A Different Take On Disney Princesses

Ever wondered how Disney princesses would look like in real life? You're not the only one. That same idea crossed the minds of talented artists and here are some of their own perspectives about Disney's beautiful heroines.

Esmeralda, from the Disney adaptation of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", is a beautiful gypsy girl with a strong spirit and a kind heart. The story is set in Paris, France where the actual Notre Dame Cathedral is located. The characters themselves are fictional, however, Esmeralda's exotic beauty is reminiscent of French brunettes in the likes of Sophie Marceau, Emmanuelle Béart or even Angelina Jolie who is part-French.

"The Princess and the Frog" features Tiana, Disney's first ever African American princess. Tiana is working as a chef/waitress but is an aspiring restaurateur. The story is set in New Orleans in America during the 1920s Jazz Age. The character is voiced by Anika Noni Rose but the portrait at the right looks more like the singer Brandy or model Chanel Iman.

Mulan is a Disney heroine who pretended to be a male soldier in place of his ailing father to spare him from the obligation of going to war. The story is set in Ancient China during the Han dynasty. The portrait at the right resembles the Chinese actress Joan Chen.

Princess Jasmine is the sultan's headstrong daughter in Disney's take on the classic tale "Aladdin" from "The Book of One Thousand and One Nights". While being a Middle-Eastern folk tale, the story itself is set in China. But Disney opted to show an Arabian version using harem-style fashions that felt a lot like Bollywood productions. This portrait of Jasmine illustrates the beauty of Middle-Eastern women. But in my opinion, Jasmine more resembles the likes of Priyanka Chopra or Aishwarya Rai, both of them are from India.

Princess Ariel is one of the daughters of Triton, a character based on Greek mythology also known as the messenger of the sea. Ariel is "The Little Mermaid" who fell in love with a human prince and did all that she could to be "part of his world." This classic tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen is set in an underwater kingdom of merpeople. Being a mermaid, there's really not one person that I can compare her to. Her bright-red hair, mesmerizing eyes and ethereal features can only come from our own imaginings of what an ideal sea siren would look like.

Aurora is the "Sleeping Beauty" in Disney's version of the Grimm Brother's moderated rendition of French folk tales. In those folklores, the young princess was pricked by a poisoned thorn, fell asleep and was taken advantage of by a married prince. The princess gives birth to twins, all of them loathed by the prince's wife who orders the cook to have the children fed to their father. Upon knowing he was eating his own children, the prince grew furious and threw his wife into the fire. Fortunately, the cook was a kind soul and substituted lamb meat in place of the children. This illustration is derived from a photo of Bella Thorne, one of Disney's young talents.

Snow White from the Disney Classic "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" is a princess whose beauty is the object of her stepmother's envy. The evil queen attempted to have her killed but the assassin took pity on Snow White and sent her to the woods wherein she would meet the seven dwarves and, eventually, her prince after she was "comatosed" from eating a poisoned apple handed to her by her disguised stepmother. This image is derived from a picture of the late Elizabeth Taylor, a legendary Hollywood actress also known for her unrivaled beauty.

Tinker Bell, from the Disney adaptation of J.M. Barrie's "Peter and Wendy", is a fairy who mends pots, kettles and metal utensils. She plays a minor role in Disney's "Peter Pan" but eventually landed a string of movies and series dedicated solely to her which also features several other fairy characters from Pixie Hollow. The illustration at the right is derived from a photo of Audrey Hepburn with her famous pixie cut hair.

These are just some of the amazing works created by the talented artists of deviantart.com. Some of these artworks are created through digital art using graphics software to achieve these beautiful effects. If you're interested in how the digital-painting process works, click on the link below to watch the video of the making of these Disney movie scenes.