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I Illustrated Disney Princesses As Modern Day Girls Living In The 21st Century
Hi, I’m Anoosha. I’m a children’s book illustrator and character designer for animation. I love Disney princesses, and in my spare time I created a series of digital illustrations of what I imagine these girls would be like as 21st century teens/young adults.
I tried to be accurate to their personalities, writing little backstories for each character. I also put little homages to their movies, can you spot them all?
More info: anooshasyed.com
Merida the Punk Rocker
Merida goes horseback riding every weekend with Angus (when she’s not being pestered by her brothers) and has an archery scholarship. Being the rebel she is, in this AU she discovers the world of british punk-rock. Mor’du is probably her favourite band, and though Merida’s mother always complains about it, Elinor is always humming the tunes the next day.
Snow White the Social Media Queen
Snow White, better known online as @poison_apple7, is a fashion blogger with a love for nature, vintage fashion and old movies. She is never seen without her iPhone, talking selfies with her roommates or posting her #ootd. Snow quickly gained a large following because of her humble nature, how she would promote self-love and that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. Though she tends to get into a lot of online drama with makeup guru, @therealevilqueen, Snow White is still the fairest of them all (at least according to their follower counts!)
Ariel the Anthropologist
Ever since she was little, Ariel knew she was going to be a marine biologist, just like her father. It wasn’t her dream, but she knew it made him happy. She even joined her school’s swim team, the Flounders for him. But after taking an Anthropology class in her freshman year, she knew she had to change her major. Her sisters think it’s because of Eric, the cute T.A for the class, but that’s not true. Ariel loved studying humans and different cultures. It was just so fascinating learning about people, and she knew this was the world where she belonged. She couldn’t wait to go someplace exciting on the annual anthropology trip; maybe get a souvenir for her collection! Her father wouldn’t be happy about it, but he’ll come around…. eventually.
Pocahontas the Linguist
Pocahontas, with her love of languages and her heritage, works part time as a translator while studying Linguistics in college. She’s not all work though; Pocahontas is a bit of an adrenaline junkie and loves to go mountain hiking, kayak through dangerous rivers or go cliff diving! Her dream is to work as cultural advisor in the film industry, making sure that Hollywood movies are respectful of other cultures and stay accurate to their source material. (Don’t worry, that raccoon tail on her bag is totally fake!)
Esmeralda the Ballet Dancer
As a child, Esmeralda has arrived in France as a refugee, but she has come a long way since then. She is the coryphée at a prestigious ballet company in Paris and has worked hard to get there despite the prejudice she faced along the way. She has never forgotten her roots, which is why she’s always in the front lines for every pro-migrant protest and rally, volunteering at refuge camps or being an active member of the social justice community. Esmeralda loves Paris, but her favourite place in the whole city is definitely the beautiful Notre Dame.
Mulan the Cadet
Mulan, hoping to follow her father’s footsteps, wanted to join the military school that he went to when he was young. The only problem? It’s all-boys. With the help of her gym trainer, Mushu, she secretly disguised herself as a man and enrolled. Of course, she was eventually discovered, but Mulan had proven herself to be an excellent cadet and her actions led to the school opening its doors to female students the following year. Her father was proud, to say the least. Apart from being a total badass, Mulan’s favourite movie is She’s the Man. Obviously.
Tiana the Entrepreneur
Tiana’s on the ‘25 most Successful People Under 25′ list for good reason; she’s one of the youngest restaurant owners in the world, with wildly popular Tiana’s Palace cafe’s scattered all over the country. Her cafe’s are famous for her fantastic family recipes, beignets, and weekly jazz shows.
Belle the Fangirl
Belle is a still a bookworm and loves well-written characters; but in this AU she’s also obssessed with TV shows and movies. She’ll stay up till 4am reading fanfics, or bingewatching Game of Thrones. Obviously she has a tumblr where she fangirls constantly, (but she won’t tell you her url!)
