Movies
How the Disney Princesses Stayed Modern for 80 Years
This is my first post here, so it's only fitting to do an analysis of Disney Princess history so far. I don't intend to only write about Disney Princesses in this blog, but they will probably make up the vast majority of it. As stated in the title, it's been 80 years since the release of the first animated princess movie (and animated movie in general), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Since then, Disney has made over a dozen more princess movies, spanning through multiple generations of girls and women. That's a lot of history.
With how much social norms have changed between the 1930s and today, it would have been very easy for the Disney Princess line to become a forgotten relic of the past. Yet, with an upcoming reunion in the Wreck-It Ralph sequel, the princesses are more popular than ever. Why? Disney updates their movies with the times. That's why they're called "classics." Each princess is a caricature of what is considered the ideal woman for …
With how much social norms have changed between the 1930s and today, it would have been very easy for the Disney Princess line to become a forgotten relic of the past. Yet, with an upcoming reunion in the Wreck-It Ralph sequel, the princesses are more popular than ever. Why? Disney updates their movies with the times. That's why they're called "classics." Each princess is a caricature of what is considered the ideal woman for …
The Rise and Fall of the Animated Prince
Let's take a moment to talk about princes. Why princes? Because they never really had a chance. At their best, they are seen as a coveted accessory for princesses, and at their worst, they are seen as promoting unhealthy sexist ideals to vulnerable children that women are unable to take care of themselves. Because of the latter setback, princes have gotten the short end of the stick in recent animated movies, whether it's being portrayed as useless in Brave, evil in Frozen, or completely nonexistent in Moana. Sadly, Disney had just started to improve their prince formula around the time that this brutal take-down of chivalry took place. Why can't we have the best of both worlds?
The reason for the lack of developed male characters in animated films hearkens back to the very first one, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Initially, the nameless Prince was supposed to be a much more important character. Most of his scenes were cut from the film because the studio had so much tr…
The reason for the lack of developed male characters in animated films hearkens back to the very first one, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Initially, the nameless Prince was supposed to be a much more important character. Most of his scenes were cut from the film because the studio had so much tr…
The Burning Question: Is Mulan a Princess?
Mulan is a wonderful animated feature that was released by Disney in 1998. Showcasing a young woman who broke tradition by disguising herself as a male soldier and saved all of China in the process, it is, in my opinion, one of the most empowering films for girls on the market. Yet, with my reputation as a self-proclaimed princess expert, there is one burning question that people are always asking me: "Is Mulan a princess?" She was not born to a king or queen, nor did she marry a prince, so why is her visage so often plastered alongside the other royal heroines? The short answer is that she's not a princess, but she is a Disney Princess. Why aren't the two mutually exclusive? The answer to that is a bit more complicated.
When the Disney Princess line was launched in 2001, it initially focused on the main six--Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine. However, since Jasmine was the only heroine of color in the line, it expanded shortly thereafter to in…
When the Disney Princess line was launched in 2001, it initially focused on the main six--Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine. However, since Jasmine was the only heroine of color in the line, it expanded shortly thereafter to in…
What The 10th Kingdom Got Right
In the year 2000, NBC decided to try something that had never been done before. They released a five-part miniseries with an original story that was centered around the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. The series was called The Tenth Kingdom. It was so good that NBC decided to do absolutely nothing with it, despite hinting at the possibility of a sequel in the final voice-over narration. When has NBC ever kept a good series going, anyway? Still, fans have not forgotten this beautiful and whimsical tale. Though other forms of media have attempted similar projects, including ABC's 2011 drama, Once Upon a Time, nothing has quite lived up to the epic and dream-like quality of The Tenth Kingdom.
The miniseries stars a guarded young woman name Virginia Lewis (played by Kimberly Williams-Paisley) who works as a waitress in New York City. After she crashes into an enchanted dog with her bike, she and her father walk through a portal inside a magic mirror to enter the world of the Nine K…
The miniseries stars a guarded young woman name Virginia Lewis (played by Kimberly Williams-Paisley) who works as a waitress in New York City. After she crashes into an enchanted dog with her bike, she and her father walk through a portal inside a magic mirror to enter the world of the Nine K…
The Warrior Princess
It almost sounds like a paradox. Not very long ago, "warrior" and "princess" were two opposing archetypes. Princesses wore big dresses, were dainty, delicate and needed to be rescued. Warriors were the ones who rushed in to save them, clad in armor, weapons bravely drawn, letting nothing stand in their way. The Amazons, the original warrior women, have been around since ancient Greek mythology. One particular Amazon princess has existed in comic book form since the '40s and has just gotten her own theatrical film. I'm talking, of course, about Princess Diana. No, not that one!
It's Wonder Woman. As the daughter of Queen Hippolyta, Diana is very much a princess, and as an Amazon and DC superhero, she is also very much a warrior. The fact that she was created in 1941 makes this disassociation even more significant because it was not at all customary for women to be portrayed as warriors at that time, let alone princesses. She was created by William Marsto…
It's Wonder Woman. As the daughter of Queen Hippolyta, Diana is very much a princess, and as an Amazon and DC superhero, she is also very much a warrior. The fact that she was created in 1941 makes this disassociation even more significant because it was not at all customary for women to be portrayed as warriors at that time, let alone princesses. She was created by William Marsto…
The Princess and the Pea Is the Best Movie You've Never Seen
When you think of non-Disney classic animated princess movies, what comes to mind? Anastasia, Thumbelina, and The Swan Princess, right? All three of those have one thing in common with the Disney classics, which is that they were all in theaters at some point. Not all movies get that lucky. For Mark Swan, who painstakingly directed The Princess and the Pea under Feature Films for Families and his own studio, Swan Productions, distribution was no small feat.
It's surprising to know that this movie was an independent production because the animation is top notch. It looks like a lot of it was probably rotoscoped because the movement is so fluid. The characters never go off-model, and there are some gorgeously detailed background paintings throughout the course of the film. Composer Alan Williams wrote some terrific new princess songs for it, including "Kingdom of Heart" and "Out in the Wide Open World." It's a shame these will never show up on a princess kara…
It's surprising to know that this movie was an independent production because the animation is top notch. It looks like a lot of it was probably rotoscoped because the movement is so fluid. The characters never go off-model, and there are some gorgeously detailed background paintings throughout the course of the film. Composer Alan Williams wrote some terrific new princess songs for it, including "Kingdom of Heart" and "Out in the Wide Open World." It's a shame these will never show up on a princess kara…
The Problem With Disney's Live-Action Remakes
Yesterday, I discussed why a Xena remake should be happening. Today, I'm going to tell you why Disney's recent slew of remakes should not be happening. Does it sound hypocritical? There's a big difference between an ongoing series and a feature-length work of art expanded from a two-page fairy tale. Disney animated films are timeless classics that should not be messed around with. Beginning with the fairest of them all, Disney has revolutionized the way that we see fairy tales, giving us a streamlined look, voice, and personality for each princess. They are so good at creating modernized versions of classic stories that stay true to the heart of each tale. Why, then, do they find it necessary to give us watered-down clones of their classic masterpieces?
The answer, like most things with Disney, is money. These remakes are just an extension of the Disney cheapquels that Michael Eisner put out in the '90s. Beginning in 1994 withReturn of Jafar, Eisner soon realized that …
The answer, like most things with Disney, is money. These remakes are just an extension of the Disney cheapquels that Michael Eisner put out in the '90s. Beginning in 1994 withReturn of Jafar, Eisner soon realized that …
Barbie Is a Part-Time Princess
Did you know that Barbie has starred in almost 40 movies? Yesterday, I talked a little about remakes. Barbie has told so many different stories in so many different personas that some of them overlap. Instead of retelling the same stories, though, the writers have tried be as original as possible each time, even with up to three movies coming out every year since 2001. These movies are made up of all the things girls love--princesses, mermaids, fairies, magic, horses, etc. Barbie has portrayed the role of a princess over a dozen times! She plays a very active part in each story, so even if the CGI isn't perfect, parents can rest assured that it's a great influence on their young girls.
I've mentioned a couple of Barbie's movies in my "Swan Lake" and "Rapunzel" posts. It really is impressive how much original princess content Rainmaker Studio has come out with over the past decade and a half. Of the 37 current Barbie movies, Barbie has been a princes…
I've mentioned a couple of Barbie's movies in my "Swan Lake" and "Rapunzel" posts. It really is impressive how much original princess content Rainmaker Studio has come out with over the past decade and a half. Of the 37 current Barbie movies, Barbie has been a princes…
Princess Parodies
As I mentioned in my first blog entry, Disney Princesses are caricatures of the ideal woman from their time period. Since, as well all know, nobody is perfect, this this trope is easy for other studios to poke fun at. Many have, including Disney themselves with Enchanted. By exaggerating these perfect princesses so much that the very traits that make them perfect become their flaws, the characters become more human, allowing the audience to better relate to them. Some of these parodies are more mean-spirited than others. I think the movie that struck the perfect balance between satire and humanity was Dreamworks' Shrek in 2001.
One of the founding members of Dreamworks was Jeffrey Katzenberg, who had previously worked for Disney, just like many other creators of successful non-Disney productions, including Don Bluth. Katzenberg was frustrated with the House of Mouse and created Shrek to compete with them, which is why the movie came off as a bit mean-spirited at times. Regardless …
One of the founding members of Dreamworks was Jeffrey Katzenberg, who had previously worked for Disney, just like many other creators of successful non-Disney productions, including Don Bluth. Katzenberg was frustrated with the House of Mouse and created Shrek to compete with them, which is why the movie came off as a bit mean-spirited at times. Regardless …
Live-Action Princesses
The final entry in my series of different types of princesses is about the ones who are most famous for their portrayals in live-action movies. That means I'm not counting any of Disney's live-action remakes because all of those characters were made famous through old stories and animation. Live-action movies create worlds that feel more grounded and less fantastical than animation. These princesses look like someone you might see walking around on the street, but each has an amazing secret. Somewhere in the world, there is a kingdom that waits patiently for their return.
First up, we have ABC Family Channel's original movie from 2008, titled simply Princess. I have no idea why Disney chose to air this on their channel for family dramas instead of the more age-appropriate Disney Channe. Fortunately, it wound up on Netflix later to build a larger audience. Though there was a lot in the story that went unexplained, such as where the mysterious princess powers came from or wh…
First up, we have ABC Family Channel's original movie from 2008, titled simply Princess. I have no idea why Disney chose to air this on their channel for family dramas instead of the more age-appropriate Disney Channe. Fortunately, it wound up on Netflix later to build a larger audience. Though there was a lot in the story that went unexplained, such as where the mysterious princess powers came from or wh…
The Voice of a Princess
One trait that is synonymous among nearly every animated princess is her beautiful voice. I have wanted to do a tribute to some of my favorite princess actresses every since I started this blog. Princesses have inspired me to sing loud and proud throughout the course my life and have also gotten me through some difficult times. Their sweet and powerful voices were full of emotion and helped me relate to them and feel more deeply than I would have ever thought possible. These are some of my favorite rock star voice artists who have each voiced multiple princesses and have had the biggest impact on what a modern princess should sound like.
Leading the pack is the legendary Tara Strong who has voiced an insanely large library of iconic characters, including not one, not two, not three, but four princesses. Currently, she is most famous for her work as Twilight Sparkle, who became a princess in the third season of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. I'm looking forward to hearing her…
Leading the pack is the legendary Tara Strong who has voiced an insanely large library of iconic characters, including not one, not two, not three, but four princesses. Currently, she is most famous for her work as Twilight Sparkle, who became a princess in the third season of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. I'm looking forward to hearing her…
Don Bluth Princesses
Did you know that yesterday was Don Bluth's 80th birthday? In case you're out of the loop, Don Bluth is an animator who used to work for Disney until he teamed up with Gary Goldman and made a whole bunch of hit animated features on his own in the '80s and '90s. He is responsible for Anastasia, one of my favorite animated princess movies of all time as well as Thumbelina. To top things off, he created a cool animated game called Dragon's Lair that was in arcades and on laser disc. Despite his age, Don and Gary are still working hard to bring their fans great animation. They recently started an Indiegogo campaign to do a full-length animated feature film of Dragon's Lair. Don Bluth is very loyal to his fans and responds to nearly all animation-related inquiries on his website.
In my opinion, Don Bluth's greatest masterpiece of all time was Anastasia in 1997. The movie used state-of-the-art technology for the time period. I wasn't very familiar with CGI b…
In my opinion, Don Bluth's greatest masterpiece of all time was Anastasia in 1997. The movie used state-of-the-art technology for the time period. I wasn't very familiar with CGI b…
Everything Wrong With Frozen
In 1845, Hans Christian Andersen wrote a story called "The Snow Queen" about a girl named Gerda who bravely journeyed through many dangerous lands to rescue her friend Kay, who was possessed by a cursed mirror and seduced by the beauty of a wicked queen. In 2013, Disney released a movie that had absolutely nothing to do with any of that. I go back and forth between hating Frozen and thinking it was just okay. The more hype it gets, the angrier I become. When people ask me why, I get tired of going into the same explanation again and again because it's long and complicated. That's why I'm writing this post.
