Swiss Artist Creates Seven of the Most Visually Stunning Portraits of Disney Characters We've Ever Seen

Disney fan art has a way of making familiar characters feel brand new, and this Swiss artist pulled that off beautifully. In 2013, a series of seven portraits featuring female Disney characters appeared on DeviantArt, and the results were striking enough to stand out even in a sea of creative reinterpretations.

The collection includes characters like Aurora, Ariel, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, each rendered with a polished, dramatic style that gives the portraits a fresh edge. It is a simple premise, but the execution makes these Disney favorites look almost cinematic.

Seven portraits, one artist, and a lot of Disney magic, here is the full story.

1. Princess Aurora, Sleeping Beauty

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2. Sleeping Beauty was released in 1959 and was Disney's 16th animated film.

Legendary artist Eyvind Earle created the background art for the entire film, and the influence of his gothic or medieval style helped set the tone for everything beloved about this classic animated film. According to Wikipedia's resources, in 2019, Sleeping Beauty was "selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

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3. Ariel, The Little Mermaid

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These portraits have a polished, almost cinematic feel.

4. Based on the 1837 Danish fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid is truly one of the most beloved Disney films from Disney's "Renaissance."

To be specific, The Little Mermaid essentially kicks off Disney's Renaissance. For ten years, from 1989 to 1999, Disney produced multiple critically and commercially successful animated films that were mostly based on already well-known stories.

Disney's Renaissance films were considered "powerhouse successes" at both the domestic and foreign box offices, and many of the films remain among the most beloved to this day, including Aladdin, The Lion King, and Mulan.

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5. Ursula, Disguised as Vanessa in The Little Mermaid

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6. Cinderella

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7. French author Charles Perrault wrote the story that inspired what we know today as Disney's Cinderella.

Cinderella is Disney's 12th feature-length animated film, and many people think of Cinderella as the original Disney Princess, even though that title belongs to Snow White, the fairest of them all. Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Bambi were all box office bombs for Walt Disney Studios, and Disney was on the verge of bankruptcy just three years before Cinderella was released.

Thankfully, Cinderella went on to become the greatest critical and commercial hit for the Disney studio since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs! As with Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

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8. Ariel, Human Form in The Little Mermaid

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Disney fans know how much a new artistic take can change the mood of a character.

Same vibe as the small moments that turn everyday scenes into surprises.

9. Snow White from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

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10. Adjusted for inflation, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is one of the top ten performers at the North American box office and the highest-grossing animated film. Worldwide, its inflation-adjusted earnings top the animation list.

The film was also one of the first 25 films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by Congress, and in 2008, the American Film Institute named it the greatest animated film of all time. Today, Snow White's story has been told and retold more times than can easily be tracked, and she is one of the most recognizable animated characters of all time.

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11. Rapunzel and Mother Gothel, Tangled

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12. Tangled is loosely based on the German fairy tale called Rapunzel; you may recognize the name from the Brothers Grimm.

Astonishingly, it is believed that Tangled is one of the most expensive animated films ever produced, taking six years and costing around $260 million. People have spent years discussing why the movie is titled Tangled instead of Rapunzel, and both the directors and executive producer argue that it was simply because the story is about both Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder, and Rapunzel is not the main character in Disney's take on the folk tale.

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It is easy to see why this series still gets attention years later.

Whether you found yourself stumbling into the Disney universe in recent years, perhaps even from another fandom like Star Wars or Marvel, or if you've been a lifelong devotee of the Disney universe, it's easy to see why fans find themselves so inspired by these timeless, fun, and creative stories in constantly changing ways. Don't forget to check out the artist and let us know in the comments what your favorite Disney movie is.

This one still stands out.

Want more stunning “old master” energy, like the portraits that inspired modern artists? Check out these 77 Old Masters paintings.