Many kids all over the world dream of becoming princesses one day.
Our obsession with royalty and being whisked away to a castle is in no small part fueled byDisney movies.
“She’s sort of a fan and she was always waiting for the right thing.”
The casting director was able to use that phone recording to prove that Menzel was perfect for the part.
Menzel gave Elsa powerhouse pipes like no one else could.
Megan Mullally was playing Elsa and it wasn’t really about sisterhood at all.
I think it had more to do with the source material of Hans Christian Andersen’s story."
But, let’s be real, it’s not the same thing.
She almost had her chance at taking on an official Disney princess role, though, inTangled.
The project was ultimately scrapped and becameTangleda few years later.
“Accents aren’t my thing,” she said onLorraine(viaMarie Claire).
“It was bad, I had to quit the movie.”
Kelly McDonald ended up replacing Witherspoon in the film.
Since McDonaldis actually Scottish, she was a perfect fit.
She did get to voice Ariel inThe Little Mermaidin 1989.
She did have another opportunity to voice the character a few years later.
Whitney Houston
Whitney Houstonwasn’t just an incredibly gifted singer, but also a talented actress.
The musical had originally debuted on TV in 1957, starring Julie Andrews.
It was remade a decade later with Lesley Ann Warren in the title role.
She decided to play the godmother instead, casting singer and TV star Brandy Norwood as Cinderella.
The film’s diverse casting approach was groundbreaking, and Norwood became Disney’s first African-American princess.
“And it didn’t look unrealistic with the multicultural casting I bought it,” Norwood toldShondaland.
“You could just see the threads of love between everyone holding it together.”
Disney made Tiana, the protagonist ofThe Princess in the Frog,their first animated African-American princess.
The part eventually ended up going to Aniki Noni Rose.
“It’s totally sexist and misogynistic she’s cleaning for seven dwarfs.
Margot Robbie
In 2015,Cinderellabecame the firstDisney animated classicto receive the live-action treatment.
Robbie may havelost the part, but that just freed her up to star in some other huge projects.
Deanna Durbin
Fans of old Hollywood films will recognize the nameDeanna Durbin.
A contemporary ofShirley Temple, Durbin was one of the biggest stars of the 1930s and 1940s.
At least Durbin was spared Caselotti’s fate.
What should have been her big break turned out to be anything but a fairy tale.
Lea Salonga
Lea Salonga never quite became afullDisney princess.
When it came to cast 1998’sMulan, Salonga seemed like the perfect fit.
“I thought, ‘Why do I have to audition?’
“I was already a princess before.
Wasn’t that enough?”
Salonga ended up landing the role… sort of.
Again, she was cast as the singing voice of the princess.
Wen didn’t mind that someone else was cast to provide Mulan’s singing voice.
“I don’t blame them,” she toldGroucho Reviews.