Most of what I knew about Frozen before seeing it in theaters came from the D23 Expo in summer 2013. I went to several panels where I saw the early footage and listened to the filmmakers discuss their progress. At the time, I was very excited about it. Olaf's song was hilarious, and Elsa's disapproval of Anna's engagement to Hans seemed like an inte…
Most of what I knew about Frozen before seeing it in theaters came from the D23 Expo in summer 2013. I went to several panels where I saw the early footage and listened to the filmmakers discuss their progress. At the time, I was very excited about it. Olaf's song was hilarious, and Elsa's disapproval of Anna's engagement to Hans seemed like an inte…
Review: Barbie Dolphin Magic
Earlier this week, the newest Barbie movie was released on Netflix. Though Barbie Dolphin Magic is not technically a princess movie, it does have a mermaid in it and stars the Barbie, the part-time princess. It looks like Rainmaker is breaking their tradition of releasing the Barbie movies on DVD and switching to streaming media, which makes sense because DVD sales have dropped significantly in recent years. As a Netflix special, the movie has the shortest run time yet for Barbie, clocking in at only a little over an hour. So, is it worth watching? Here's what I think.
In a word, yes. The short runtime makes it an easy watch, and it's paced much better than its prequel, Barbie & Her Sisters in a Puppy Chase, which dragged on forever. This movie gets straight to the point with very little filler. Barbie and her three sisters, Skipper, Stacy, and Chelsea, are on vacation at a beach-side resort where Ken is interning for a marine biologist. Rumors abound of the "gem dolp…
In a word, yes. The short runtime makes it an easy watch, and it's paced much better than its prequel, Barbie & Her Sisters in a Puppy Chase, which dragged on forever. This movie gets straight to the point with very little filler. Barbie and her three sisters, Skipper, Stacy, and Chelsea, are on vacation at a beach-side resort where Ken is interning for a marine biologist. Rumors abound of the "gem dolp…
Why Johanna from Sweeney Todd is Totally a Princess
Previously, I wrote a little about why Mulan is a Disney Princess even though she doesn't have the actual title of "princess." Now, I'd like to talk about one of my favorite live-action movies with another unofficial cross-dressing princess, Sweeney Todd. This macabre musical strikes a perfect balance between dark themes of cannibalism and murder with romantic ideals of true love and faith (or lack thereof). Johanna is the naive daughter of the title character, which technically makes her the princess of the story. That's not the only reason I consider her a princess, though. Let's take a look.
Like Cinderella and Snow White, Johanna was raised as an orphan by an abusive parent. It wasn't until she fell in love with Anthony, the sailor who had rescued her father at sea, that she saw a hope of escaping her unfortunate situation. She spent most of her days locked in her room under close watch like Rapunzel, singing to the birds about her desire for freedom.…
Like Cinderella and Snow White, Johanna was raised as an orphan by an abusive parent. It wasn't until she fell in love with Anthony, the sailor who had rescued her father at sea, that she saw a hope of escaping her unfortunate situation. She spent most of her days locked in her room under close watch like Rapunzel, singing to the birds about her desire for freedom.…
A Little Princess Revisited
In 1995, I was temporarily obsessed with the movie A Little Princess, based on a novel written 90 years earlier by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I know I wrote a book report on the novel in school and was impressed with Liesel Matthews' dream-like performance as Sara Crewe, but that's about all I remember. A friend of mine reminded me of my love for the movie when I was looking for suggestions for new blog posts. I decided to revisit it to see if it still had the same magic for me. During my research, I found a Buzzfeed article written by someone who did the exact same thing, and I found that I agree with many of the author's points. The movie becomes a lot darker when watching it again as an adult, but it is still very magical.
If you are unfamiliar with the story, A Little Princess is about a girl named Sara whose father sends her to a luxurious boarding school where the uniforms look like formal party dresses while he goes off to war. However, when he loses his money and is …
If you are unfamiliar with the story, A Little Princess is about a girl named Sara whose father sends her to a luxurious boarding school where the uniforms look like formal party dresses while he goes off to war. However, when he loses his money and is …
Review: My Little Pony The Movie
Today is the day! Everyone's favorite unicorn princesses are finally out on the big screen. Based on the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic reboot series that began in 2010, Hasbro has finally released its biggest franchise to theaters. Does it live up to the cartoon? I have to say I was a little concerned when I noticed that the movie's trailer and promos seemed to focus more on star power than plot. Now that I've seen it, I can safely say that my concerns were justified. The movie introduced a ton of new characters voiced by big-name actors with very little time to get to know them. It was a whirlwind of magic, morals, and songs, with very little meaningful or memorable content.
Let's start with the positive. The movie looked gorgeous. It brought together everything great about traditional animation and computer animation. Everypony was consistently on model, and the shading was gorgeous. It looked like the colors were going to be eye-piercingly bright based on the …
Let's start with the positive. The movie looked gorgeous. It brought together everything great about traditional animation and computer animation. Everypony was consistently on model, and the shading was gorgeous. It looked like the colors were going to be eye-piercingly bright based on the …
Princesses Returning to Theaters
In the digital age, fewer and fewer people are going out to the movies because it's so easy to access everything from home on streaming media. To remedy this, Fathom Events tries to appeal to our childhood nostalgia with exclusive re-release events for movies that we love. This year, it seems like theaters have been particularly focused on bringing back our favorite princesses. Seeing an older movie in theaters is different from seeing something new. People already know exactly what to expect and what they love about it. They go for the experience of seeing it again on a big screen in a dark theater, surrounded by fans who love it as much as they do.
The next princess movie making its return to theaters is the 1987 classic The Princess Bride. The movie is coming back to celebrate its 30th anniversary on as a Fathom Event presented by TCM Big Screen Classics. It will be back in theaters on the 15th and 18th of this month. The Princess Bride was not a particularly inspiring movie fo…
The next princess movie making its return to theaters is the 1987 classic The Princess Bride. The movie is coming back to celebrate its 30th anniversary on as a Fathom Event presented by TCM Big Screen Classics. It will be back in theaters on the 15th and 18th of this month. The Princess Bride was not a particularly inspiring movie fo…
Animated Sequels: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
It's a well-known fact that most princess stories end with "happily ever after," which is why it makes little sense to follow them up with a sequel. Disney started the sequel craze in 1994 when they created The Return of Jafar as a direct-to-video release to kick off the Aladdin animated series. The Return of Jafar took only a couple of months to produce, unlike most theatrical animated films which take years. Since Disney profited from it more than they expected to, Michael Eisner, the CEO at the time, thought it would be a good idea to make more direct-to-video sequels because they were so cheap and easy. Other copycat animation studios quickly followed in their footsteps.
As the first of its kind, The Return of Jafar is one of the most cringe-worthy sequels of the "cheapquel" era. It focuses mainly on the irritating Iago, causing the other beloved characters to take a backseat. The movie's only romance song, "Forget About Love," is dominated by…
As the first of its kind, The Return of Jafar is one of the most cringe-worthy sequels of the "cheapquel" era. It focuses mainly on the irritating Iago, causing the other beloved characters to take a backseat. The movie's only romance song, "Forget About Love," is dominated by…
Most People Won't Recognize These Princesses
Previously, I've discussed why most people wouldn't recognize Daria from The Princess and the Pea because it was produced by a small independent studio in 2002. However, there are other animated princesses from movies produced by more well-known studios that simply did not make a big enough impact for people to remember or care about. They are the rejected princesses, the forgotten princesses, the princesses who would never graduate to become a Disney Princess. This is no small feat considering that not even all of the Disney Princesses are actually princesses. Our first example was released under Disney's obsolete Miramax studio name that they used for their B movies that they did not expect to succeed in the box office.
The Thief and the Cobbler has a complex history. It was the love child of animator Richard Williams who worked on Who Framed Roger Rabbit for Disney in 1988. He wanted to produce The Thief and the Cobbler on his own with no studio involvement in order to s…
The Thief and the Cobbler has a complex history. It was the love child of animator Richard Williams who worked on Who Framed Roger Rabbit for Disney in 1988. He wanted to produce The Thief and the Cobbler on his own with no studio involvement in order to s…
Princesses Watch Corpse Bride on Halloween
Halloween is here at last. After they finish trick-or-treating for the night, many people like to curl up in front of a scary movie full of intrigue, death, and gore. Princess fans don't always like being scared, which is why we have Tim Burton's 2005 classic Corpse Bride, which is also full of intrigue, death, and gore, but without any of the scary parts. Corpse Bride is more about the emotion and less about cheap scares. It has all the beauty, music, and romance of an animated princess movie, but it's also a moving ghost story with a gothic Victorian setting, making it perfect for Halloween. I loved this movie so much the first time I saw it that I watched it every single day for months.
Corpse Bride is the story of Emily, a young woman obsessed with romance and adventure whose life was taken on her wedding night. Even from the Land of the Dead, her princess spirit cannot be destroyed. She leaves her bony hand sticking up from the ground in the hopes that one day someone …
Corpse Bride is the story of Emily, a young woman obsessed with romance and adventure whose life was taken on her wedding night. Even from the Land of the Dead, her princess spirit cannot be destroyed. She leaves her bony hand sticking up from the ground in the hopes that one day someone …
Hand-Drawn, CGI, or Live-Action?
Computer animation has a complicated history. When it was first introduced around the mid-90s, it was amazing and innovative. Then, as it slowly started to take over our favorite princess movies and shows, it felt more like an invasion of art. Michael Eisner did not with this when he claimed that traditional animation was no longer relevant in the early 2000s. Today, the medium has advanced so much that it blends seamlessly with live-action movies, blurring the lines between animated and live-action features. Most modern sci-fi movies lie somewhere in the middle. Which medium do we prefer for our princesses? It's undeniable that traditional animation came first, starting with Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937. Today, it's rare to see an animated feature that's not made by a computer. Disney is taking advantage of this technology to transform all of their animated princesses into flesh and blood actresses with mixed results.
Pictured above are three inca…
Pictured above are three inca…
Snow White's 80th Anniversary
If you're a fan of Disney's 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, you're in luck. This year is the movie's 80th anniversary, and Disney is going out of their way to team up with a whole bunch of companies to make it a huge event. Though the story and characters have evolved vastly over the years, the original animated film still holds a huge historical significance over the way that princess stories are told. Not only was it the first feature-length animated movie of all time, but it was also the first animated film with a fairy tale princess as the lead character. The anniversary event kicked off this past summer with a special screening of the classic film at the D23 Expo, and announcements have been popping up everywhere since then. Let's take a look at all of the awesome things coming out this year in honor of the fairest one of all.
Straight from the D23 Expo, the Disney Store announced a new collection of exclusive Snow White merchandise featuring new artwork…
Straight from the D23 Expo, the Disney Store announced a new collection of exclusive Snow White merchandise featuring new artwork…
Princess Kaguya's Wish for an Ordinary Life
The Tale of Princess Kaguya is an anime movie that was released by Studio Ghibli in 2013. It is based on the Japanese folktale "The Bamboo-Cutter and the Moon-Child." The themes of the story pertain closely to my recent analysis of vanity in princess movies. Just like every other fairy tale princess, Kaguya has a legendary striking beauty that is renowned for miles, bringing her many suitors who are willing to do the most difficult of tasks for the chance to gaze upon her. However, she assigns them these tasks not because she thinks that they need to prove themselves worthy of beauty, but because she has little interest in being seen as a valuable treasure.
Kaguya's wish to be treated like an ordinary girl in spite of her privilege is nothing new. Most Disney Princesses who are born into royalty resent the life they were given and wish to live a normal one. Aurora flings herself onto a bed and cries when the three good fairies tell her that she is a princess because she …
Kaguya's wish to be treated like an ordinary girl in spite of her privilege is nothing new. Most Disney Princesses who are born into royalty resent the life they were given and wish to live a normal one. Aurora flings herself onto a bed and cries when the three good fairies tell her that she is a princess because she …
One Hundred Princesses for My 100th Post
Today is a major accomplishment for me. I started this blog 100 days ago, and I've managed to write a new post in it every day since then. Some of the topics were easier to come up with than others. I also had to go back and edit some after the fact due to poor proofreading. Speaking of which, I'm really sorry about the disastrous short story from my first Story Saturday post. The whole thing was written on my phone on the way to a Mermaid Art Show event in San Diego, so I was a little distracted. I promise to put more effort into future Story Saturdays, which should be easier now that I will no longer be writing new posts every day. Don't worry, though. I will still keep everyone informed of the latest princess news and review all the new princess movies and specials. Without further ado, in celebration of my 100th post, here is a list of 100 princesses with all of the posts I've made about them (in no particular order). Thank you so much for reading my blog.
