NOTE ♥ This is not necessarily my personal opinion but the majority of Fanpoppers' choices.

9. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Despite its lack of appreciation on Fanpop, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs remains an iconic film praised for its groundbreaking animation. Before Snow White, animation in America was used primarily for silly short stories and propoganda. It was considered absurd when Walt himself first embraced the idea of creating a full-length, animated feature film. Critics all thought that no one would ever take a simple, overstretched cartoon seriously on the big screen. But this film changed everything and was the first jewel in a legacy of animated classics. Audiences wept buckets as along with dwarves as they saw the precious little princess in her glass coffin which was extremely peculiar because no one ever thought that they would cry over the death of a cartoon character. The only reasonable explanation for coming in dead last in this countdown is that animation has since improved which is understandable. Snow White's actions can come off slightly choppy and unconvincing and the colour scheme in this film is blander than the later classics. The prince also wasn't an active participant in the plot because of the inexperience in convincingly drawing men, but it is undeniably a fantastic animated film, often praised as the best of its kind.

8. Mulan

Stylistically unique to other princess films, the backgrounds in Mulan are done in watercolour palattes to creat a more simple yet bold and visually stunning film. There is an excellent blend of CGI in sequences such as the huns proceeding down the mountain to attack Shang's army and the crowd watching Mulan battle Shan-Yu on the roof of the Emperor's palace. Needless to say, like all of Disney's theatrical animated classics, the animation is very impressive in the film. But the ones places above it were considered more refined by the majority of voters.

7. Cinderella

Carefully crafted and well polished, Cinderella has gorgeous animation. From the distinct glistening on the floor Cindy scrubs, you can almost feel the texture of the marble tiles. The staircase has a most elegant banister. The wallpaper is detailed and delicately drawn and painted. Besides the immaculate detail in the animation of this film, it is more old-fashioned than the newer fare and thus, like Snow White got booted out due to the fact that Disney has since improved their animating skills. It should also be mentioned that Cinderella's magical dress transformation was known to be Walt's personal favourite piece of animation ever created.

6. Aladdin

Insanely animated, this box office smash pushed boundaries in ways no other Disney film could have imagined. The city of Agrabah is rich in mystery and adventure, which can easily be seen by its sunny, sandy image. The magic carpet is a character that was so wonderfully animated because you have to remember that there honestly was the challenge of hiring an animator to draw a rug and give it a personality through movement which is truly an exciting task. But one of the main things that stands out in impressive animation in Aladdin is the character that stole the show...Genie! The animators did a flawless job in matching up Genie's comedic banter and unstoppable hilarity by having him morph and shapeshift every time there was an impression or joke to be told. Besides this unforgettable sidekick, this film truly mastered a healthy balance between using CGI (for example the tiger head to the Cave of Wonders) and old fashioned animation.

5. The Princess and the Frog

The amazing movie that brought back classic Disney magic after years of straight to DVD crap and a hillbilly teen girl whose secretly a pop star, The Princess and the Frog is a visually jaw-dropping feature. Its fine, detailed portrayal of New Orleans is simply breathtaking and the bayou in which our two leads must journey through is also quite enchanting. Its no wonder that animators drew inspiration from such classics as Bambi and Lady and the Tramp while designing this film. The animation is quite stunning which no one can deny, however some said its heavy use of CGI took away from some of the magic which is why it didn't quite make top four.

4. Pocahontas

This is a truly gorgeous film. Everything is carefully detailed from the ship in which the British settlers arrive to the waterfall in which our heroine canoes down. Everything in this film had to be done with great care and dignity as the film carried more substantial meaning than its predecessors. The CGI enhanced scene in which the leaves surrounding Pocahontas carry their way to the ship in which a wounded John Smith is being taken back to England accompanied with Alan Menken's score can truly send chills down one's spine. Everything in this film is beautiful but its forest backgrounds were considered to be more plain and lacked the extra something that would be needed to make top three.

3. Sleeping Beauty

Praised as one of the most beautiful animated films of all time, Sleeping Beauty is a colourful, dazzling force to be reckoned with. While spending ten years in production of this classic, the goal was simple: make every single frame a piece of artwork. Goal achieved thanks to the late Eyvind Earle, the film's colour stylist and chief background designer. He took great liberty in making a stylistically groundbreaking piece of animation. Everything in Sleeping Beauty is extremely detailed and some particularly fascinating shots truly look as though they were done in CGI which hadn't even been invented yet. Easily one of Disney's most carefully crafted and detailed animated films, Sleeping Beauty is a rare piece of breathtaking, magical eye candy.

2. The Little Mermaid

This sensational masterpiece is proof that the most magnificent things in the world can come straight from our imaginations. The freedom that came in portraying the story of a lovely, longhaired heroine who lived beneath the waves in the ocean was incredible. There were no boundaries in Ariel's movements, nothing was impossible. But there were challenges faced that were overcame with excellence and grace, as is usually the case with Disney. The rays of sunlight from the surface that glimmer on the sea floor and on Ariel's skin is simply genius. The perfect detail in every movement causing bubbles and Ariel's hair constantly swirling around her. Watching The Little Mermaid is like getting lost in a dream that you never want to end. Even the surface scenes were breathtaking (in Flounder's case, literally). The detail inside Eric's kingdom and his castle were astounding and after a string of less than well-received animated flops, The Little Mermaid saved Disney's ass once again.

The most impressive animation in a Disney Princess film comes from...
1. Beauty and the Beast

The ultimate Disney fairy tale classic. A blend of true imagination with the wonderfully animated household object characters and the sophisticated, perfectly detailed backgrounds and settings such as the Beast's castle and the village where Belle and Maurice live. This film not only has spectacular technical animation, but also truly mesmerizing character animation. The Beast is one of the most complex Disney heroes of all time. He was based on a combination of several animals but his eyes are oh so human. You can feel his heartache and his pain just by looking at the glimmer in those baby blues. Belle is also an incredibly animated character. While creating her, the film-makers realized that there goal shouldn't necessarily be to create the most beautiful heroine of all time but to create a credible performance. Belle's beauty shines from within and although some complain about the slight alterations in her appearance, this type of critique can easily be said of other occasionally inconsistent looking characters such as Snow White, Jasmine, and Ariel. This movie is truly a fairy tale book come to life, everything is done in such high quality and with such polish, one can even forget it's animated due to the great story, wonderful music, and ultimately specatacular animation

♥ Now for some shameless self promotion, if you enjoyed this article, please consider reading my new Disney Princess fanfic series Ariana: The Modern Mermaid ...link

♥ dweeb