You might like some of the the Corneila Funke books - The Princess Knight, Pirate Girl, and Princess Pigsty.

For something a little different - with a princess in the story but not the focus of the story -- try the audio CD "Mozart's Magic Fantasy" by Classical Kids. It tells a child-appropriate version of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute, with musical excerpts and an exciting story with dragon, and magic flute and bells. It's a wonderful production.

All of the alternative princess books that I know of have already been mentioned with the exception of "Sleeping Ugly" and any of the Lauren Child books where all of the fairy tales are made fun of.

For movies, I'd recommend a whole spate of Miyazaki movies. My dd's favorites are 'Kiki's Delivery Service" (about a young witch) "My Neighbor Totorro" (two sisters find other worldly creatures living in their house) and "Ponyo" (a far more fun version of the little mermaid).

Didn't we fight two wars to get rid of the whole royalty thing?

The aspect of princess fantasy that I do understand is the desire to wear frilly frilly dresses. (Deep down, do we ever outgrow it?) If that's what appeals to your daughter, take her to the ballet. Ballerinas are serious athletes, they wear fun costumes, and the music is better.

Also, for your own reading material, check out Cinderella Ate My Daughter. Thoughtful discussion of the princess culture, which really has changed a lot since we were young, and both the pros and cons of exposing your kids to the various parts of that culture.

Audrey Wood's the Princess and the Dragon: http://www.amazon.com/Princess-Dragon-Childs-Play-Library/dp/0859537161/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354824974&sr=8-1&keywords=the+princess+and+the+dragon

Also, I have a seven year old. We tried to shield her from the princesses, particularly Disney, but it all blew up in our faces when she hit the 3s class in preschool, and the teacher, who was a grandmother, kept asking DD who her favorite princess was, and she had no idea. We gave in, bought the original princess (SW, SB, Cinderella, etc.) DVDs, and frankly, she barely watched them (except for Sleeping Beauty). She loved SB because she thought the fairies were pretty bad-a** and the prince couldn't have done it without them. She got bored pretty quickly with those and graduated to Pocohontas and Mulan, who are not your typical damsels in distress.

Guess what, by a year later, after a visit to Disney World, DD couldn't care less about the helpless princesses. She graduated to the Disney Fairies, who are do-ers, and not helpless, and by 6, she was on to Barbie. Not the Barbie of "Ken and Barbie" but Barbie who has great values and rescues the boys most of the time.

DD is the first one in the group to pick up worm or lizard and wave it around the house. That is not because she watched or didn't watch princess movies or read books, but more because we make sure she gets outside everyday and we don't care if she gets dirty and we encourage her to pick up bugs and investigate her world.

Just my thoughts.

All you "anti" princess moms, give your children more credit.

You think that trying to hide or not support their interest in these things is good but it actually just shows your intolerance and stupidity. Do you now think you can raise your girls to know they will not be a pricess when they grow up?

BTW, this is PP, when my daughter was a baby, I swore up and down, NO PRINCESSES.

but as princess marty so wisely says (see link), just like you wouldn't feed your kid a steady diet of just candy or soda, you should feed your kid a varied imaginative diet: princess and superheros, firefighters and doctors and nurses, kids from different countries, etc etc.

http://www.npr.org/2012/11/24/165495729/princess-marty-is-a-smarty-if-shes-at-a-childs-party

Princess Hyacinth (really lovely)
The Princess and The Pig