1-11: T…
November Princess Anniversaries
It's a big month for princess movies. Last week was the 28th anniversary of my favorite movie, The Little Mermaid . As I've discussed in a previous post , Disney is going all out this month to celebrate the 80th anniversary of their very first movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs . On Monday night, Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City put on a live show to unveil their gorgeous window displays honoring the film. The displays are similar to the ones at the Emporium at the Disney Parks, but much larger in scale. They portray detailed animatronics of every major scene in the movie, from the wishing well to the fated kiss, as well as the new clothing designed specifically for the event. The special, called "Once Upon a Holiday," was streamed live on YouTube and social media. Fans crowded around Fifth Avenue to see the Saks Fifth Avenue president give a moving speech about the film, followed by a choreographed performance from the Seven Dwarfs. Sofia Carson , who
Holiday Princess Specials
December is here, which means there's no fighting the holiday spirit. Lights are twinkling, Christmas songs are invading all the radio stations, and princesses are spreading their holiday cheer. Holiday specials that feature our favorite princesses usually come in the form of cheaply produced sequels , but there are other forms of media as well. For instance, there was a Disney Princess DVD called "A Christmas of Enchantment" released in 2005 that contained mash-ups of clips and shorts from various Disney productions, but it quickly fell in the same direction as the Disney Princess Enchanted Tales series . There was also a Disney Princess Christmas Album released in 2009 with new holiday songs performed in many of the original voices of the Disney Princesses in which they harmonize beautifully about their excitement for the holiday season along. The album contains a few covers of classic Christmas songs as well. The newest holiday princess special is the 21-minute
Live-Action Princess News
As unenthusiastic as most princess fans are about live-action remakes, Disney continues to pump them out. By the end of the next decade, most of our favorite princess movies from the '90s will have live-action counterparts for better or worse. Over the summer, several casting announcements were made about the Aladdin remake. Right now, the spotlight is on the upcoming remake of Mulan with the recent announcement that she will be played by Chinese actress Liu Yifei. This came as a relief to many after a controversy from last year in which people assumed that the movie would be whitewashed based on a leaked spec script that gave the role of the lead character to a male white merchant instead of the fabled Chinese heroine. The rumors of the script being used for the film were quickly debunked, reassuring fans that Mulan would always be the protagonist of her own movie. Though not a princess by title, Mulan is considered an official Disney Princess, which makes her actress a pretty si…
Is Anastasia Now a Disney Princess?
Have you heard? There's a rumor in St. Petersburg! Disney has bought out Fox for $54.2 billion earlier last week. They mainly did this to obtain ownership of what few Marvel properties they didn't own yet, but as an added side effect, they now own other animated properties including The Simpsons and everyone's favorite Don Bluth princess, Anastasia. Anastasia recently celebrated its 20th anniversary and is still going strong on Broadway. What does this merger mean for the many fans of the franchise? To be honest, probably nothing. However, there are those who are keeping their fingers crossed that this historically inaccurate redhead will be added to Disney's elite group of princesses. Could this dream become a reality once upon a December?
The answer is a bit more complicated than you might think. Being a Disney Princess is not necessarily the same thing as being a Disney character who is a princess or in some cases, a popular heroine. What cannot be disputed is that …
The answer is a bit more complicated than you might think. Being a Disney Princess is not necessarily the same thing as being a Disney character who is a princess or in some cases, a popular heroine. What cannot be disputed is that …
Did The Shape of Water Draw Inspiration From "The Little Mermaid?"
A couple of weeks ago, director Guillermo del Toro released his latest masterpiece, The Shape of Water. Though not exactly a princess movie, del Toro tends to draw inspiration from fairy tales and mythology. His 2006 blockbuster Pan's Labyrinth was an "Alice in Wonderland" inspired movie set in the midst of a Spanish war. Like The Shape of Water, it was very much its own story, even though the fairy tale elements were still present. Del Toro is better at using fairy tales as a jumping off point and putting his own spin on his films, which might be one reason that his adaptation of "Pinocchio" got canceled. In the same way that Pan's Labyrinth borrowed elements of "Alice in Wonderland," I think that The Shape of Water borrowed from "The Little Mermaid." Let's take some time to explore this theory.
To begin, drawing inspiration from a story is very different from being an adaptation. Disney's The Little Mermaid was a direct adapta…
To begin, drawing inspiration from a story is very different from being an adaptation. Disney's The Little Mermaid was a direct adapta…
New Richard Rich Interview
My friends from The Jewel Riders Archive recently brought my attention to an online interview in which The Swan Princess director Richard Rich answered several fan questions. His responses were quite lucrative. I learned many things I didn't know, including his brief stint at Disney in the '80s, the story behind the many recent sequels, and his response to voice actress Michelle Nicastro's death. While you could click the link and read the full transcript for yourself (which I also recommend), I also wanted to share my thoughts on some of the most interesting highlights.
As many of you may know, The Swan Princess was a famous 1994 animated feature film inspired by the "Swan Lake" ballet. It had two animated direct-to-video sequels in the late '90s and was all but forgotten until 2012, when a series of horrendous CGI direct-to-DVD sequels began popping up every year thereafter with no sign of stopping. It didn't come as too much of a surprise that Rick wou…
As many of you may know, The Swan Princess was a famous 1994 animated feature film inspired by the "Swan Lake" ballet. It had two animated direct-to-video sequels in the late '90s and was all but forgotten until 2012, when a series of horrendous CGI direct-to-DVD sequels began popping up every year thereafter with no sign of stopping. It didn't come as too much of a surprise that Rick wou…
Princesses of the Animation Industry
What are the first names that come to mind when you think of the people behind your favorite fairy tale princesses? The Brothers Grimm? Hans Christian Anderson? Walt Disney? Don Bluth? John Musker and Ron Clements? Considering how empowering so many of these stories are to women, it's surprising that the overwhelming majority of people behind them are men. The recent success of Patty Jenkins behind the 2017 Wonder Woman movie and the inspirational writing team of Rachel Bloom and Aline Brosh McKenna behind the CW's princess culture-inspired Crazy Ex-Girlfriend series got me wondering why Disney has so few women behind its own female-driven classics. Even independent princess filmmakers like Don Bluth and Richard Rich got their start at Disney, making it virtually impossible for anyone to find much success in the animation industry without working there or at another major animation studio first. In an industry that's so biased toward men, animation ingenues like myself bar…
A Royal MyZtery: WHY?
If you didn't know that was another Swan Princess sequel released yesterday, you are a very fortunate person indeed. The Swan Princess: A Royal MyZtery (yes, that's the actual title) marks what I believe is the eighth movie featuring the characters from Richard Rich's 1994 classic,The Swan Princess. It was no mistake that I left "The Swan Princess" portion out of the title of my blog post, as these movies are so far and away from what was once an adaptation of the "Swan Lake" ballet that they may as well be on another plane of existence entirely. All of the CGI sequels that started with The Swan Princess Christmas in 2012 have been pretty terrible, but this one might just be the worst yet. Don't worry, though. I went ahead and watched this abomination so you don't have to. Below the image is a description of all the most cringe-worthy things that happened in the movie and why it is objectively terrible and should never have been made, just lik…
Charming and the Decline of Femininity
I've been wanting to write about Charming, an upcoming animated movie for a long time. I first heard about it at the CTN Animation Expo in 2014. However, small animation studios like 3QU tend to have trouble getting their releases off the ground. That might explain why the movie trailer dropped over a year ago without any sign of a release date and then mysteriously disappeared without a trace until last month. According to IMDB, the movie is coming out gradually in various parts of Europe over the course of the next month or so, but there is still no mention of a release date here in America. Despite its limited release, the studio was able to cast some pretty big names, including Demi Lovato, Ashley Tisdale, John Clease, Tom Kenny, and Tara Strong. At first glance, Charming looks like it's just another princess parody from the producers of Shrek, but many of the comments on the trailer revealed some strong opinions that I would like to explore further. Watch it below and for…
Wreck-It Ralph 2 Photo Analysis (Where's Ariel?)
USA today has finally released an article containing an image of the elusive scene containing all the Disney Princesses from Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet! This scene was previewed at the D23 Expo last summer and locked up tight ever since. Now that they've finally released a screenshot of it, there appears to be something missing. Ariel, my favorite princess that I was most curious about isn't in the shot. It was pretty clear what all the other princesses were going to be wearing in the movie since they are always portrayed on stock art in their signature looks. Ariel, on the other hand, is a bit of a black sheep when it comes to a signature look. Sometimes she's a mermaid, sometimes she's a human, sometimes she's wearing the pink dress from the movie, and sometimes she's wearing a green dress that was never in any movie. It's just my luck that even after an image of the mysterious scene was finally released, I still don't have an answer…
Wreck-It Ralph 2 Trailer Analysis
If you're one of the five people on Earth who still hasn't seen the new Wreck-It Ralph 2 trailer that dropped this morning, I'm here to break it down for you. The trailer featured roughly the first half of a scene in which all of the living voice actresses for the Disney Princesses reprised their roles as Vanellope snuck into their secret internet headquarters that was presented at the D23 Expo last year. A screenshot released last week previewed the scene with Ariel missing, but now we see that she was just off-screen combing her hair with her favorite dinglehopper in a blinged out version of pink tea dress along with lots more animation of other the princesses in their oddly disproportionate new CGI style animation. Let's take a look.
For starters, it's a bit odd how Ariel and Cinderella have swapped the levels of bling on their ballgowns. In the 1950 animated movie, Cinderella's dress appeared to have made from a lightweight silvery-white fabric emblazoned w…
For starters, it's a bit odd how Ariel and Cinderella have swapped the levels of bling on their ballgowns. In the 1950 animated movie, Cinderella's dress appeared to have made from a lightweight silvery-white fabric emblazoned w…
Live-Action Little Mermaid Movie News
In my "Little Mermaid" origins post, I mentioned that there were three live-action movies in the works based on the beloved Hans Christian Andersen tale. Since then, a few announcements have been made about all three of these movies. One of them has a theatrical release date, and it's sooner than you might think. The circus-themed indie movie that's had a trailer out for several years now is coming to select AMC theaters on August 17th. That's in two months! I wish I could be more excited about it, but the plot looks a lot closer to the 2006 tongue-in-cheek teen mermaid movie Aquamarine than the fairy tale that it's named after. The trailer focuses on how a little girl's belief in mermaids has the potential to save the aquatic heroine who is held captive in a tank at a carnival. I've been feeling indifferent about this adaptation ever since the first trailer was released, but it's nice to know that I will have the option to see it on the big scree…
Review: The Incredibles 2
While I was debating over whether or not it would be okay to review The Incredibles 2 in a princess blog post, I remembered that Violet was in the concept drawing for Disney's canceled "Princess Academy" short (riding a Fantasia centaur no less), so I figured that basically makes her a Disney Princess. Plus, I don't go to the movies very often, so I'll take any excuse I can get. Disney sequels are usually released direct to DVD with minimal effort and quality, but Pixar is different. They have formed a reputation for making sequels that are just as good or superior to the originals. Toy Story 3 was one of my personal favorites, featuring Jodi Benson as Barbie. Like Toy Story, The Incredibles 2 managed to bring back all of their original voice talent. They might be fourteen years older, but they still sound great. Thanks to the magic of animation, they look as beautiful and youthful as ever.
The Incredibles 2 picks up right where the first movie left off. Superhero…
The Incredibles 2 picks up right where the first movie left off. Superhero…
An Ode to the Most American Princess of All
This Fourth of July, I'd like for us all to take a moment to appreciate the most American princess of all--Tiana from Disney's 2009 feature, The Princess and the Frog. Disney decided to put a very unique spin on the story of "The Frog Prince" by having it take place in 1920s New Orleans instead of medieval Germany and turning the spoiled princess into a studious entrepreneur who also happened to be their first animated black heroine. The risks they took paid off greatly because the movie is incredibly entertaining and unique, even if it wasn't a huge box office hit like they were hoping. There are so many reasons I love and relate to Tiana. I was glad to see her return briefly in the final season of Once Upon a Time as Jacinda's best friend, Sabine, even if they didn't do the best job with her fairy tale counterpart.
The Princess and the Frog celebrates many of the same ideals of freedom that we do for America on the Fourth of July both literally and metap…
The Princess and the Frog celebrates many of the same ideals of freedom that we do for America on the Fourth of July both literally and metap…
I Reread The Princess Diaries After Watching the Movie Again
I have kind of a strange relationship with The Princess Diaries. I saw the Disney movie when it came out in 2001 and more or less forgot about it for at least five years until I had several hours to kill at Barnes & Nobles one day and read the a handful of the books by Meg Cabot. So, unlike many fans of the series, I didn't get into the books as a result of the movie or vice versa. I simply happened upon them at different times because I was bored and looking for entertainment. Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against The Princess Diaries. It just isn't one of my favorite live-action princess movies. It wasn't until at least another five years after I read the books that I saw the movie again, so there had been too much time between viewings for me to properly compare the two mediums even though I knew Disney had changed a lot of the source material. I decided to remedy that yesterday and by rereading the first book shortly after another viewing of the film on Ne…
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms Just Dropped a New Trailer!
