TikTokers are flagging this worrying ‘Disney princess nose’ detail

TikTok users are pointing out a concerning “Disney princess noses” trend shared among some of the most popular animated heroines, and, honestly, we can’t believe this hasn’t had more attention before.

It started with a viral video from the account @gangbanger_0, which has at times of writing accrued over five million views. The video, which is soundtracked to the song “Remember You Omnichord” by Mars Bars, features still shot after shot of Disney princesses: Ariel from The Little Mermaid; Aurora from Sleeping Beauty; Belle from Beauty and the Beast; Snow White from Snow White – each with their nose ringed in red. What’s clear, from the juxtaposition, is the lookalike quality of these noses: tiny in comparison to the rest of their features, with a narrow, subtly upturned tip.

The video then proceeds to show Disney villains – Jafar from Aladdin; Madame Medusa from Rescuers Down Under; the Evil Queen from Snow White; Ursula from The Little Mermaid – also with their noses ringed for emphasis.

“This must be so confusing for a little girl,” we hear, aptly, via the song lyrics at the end.

Another video, from TikTok user @robinreaction, questions, “How much nose is a Disney Princess allowed to have?”, answering her own question as, “It depends on what year you were drawn”.

The video creator, via a green screen piece to camera laid over a slideshow of images, takes us chronologically through the Disney films over the years, showing the development of the drawings over time.

The “earliest princesses”, for instance Cinderella and Snow White, have “the merest hint of nostril”. This is in contrast with the Ugly Sisters in Cinderella, who – as she indicates – have much more prominent noses, “in stark contrast”. “One of the easiest ways to tell if a woman is going to be evil or just unfuckable is if they have a nose that isn’t a nose,” she adds.

She observes the continued “general lack of nose treatment” throughout the 80s, 90s and early Noughties, through to when non-white princesses like Pocahontas were introduced.

“[Disney] know how to draw extremely hot people with more defined noses,” she says, showing images of Disney Prince Charmings drawn as such, “they just keep women in a very narrow definition of beauty”, she says.

However, she shows that things are changing “slightly” with the advent of “wokeness”, pointing out newer heroines such as Moana who have a more shapely nose.

Sure, it’s animation. But we can’t help thinking how uncomfortably this overlaps with plastic surgery trends – and, with #disneyprincessnose trending on the platform (over 650k views, at time of writing), including the video below from surgeon Dr Burak Dikmen, the influence can be seen.

However, it’s worth mentioning there’s some disagreement on TikTok over to whether it’s just animation, or if Disney princess noses are an issue worthy of debate. “So are we gonna cry about every single thing in life or just carry on,” commented one user, named Melissa, below @robinreaction’s post.

Others spoke about how these images had impacted their own lives. “As a big nose gal the villains having the most defined noses really impacted me in a bad way for a long time”, wrote one commenter. “Well that’s where my nose insecurity stems”, wrote another.