Disney 30 Day Challenge - Favorite Prince

 

For my 2nd entry in the "Disney 30 Day Challenge", the Tofu Muchacha randomly selected #3, "Favorite Prince"

I can't say that I'm super excited about this one, even though maybe I should be since the Princesses get all the pub. The World of Animation is a Ladies World, and the Princes are usually not much more than props to dispense magical kisses, to appear out of the mist after being turned back to human, to have giant statues made in their likenesses, or to you know... ride around on horses.

There aren't truly that many interesting princes from which to choose, but finally I came up with a couple of princes I could consider...

1) Simba.
Let's face it... He's petulant, he gets his father killed (sort of), he runs off into hiding, he leaves his friends and family and his mother to a life of slavery at the hands of his evil uncle (also a Prince, I suppose). Even with all that, though, he's still kinda awesome. He grows up, becomes a man, and ultimately saves everyone. All the while singing some of the catchiest tunes, and having a super cool entourage. Simba is a strong candidate.

2) Hercules
Maybe it's a stretch, because he's more a "god" than a "prince", but he IS the son of Zeus, the king of the gods, so doesn't that make him a prince? Anyway... Hercules is one of the great, un-sung Disney movies of all time. If it had come out BEFORE The Little Mermaid, people would have been blown away, but since it came out in the wake of all those great early to mid-90s classics, it sort of gets forgotten. I'll likely revisit this later, but Hercules also sings one of the great male songs in the entirety of the Disney songbook in "Go the Distance". It's a phenomenal song. He also gets points, in my book, for never truly straying from being a "good guy". He also willingly makes one of the great sacrifices in all of the Disneysphere by offering up his own soul to save Meg's.

3) Aladdin
The true "diamond in the rough". He's a pretty great character, and definitely the... you know... title character. I have a soft spot for Aladdin, because he's a dreamer. He wasn't born a prince, and he certainly makes some misguided choices along the way, but he's brave, and resourceful, and looks out for the little guy (who doesn't love when Aladdin gives some of that bread to those kids?). He also has to fight Jafar, and while he's pretty much unsuccessful at that, he does give it a good try, and trying does matter. Also? He's got a Monkey friend, which is awesome. And a Genie. That's pretty cool too...

So... who's my favorite prince?

Gotta go with Hercules. 

(Incidentally, the Disney Wiki does not list Hercules OR Simba as "official" princes, but I don't care.)

I should mention the Honorable Mention goes to Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid. Not because he does much of anything (besides stab Ursula with a ship), but because in the long-running show at Disney World, the actor playing Eric has the best paid acting gig of all time. He runs out... says a couple of words and kisses the girl. Over and over.

I won't get another one of these done until Sunday, when I get back from Disneyland.

Oh yeah... did I mention? I'm going to Disneyland!!!!!