How Once Upon a Time changed the way Disney princesses are portrayed

Once Upon a Time. My all-time favorite show. Though it’s been off the air since 2018, I definitely still miss it. The good news is that I can relive all its magical moments on Disney+!

Like all shows, the creators made good choices and sometimes some not so good ones. But the ABC original series definitely excelled at creating strong female characters. And it wasn’t just the supporting ones. They were front and center!

Whether it was the female leads like Snow White or the guest characters like Elsa, there was something to learn and love from each OUAT princess. In the last few years, we’ve been seeing many more dimensions to Disney princesses instead of them waiting around for their prince to save them. And really, that all mainly started because of Once Upon a Time. The magical series shined a different light on these lovely ladies – from yielding all sorts of different weapons, making difficult choices and sacrifices, to showing that love and being vulnerable is also a strength.

So for Women’s History Month, we’re taking a look at how Once Upon a Time changed the way Disney princesses are portrayed.

Princesses on Once Upon a Time

Snow White

Let’s start from the very beginning – the pilot episode. Within the first few minutes, the series immediately sets the tone of how its female characters are going to be portrayed. When the Evil Queen crashes Snow White and Prince Charming’s wedding, it’s Snow who pulls her husband’s sword out and points it at the queen. This was one of the first times that we see a Disney princess yielding a sword. This princess can definitely fight and defend herself!

Belle

Belle is a bit of a tricky one because I don’t completely agree with how the writers handled her character when it comes to her relationship with Rumpelstiltskin. They kept going in this toxic circle that unfortunately went on pretty much the whole series.

Nonetheless, Belle was no dumb princess. She was smart, capable, and figured out how to fight back a magical beast in the Enchanted Forest, or the typical villain who paid a visit to Storybrooke. She showed that strength and lack of fear when she decided to hand herself over to Rumpelstiltskin so he in turn would help protect her kingdom from the ogres.

Emma

The fierce Emma Swan may not have been part of the OG Disney princesses, but she definitely is one as the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. And we just can’t talk about strong female characters from the series without mentioning Emma.

Growing up in the foster system and being alone for 28 years lead to this Savior having to look out for herself. No matter what life threw at her or anyone who tried to knock her down, she didn’t allow it. My favorite quote is one she says to a cursed Cinderella: “people are going to tell you who you are your whole life. You just gotta punch back and say no, this is who I am.”

And while this is important, being strong isn’t just in the physical sense. It’s emotional too. Emma learns to scale down those mile high walls she has around her heart with the love of her son, family, and True Love Killian Jones (aka Captain Hook). Letting people in and allowing herself to be vulnerable are difficult, but it’s definitely another sign of strength.

In season 3 when Killian jokes that she deprived him of a dashing rescue after she breaks herself out of a jail cell, she tells him “sorry, the only one who saves me is me.” Yes, girl!

Final shout outs

Though they weren’t princesses, Regina (the Evil Queen) and Zelena (the Wicked Witch) also definitely deserve to be recognized. Regina had major character growth throughout the seasons and learned to accept herself. And Zelena, who kind of seemed like she’d never change, finally did and grew as a person.

There’s so many more things I can say about what this show did right with its female characters, this was just a bit of it. What I love about Once Upon a Time is whether it was Ariel and Jasmine, Aurora and Mulan, or Elsa and Anna, each character showed strength in a different way. And that’s what’s so important. There isn’t one definition, and the show really managed to put that message up on full display!