Eight months after the first trailer for Disney's upcoming movie, The Nutcracker and the Four Realmsand my foray into the origins of "The Nutcracker," Disney finally released a second trailer. The new one is visually similar to one that was released last December, but it contains significantly more dialogue, giving us a glimpse at the story changes to original fairy tale by E.T.A. Hoffman. Just in case anyone was concerned about the validity of The Nutcracker and the Four Realms as a live-action princess movie as opposed to a regular fairy tale adaptation, Disney makes Clara's status crystal clear by showing a soldier, who is probably the Nutcracker in human form, refer to her as "princess" after being told that her mother created the magical realms and is considered their "queen." Was it really necessary to solidify Clara as a Disney Princess? Probably not, but it was a clever marketing move considering how big of an impact princess culture has h…
Disney Princesses Break the Internet!
With only three months to go until the highly anticipated Wreck-It Ralphsequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet, the Disney gods have taken pity upon us mere mortals and graced us with yet another screenshot of the highly anticipated princess scene that was previewed at the D23 Expo last year. This preview shows us what happened after the first official screenshot that was released, in which Vanellope unexpectedly invaded the princesses' private dressing room, making way for the hilariously defensive antics that we see clips of in the trailer. This newly released image from Entertainment Weekly shows us what happened after Vanellope got on the girls' good side, convincing them that she is a Disney Princess as well.
In this image, we see the classic characters convert to Vanellope's casual style of clothing as they lounge on bean bag chairs for what looks like your average teen slumber party. Missing from this particular image are Jasmine, Aurora, Merida, and Belle, but we know t…
In this image, we see the classic characters convert to Vanellope's casual style of clothing as they lounge on bean bag chairs for what looks like your average teen slumber party. Missing from this particular image are Jasmine, Aurora, Merida, and Belle, but we know t…
Review: The Little Mermaid (2018 Indie Flick)
Of the three live-action adaptations of "The Little Mermaid" that were announced within the past couple of years, only one of them has already finished filming and has a limited release in AMC theaters as of last weekend. Many of us who are fans of the original fairy tale took issue with Armando Guttierez's The Little Mermaid trying to market itself as a new take on Hans Christian Andersen's story when the trailer bears virtually no resemblance to it. I liked when their Facebook page had the title A Little Mermaid, as that was more honest and made it sound like an original story, but it was soon replaced with the attention-grabbing title that would hopefully confuse people just enough into thinking it was made by Disney and convince them to go and see it. Ordinarily, I wouldn't even bother reviewing such a mediocre low-budget production that was made by someone without any prior film experience, but the fact that it had a theatrical release and marketing campaign…
How Princesses Represent Hope
The final trailer was just released for Disney's latest fairy tale endeavor, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. This trailer gives audiences more insight to the content of the four realms of snowflakes, flowers, sweets, and the creepy distorted land that was taken over by the movie's villain, Mother Ginger. The trailer also confirmed that the black man with the eye-patch from the previous trailer was in fact Clara's godfather, Drosselmeyer. While it still hasn't been confirmed in the dialogue that the soldier accompanying Clara in the trailers is Drosselmeyer's nephew, the Nutcracker turned human, it's fairly obvious at this point. Some people have commented that this movie looks like a remake of Tim Burton's 2010 live-action Alice in Wonderland. Both portray a classic heroine donning the uniform of a soldier to save an enchanted realm from evil. This feminist answer to the "one man's journey" trope brings in a new era that shifts the method …
Review: Charming
It took a lot of patience, but I finally had an opportunity to watch 3QU Media's animated film, Charming, which still has no known release date in America. The movie was exactly what it looked like from the trailer--a mildly entertaining and predictable Shrek wannabe with very little replay value. Considering that it was 3QU Media is still struggling with distribution on their first attempt at a film, I doubt we'll be seeing much else from them. The rudimentary animation was a dead giveaway for the studio's lack of experience. The fact that they incorporated watered down versions of Disney Princesses also shows that they didn't have enough faith in their own story. Even though the princesses did draw me in, I was hoping for a more fulfilling experience than this movie was able to provide.
To its credit, the story behind Charming is pretty original. Most fairy tales of old portray princes rescuing princesses and marrying them with the automatic assumption that they fall…
To its credit, the story behind Charming is pretty original. Most fairy tales of old portray princes rescuing princesses and marrying them with the automatic assumption that they fall…
Review: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
When I learned that Disney was making a movie based on "The Nutcracker," I did some research to become more acquainted with the original fairy tale by E.T.A. Hoffman. That research may have gotten in the way my future enjoyment of the movie. Then again, I'm not sure there's much in it for adults to enjoy regardless of how much they know about the original story. That said, I think I may have liked it if I saw it as a kid even though it would not have been one of my favorites because I'm a sucker for stories about girls who journey to fantasy worlds and discover that they're princesses. It has the same sort of whimsical charm as The Wizard of Oz or Alice in Wonderland, but without the emotion or heart that would have made it a true classic.
By far, the movie's greatest strength is its visuals. This film has one of the most beautiful posters I've ever seen, filled with varying shades of pink, lavender, teal, and blue with the characters blossoming into …
By far, the movie's greatest strength is its visuals. This film has one of the most beautiful posters I've ever seen, filled with varying shades of pink, lavender, teal, and blue with the characters blossoming into …
November Is Basically Princess Month Now
Last November, I posted about all of the festivities that took place for various princess movie anniversaries. Did you know that an overwhelming majority of Disney Princess movies were released in November of their corresponding year? That makes it a huge month for celebrating many of our favorite theatrical releases. Sometimes people ask why that is, and I think it's mainly about accessibility. Disney likes to release their biggest blockbusters right before holiday vacations so that parents and kids will be available to go out and see them, guaranteeing a successful run. You might be wondering why these movies don't open in December so they're closer to the bigger holidays, but most blockbusters stay in theaters for at least two months, which means that opening in November will bring in both the Thanksgiving and Christmas vacation crowds. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, which came out last week, and even though it was somewhat disappointing, Disney's most anticipa…
Review: The Princess Switch
Today, Netflix dropped The Princess Switch, a low-budget modern-day knockoff of Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper. Was it just as cheesy and predictable as it looked in the trailer? Well, yes. Does that make it completely unwatchable? Surprisingly, no. It's normal to see a lot of fluffy feel-good family movies out around the holidays, so setting the film during Christmastime and releasing it right at the start of the holiday season may have been just the right touch to prevent it from being a huge disaster. Since we've already seen movies about twins or lookalikes switching places so many times, it's the perfect flick to play if you're busy cleaning or doing your nails or reading articles online and want to have something on in the background.. Trust me, you won't miss anything if you need to run to the microwave and grab your popcorn. No need to pause it.
Thanks to the magic of green screen technology, Vaness Hudgens plays both Stacy De Novo, a baker from Chic…
Thanks to the magic of green screen technology, Vaness Hudgens plays both Stacy De Novo, a baker from Chic…
Review: Wreck-It Ralph 2 - Ralph Breaks the Internet
Today is the day we have been waiting for since last year's D23 Expo, where it was revealed that the original voices of the Disney Princesses would be reunited for the Wreck-It Ralph sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet. There are a lot of different things I want to comment on after seeing this movie last night, so my review is going to cover two very different aspects. Since this is a princess blog, the first half of my review will cover the Disney Princess scenes in the film, which is the reason that many of us were excited about seeing it in the first place. If you just want to know about the movie itself, feel free to scroll down to the second half of my review, where I will discuss the plot and my overall enjoyment of it.
Ralph Breaks the Internet foreshadows its big princess reveal by showing two generic video game princess characters in the background of the opening scenes. Is Wreck-It Ralph a Disney Princess movie? Technically, yes. Vanellope is revealed to be a princess at th…
Ralph Breaks the Internet foreshadows its big princess reveal by showing two generic video game princess characters in the background of the opening scenes. Is Wreck-It Ralph a Disney Princess movie? Technically, yes. Vanellope is revealed to be a princess at th…
Is Hollywood Out of Ideas?
I was thinking about writing a review of Netflix's sequel to A Christmas Prince, but it really speaks for itself. It's a cheap sequel to an already low-budget movie that isn't worth anyone's time. A better thing to discuss is why Netflix bothered making a sequel to A Christmas Prince at all, especially after they already contributed a low-budget movie to the princess-filled month of November, which, while not exactly original, was at least not a sequel. Netflix produces a ton of content. Even Disney Legend Glen Keane is working for them now! Even though everything they produce is not guaranteed to be a high-quality blockbuster, this unwanted and unnecessary sequel is just the tip of the iceberg. A bigger problem lies below the surface. The best new princess show Netflix has made is actually a reimagining of something from the '80s, and almost every Disney movie in production right now is either a sequel or a live-action remake. Are there truly no more original idea…
The New Princess Jasmine
The internet went a little crazy when Entertainment Weekly released Disney's first promo photos of the fully costumed actors from their upcoming Aladdin remake last week. Many were disappointed with what they saw, which unfortunately tends to be the case for live-action remakes. For instance, Aladdin's signature purple vest was changed to red, making it closer to the Broadway version of the show. He was also given a relatively nice shirt underneath, which is more than a little confusing for those of us who remember how poor he was in the original film. Will Smith as the Genie looked a little too much like a normal human instead of a mystical blue entity, but apparently that's still coming. Princess fans were most excited to see previews of Jasmine's wardrobe. In terms of quantity, the internet did not disappoint. We now have images of three of Jasmine's looks that will be featured in the movie as well as a peek at her new handmaiden.
For me, this regal red gown wa…
For me, this regal red gown wa…
The Frozen 2 Hype Is Real
I had barely woken up this morning when I discovered that nearly all the fan blogs I follow had already posted an update about the trailer for the highly anticipated Frozen 2 before the sun had even come out. Either Disney is really good at building hype or most bloggers don't sleep. This movie has been teased since the last D23 Expo back in 2017, but the details were shrouded in mystery until today. A few images of Anna and Elsa's new look got leaked early, but today we were finally able to see where these leaked images came from. Wreck-It Ralph 2 played fun with the way Disney had been keeping this project under warps by teasing a preview of it after the credits and rickrolling the audience. The real teaser trailer pulls Frozen fans further down the rabbit hole of Arendelle by making us ask more questions than it actually answers. With its adrenaline-fueled score and lack of dialogue, it poses the question "What is Frozen 2 about?" See if you can figure it out bel…
The Little Mermaid Anniversary Edition Is the One You've Been Waiting for!
Back in 2006 when Disney released The Little Mermaid on Platinum Edition DVD, I wrote my concerns to their marketing department about the dim colors during certain pivotal scenes of the film's restoration as well as the lack of behind-the-scenes footage in their bonus features. A few years later, the film was restored again and released on Blu-ray for the Diamond Edition. That version cleaned up the colors and contained a few behind-the-scenes bonus features. However, I did not own a Blu-ray player at that time. Today, my ship has arrived because the PlayStation 4 I purchased to play Kingdom Hearts III on also works as a Blu-ray player, allowing me to thoroughly enjoy the latest Anniversary Edition Blu-ray release of The Little Mermaid. With Disney's marketing department on overdrive this year, there are three versions available of this release. The Target edition features exclusive cover art and a gorgeous booklet containing concept art, trivia about the film, and an illustra…
Sequels and Remakes and Trailers, Oh My!
Is Disney ever going to slow down? You would think with all the live-action remakes and sequels that they are releasing this year, they would want to save something for the next year or two, but you would be wrong. It isn't enough that 2019 is jam-packed with live-action remakes and animated sequels because Disney announced last week that they are pushing up the release date for a sequel to one of their live-action remakes. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, the next chapter to their 2014 flick that told the story of Sleeping Beauty from an new perspective, is coming this October. To be fair, Maleficent is different from Disney's other live-action remakes because it is not an unapologetic carbon copy that is doomed from to be inferior to the original from conception. With a script by the Disney Princess of screenwriting, Linda Woolverton, the movie puts a feminist spin on a fairly outdated tale about a damsel in distress who needed true love's kiss to restore her vitality. With…
Let's Talk About These New Aladdin Clips
By now, I'm sure I've made my feelings about Disney's live-action remakes perfectly clear. In fact, when I saw the first trailer they released for their upcoming live-action Aladdin remake, it only reassured me that this would be a bland shadow of the original 1992 animated classic. However, Disney's clever marketing team has been stealthily dropping TV spots and other campaigns for the film over the past few weeks that make it look like it might be worth watching as its own entity. That's not to say that it won't be comparable at all since it does still feature the same songs, characters, and plot. Yet, there appears to be a bit more creativity in this remake than the watered down Beauty and the Beast clone they released in 2017. Of course, that could also be the result of a very well edited commercial. This "Rags to Riches" promo shifted many of expectations about the movie I will be seeing on May 24th in a good way.