Jasmine the Travel Blogger
Jasmine is a travel blogger, exploring the world and immersing herself in different cultures. While she loves going to new places, one of her favourite parts of the trip is always looking out the plane window, while soaring through an endless diamond sky. She is also studying to be veterinarian, and is a devoted animal rights activist. Jasmine, of course, has five cats (and counting!)
Jane the Artist
Jane Porter had just graduated from Central St. Martins with a scientific illustration degree when her father surprised her with an incredible opportunity. He wanted Jane to assist him in his research of African gorillas in the Congo rainforest for the rest of the year. It was one thing to spend your weekends sketching animals at the zoo, but to leave her life in London and go the the dangerous depths of the jungle where she’d be face-to-face with ferocious beasts and the possibility of being lost forever and who knows what else… It was reckless and dangerous, to say the least. She couldn’t wait.
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Share on FacebookDespite this being an over used concept, you rendered it very well. Your illustrations are not only enticing and unique, but how you portrayed the princesses with different body shapes is fantastic.
I love the fact that you didn't draw them overly skinny. They have much more realistic bodies. Fantastic work. Congrats.
I love it that you drew Jasmine in a hijab. I appreciate us hijabis are represented
This is not just another cheesy "Disney princess whatever". This is really clever in any detail, like the writings on t-shirts etc. etc., great job!
Smart and creative!! I love how intentional each detail was :) Your drawing style reminds me of "The Little Golden Books"
These are Fantastic! I think what makes them so different from other renditions is there is an actual concept here. Outside of just re-illustrating for the sake of doing it, you have developed a back story that ties into the overall idea making it more relatable. Beautiful!
I love that the princesses have normal bodies. Plus I lol-ed at Jasmine's Hijab :P It looks fab!
I love the descriptions of the princess! They're actually smart young women.
Awesome of you to create the backstories, and therefore breathing modern lives to these brave characters who like their original stories stay true to themselves, and unlike their original stories, more relevant today speaking of girl power and self realisation. Thanks for sharing your love of the Disney Princess in such an inspiring and refreshing way :))
Lovely work! I like it that each character has a personality, career, aspirations and abilities far beyond just 'being a princess'. Now I want to see all the new movies about these fabulous young women.
i'm seriously overfed with this disney princesses trend but this is very different and unique! plus i read that many have stressed out how wonderful is the work you did on body types and i'm sorry but i'll have to reiterate this. :) i loved the exquisite and exhilarating reference to rené magritte in ariel's totebag! great job!
OMG!! Ariel has ceci n'est une pipe! (This is not a pipe). I love the reference!
This fanart make the real & pretty description about Disney Princess in modern style!!! Amazing!!!
Mulan is easily my favorite of these. Although...she looks a tiny bit like Gogo Tomago. Which is okay, I guess. If you ever get bored with Disney, feel free to ask me about the Camelorum Adventures lineup. Or Sodality. Or...anything else I've worked on. Your take on Blood Over Water characters in other art styles...now THAT would be something!
Being a fangirl is great, but I would've made Belle something else. A professor. A psychologist. I don't know, but something else more related to knowledge rather than stories. Aside from being particular about that, I love it!
Merida as a punk rocker cracked me up, but really, all your characterizations are fantastic! I hope you plan to do Rapunzel as well. Thank you for a unique take on the Disney Princess genre!
I love this article! Your illustrations are so gorgeous! I wish they looked like that in their respective animated films. My favorites are definitely Belle, Tiana and Merida. I've so much in common with them^_^I'm hoping you'll do one on Disney princes soon!
Thank you! I'm still slowly going through the princess (planning on doing the underrated ones too) but princes are definitely in the future!
Load More Replies...You captured their personalities perfectly, I couldn't have said it better myself! :) Congrats
belle is definitely a superwholock tumblr girl w/galaxy leggings
could i have permission make bases of your artwork and submit them to deviantart as long as i credit you
This was pure gold! I love it so much! Belle is definitely my fav!
