The Real Women Behind Your Favorite Disney Princesses

From Aurora pricking her finger on a spindle to Ariel singing about her beloved gadgets and gizmos, everyone recognizes their favorite Disney princess. But how many people can name the Broadway actress behind Belle, or the Native American beauty who inspired Pocahontas’ trademark look and voiced the animated character? There’s a long line of virtually unrecognizable actresses who brought Disney’s iconic princesses to life, and they should be far more famous than they actually are.

1. Snow White (1937)

As the first full-length Disney movie ever made, it was lucky that Walt struck gold with this animal-loving heroine. Adored by everyone from woodland animals to the seven dwarfs, the pure and innocent Snow White of 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is despised only by the pathologically jealous Evil Queen. She famously wishes to replace her own stepdaughter as “the fairest of them all.” So how does the woman behind the voice match up?

Adriana Caselotti

The daughter of an opera-singing mom and a music-teacher dad, Adriana Caselotti was an 18-year-old MGM chorus girl when Walt Disney chose her to voice Snow White. Not only did she earn less than $1,000 for the job, but the role also stunted Caselotti’s career; she reportedly signed a contract limiting her from voicing other projects. Caselotti later, however, worked as an opera singer and penned a book called Do You Like to Sing?

2. Cinderella (1950)

In the ultimate rags-to-riches love story, Cinderella conquers her cruel stepmother and ugly stepsisters by finding true love at the ball in the 1950 version. But she couldn’t have done it without the help of the Fairy Godmother, a handful of seamstress mice, and, of course, those unmatchable glass slippers. The sweet-sounding Ilene Woods may not have married an actual prince, but she did bag some impressive accolades of her own.

Ilene Woods

She had her own radio show at 15, but four years later, Woods was nevertheless still amazed to beat 300 other hopefuls to nab the role of Cinderella. The budding starlet even went on to sing for Presidents Roosevelt and Truman. Now, Ed Shaugnessy — the drummer from The Tonight Show — may not have been descended from royalty, but the pair still went on to marry. Tragically, though, the star would eventually forget that she had played the iconic princess, after falling victim in later life to Alzheimer’s disease.