Should Princess Leia Be An Official Disney Princess?

Following the death of sci-fi and feminist icon Carrie Fisher, Star Wars fans have mobilized online to sign a petition regarding Fisher’s character. People are calling for Disney to recognize the iconic Leia as an official Disney princess.

Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, which means that everything Star Wars, including Princess Leia, is now under the mouse. The possibility of adding Leia to Disney’s roster of princesses has always been a source of hope for fans of both companies, and the idea of making Leia an official princess has developed into its own sort of online community. Now, with the release of The Force Awakens and Rogue One, Disney has made it clear that it plans to actively invest in the Star Wars universe. Why stop there, fans are asking. Let Leia into the princess squad.

Currently, the Change.org petition has over 32,000 signatures, making it just a couple thousand shy of its 35,000 goal. The petition was created shortly after the news of Fisher’s death broke and calls for Disney to hold a memorial service for the late actress as well as “a full ceremony inducting Leia as the newest Disney princess.” The page even features some concept art, showing how Leia could look as a Disney princess.

Adding Leia Organa to the princess squad makes a lot of sense. Leia is already a princess, so that box is checked, and her story fits in well with Disney’s newer line of empowered leading ladies. The smart and scrappy Leia fought and commanded troops just as well if not better than her male counterparts, and Princess Leia was already a role model for young women long before she was in Disney clique talks.

However, some have argued that the very things that make Leia so epic are holding her back from the Princess Pack. For one, Leia is played by a live-action actress, which seems to be a Disney princess no-no. Disney’s own Giselle from Enchanted is surprisingly missing from the princess roster. One YouTube user defended this choice, arguing that Disney’s princesses need to be completely animated to separate these characters from their actors’ humanity and morality. Also, like I mentioned before, Leia has commanded rebel troops during a war and killed aliens, which seems decidedly un-princess-like. However, times change and so too should our steadfast rules about animated princesses. You can sign the Change.org petition here. 

So what do you think? Does Disney’s current line-up of princesses need an injection of intergalactic epicness or is Leia too controversial of an addition?