In defense of Disney princesses

Recently over at Danielle Bean's has been a discussion on princesses. I read some of the comments, and generally agreed with the idea of limiting a girl's exposure (boys kind of self-limit their exposure to princesses). The objections were varied and some were conflicting--like the recent Disney princesses are more independent young feminists and they didn't like that, where others didn't like the helpless portrayal of the older ones. I'll just come clean and admit I'm a sucker for a good classic.
Cinderella has been a fairy tale for centuries, I think. Generations at least. Let's not get ourselves into a snit about a Grand Example of Finding a Prince Charming to Take Me Away From All This, shall we? If Cinderella is your daughter's only example of an adult woman, where have YOU been?
Beauty and the Beast is my favorite, primarily because it's originally French. I realize it's been altered in that the original doesn't have a character remotely like Gaston, but it does have a happy ending. "True love sees beyond appearances" and "it's tough to make friends when you're a snot" are values I can live with.
I used to object to Aladdin until I watched it again recently. Keeping one's promises is important, even if it makes your life harder. True love comes out of honesty instead of deception. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. See previous paragraph.
Sleeping Beauty is our recent favorite. Prince Philip is given a Shield of Virtue and a Sword of Truth to fight what Maleficent herself says are the powers of Hell.
I know one objection is the wardrobe of the princesses and have heard tell of digital alteration to increase their voluptuousness, but I wonder. Is that adults projecting onto the kids' stories? I mean, Dale likes Belle because she wears a yellow dress (the same color as Scoop), not because he thinks she's falling out of it. And how much of that alleged alteration is a reflection of our own creeping waistlines in 21st century America?
I recall one of the objections is how little the prince and princess actually know each other before they're declared "in love." Well, I just read Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and some of them got proposals with less conversation than Cinderella and Prince Charming. And that's literature.

Don't take this defense as universal. I won't let The Jungle Book into the house until my kids have read the original Kipling, that's for sure. And let's not discuss the violations of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I get too upset.
And the merchandising machine is obscene and ubiquitous. But controllable.
I wonder how much furor is justified and how much is imagined. When Rachel likes her nightgown and calls herself a princess when she's wearing it, is that a bad thing? I don't think so.