Talk:Disney Princess/@comment-4075031-20130929200311/@comment-1416077-20130930230139

Brzoskwinia: When they started, there was no official list of princesses! Ergo, Esmeralda was never official. Meaning, she was about as official as Clarabelle Cow. At the time, the "princess" title was NOT of the characters, but of the target consumer: little girls (i.e. "princesses"). To this end, all the female characters were lumped together in an effort to exploit a whole new sales demographic.

Y'all remember the t-shirts that were really popular around that time? Bedazzled, blingy and pink, emblazoned with the scrolly word "Princess"... which soon got turned into "spoiled" and other less-than-flattering things... Well, Disney were the ones that started the trend, which soon got copied by EVERYONE.

I mention this so that y'all are aware of the origins of the franchise; characters appealing to young princesses, who were expected to relate to the "flagship" Princesses (Snow White, Aurora, et. al.) that became the central characters of the franchise.

Once Tink was given her own franchise, the Princess franchise pared down, but when Giselle HAD to be excluded, they set the list in stone.

So... while they were once "in" the franchise, they were never "official". Understand?

This makes it particularly sad for Eilonwy, who has been excluded since the very beginning.