Snow White is often considered the first Disney princess, but Persephone from The Goddess of Spring actually debuted three years earlier. Persephone, based on the Greek goddess, meets the requirements to be a traditional Disney princess and set the standard for Snow White and future leading ladies.
Persephone’s appearance, gestures, and bond with animals in The Goddess of Spring influenced the design and characteristics of later Disney princesses.
Persephone Was Technically The First Disney Princess, 3 Years Before Snow White
Although Snow White is often dubbed the first Disney princess, that title technically goes to Persephone from Disney’s The Goddess of Spring. The 1934 short film was part of the studio’s Silly Symphony series, and it debuted three years prior to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Following Persephone, who’s based off the Greek goddess of the same name, the nine-minute short chronicles her kidnapping by Hades and the consequences. Although viewers don’t get to spend much time with Persephone, she meets the requirements to be a traditional Disney princess.
As Smithsonian Magazine notes, the fact that Persephone is Zeus’ daughter makes her royalty — though many of Disney’s later heroines buck the idea that this is necessary to be a princess. Still, Persephone’s lineage in The Goddess of Spring makes her princess status a sure thing. And that’s not the only way she meets the Disney standard. In fact, Persephone set that standard herself, serving as the studio’s blueprint for Snow White and the leading ladies who followed.
How Persephone Paved The Way For Snow White
Most of Disney’s earliest films focused on animal characters, and The Goddess of Spring served as a test run for a project with a human lead — specifically, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that Persephone bears many similarities to Snow White and the other classic princesses who followed. Most notably, Persephone shares a bond with animals throughout The Goddess of Spring, a common thread with Disney princesses like Snow White and Cinderella.
Character sheets for Persephone (via Walt Disney Blog) also highlight how the character’s gestures and appearance informed later princesses. The twirls and dancing movements seen in these early designs can be spotted in other Disney classics. Persephone’s style and looks also seemingly set a precedent for early Disney heroines. Without Persephone, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfsmight have looked very different. That’s why Disney aficionados must give Persephone her flowers, even if The Goddess of Spring isn’t the most popular or well-known classic tale.
Source: Smithsonian Magazine, Walt Disney Blog
1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is often credited with introducing the first Disney princess, but this technically isn’t the case; another animated heroine debuted three years earlier. Disney’s princesses have become a staple of pop culture, evolving from more classic depictions like Cinderella and Snow White to modernized heroines like Frozen‘s Elsa and Wish’s Asha. Disney princesses have changed a lot over the past 86 years, with Snow White‘s debut informing and revolutionizing the concept.
The enduring popularity of the 1937 film — Disney’s even making a live-action Snow White remake — is likely why so many associate the movie with Disney princesses’ origins. And to be fair, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first feature-length film to follow a Disney princess. Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty didn’t debut until the 1950s. Even so, another heroine who fits the Disney princess description made her first appearance in a short film that came out before Snow White’s on-screen adventure.