I love your illustrations and most of your career choices make a lot of sense! Kind of surprised you didn’t give Belle a career though. The fan girl art is really cute but what career would she have? I think Belle would be a literary professor or at least a grad student working on her PhD :)
This is awesome. I would like to have your permission to use your artwork for a group cosplay. If this is ok, I need to know exactly the words on the shirts.
That is the EXACT way I thought Snow White would look if she lived today!
Why is Jasmine wearing a hijab?? She would never want or wear such a misogynistic symbol.
I feel like i'm the only person who LOVES that Jasmine is wearing a Hijab. LOVE IT! the realistic body types is awesome too!
u did and awesome job with the way uadw them if they were in the real world and from there cartoon aspect from the childhood keep up the great work
I love all the backstories. I also want to sew up some of these outfits, lol they are just so cute <3
I love you so much. Out of all of the renditions of the princesses I think that these are my favorite. I hope it is all right if I use these For Disney bounding inspiration. I can't stop looking at them!!
Wow...awesome. So detailed and very cool how each princess has a unique personality! Two paws up!
It is a mark of how engaging these are that I was disappointed to run out, and immediately thought of several more I wish you'd done. I particularly liked the amount of personality and attitude you were able to put in their facial expressions.
I hope Jane meets Tarzan out there ^^ They all look so nice! And I appreciate how their careers and sense of style totally represent who they are! Hey- how about you do something for the Princes?
I hope Jane meets tarzan out there ^^ hey- how about you do something for the Princes?
I think they're great, but Belle as a fangirl? She could've been the intellectual academic since she loved to read.
Very creative and more imaginative than most of the "Disney princess" genre! Love the different body types and different cultures represented.
I love the descriptions of each princess! They're actually smart young ladies!
I really enjoyed this .. I don't normally like these things but you totally nailed this ! Do you have a website ? :)
Thank you! It's www.anooshasyed.com
Load More Replies...Thank u for drawing jasmine in a hijab! I appreciate us hijabis are represented
Love your artwork- and the backstories which transform to the image and facial expression of the characters! Best of all, with the backstories you breath in them, you also breath new life to these princesses- a modern life which is, while remains to be true to be oneself, shines with girl power which is much more relevant to inspire girls today (esp fans of the princesses)! Thanks for sharing your love and inspire :))
I had to think a few of those through but they made sense. My daughter is unhappy. :-)
Simply Stunning!! Love this artist and her work :D xxx The back stories are the cutest as well, and i cannot dig enough the plus size, multicultural, inclusionary way she's done everything!! <3
Despite this being an over used concept, you rendered it very well. Your illustrations are not only enticing and unique, but how you portrayed the princesses with different body shapes is fantastic.
I love the fact that you didn't draw them overly skinny. They have much more realistic bodies. Fantastic work. Congrats.
I love it that you drew Jasmine in a hijab. I appreciate us hijabis are represented
This is not just another cheesy "Disney princess whatever". This is really clever in any detail, like the writings on t-shirts etc. etc., great job!
Smart and creative!! I love how intentional each detail was :) Your drawing style reminds me of "The Little Golden Books"
These are Fantastic! I think what makes them so different from other renditions is there is an actual concept here. Outside of just re-illustrating for the sake of doing it, you have developed a back story that ties into the overall idea making it more relatable. Beautiful!
I love that the princesses have normal bodies. Plus I lol-ed at Jasmine's Hijab :P It looks fab!
I love the descriptions of the princess! They're actually smart young women.
Awesome of you to create the backstories, and therefore breathing modern lives to these brave characters who like their original stories stay true to themselves, and unlike their original stories, more relevant today speaking of girl power and self realisation. Thanks for sharing your love of the Disney Princess in such an inspiring and refreshing way :))
Lovely work! I like it that each character has a personality, career, aspirations and abilities far beyond just 'being a princess'. Now I want to see all the new movies about these fabulous young women.
i'm seriously overfed with this disney princesses trend but this is very different and unique! plus i read that many have stressed out how wonderful is the work you did on body types and i'm sorry but i'll have to reiterate this. :) i loved the exquisite and exhilarating reference to rené magritte in ariel's totebag! great job!
