Disney: 15 Characters Who Proudly Wear Glasses (2024)

In recent years, Disney has incorporated more diversity and inclusion into their classic fairytale worlds. The studio has challenged the norms of children's stories and begun to weave relevant and important messages through the webs of their tales. In the company's most recent blockbuster hit, Encanto, they've introduced another first, a female lead who wears glasses.

This lead, Mirabel, opens up the opportunity for more children around the world to relate to the characters they see on screen. It was about time for a princess who wears spectacles, although fans of Disney have seen both main and supporting characters wear glasses before over the years.

Mei - Turning Red (2022)

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Turning Red's Meilin Lee is the movie's protagonist, a thirteen-year-old girl living in Toronto in the early 2000s. Turning Red deals with the awkwardness of growing up brilliantly, and although Mei wears glasses, they are never connected to the embarrassment she goes through in the movie.

RELATED: 10 Best Disney Animal Movies Of All Time, According To RedditEven so, Mei's glasses could be viewed as an extension of her dorky personality, as there is a trope in Disney movies and beyond that glasses signal intelligence and/or "nerdiness". What sets Mei apart from this stereotype is that she is a fully fleshed-out character, plus, she is not the only character who wears glasses in the movie.

Sadness - Inside Out (2015)

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One of five main emotions that live in protagonist Riley's mind, Sadness is the embodiment of her name. Rather than being dismissed as a negative emotion, though, a big part of Inside Out's story is about the necessity of all the emotions that come together to make each individual who they are.

Sadness' design reinforces her personality as a shy character, with her oversized sweater suggesting that she is looking for comfort. Sadness is Joy's visual opposite, and though it's disheartening that Sadness is the emotion represented by a glasses-wearing character, it is understandable given Disney's history of using glasses to signal an outcast, however wrong this may be in real life.

Honey Lemon - Big Hero 6 (2014)

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Honey Lemon from Big Hero 6 is one of five college-aged characters that protagonist Hiro meets in the movie. Although most of these college kids are shown to be geniuses, only Honey Lemon wears glasses, proving that not every intelligent character needs such a visual signifier.

Honey Lemon's affinity for chemistry is not the extent of her personality, though, as she's also shown to be a very caring and optimistic individual who becomes an integral part of the Big Hero 6 team.

John Darling - Peter Pan (1953)

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One of Wendy's two brothers in Peter Pan, John Darling is a young glasses-wearing boy who journeys to Neverland alongside his siblings.

As was par for the course in Disney's early days, the fact that John wears glasses is a nod to his mature and clever personality. At the same time, though, he is also very interested in pirates and adventure, which helps to enhance his character beyond these stereotypical traits.

Priya - Turning Red (2022)

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Priya from Turning Red is one of Mei's best friends at school, and their friendship group has one of the best relationships in the movie. Although each member of the group is different, their love for one another remains strong.

The decision for Priya to wear glasses helps to combat any of the glasses-wearing character tropes that Mei, as a nerdy girl who feels like an outcast at times, falls into. Priya is depicted as the cool girl of her friend group, with a dry wit and chill demeanor who cares deeply about her best friends.

Doc - Snow White (1937)

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One of Disney's first films, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, takes viewers on a journey in which protagonist Snow White befriends a group of seven unique dwarfs. There's no shortage of fun as the dwarfs serenade Snow White, revealing their distinct personality traits. Doc, the leader of the gang, is a fan-favorite due to his leadership, boldness, and reliability.

Doc is the only one of the seven to wear glasses, and his spectacles combine with his cheery smile to make him stand out from the rest. In Snow White, glasses are used as a way to indicate Doc's older age, wisdom, and influence over the other dwarfs, acting as a visual shortcut to reveal his personality.

Geppetto - Pinocchio (1940)

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In 1940, Disney released the controversial Pinocchio, about a woodworker who carves himself a son out of magical wood. The woodworker in question, Geppetto, wears glasses, indicating his age and the studious nature of his profession.

Geppetto does glasses-wearing Disney characters justice due to his kind and nurturing attitude, and even though his decision to construct a son out of wood is morally questionable—and leads to one of the scariest character transformations in movies—his intentions are pure, as above all else he desires to help others.

Smee - Peter Pan (1953)

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Smee is a secondary antagonist in Peter Pan, though usually glasses are not associated with villains in Disney movies. Smee is more of a follower than a leader, as the first mate to Captain Hook, and in Peter Pan's many adaptations, he is usually depicted in classic pirate attire, while also wearing a pair of glasses.

