The following contains spoilers for Snow White, now playing in theatersRather than update the Prince from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Snow White‘s Jonathan is basically another Disney male protagonist from the 21st century. 2025’s live-action Snow White follows a lot of visual beats and musical moments from the original film. However, it also expands the scope of the story and makes some pretty big changes from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This includes the main love interest in the film. In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the love interest was a Prince that Snow fell in love with but was absent for much of the film.

In contrast, Snow White spends a lot more time with Jonathan, the live-action Snow White’s main love interest. Played by Andrew Burnap, Jonathan is a charming thief that befriends Snow and steadily falls in love with her over the course of the film. Notably, Jonathan doesn’t have much in common with the Prince beyond that overall role in the story. This is one of the biggest deviations from the original Snow White, as the character actually seems to take a lot more inspiration from another 21st-century Disney princess love interest than his counterpart in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Snow White’s Jonathan Is A Lot Like Flynn Rider From Tangled

Jonathan Has Most Of Flynn’s Major Traits

Snow White‘s main love interest Jonathan is far more similar to Tangled‘s Flynn Rider than he is to the Prince from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Jonathan and Flynn are both the roguish love interests of their respective princess heroines, serving as more jaded contrasts to the princess’ naivety about the greater world. Both characters are established as thieves and introduced in the film stealing from the local royalty. Both characters also prove to be more heroic than they care to admit, falling for the female lead and showcasing this devotion by suffering nearly mortal injuries to help them.

This parallel is most evident during Snow White and Jonathan’s love song “A Hand Meets A Hand,” which sees the pair realize their feelings for one another against the backdrop of soft orange fairy lights during a celebration. This visual is markedly similar to the iconic lantern sequence from Tangled. Both thieves also ultimately get a happy ending after helping the princess defeat the matriarchal villain. It makes sense that Snow White would change the male lead’s personality, given the Prince’s lack of depth in the original. It’s notable how much they pulled from Flynn though, effectively replacing the Prince.

How Jonathan & Flynn Rider Are Different

The Tonal Differences Are The Biggest Way Jonathan And Flynn Differ

The biggest difference in Jonathan and Flynn reflects the differing tones of their films and the tenor of their relationships. Tangled portrays Flynn as a slightly shady manipulator who steals a priceless crown and leaves his criminal partners behind at the drop of a hat. He only gradually develops empathy and internal honor through his budding romance with Rapunzel. Jonathan is coded far more heroically from the onset, only stealing food from the castle because he and his friends are starving to death. The acting troupe quickly becomes friends with Snow through their connection to Jonathan and her quick-thinking heroics.

In Tangled, it’s Rapunzel winning over the criminals with a song. This reflects the differing tones of the films. Tangled is a coming-of-age story that plays Flynn as a scoundrel who develops into a good guy through love. Jonathan is cast as a virtuous rebel against a despotic ruler, immediately painting him as a sympathetic hero in a way that Flynn isn’t. While these are some notable differences, he’s still far closer to Flynn than the Prince from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs — the Prince and Jonathan’s only similarities are plot beats like awakening Snow White with a kiss.

Jonathan’s Flynn Rider Comparisons Hurt Snow White

Basically Being Flynn Didn’t Really Help Jonathan Win People Over

Snow White has faced backlash from several circles, including over the changes it made to the source material. The film updates Snow White by giving her more agency in her adventures and a desire beyond romantic love. However, the Prince wasn’t given a similar update and was instead written out of the film. It’s hard to describe Jonathan as an update of the character, as they share almost no overt characteristics beyond being the love interest to Snow White. Audiences who disliked the changes could likely point to Jonathan as the ultimate exemplification of how different the new film is.

However, his similarities to Flynn Rider have been noted by many critics, noting that he doesn’t feel like a truly original character despite being treated as one. However, he’s not nearly as central to the plot of Snow White as Flynn is to Tangled, meaning his arc is less emotionally effective. Even Jonathan’s snarky personality fades into bland heroism in the latter half of Snow White, meaning he doesn’t maintain the memorable comedic over-confidence Flynn. Jonathan may be more like Flynn than the Prince, but he’s still underdeveloped compared to the animated character that seems to have partly inspired him.

Flynn Rider Will Get His Due After Snow White In Disney’s Live-Action Tangled Remake

Tangled Can Treat Jonathan As A Trial Run Of Flynn Rider

Jonathan seems to have taken a lot of elements and traits from Flynn Rider, but his purpose as a supporting character in Snow White‘s story means he doesn’t get the kind of development that Flynn achieves as a co-lead of Tangled. They have similar arcs, but Jonathan just doesn’t get the screen time to really make his growth from rogue to hero fully land. Disney will get another chance to nail that archetype soon enough, though — and with the character who seems to have influenced Jonathan in the first place. Tangled has been announced as one of Disney’s live-action remakes.

Announced in 2024, the live-action Tangled will be directed by The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey, suggesting Disney is hoping he can bring his bombastic approach to musicals to Tangled. Although there have been no casting announcements, the creatives on that film could look to Jonathan in Snow White as a dry run of what Flynn in live-action could look like, what he would sound like, and how to play his romance with Rapunzel. While Jonathan might have been just a part of Snow White, it’ll be interesting to see how Tangled builds on this live-action precursor of Flynn Rider.