The promo starts with Aladdin so…
The promo starts with Aladdin so…
That New Maleficent Trailer Though
I posted not too long ago about how fed up I was with all the Disney live-action remakes, sequels, and sequels to live-action remakes. Then I pointed out that many of the new clips from the upcoming live-action Aladdin movie look amazing (and they keep getting better). That movie has a week to go before the general public will be able to see it, but Disney has already gotten down to business in promoting Maleficent: Mistress of Evil with our first teaser trailer earlier this week. I have to say, it looks promising. The teaser reveals virtually nothing about the plot, but it does drop some hints about the new setting and thematic elements. A lot of plot devices will need to be created from scratch after the conclusive ending of the original film in which Maleficent became a mother figure to Princess Aurora, who was crowned queen of the Moors to unite the magical and non-magical kingdoms
It would be impossible to tell the same story again after how much has already changed by the time t…
It would be impossible to tell the same story again after how much has already changed by the time t…
Review: Aladdin (Live-Action 2019)
I think it goes without saying that Disney's 1992 Aladdin was a childhood staple for anyone who grew up in the '90s, and I am no exception. Therefore, my initial reaction when I found that they were doing a live-action remake was rather cynical. I have not been a fan of the remakes Disney had done in the past, and the last original live-action princess movie I saw from them left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Therefore, I went into the Aladdin remake with high hopes and low expectations. Is it possible to recapture the magic of the original film without coming off as lifeless clone like the 2017 remake of Beauty and the Beast? Spoiler alert: The answer is an enthusiastic yes.
After seeing one Disney disappointment after another and spending a great deal of time studying the art of screenwriting this year, I was beginning to think that perhaps I was becoming jaded. Maybe the sense of wonder I felt after seeing a new movie for the first time simply ceased to exist as I became…
After seeing one Disney disappointment after another and spending a great deal of time studying the art of screenwriting this year, I was beginning to think that perhaps I was becoming jaded. Maybe the sense of wonder I felt after seeing a new movie for the first time simply ceased to exist as I became…
Frozen 2 Trailer Analysis
We now have our first official full-length trailer for Frozen II. This trailer expands on some of the images we saw in the teaser along with strategically chosen dialogue to keep us guessing about the story. Though it does not contain any additional footage of the mysterious girl and boy from the initial teaser, we do see a new character in the form of an underwater horse spirit revealed to be a Nokk, a mythological creature from various European cultures. Reminiscent of the will o' the wisps from Brave or the blowing leaves from Pocahontas, this shapeshifting spirit appears to be Elsa's guiding force to the magical elements of the film. We see a similar horse appear again later in the form of glittering lights alongside illusions of other creatures that later transform into sparkling silver leaves. The Nokk's magic will likely lead Elsa to her mysterious destiny that will be presented in this film.
A major focal point of Frozen II is the inception of Elsa's powers. Th…
A major focal point of Frozen II is the inception of Elsa's powers. Th…
We Have Our Ariel!
Love them or hate them, remakes are flooding Disney's market. One of their most highly anticipated upcoming live-action remakes just happens to be my favorite movie, The Little Mermaid. There has been a great deal of speculation behind who Disney might cast to play Ariel, the passionate redheaded mermaid, especially after they announced that they were focusing mainly on actresses of color for the role. A long-standing rumor was that they had their eye on Zendaya, the talented star of Disney Channel's K.C. Undercover, which concluded last year. There were no further announcements about this casting decision until today. True to their word, Disney is sticking to their intention to cast an actress of color. The internet is now buzzing with the news that the role of Ariel has officially been granted to Grown-ish actress Halle Bailey. It appears that Zendaya was either unavailable or deemed too old with the announcement of this newcomer.
I never watched the show Grown-ish, which is…
I never watched the show Grown-ish, which is…
Thank the Ancestors! Mulan Has a Teaser!
So little has been revealed about the production of Disney's live-action remake of Mulan since Chinese actress Liu Yifei was cast for the rule that I was surprised to see that they released the first teaser today. Riding on the coattails of The Little Mermaid controversy, the Disney hype train continues to chug along in the hopes that people will stop arguing over their last announcement. There have been a few rumors about Mulan before today, but this teaser was our first true sample of the look and feel of the film. Earlier this week, it was revealed that Mushu, everyone's favorite dragon sidekick, would be replaced by a phoenix. I loved that Mulan had a dragon in the original film, but the phoenix has had a personal meaning to me ever since I wrote the novella Rebirth: A Faery's Tale. It was also announced that the remake would not be a musical, eliminating the need to cast people who can sing as well as act. It looks like they learned their lesson from casting Emma Wats…
Maleficent Fights Against Love in the New Trailer
Is Disney ever going to run out of princess news this month? Just a few short days after the Halle Bailey controversy, they released the first teaser for their Mulan remake. Barely 24 hours have passed since then, and we have a new trailer for Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. This trailer reveals a lot more about the story than the last one did. We now see that the movie's central conflict revolves around Princess Aurora's engagement to Prince Phillip. As irritating as it is to have a sequel to a remake instead of introducing new characters and stories, this movie is shaping up to be quite good for what it is. Initially, I wasn't particularly excited for this sequel that nobody asked for, but the plot is surprisingly inspired and unlike anything that we've ever seen before from a princess story, not to mention that exciting revelation from the end of the trailer. You can see for yourself below.
What makes this different from other stories about princesses falling in love …
What makes this different from other stories about princesses falling in love …
Five Times Disney Race-Bent a Princess and Nobody Complained
With all the controversy over Halle Bailey getting cast as Ariel, I wondered why nobody made such a big deal out of all other times Disney race-bent a fairy tale princess. This is not intended to be another post about why we should support Halle but instead an analysis of all the other times this happened in a Disney production. This is such a hot button issue right now that people are talking about it when they don't even have all the facts. ABC's The View aired an episode in which Whoopi Goldberg claimed that Halle was voicing the character for an animated production, and other people are making videos where they claim that Ariel isn't a princess or that she had green skin in the original fairy tale. Let's take a moment to get our facts straight while we explore how this is something that Disney has been doing for over 20 years.
Cinderella - 1997
This is the one that people remember the most fondly, and for good reason. Whitney Houston's passion project to produc…
Cinderella - 1997
This is the one that people remember the most fondly, and for good reason. Whitney Houston's passion project to produc…
Princess Audrey Becomes the Queen of Mean in Descendants 3!
It's hard to get excited about something as cringe-worthy as Descendants, which premiered on Disney Channel in 2015 as a blatant ripoff of Mattel's Ever After High. It was followed up with an even more cringe-worthy sequel in 2017 that barely had any semblance of a plot. These movies seemed like an easy cash-grab to show off the singing and dancing talents of various Disney Channel teens by turning them into rebellious offspring of classic animated Disney characters who jump around in leather '90s grunge and brightly colored hair. They focused mainly on the villains' kids, with the cliché message that you shouldn't judge people by first impressions. That's all well and good, but there weren't many royal children to demonstrate that princesses aren't always sugar sweet either. The only token princess to fill this role was Audrey, the daughter of Princess Aurora from Disney's Sleeping Beauty. Instead of being polite and loving, Audrey comes off as a s…
Review: Kingdom of Music (The Swan Princess 9)
The Swan Princess has released yet another sequel in their never-ending franchise. Fortunately, the last one was such an unfathomable disaster that the story had nowhere to go but up. I was pleased to find that Kingdom of Music was an improvement over the last few CGI direct-to-DVD sequels. This is in part thanks to its throwbacks to the original "Swan Lake" inspired story as well as cultural diversity, which is trending right now in the world of fairy tale princesses, and the coming of age for Alyse, Odette and Derek's adopted daughter. Actually, I think they could have generated more interest among the Swan Princess crowd if they had made her grow into a teenager a bit earlier, since that is the classic age for fairy tale princesses. They decided to go the Sofia the First route instead by making her an ordinary little girl who falls into royalty without the obstacle of romance getting in the way. However, Lucas, the orphan boy Alyse met in Princess Tomorrow, Pirate Tod…
Everything Princess So Far on Disney+
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year, you've probably heard about Disney's upcoming streaming service that plans to give Netflix a run for their money. I already signed up for a three-year subscription to Disney+ at the D23 Expo this year, but like most people, I will have to wait until November 12th before I can access it. That is not the case for the lucky residents of the Netherlands, who woke up this morning to a free trial of the service. They must have felt like they won the lottery as Dutch residents now have access to a vast library of Disney movies and shows spanning across generations. Word spread like wildfire about this, and many sources are already listing some of the content that is confirmed to be on the app now through the November 12th launch date. I made sure to gather as much information as I could about the princess-related content that was released in this trial. The biggest news is that the service has its very own "Princesses…
Frozen 2 Trailer 2
The Frozen 2 hype comes to a crescendo today with with the second full-length trailer that gives us more information about this upcoming sequel than ever. Other sources reveal names for several new characters from the movie, including Honeymaren, a young woman who was in the first teaser, and her brother Ryder, who is similar to Kristoff in both appearance and personality. This trailer also reveals footage of Anna and Elsa's parents, who were reported to be part of a flashback sequence at this year's D23 Expo. Couple that with some adorable Anna dialogue and more epic footage of the Nokk, and we have the best trailer Disney has released for this movie so far!
It starts out with a traditional narration that foreshadows the Enchanted Forest that Anna and Elsa would travel to later on. The narrator is then revealed as their father, King Agnarr, who tells them a bedtime story in a flashback from when they are children. We also briefly see their mother, Queen Iduna, even though sh…
It starts out with a traditional narration that foreshadows the Enchanted Forest that Anna and Elsa would travel to later on. The narrator is then revealed as their father, King Agnarr, who tells them a bedtime story in a flashback from when they are children. We also briefly see their mother, Queen Iduna, even though sh…
Review: Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs
There are a ton of cultural discrepancies involved in the production and distribution of the recent "Snow White" parody movie , Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs , and I mean a ton. It was produced by a Korean animation studio called Locus Animation . Despite having been around for roughly a decade according to their website , they have never produced an animated movie before this one. Even though the main characters look vaguely Korean and one uses ofuda talismans as an attack, the movie has a full cast of American voice actors. You may have heard of Red Shoes from the controversy it caused at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival , where numerous people complained about a billboard for the movie featuring a skinny and fat version of Snow White with the tag line "What if Snow White was no longer beautiful and the 7 Dwarfs not so short?" This billboard sparked anger from the western world about the princess body image issue over to the implication that being skinn
Thoughts on a Live-Action Snow White
Disney recently announced that they will begin production on the live-action remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This announcement was a long time coming, beginning with plans for a movie featuring Snow White's sister Rose Red from the fairy tale "Snow White and Rose Red" before ultimately deciding to go back to their standard route of lazily recreating something they already made. This wouldn't be the first live-action portrayal of Snow White for Disney. Ginnifer Goodwin starred as the fair-skinned princess for six seasons on ABC's Once Upon a Time, which was owned and shamelessly plugged by Disney. In my opinion, there are very few actresses who can convey the same combination of innocence, spirit, and altruism that Ginnifer brought to the character. In 2012, there were two live-action adaptations of "Snow White"in theaters from competing studios, neither of which were Disney. Still, this announcement marks the first time that Disney is remaki…
Review: Maleficent 2 (Mistress of Evil)
Maleficent is one of my favorite live-action Disney remakes. It was the only one that tried to do something different with the story it was retelling. Still, I found myself skeptical when I found out that Disney was planning a sequel. It was enough to tell the story from a new perspective without needing to delve further into this alternate Sleeping Beauty universe. Once I saw the trailer for Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, however, I started to get pretty excited in spite of myself. It looked like it had a unique story that we've never seen before in a fairy tale setting. Like the first movie, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil takes place in a world where women are strong and powerful and men are either weak or evil. This didn't particularly hinder my enjoyment of the movie as a woman, but I can see how it might be an issue, and so can screenwriter Linda Woolverton.
My favorite thing about Mistress of Evil was watching Princess Aurora blossom into a fierce young queen. This was one …
My favorite thing about Mistress of Evil was watching Princess Aurora blossom into a fierce young queen. This was one …
Review: Frozen 2
I was fortunate enough to see an early screening of Frozen 2 this weekend thanks to ASIFA Hollywood. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I missed the first few minutes of the movie, so my review will cover what I did see. For a Disney sequel to a movie that I consider overrated, I tried to keep my expectations realistic. Frozen 2 was just as visually stunning as it looked in the trailers, but the story was all over the place and suffered from many of the same pacing issues that I had with the original. While the beginning and ending dragged on much longer than they needed to, the middle was the most engaging portion of the film with many tasteful throwbacks to the original as it expanded upon Anna and Elsa's past and future. Ultimately, however, the story had a lot of buildup with very little payoff.
