Disney+

Cinderella – c. 1800s

Disney Princess: Cinderella

The so-called "Cinderella story" has been used countless times in entertainment over the years, being a rags-to-riches story. However, Disney's take on Cinderella is one of the most popular examples as it follows the titular Disney Princess who is mistreated and made to work as a servant for her evil stepmother and stepsisters until she is given a chance to meet Prince Charming and find true happiness.

Cinderella is based on the fairy tale of the same name by Charles Perrault. Cinderella is set in France, and based on the style of the clothes, many have concluded that it takes place in the mid-to-late 1800s, as the characters don’t offer any clear clues as to when the story is set.

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Tangled – c. 1700s-1800s

Disney Princess: Rapunzel

Tangled is loosely based on the German fairy tale Rapunzel, from the collection of folktales by the Brothers Grimm. Like many of the Disney adaptations of fairy tales, the movie softens many of the darker aspects of the story while introducing a new funny, spirited, and loveable Disney Princess in the form of Rapunzel.

Many have taken Mother Gothel’s style as starting point to place the story in time, but that only makes it more difficult as the character was designed to look way older than the rest of the sets and costumes. Tangled is quite possibly set in the late 1700s, though given its connection with Frozen, it could be set in early-to-mid 1800s.

Frozen & Frozen II – 1839 & 1842

Disney Princess: Elsa And Anna

Another first in the Disney Princess timeline, Frozen introduces two princesses in the same movie, the sisters Elsa and Anna. As such, Frozen struck an effective emotional chord with audiences by being a movie that was more about the love between sisters rather than a story of a princess finding her prince.

Frozen is inspired by the 1844 fairy tale The Snow Queen. Frozen’s creators have shared they based the look of the movie in 1840s Norway, and a map shown in Frozen Fever helps place the story in July 1839. As Frozen II is set three years after the first movie, that means it’s set in 1842. It remains to be seen where the upcoming Frozen III lands on the timeline.

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The Princess And The Frog – 1926

Disney Princess: Tiana

Though still taking place close to a century before it was released, The Princess and the Frog is the most modern of the Disney Princess movies so far. The Princess and the Frog is loosely based on the novel The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker and follows Tiana, a struggling waitress who kisses a frog prince only to find herself transformed into a frog and desperately trying to find a way to switch back.

From the beginning, it’s clear the story is set in 1920s New Orleans, and there’s one detail that shows the exact year: a newspaper seen when Prince Naveen gets off the boat reads “April 1926.” The clothes, buildings, music, and more pay homage to jazz culture and life in New Orleans in the 1920s, so it’s very easy to place in the timeline of Disney Princess movies.