Disney: 10 Characters Who Proudly Wear Glasses

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

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 wars spectacles, although fans of Disney have seen both main and supporting characters wear glasses before. Here are a few other Disney characters who are known to have proudly worn their glasses.

Doc – Snow White

In one of Disney’s first princess films, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Snow White takes viewers on a journey where along the way she befriends a group of seven very different and unique dwarfs. There is no shortage of fun and entertainment as the dwarfs serenade viewers with song and unique personality traits. Doc, the leader of the gang, is a fan-favorite dwarf due to his unwavering leadership, boldness, and reliability.

He is the only one of the seven to wear glasses, but his spectacles and his cheerful smile and rosy-red cheeks are the ultimate combo fashion statement. One of the things that haven’t aged well about Snow White is the lack of diversity, and although the glasses are used as a way to indicate his older age and influence over the other dwarfs, it is still wonderful to see at least some form of diversity within the film.

Geppetto – Pinocchio

In 1940, Disney released the controversial Pinocchio, about a woodworker who carves himself a son out of magical wood. This woodworker, Geppetto, is yet another Disney creation to wear glasses, and just like Doc, the glasses are used as a way to indicate age and profession.

However, he does glasses-wearing Disney characters justice due to his kind and nurturing attitude. Although his decision to construct a son out of wood is questionable, his intentions are pure, and his desire to help others, make people happy, and bring joy to the world are apparent in the dedication to his craft and ultimately to Pinocchio.

Smee – Peter Pan

Smee is the only antagonist character on this list, glasses are not normally associated with the villains of the story. But Smee is more of a follower than he is a leader. He is the first mate to Captain Hook in the 1953 animated Peter Pan as well as in the multiple live-action renditions following it. In each version of the story, Smee is always depicted in his classic pirate attire and wearing a pair of glasses.

Although he is part of a brutal crew of pirates, Smee is actually a very soft-spoken, and gentle-natured character. The glasses support the characteristic that Smee likes to hide behind something, whether that is the glasses or his fearless Captain. Despite his villainy, Smee is a beloved glasses-wearing Disney character.

The White Rabbit – Alice in Wonderland

This little anthropomorphic rabbit is always late, or at least he worries he is. His jittery and scattered personality is supported by the fact that he wears glasses. Unfortunately, Disney often uses the sightseeing aid as a way to accentuate ‘nerdy’ or ‘odd’ characteristics of a person or animal in its stories.

The White Rabbit isn’t the most fondly remembered character in Alice in Wonderland since he isn’t very kind to Alice and he is more worried about his timeliness than anything else. The 2010 live-action remake of the film is regarded as one of the best live-action Disney remakes to date, but oddly enough, the White Rabbit is not wearing glasses in this version of the tale. Perhaps Disney wanted to start moving away from their previously established glasses trope.

Merlin – The Sword and the Stone

The Sword and the Stone is Disney’s 1963 adaptation of the classic story of King Arthur. Merlin is a bumbling old wizard that Arthur turns to in his quest to help out his brother. Merlin is the most powerful wizard, and so by depicting him wearing glasses, Disney is acknowledging that even the most powerful wizards can have poor eyesight.

This is certainly a step in the right direction for the glasses-wearing fan community, however, Merlin is known for being absentminded and all over the place. 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 shapeshifting, enchantment, and alchemy.

Milo Thatch – Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Atlantis: The Lost Empire is considered one of the best stories involving the lost city of Atlantis to date. Milo James Thatch is the protagonist of the story and is a glasses-wearing cartography expert that leads the expedition to the lost continent. Milo was created to have a great deal of personality, he was in almost every scene of the film, after all.

Still, the glasses trend continues in Atlantis, since Milo is considered a brainiac and very intelligent. However, his impressive education, bravery, and determination do the glasses community good. Milo is successful in his mission, and his cartoonishly large glasses do not get in the way of that.

Ace – Chicken Little

Chicken Little isn’t the kind of film one would expect to get as much of a following as it did, but this tale about an outcast chicken who claims the sky is falling is a fan favorite. Chicken Little’s actual name is Ace, and he is the main protagonist in this tale. He creates chaos in his town and no one believes him because of his worrisome personality.

However, like Atlantis, this is one of the first times Disney gives glasses to the leading character in a movie. Chicken Little did a great job representing the underdog or the bullied kid in school, but Disney continues to have the outcast depicted in glasses. Still, little Ace was a hero, and he was right, so fans love him.

Carl Fredricksen – Up

Up is one of the most heart-wrenching, beautiful stories of love and loss that Disney has ever done. The story follows Carl, the protagonist, as he lives his life after his wife dies. He can’t seem to imagine a life of love and happiness without her. This is one of a handful of Disney films that truly deal with serious issues like a loss. Carl’s staple fashion statement is his thick-rimmed black, square glasses.

Fans grow fond of this character and the glasses help that connection. He often reminds people of their own grandfathers so Carl is adored by many and is a redemptive glasses-wearing character in Disney’s filmography.

Edna Mode – The Incredibles

Edna has become so much more than just a character in The Incredibles, she is a meme, an icon, a reference, and an entire aesthetic. She has received such a large fan base due to her blunt personality, and the famous line, “NO CAPES.” People just love that she has pointed out a fact that people have been screaming at superhero films forever, that capes get in the way.

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

Mirabel Madrigal – Encanto

Finally, Mirabel from Encanto is Disney’s most recent character addition to those that wear glasses. It is the first time that Disney has created a Princess or leading female character with spectacles. Although she is still considered an outcast, as are many of the characters on this list, she is 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. She has no characteristics that follow any tropes common to glasses-wearing characters and instead is a character who has begun to redefine what it means to be a Disney creature or person who wears glasses. And just like the quote by her mother, Julieta, Mirabel has a “wonderful brain, a big heart, and cool glasses.”

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