The first thing I'd like to address is the songs. There were so many songs. As someone who loves musicals, I never thought it would be possible to think there are too many son…
The first thing I'd like to address is the songs. There were so many songs. As someone who loves musicals, I never thought it would be possible to think there are too many son…
New Mulan Trailer Reaction
Disney released the new trailer for their live-action remake of Mulan today, and it's... fine, I guess. The trailer confirmed many of the rumors that were flying around since the movie began production such as how Mushu will be replaced with a silent phoenix and Shan Yu would be replaced with a new villain. We hear an instrumental track of "Reflections" throughout the trailer, but none of the actors drop their serious expressions to break into song at any point. That's because this movie is not going to be a musical. Even though the original movie had only four songs in it, they took place at four of the most memorable points in the story and carried the story in a fun and entertaining manner. Without Mulan singing her heart out about how her reflection doesn't show who she is inside or Shang belting out "I'll Make a Man Out of You" as he trains his troops, the movie loses many of the elements that made it so nostalgic. Without Mushu's antics, …
What's Coming in 2020
Last year was quite possibly the biggest year for princess media ever. I don't think anything from 2020 will compare to the sheer number of princess anniversary events, TV shows, books, and movies that 2019 bestowed upon us, but that doesn't mean we won't have anything to look forward to in the coming year. Two of our favoriteDisney Princess cartoons will be ending soon, leaving us with a tiara-shaped hole in our hearts. Fortunately, the advent of Disney+ allows for even more original content from the studio than feature films or Disney Channel specials, promising some low-key princess entertainment while the cinemas get overrun with live-action remakes. One such upcoming Disney+ original princess movie is Secret Society of Second-Born Royals.
Secret Society of Second-Born Royals stars the immensely talented Peyton Elizabeth Lee, who played the title role in Andi Mack, one of my favorite shows from the last decade. In this upcoming Disney+ original movie, she will take on t…
Secret Society of Second-Born Royals stars the immensely talented Peyton Elizabeth Lee, who played the title role in Andi Mack, one of my favorite shows from the last decade. In this upcoming Disney+ original movie, she will take on t…
How Can We Modernize The Princess Diaries?
The past few years brought us a myriad of rumors about another sequel to the beloved 2001 Disney classic The Princess Diaries. In 2017, Anne Hathaway reported that there was already a script for The Princess Diaries 3 and that most of the talent behind the original including Queen Julie Andrews herself were interested in participating in the project. Of course, it's one thing for them to say they're interested and another for Disney to actually produce it, especially when they are already up to their eyeballs in sequels and remakes. The advent of Disney+ gives them a new platform for original content that makes the distribution of their smaller films easier and cheaper than worldwide theatrical releases. They are already taking advantage of this with several upcoming princess-related movies that will be exclusive to the new streaming platform. Whether or not The Princess Diaries 3 will be released in theaters remains to be seen, but it was announced last week that Disney+ has …
Where Did Princess Barbie Go?
It's been almost three years since the last Barbie movie dropped on Netflix. Since then, it appeared as though she retired from her fairy tale princess days in favor of the Dreamhouse Adventures series, which also premiered on Netflix shortly after Dolphin Magic. This was a big disappointment to those of us who loved Barbie's magical and sometimes musical masterpieces that came out two to three times a year between 2001 and 2017. Seeing Barbie hanging out with her sisters in modern-day Malibu in Dreamhouse Adventures isn't nearly as interesting or exciting as discovering an enchanted realm, saving the world, or switching places with a princess. That's why I was elated to learn that she would release a 72-minute feature this year called Princess Adventure. Is Princess Barbie back?
Barbie discovers what it means to be a modern princess in this full-length, original musical when she switches places with her royal doppelganger. Barbie helps a young monarch find her voice …
Barbie discovers what it means to be a modern princess in this full-length, original musical when she switches places with her royal doppelganger. Barbie helps a young monarch find her voice …
COVID-19 Updates from the Kingdoms
We've been locked in our towers for weeks now with no word from Mother Gothel on when we can go back outside. This is a hard time for everyone, including fairy tale princesses. If you've been too stressed to keep up with the ever-changing schedules for upcoming princess movies and events, don't worry. I've got you covered. As we all know, the Disney Parks are now closed indefinitely around the world. However, Disney cast members are being placed on furlough so they can still get paid during these uncertain times. Movie productions have been delayed as well. The live-action Mulan, which was supposed to come out in theaters on March 27th, is now set for theatrical release on July 24, 2020. Another upcoming princess remake, The Little Mermaidstarring Halle Bailey, has also halted production indefinitely. The project was supposed to start shooting earlier this month in London. There are photos circulating of a boat set in Pinewood Studios that has been temporarily abandone…
Disney Is Celebrating Cinderella's 70th All Year Long!
Disney loves celebrating anniversaries for their animated princesses, especially when they hit a new decade. This year's princess of honor is Cinderella from the 1950 animated classic of the same name. Cinderella had a major impact on many people's childhoods, including my own. It was released before I was born and went back in the vault before I could obtain it on VHS, so I watched it for the first time on a copy that my uncle recorded for me from a Blockbuster rental, which I suppose was the '90s version of piracy. Of course, I was first in line to purchase it years later when it came out on Platinum Edition DVD. Though it was not my favorite version of this overexposed fairy tale, there were things that made this particular adaptation stand out from the many live-action adaptations released over the following years. Cinderella's dress transformation sequence is one of the most famous and beautiful pieces of animation ever made. I remember being enamored as a child b…
The Secret Is Almost Out!
Reports of recent production delays made me question whether or not the upcoming Disney+ original movie Secret Society of Second-Born Royals was far enough along to premiere this summer as initially promised. Two days ago, I received my answer when a long-anticipated trailer for the action-packed princess flick was finally dropped alongside a release date of July 17th. I was excited about this movie not because I have a preference for princesses who kick butt, but instead because of its lead actress, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, who starred in the brilliant Disney Channel sitcom Andi Mack. Peyton is an endearing and talented actress who will take on the role of Sam, the younger sister of the crown princess of Illyria. Another familiar face in the Secret Society is its teacher, Skylar Astin, the second actor to take on the role of Greg in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend that currently portrays the character of Max in another musical drama, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist. The trailer gives us a first g…
Will We Ever See These Princess Movies?
The virus in Corona has drastically changed life as we know it. One of the industries that got hit the hardest by this pandemic was the entertainment industry. Back in April, Disney announced that their upcoming live-action adaptation of Mulan would be delayed until July 24th. Now, it has been delayed again to August 21st. How much faith can we place in this new release date after so much disappointment? Theatrical delays are at least understandable due to the difficulty of social distancing in a crowded theater. I thought that Disney would at least stick to their July 17th release for Secret Society of Second-Born Royals, since that was going to be uploaded to their Disney+ streaming service to watch from home. Yet, it seems that even superheroes lack the powers to maintain their release as this action-packed fairy tale has been pushed back to September 25th.
Disney isn't the only studio to deliver broken promises. A lot of people enjoyed my review of Red Shoes and the Seven Dwar…
Disney isn't the only studio to deliver broken promises. A lot of people enjoyed my review of Red Shoes and the Seven Dwar…
Hallmark Princesses
I've made some posts in this blog about live-action princess movies, but I failed to mention a newer collection of princess-themed films that has grown exponentially within the past decade. Owned by everyone's favorite greeting card company, the Hallmark Channel is famous for fluffy feel-good low-budget films that usually take place around Christmastime. Hallmark has released a dozen or so princess movies over the past decade, most of which are Christmas or winter-themed. The two I have seen are A Princess for Christmas in 2011 and A Winter Princess, which came out in early 2019. Both of these movies were similar in tone and plot to the 2017 Netflix original, A Christmas Prince. Aside from the lack of creativity when it comes to titles, all of these movies are have predictable storylines and are not terribly memorable, but don't worry. If you forget one, there are plenty more to take its place.
A Princess for Christmas stars Katie McGrath, who was in the middle of her succe…
A Princess for Christmas stars Katie McGrath, who was in the middle of her succe…
Barbie Goes on a Princess Adventure in September!
After months of speculation about whether the next Barbie movie was undergoing the same virus-related delays as other upcoming princess titles, a new preview went up on YouTube this past Sunday revealing that Barbie Princess Adventure will drop on Netflix on September 1st. The teaser also revealed a first look at some footage from the movie, which is set in the world of Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures and features Barbie and her friends Nikki, Daisy, Renee, and Teresa getting in on all the princess action. It is a rather odd setting for a Princess and the Pauper remake since there aren't that many princesses around today, but I suppose that's where the fantasy elements come into play. What disappointed me the most about the teaser was the complete lack of "new music" they teased in it. However, there have been some leaks of the original soundtrack, which I would describe as poppy and generic.
Barbie Princess Adventure is being promoted as a movie and not a multi-part Dre…
Barbie Princess Adventure is being promoted as a movie and not a multi-part Dre…
Review: A Royal Wedding (The Swan Princess 10)
Like them or not, the endless CGI sequels to The Swan Princess are here to stay. The only thing we can hope for at this point is that the movie's creators are capable of continuing to add fresh new stories to the franchise and improving their skills in what was once a brand new style of animation for Princess Odette and her friends. After seeing the last two installments, I believe that they have. A Royal Wedding is the tenth movie in the Swan Princess series and a direct sequel to the previous film, Kingdom of Music. I found both of these sequels more enjoyable than the older CGI sequels that began in 2012 with The Swan Princess Christmas, which was so bad that there was really nowhere to go but up. The improvements to the latest sequels were accomplished by introducing original new mythology that was inspired by "Swan Lake" and allowing Odette and Derek to step into the background for supporting roles, something that was well deserved after eight movies that revolved a…
Why the Cinderella Trope Doesn't Work in Modern Settings
After I shared my post about Hallmark princesses, I went ahead and watched every Hallmark movie I could find that involved royalty. Let me tell you; there are a lot. Sitting through one low-budget romcom after another, I found that the overwhelming majority of them have the exact same plot. A quirky American career woman falls in love with a mysterious stranger who turns out to be a prince from some obscure nation. She goes to live with him at the castle, finds that she doesn't fit in, runs away, and eventually, the prince comes back to her and proposes. At first glance, these movies appear to be attempts at modernized versions of "Cinderella," but upon closer inspection, they are vastly different. The protagonists in these romcoms are not being oppressed by abusive family members, nor are they living in a time period where the only way for a woman to get ahead in the world is by marriage. In fact, most of these women are doing just fine long before the dashing love inte…
Review: The Fairy Princess and the Unicorn (a.k.a. Bayala: A Magical Adventure)
This movie is a bit of an enigma. The animation is more beautiful than it has any business being, but the script feels like something that came straight out of a 1980s marketing team solely for the purpose of selling toys. And that appears to be exactly what it was. It has the look and feel of a Barbie Fairytopia movie from a bygone era. While it's nice to know that there are still movies like this being made, would it be too much ask for them to be made better? The Fairy Princess and the Unicorn is an extremely misleading title. The movie was not about a single fairy princess but, in fact, many winged elf princesses, most of whom were sisters. A unicorn appeared in one scene for about ten seconds and had absolutely nothing to do with the plot. The movie was apparently renamed from the more fitting title of Bayala: A Magical Adventure, which would have been a perfect fit for it. I guess their marketing team was worried that a movie named after a world no one has ever heard of woul…
Review: Anastasia Once Upon a Time
You know those movies that you watch with your friends because they're so hilariously bad that you can spend the entire time making fun of every single thing that comes onscreen? Well, that's what this is. I had heard about Armando Gutierrez's time travel Anastasia movie shortly after he released his weird experimental film of The Little Mermaid that takes place in a modern circus. Anastasia: Once Upon a Time is an outlandish interpretation of the theory that the Anastasia Romanov escaped the fall of the Russian Empire, except that here, she was sent through a time portal to the year 1989 that was created by Rasputin. The spark to create this movie probably came from Don Bluth's 1997 animated classic, but the two films have very little in common. You can tell that it came from the same creative minds as 2018's The Little Mermaid because both stories have a mythical princess befriend a young blonde girl who is obsessed with royalty and magic. I guess their thesis is…
Yes, We Will See These Princess Movies in September!