OMG!! Ariel has ceci n'est une pipe! (This is not a pipe). I love the reference!
This fanart make the real & pretty description about Disney Princess in modern style!!! Amazing!!!
Mulan is easily my favorite of these. Although...she looks a tiny bit like Gogo Tomago. Which is okay, I guess. If you ever get bored with Disney, feel free to ask me about the Camelorum Adventures lineup. Or Sodality. Or...anything else I've worked on. Your take on Blood Over Water characters in other art styles...now THAT would be something!
Being a fangirl is great, but I would've made Belle something else. A professor. A psychologist. I don't know, but something else more related to knowledge rather than stories. Aside from being particular about that, I love it!
Merida as a punk rocker cracked me up, but really, all your characterizations are fantastic! I hope you plan to do Rapunzel as well. Thank you for a unique take on the Disney Princess genre!
I love this article! Your illustrations are so gorgeous! I wish they looked like that in their respective animated films. My favorites are definitely Belle, Tiana and Merida. I've so much in common with them^_^I'm hoping you'll do one on Disney princes soon!
Thank you! I'm still slowly going through the princess (planning on doing the underrated ones too) but princes are definitely in the future!
Load More Replies...You captured their personalities perfectly, I couldn't have said it better myself! :) Congrats
belle is definitely a superwholock tumblr girl w/galaxy leggings
could i have permission make bases of your artwork and submit them to deviantart as long as i credit you
This was pure gold! I love it so much! Belle is definitely my fav!
I love your illustrations and most of your career choices make a lot of sense! Kind of surprised you didn’t give Belle a career though. The fan girl art is really cute but what career would she have? I think Belle would be a literary professor or at least a grad student working on her PhD :)
This is awesome. I would like to have your permission to use your artwork for a group cosplay. If this is ok, I need to know exactly the words on the shirts.
That is the EXACT way I thought Snow White would look if she lived today!
Why is Jasmine wearing a hijab?? She would never want or wear such a misogynistic symbol.
I feel like i'm the only person who LOVES that Jasmine is wearing a Hijab. LOVE IT! the realistic body types is awesome too!
u did and awesome job with the way uadw them if they were in the real world and from there cartoon aspect from the childhood keep up the great work
I love all the backstories. I also want to sew up some of these outfits, lol they are just so cute <3
I love you so much. Out of all of the renditions of the princesses I think that these are my favorite. I hope it is all right if I use these For Disney bounding inspiration. I can't stop looking at them!!
Wow...awesome. So detailed and very cool how each princess has a unique personality! Two paws up!
It is a mark of how engaging these are that I was disappointed to run out, and immediately thought of several more I wish you'd done. I particularly liked the amount of personality and attitude you were able to put in their facial expressions.
I hope Jane meets Tarzan out there ^^ They all look so nice! And I appreciate how their careers and sense of style totally represent who they are! Hey- how about you do something for the Princes?
I hope Jane meets tarzan out there ^^ hey- how about you do something for the Princes?
I think they're great, but Belle as a fangirl? She could've been the intellectual academic since she loved to read.
Very creative and more imaginative than most of the "Disney princess" genre! Love the different body types and different cultures represented.
I love the descriptions of each princess! They're actually smart young ladies!
I really enjoyed this .. I don't normally like these things but you totally nailed this ! Do you have a website ? :)
Thank you! It's www.anooshasyed.com
Load More Replies...Thank u for drawing jasmine in a hijab! I appreciate us hijabis are represented
Love your artwork- and the backstories which transform to the image and facial expression of the characters! Best of all, with the backstories you breath in them, you also breath new life to these princesses- a modern life which is, while remains to be true to be oneself, shines with girl power which is much more relevant to inspire girls today (esp fans of the princesses)! Thanks for sharing your love and inspire :))
I had to think a few of those through but they made sense. My daughter is unhappy. :-)
Simply Stunning!! Love this artist and her work :D xxx The back stories are the cutest as well, and i cannot dig enough the plus size, multicultural, inclusionary way she's done everything!! <3
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