12 Years Ago, Disney Released the Princess Movie That Changed the Game

Twelve years ago, Disney released the film that totally changed the game for princess movies — and things haven’t been the same since. Although Disney’s best animated classics comprise a wide range of story types, from The Lion King to Hercules, princess films are something the studio is known for. Perhaps it’s because Disney’s first animated project was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937. It could also stem from Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty being some of the biggest hits in the years that followed.

And although Disney released plenty of films in-between its princess movies, it used a tried-and-true formula for the latter, something it steadily became known for. Even as the princess archetype evolved over time, most of their narratives followed the same general outline: a young woman embarking on a journey of self-discovery, finding true love and her “happily ever after” by the end of it. However, in 2013, one film proved that other setups could be successful, changing the game for this category of Disney movies.

12 Years Ago, Frozen Changed Everything for Disney’s Princess Movies

Frozen made its debut on November 27, 2013, and it totally changed the way Disney approaches princess movies — and what viewers expect from them. Rather than prioritizing romantic storylines for its heroines, Frozen places the sisterly bond between Anna and Elsa at the forefront of its story. It even goes out of its way to subvert the standard princess tropes, having Anna fall for a prince and setting the stage for the usual formula, only to upend it and make Hans the villain. It’s a clever means of modernizing the Disney princess, and Frozen‘s $1.2 billion worldwide box office (via Box Office Mojo) proves it was a welcome change.

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Frozen also highlights that there are different versions of “happily ever after.” While Anna does, indeed, find love in the form of Kristoff, it’s not the most important aspect of her story. And Elsa’s narrative forgoes romance altogether, a refreshing change of pace. Frozen isn’t necessarily the first film to accomplish this. Brave took a step in this direction a year earlier. However, Frozen bringing in around double the box office haul of Brave proved that abandoning the classic formula could result in huge returns. It’s no wonder Disney altered its approach to princess stories in the aftermath.

Disney Altered Its Approach to Princess Stories After Frozen

With Frozen and its 2019 sequel both passing the billion-dollar mark at the box office, it’s clear there’s a demand for princess stories that buck the traditional formula. And while only one of Disney’s later princess films reached the heights of Frozen 2, it’s clear the studio has acknowledged this and rethought its approach. Since Frozen, the princess movies that have come out include Moana, Raya and the Last Dragon, Moana 2, and, depending who you ask, Wish. (Raya isn’t technically a princess, but she has the feel of one.)

None of these projects focus heavily on romantic storylines, opting to have their heroines pursue greater destinies that are mostly unrelated to love. For Moana, this approach worked, with the original film amassing a dedicated audience and $643 million at the box office (via Box Office Mojo). Building on that, Moana 2 crossed the billion-dollar mark, highlighting, yet again, that princesses don’t need romance to resonate with viewers. Of course, Raya and the Last Dragon and Wish prove that breaking the formula isn’t foolproof. Neither is considered much of a success, despite both films being innovative and unique.

Even so, Frozen is the reason Disney is branching out when it comes to its princess stories — to the point where Wish‘s heroine isn’t actually royalty, though her narrative has all the trappings of a princess movie. It’s hard to say if the studio would have made releases like these if Anna and Elsa’s film hadn’t been so successful. Thanks to Frozen, the studio is reinventing what its princess stories look like. And it will likely continue to do so as audiences grow and change.

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