After much speculation and delay, three princess movies that once had uncertain futures are now officially coming to streaming services next month. Two will be on Disney+, and the third will stream on Netflix. We now have confirmed release dates for these movies with new trailers and previews released for all three within the last week to build up excitement for the next month. The traditional November of princess events and releases probably won't happen this year, so September is going to the final frontier of princess movies for 2020. With the current stigma against going outside, streaming services will become the primary medium for all our princess content, at least for a while. Of the three princess movies coming out next month, none has suffered more with its release than the live-action remake of Mulan. Disney desperately wanted this to be a theatrical release, which is clear from the fact that they delayed it three times before ultimately deciding to make it an optional pu…
Review: Barbie Princess Adventure
Princess Barbie is back with a modern new makeover. Barbie Princess Adventure premiered on Netflix today, and it made me miss the old Barbie more than ever. This musical princess adventure played like an extended episode of the Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures series rather than a remake of the fantastic Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper movie from 2004. If anything, it was an animated version of Netflix's The Princess Switch from 2018 with songs inspired by Disney's 2006 High School Musical. It was more modern than Barbie's 2012 princess doppleganger remake, The Princess and the Popstar, speaking to a new generation of girls who grew up surrounded by technology and social media. I understand that I am far from the target age group for this movie, but I feel like movies set in modern times will inevitably feel dated over time, whereas those set in an era long past like The Princess and the Pauper come off as classic and timeless.
Barbie Princess Adventure begins when Barbie…
Barbie Princess Adventure begins when Barbie…
Review: Mulan (Live-Action 2020)
It's been well over a year since the first live-action Mulan teaser. As of today, the latest Disney remake is now available on Disney+ as their first premier access original. That means that for $29.99, less than what the cost of a day at the theater for the average family, you can add the new Mulan to your Disney+ library to watch as many times as you want. There have been some complaints about the additional fee to the paid subscription service, but it was something Disney needed to do in order to even come close to making back their budget after the film got delayed from its March 27th release due to COVID-19 complications. If you don't think it's worth paying extra, the movie will be added to the regular Disney+ catalog on December 4th for no additional charge. After watching it myself, I have to admit that it probably is not worth the extra fee to stream it early unless you are a die-hard fan of the Ballad of Hua Mulan or want to help support Disney's COVID losses…
Review: Rolf Kauka's Once Upon a Time
One of my readers informed me about Rolf Kauka's Once Upon a Time, an obscure German animated adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "Frau Holle." After a quick search, I was pleased to discover that someone had uploaded a nostalgic VHS recording of the entire film on YouTube. The animation reminded me of the old Disney knock-off tapes I used to watch when I was a child, but the storytelling and music were several notches higher in quality. Since there are no other famous adaptations of this fairy tale, I can see that the filmmakers worked very hard to do it justice. They did a terrific job for the time period and what I can only assume was a humble budget. The story has a lot of heart and a unique presentation. What sets Once Upon a Time apart from other animated fairy tales is that it completely excludes the protagonist from the first ten minutes of the movie. "Frau Holle," the story it is based on, is similar to "Cinderella" in the regard that …
Review: Secret Society of Second-Born Royals
After an annoying two-month delay, Secret Society of Second-Born Royals finally dropped on Disney+ today, marking the streaming service's first original princess movie. Secret Society was teased all the way back in January with a clip of Andi Mack's Peyton Elizabeth Lee in a gorgeous ice blue princess gown running for her life on some sort of important mission. That sequence was featured as promised, but the rest of the film had little to offer in terms of princess content. Secret Society is the first princess/superhero movie since Barbie's Princess Power in 2015 and is a far cry from the animated heroine who received her powers from a magic butterfly and went by the alias Super Sparkle. Oddly enough, I found the lack of humor or camp in Secret Society mildly disappointing. It takes itself too seriously to fall into the "so bad it's good" category and comes off instead as a high end Disney Channel Original Movie, which makes sense because it was made by the s…
Is Raya the Next Big Disney Princess?
The biggest princess news today is that Disney released their first teaser trailer for Raya and the Last Dragon, their next female-driven animated feature that is slated for release in March 2021. Early interviews have hinted that Maya might be joining the Disney Princess line as an adventuresome daughter of the village chief. The trailer does not look anything like a Disney Princess movie from eras past, but it does follow the newer trope of princesses who fight, wear pants, and rebel against society. In other words, it's an action movie that's trying to mooch off the popularity of the Disney Princess brand at the same time. I don't know what to make of these "princess" movies that no longer contain any of the things we love about princesses. However, it doesn't look like a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, the animation in the teaser was stunning. It just doesn't look like the princess movie that it is implied to be. The beginning of …
Review: The Princess Twins of Legendale
For those of you who aren't savvy in the world of underground Hollywood, there is a studio called The Asylum, whose sole purpose is to create low-budget imitations of popular movies in the hopes that an old granny will forget her glasses while shopping and buy one on DVD for her grandkids, thinking it's that big blockbuster movie they're always yapping on about. When they set their sights on an upcoming release from a major studio, they rush to get their imitation out before or around the same time as the one they're mimicking so they can pretend that they came up with the idea first. The Twin Princesses of Legendale was not produced by The Asylum, but it feels like it easily could have been. In actuality, it was produced by a modern toy company called MGA Entertainment, which is famous for making Bratz and L.O.L. Surprise dolls. You would think that a toy company producing a low-budget movie would only do so with the intention of selling toys, but surprisingly, my onl…
Let's Give Thanks for These Princess Movies on Disney+ Next Month!
It's difficult to find things to be thankful for this year. There have been numerous cancellations and delays of highly anticipated princess movies throughout the year due to the pandemic. That's why we should give thanks when a movie actually arrives on schedule, which appears to be the case for Godmothered , an original movie streaming on Disney+ for this year's holiday season. Godmothered is scheduled to come to Disney+ next Friday, December 4th. It isn't the only movie we have to look forward to on Disney's newest streaming service, though. Princess fans can anticipate a wealth of long-awaited content this holiday season to make up for all the delays during the rest of the year. Check out the trailer for Godmothered below. When this movie was first announced as Frills early this year , many fans were hoping for a Cinderella prequel about the backstory of the Fairy Godmother. Instead, we are getting something that looks like a poor man's Enchanted . Jil
Review: Godmothered
Last Friday, Disney released a wealth of princess movies on Disney+ . One of them was an original film created exclusively for the streaming service. This movie went under the working title of Frills for a little while, but switched back to its original title, Godmothered , later in the year. Many princess fans were hoping Godmothered would be a prequel to "Cinderella" that would chronicle the life and times of the beloved yet mysterious Fairy Godmother character. Instead, it was close to the Kristin Chenoweth series that ABC promised a few years ago and never delivered. Like the trailer suggests, Godmothered has the look and feel of a poor man's version of Enchanted , Disney's 2007 live-action and animated hybrid about a woman from the fairy tale world trying to navigate the pitfalls and cynicism of reality . Fans of the animated sequences in Enchanted will be rewarded for sitting through the entirety of Godmothered with a stylistic treat just before the cr
So Much Disney News!
Right on the heels of yesterday's Winx disaster , Disney swooped in to save the day with a barrage of new announcements about their upcoming content. Just when I had made a video wondering what there was to look forward to in the coming years, Disney answered my question to the extreme. Not only are there two new princess cartoons coming out within the next couple of years, but we also now have concrete release information about a number of movies that Disney has been teasing us with. If you're not already subscribed to Disney+ , you'd better do it soon, or you're going to miss out on a lot. The biggest and possibly most surprising of the announcements is that after a complete dearth of original animated content on Disney+, Disney's premiere streaming service is working on not one, not two, but four exclusive animated series based on popular Disney film franchises, two of which are princesses. I'm particularly excited to see Tiana join the ranks of Ariel , Rapunzel
The Nutcracker Prince Is the Best Nutcracker Movie You've Never Seen!
The holiday season has begun, but like many other things this year , it is a mere shadow of its former self. That's why I was so pleased when one of my readers referred me to an animated version of "The Nutcracker" that I had missed during my childhood. The Nutcracker Prince is by far the most accurate version of E.T.A. Hoffmann's "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" that I have ever seen. After my overwhelming disappointment with Disney's The Nutcracker and the Four Realms , I thought that the Barbie movie was the closest I'd ever get to an accurate feature based on this classic fairy tale. I was wrong. The Nutcracker Prince is an animated film released in 1990 with a surprisingly impressive cast of voice talent. Sadly, there's no chance of seeing it on Disney+ any time soon because it was distributed by Warner Brothers , one of the only major film studios that Disney does not own (yet). However, it is free to watch on YouTube for those o
New Trailer Takes a Deep Dive into Raya and the Last Dragon
Raya and the Last Dragon is speculated to be the next big Disney Princess movie . Until recently, many details of its plot were kept under wraps. We know she's a warrior princess , that her people are divided, and that she needs to find the last dragon to help reunite them. Anything else about the story was only hinted at during last month's Investor Day presentation . Today, Disney treated us to a new poster and full-length trailer that gives us a first look at Raya's backstory as well as many of the other characters in the cast, including the dragon, Sisu, herself. The movie is on schedule for its March 5th release in theaters and on Disney+ for an additional fee. If this trailer is any indication of what to expect on that day, we are in for quite the adventure. The trailer begins with Raya discovering a stray baby and, like the kindhearted princess she is, searching for its parents. Then the baby reveals herself to be a "con-baby" (whatever that means) with
Review: Throne of Elves
I learned about Throne of Elves through a recommendation from a friend. It is a Chinese animated film inspired by a video game called Dragon Nest that takes place in a Dungeons and Dragons-inspired world with humans, elves, and other fantasy races. This movie is a sequel to Dragon Nest: Warriors Dawn , which introduces the world of Alterra. I watched that movie as well, but I found the plot too convoluted along with gratuitous action sequences that took me out of the story. It reminded me of Bayala: A Magical Adventure , which also introduces a vast world of fantasy characters and kingdoms that are packed into a single story. I think Throne of Elves i s easier to enjoy than Warriors Dawn because it focuses on a central couple instead of jumping around between different characters and lore all at once. The girl from the central couple is an elf princess, which makes it a perfect contender for my blog. At the beginning of the movie, Princess Liya is excited to attend her brother'
More Diverse Cinderella Movies Are Coming!
"Cinderella" is quite possibly the most well-known fairy tale of all time. Every culture has its own version of the story, and it has had more movie adaptations than any other fairy tale, which says something about its timelessness and popularity. Andrew Lloyd Webber is even working on a new musical of it to open whenever we're allowed to go to the theaters again. Of all the "Cinderella"s out there, there is one project that has been kept so under wraps that it hasn't even had a trailer even though it was supposed to come out today. That project is Sony's Cinderella starring one of the most adorable pop stars of our time, Camila Cabello . The movie was meant to celebrate diversity and feature the first gender neutral Fairy Godmother along with an array of modern pop songs. Like so many other movies that were supposed to come out over the past year, its release today never happened . It just might be more likely for a plain yellow pumpkin to become
Review: Raya and the Last Dragon
The newest Disney Princess to grace the silver screen is Raya from Raya and the Last Dragon . Since many theaters are still closed due to the pandemic, this is the second theatrical movie available to stream on Disney+ for an additional fee, the first being the live-action remake of Mulan , which I did not think was worth the extra money for Premier Access. Raya is a worthwhile experience that recreates the magic of watching an animated Disney classic in theaters for the first time, even though I watched it at home. It is full of magic, adventure, and heart with gorgeous visual imagery inspired by Southeast Asia. My biggest concern about this movie was that Raya would be a cookie-cutter independent warrior princess with no personality, but I was pleased to learn that she is just as flawed and human as any other well-rounded protagonist. She share some traits with Elena of Avalor , such as her overconfidence and trust issues but has a unique enough story to stand on her own. The t
Are Villains the New Disney Princesses?
When Disney released the trailer for their upcoming Cruella movie a couple of months ago, the internet had a lot to say. I decided it would be best to stay in my own lane. After all, 101 Dalmatians and its subsequent remakes are not Disney Princess movies . Then, it was announced last week that a new movie featuring Cinderella's stepsisters, Anastasia and Drizella, is in the works. Suddenly, Cruella didn't seem so irrelevant after all. It looks like villain-centered remakes are the next step in Disney's ongoing trend of poor decision-making and the general dearth of creativity in Hollywood . Don't get me wrong; I thought Maleficent was an excellent movie in its own right and quite innovative for the time period, but I wasn't expecting it to be the mold for a series of cookie-cutter screenplays about sympathetic villains after Disney ran out of animated classics to convert into soulless live-action remakes . I've seen tons of backlash for Cruella from
Sailor Moon Crystal Returns with a Double Feature!
As a '90s kid, it was difficult not to get swept up in the hype surrounding Sailor Moon . Referred to at the time as a "gateway anime," Sailor Moon was the first Magical Girl show that attained viral popularity among a western audience. Though I, personally, was more passionate about Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders , I had a mild curiosity about the pop culture princess phenomenon from Japan that everyone was talking about. A story about an ordinary girl who discovers she's the princess of a magical kingdom should have been right up my alley, but I had a lot of trouble relating to Usagi/Serena/Sailor Moon due to her immaturity and complete lack of motivation or responsibility. I wouldn't consider myself a huge fan of the series as a whole, but I did enjoy the English soundtrack and the sparkly aesthetic. My favorite sailor was Mercury, since she seemed like the only level-headed member of the girl-powered team. In 2014, Sailor Moon Crystal rolled aro
These Disney Princess Movies Are Being Shot Now!