RELATED: 10 Times Disney Characters Shattered The Fourth WallAlthough he is part of a brutal crew of pirates, Smee is actually a very soft-spoken and gentle-natured character. Smee's glasses reinforce the fact that he likes to hide behind something, whether that be his spectacles or his fearless Captain. Despite his villainy, Smee's underdog nature makes him a beloved character.

The White Rabbit - Alice In Wonderland (1951)

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The White Rabbit is always late, or at least he worries he is. His jittery disposition is reinforced by the fact that he wears glasses, as unfortunately, Disney has often used glasses as a way to accentuate 'nerdy' characteristics in their stories.

The White Rabbit isn't the most fondly remembered character in Alice in Wonderland, as he isn't very kind to Alice and he worries more about timekeeping than anything else. Disney's 2010 live-action remake of Alice in Wonderland changed this, as the White Rabbit's glasses are absent, perhaps suggesting that the studio wanted to move away from their past stereotypical use of the item.

Merlin - The Sword In The Stone (1963)

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The Sword in the Stone is Disney's adaptation of the classic story of King Arthur. Merlin is a hugely powerful old wizard that Arthur turns to in his quest to help out his brother, and by depicting Merlin as wearing glasses, Disney once again suggests a link between power and spectacles.

While better representation than some of Disney's other glasses-wearing characters, Merlin is known for being absentminded. He emphasizes brain over brawn, which continues to support the trope that characters who wear glasses have to be smart. Still, he is hailed as the greatest wizard in the world, with powers like shape-shifting, enchantment, and alchemy.

Milo Thatch - Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

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Atlantis: The Lost Empire is considered to be one of the best steampunk movies ever. Milo James Thatch is the protagonist of the story, a glasses-wearing cartography expert that leads the expedition to the lost continent. Milo has plenty of personality and proved that Disney could create characters with glasses that were more nuanced.

Even so, the stereotypes around glasses continue in Atlantis, as Milo is a very intelligent character. Then again, this is not Milo's only trait, as he is also a brave and determined individual who perseveres even when there are obstacles in his way.

Ace - Chicken Little (2005)

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Chicken Little tells the tale of an outcast chicken who claims the sky is falling. Chicken Little's actual name is Ace, and he is the protagonist of the movie. Ace creates chaos in his town where no one believes him because of his worrisome personality.

Chicken Little marks one of the first times that Disney gave glasses to the leading character in a movie, and it did a great job representing the underdog or the bullied kid in school. Still, Disney continued to represent an outcast as having glasses, furthering a false stereotype. All the same, little Ace was a hero, and he was ultimately proved right.

Carl Fredricksen - Up (2009)

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Up is one of the most beautiful stories of love and loss. The story follows Carl, an elderly man dealing with grief after his wife of many years dies, who can't imagine a life of love and happiness without her. In Up, Carl's signature look is completed by his thick-rimmed, black square glasses.

RELATED: The 10 Most Recognizable Costume Pieces From Disney MoviesUp's famous opening montage shows that Carl is not depicted as wearing glasses due to his age, but has in fact had them his whole life. This acts as a way to connect the character to his history while also keeping the older version of the character recognizable when viewers are shown his young self.

Edna Mode - The Incredibles (2004)

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Edna has become so much more than just a character from The Incredibles. She is a meme, an icon, a reference, and an entire aesthetic. Edna gained a large fan base thanks to her blunt personality and many quotable moments, and she is an invaluable ally to one of the best superhero families in film, the Parrs.

Part of Edna's great fashion sense comes from her big, black, round glasses. She is never spotted without them, except when she takes them off to use her eye scanner. Edna is highly accomplished in her craft and is a superhero in her own right.

Mirabel Madrigal - Encanto (2021)

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Mirabel from Encanto marks the first time that Disney has created a princess or leading female character with spectacles. Although she is considered an outcast, as are many of Disney's glasses-wearing characters, she is also the main reason that the Madrigal magic is kept alive, and she is the key to saving the day at the end of the film.

Without Mirabel, the Madrigal family would be no more. Aside from being an outcast, she has no traits that reinforce tropes common to glasses-wearing characters, and instead is a complex hero. Best summed up by her mother, Julieta, Mirabel has a "wonderful brain, a big heart, and cool glasses."

NEXT: 10 Most Unconventional Disney Heroes