Why are Disney princesses so young? (need answers)

She lives in an era where people grew up faster. In ye olden tymes, people were considered adults as early as 13-14. Young girls were considered of marriageable age as soon as they started menstruating, and often got married and started families accordingly. Because people's lives were harder and shorter, 16 back then was the early to mid-twenties of today.

Plus, The Little Mermaid is a coming-of-age story. Ariel is transitioning between childhood and adulthood, as she rebels against her father's rules, pursues her dreams, falls in love, and ultimately becomes an adult. Sixteen is the perfect age to do it because 16 is the age when kids start to gain independence in our current culture. 16-year-olds are young enough that their parents often still see them and treat them like children, but old enough that they start gaining more emotional, physical, and legal independence (being able to drive and so on). 16 is the perfect age for Ariel's "transition from childhood under her father's thumb to adulthood with the man she wants to share her life with" story.

Yeah she was really young but at least Eric was only 18 and not like an old man or something!And as for the sequel a few years had passed you can tell because flounder is old!The youngest princess is Snow White she was 14.Then it's jasmine who is 15.Aurora,and Ariel are both 16 and also maybe rapunzel but I'm not sure.Im also not completely certain about Mulan but I think she was 17 so is Belle.Cinderella and Tiana are the oldest at 19.Thats all of the princesses I know.I hope that helped! :-)

Well, they are teenagers so they can be more relatable to young girls yet still can be looked up by them as role models, that's my guess. To be fair, we don't know if Ariel married Eric at the age of sixteen: they never specified the time that passed between the kiss at the beach and the wedding. It could have been a couple of years, for all we know, though I believe it was just some months. But sixteen isn't an unusual age for marriage, especially in fairy tales.

And yes, there are princesses younger than Ariel: Snow White is 14 and Jasmine is 15.

Behind every Disney Princess tale there's a fable. The original timeframe for their stories as such ranges anywhere from Ancient Greece (Hercules) to the XIX century (The Little Mermaid).

In those times life was far shorter than it's now, and as such people married ridicolously young, since they believed to have only a few years to grow a family.

Furthermore, most fables are "coming of age" stories, set those too in ancient times.

Where the male lead, the prince, was supposed to become an adult by doing something heroic and taking his place on the throne, thus simbolizing the young boy who stops playing and dreaming what he'd like do be as an adult and takes his rightful role among the "grown ups", the female lead in those times was supposed to realize herself by marriage.

A big exception is made for Ariel: in the original Andersen story Ariel was supposed to fail, having the prince (nameless in the original story, as nameless was she) marry another girl, chosen by his still living parents, and getting the Little Mermaid die of heartache and the side-effects of the curse turning her human and be reborn as a "spirit of the air", guardian of the good children of the world.

Ariel was a negative (but still close to Andersen) character, simbolizing the risk of giving free rein to instincts and passion, and the "rightful bride" was the positive character, simbolizing the pure love one could find in marriage.

Disney gave her another spin: she became a spunky and rebellious teen who truly desired to get out an oppressive household and see the world, she got her "true love" along the way and she ended up like the other girls in those less illuminated day, becoming a mother fairly soon, but at least landing with a good husband and a nice daughter.

Mostly every other Disney Princesses, save for Tiana and Elsa maybe, are teens.