The COVID-19 pandemic put a lot of things on pause last year, including a number of film and television productions. Now that things are slowly returning to normal, Disney is heading back into their seemingly endless grind of sequels and remakes by resuming production on a lot of highly anticipated films that got delayed . Most of these are being shot overseas in Europe, whether due to the scenery, because they have more workable restrictions than Los Angeles or a combination of both. Whatever the reason, it looks like the live-action Little Mermaid film starring Halle Bailey and the Enchanted sequel nearly 15 years in the making are finally underway. "The Little Mermaid" is my favorite fairy tale, so I'm excited to see a new adaptation of it even though I know nothing will ever compare to the 1989 animated classic . Since this is a Disney remake and not just any adaptation of the fairy tale, many people were concerned about whether or not Ariel would have her icon
We Finally Have Footage of Camila Cabello as Cinderella!
It's been over a year since the announcement that Camila Cabello would be starring in a new film adaptation of "Cinderella." After numerous delays , I am pleased to announce that the movie has finally released its first teaser six months after its original anticipated release date. Like so many adaptations that came before it, the movie is simply titled Cinderella and is set to release on Amazon Prime on September 3rd of this year. This 30-second teaser gives us a taste of Camila's version of Ella in the corset dress that was revealed in Entertainment Weekly's first look . Though there isn't enough time to reveal all the characters in such a short teaser, it also contains footage of Billy Porter as the first gender-neutral Fairy Godmother , and he very much looks the part. Other changes to the story are hinted at in the teaser as well, which you can watch below. The most notable change in this version of "Cinderella" is that Ella seems to have
What It Means To Be a Disney Princess in the 2020s
The first post I wrote in this blog was called "How the Disney Princesses Stayed Modern for 80 Years." The answer was a combination of creating new princesses to match the times along with branded promotional videos, events, and merchandise that combine the old with the new. The latest example is this year's Ultimate Princess Celebration , which is an attempt to celebrate all of the Disney Princesses, including ones that may feel outdated by today's standards, by releasing imagery that makes it look like they're all friends. This is a wonderful method of keeping some of my favorite childhood characters relevant , but it is also a shield used to cover up a darker truth that many of these characters would not be deemed acceptable by today's standards. We have reached a point in Hollywood in which traditional feminine traits are considered weak or problematic . As such, characters like Raya are considered the only acceptable way to portray a woman in the medi
Review: Cinderella (Amazon Prime 2021)
The wait is finally over. The newest version of Cinderella starring pop sensation Camila Cabello is one of the films that was most affected by the theater closures during the lockdown. It was supposed to be released by Sony at the beginning of this year but was sold to Amazon Prime and released today instead. Does it live up to the hype ? Many fans of the original fairy tale and its countless adaptations frown upon "jukebox musicals" that incorporate pre-existing songs, especially when there are already so many original musical adaptations of the story, including one that was just released in England this year . Though original songs are more creative and inspirational than something I've heard on the radio a million times, I appreciate that the marketing for this movie was honest and straightforward. Plus, the film's featured original song, "Million To One," is incredibly catchy and fun. Cinderella was filmed prior to the pandemic when the world w
Review: Belle
Belle is the first movie I had the pleasure of seeing in theaters since the lockdown, and it was absolutely worth it! This is an anime film that I watched in the original Japanese with English subtitles, so I can't comment on the dub, but the Japanese voices were great. Though it is not exactly a retelling of "Beauty and the Beast," there are many references to the animated Disney version in particular, including several shots that looked like they were copied directly from the film. The story is still unique in its own way, however. It feels fresh and modern without forcing strong feminist stereotypes onto its audience. The animation is visually stunning and is accompanied by a beautiful soundtrack. The story incorporates modern technology in a way that doesn't demean it and shows how we can take advantage of the digital era to turn our own lives into a fairy tale. Like many Magical Girl anime stories, Belle focuses on an ordinary schoolgirl named Suzu who get
Review: The King's Daughter
Many movies have struggled with delays due to the ongoing pandemic , but none have had quite as harrowing of a release schedule as The King's Daughter . Completed in 2014, the movie was initially named The Moon and the Sun after the 1997 novel it was based on by Vonda N. McIntyre. It was set for a 2015 release that got canceled by Paramount at the last minute due to issues with the special effects, most likely the underwater scenes with the mermaid in particular. In 2020, the title was changed to The King's Daughter with the incomparable Julie Andrews brought on as a narrator, but there was still no release date in sight. The long wait finally ended this weekend, and I am pleased to say that The King's Daughter is a film well worth waiting for. It is one of the best mermaid movies I have ever seen, and I love that it takes the story in its own direction that veers away from the tired "Little Mermaid" reimaginings that feature a mermaid falling in love wi
Princess Surprises on Netflix
Aside from Maya and the Three , I've recently discovered some unexpected princess stories and announcements from Netflix. One came in the form of a show I didn't expect to like, and another in the form of a cheeseball movie with a plot that I've seen a million times before. There was also an unexpected announcement about a new season of a show I had all but forgotten about due to its lack of compelling continuity. All in all, Netflix is doing a lot better in terms of content right now than Disney+ , which brought very little else to the table outside of WandaVision . Keep those recommendations coming, though! Maybe there's something else I've missed. From an outsider's perspective, Centaurworld does not look like the type of show that would have a strong plot. It's zany, nonsensical, and occasionally breaks the fourth wall. However, when it wants to be serious, it can so serious that you might even end up questioning the show's target audience. The hear
Review: The Princess Switch 3
I realize I'm a bit behind with this review. After sharing my thoughts on the first Princess Switch movie in 2018, I didn't find it necessary to review every pointless sequel that came after it. This one qualifies as another Netflix surprise for me because The Princess Switch 3 wasn't nearly as terrible as I was expecting it to be, even after watching a hilarious review of it on YouTube . While it is not a classic by any means, it does get some props for originality by diverting from the standard script of two girls who look alike living out a day in each other's lives. The "switch" part doesn't even happen until the third act. Even then, it isn't about these characters getting to know each other better by walking in their shoes since that was already covered in the first film. Instead, it's a weird espionage thriller with a surprisingly heartfelt ending. If you missed the second movie (in which case I don't blame you), there are now thre
Is Snow White Still the Fairest of Them All?
It's been a while since I shared my thoughts on a new Disney movie based on "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Since then, Disney cast their leading lady as Rachel Zegler , who starred as Maria in the 2021 remake of West Side Story , and there has been an influx of controversy revolving around this film that has gotten too big to ignore. Snow White's casting is the most innocuous of these controversies. I have already shared my thoughts about how any girl can be a princess . Sure, it's a bit odd for a Latina person to play a character whose defining trait is having skin as white as snow, but Rachel is a talented singer and actress who would fit well into the role of any Disney Princess. A more recent casting controversy is the removal of the words "and the Seven Dwarfs" from the title of this ambitious live-action remake as well as Disney's response to complaints about the dwarf characters not being politically correct enough for today's sta
Now Is the Perfect Time to Release Disenchanted
If you haven't been keeping up with the news, a handful of production photos were recently released from Disenchanted , Disney's upcoming sequel to Enchanted . The film is rumored for a Fall 2022 release date, which could not be more timely considering how disenchanted the general public has become with Disney and how many people want it to return to its fairy tale roots just like Giselle desire in this film. At first, I thought it seemed really weird for her to suddenly want her life to be more like the superficial magical realm of Andalasia after she already decided that she preferred Robert's grounded and cynical lifestyle and gave up her chance at a fairy tale romance with Prince Edward. However, as a grown-up princess fan , I have an intrinsic understanding of the temptation for a nostalgic time when everything seemed simply despite being aware that I still have to live in the real world. With everything going on at Disney right now , it seems almost ironic that the
There's a New Princess Movie Coming to Hulu!
One of the most mysterious teasers from the last Disney+ Day was a plain logo with the word "Princess" on it with no caption. This week, the truth behind that mysterious logo has finally been revealed. It turns out that it was a teaser for an upcoming movie from 20th Century Studios called The Princess , which is set for a July 1st release. Initially, I was shocked that Disney did not have better marketing for a new princess movie, especially at the tail end of the Ultimate Princess Celebration . However, seeing that it is being released under the studio once known as Fox and has an R-rating, my confusion has since been laid to rest. It would appear that while Disney is trying hard to keep this film under wraps to avoid affiliating it with their kid-friendly Disney Princess brand . That is also the most likely reason it will release on Hulu in the United States instead of their more heavily marketed Disney+ streaming service . Tuesday's press release for The Princess d
Thoughts on WandaVision and the Multiverse of Madness
It's been a little over a year since the tragic ending of WandaVision , which presented some of the classic Disney Princess archetypes in an innovative and contemporary way . Ever since it ended, Disney has teased that the conclusion of Wanda Maximoff's story would be revealed in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness , which was released in theaters last weekend. I enjoyed this movie, but I will not be giving it a full review. Instead, I would like to open up yet another discussion about the direction the media is going with female characters in modern times . As the Disney Princess genre pushes more in the direction of superhero films with characters like Raya and Elsa , Disney doesn't know what to do with those who exhibit traits of classic Disney Princesses like Snow White . Right now, the best solution they have is turning them into villains like they did with the title character in Cruella last year. I am under no delusion that the Scarlet Witch is not suppos
No One Asked for Another Cinderella, but Here We Are
There is no fairy tale that has been retold as many times as "Cinderella." With a new jukebox musical on Amazon Prime and West End stage show from Andrew Lloyd Webber , the story has no shortage of modern-day retellings. That's why I couldn't bring myself to get excited when I heard that Jennifer Lopez is developing a limited series based on Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella with Skydance Television and Concord Originals . This version alone has had three made-for television films and a 2013 Broadway revival starring Broadway Princess Party 's Laura Osnes . Can you blame me for not feeling at least a little skeptical of yet another version of this rags-to-riches classic that the media has shoved down our throats for years? What's even more concerning about the announcement is that it is not another feature-length film, but instead a limited series with multiple episodes written by Rachel Shukert , who worked on Netflix series GLOW and The Baby-Sit
Is the New Princess Content on Disney+ Worth Watching?
While we wait with bated breath for the live-action remake of Chip'n'Dale: Rescue Rangers this Friday, Disney+ dropped two lower-profile releases last Wednesday. Though not exactly the next Disney Princess films, the new musical, Sneakerella , and the fantasy reality series, The Quest , both contain princess elements to some extent. While I didn't exactly have high hopes for Sneakerella , I was expecting it to be more entertaining than a washed up reality show. It turns out I was completely wrong. Before I begin breaking these down, I have to give them both props for originality. In an era of sequels and remakes , it's impressive for Disney to give us a fresh take on anything at all, and both offerings provide unique versions of entertainment that are unlike anything we've seen before. A fantasy reality series sounds like an oxymoron when so many reality shows are already scripted to an extent. I was expecting The Quest to be more like a recording of a group of
Is This Snow White's New Look?
I thought I said everything I had to say about Disney's upcoming remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs starring Rachel Zegler until this set leak happened and took the internet by storm. While I'm no stranger to set leaks , this one really takes the cake. Maybe it's the lighting in these shots, Rachel's unfinished hairstyle in the process of being set, or her unnatural expression, but something seems very off about these photos. Can you spot it? It's probably the bright yellow skirt. As accurate of a depiction this is to the dress Snow White wore in the original animated film, these colors are horrendously bright and do not look good on our young actress at all. Don't worry, though. I'm sure they'll fix it with CGI. Rachel Zegler sports a surprisingly screen accurate rendition of Snow White's iconic dress with a blue bodice, white collar, yellow skirt, and red teardrop-shaped accepts on the puffed sleeves. And yet, it looks wrong. Could it
First Trailer for The Princess
It's been nearly two months since the official announcement that The Princess is coming to Hulu on July 1st, and we finally have our first trailer. It looks, well... pretty much exactly how it sounded in the original press release. The trailer is filled with snark about how this is an R-rated princess movie. The tone is reminiscent of Shrek , even using the song "Bad Reputation," which was also featured during a key scene in Dreamworks' princess parody . The discrepancy here is that Shrek was released during a time when fairy tales were clean and princesses were gentle , so it was a fresh take on the genre in the year 2001. The Princess is being released in 2022, a year when butt-kicking princesses have become the standard , yet the trailer presents it as an irreverent novelty. The first 30 seconds of The Princess trailer begin with fairy tale imagery (or the closest thing they could find in this film) with a narration that states "Once upon a time in a ma
Netflix Is Adapting The School for Good and Evil, So I Read the First Book!
The School for Good and Evil is a middle grade book series released in 2013 with a similar plot to Ever After High and Descendants and with all the ambition of Harry Potter . Considering how popular this fairy tale-inspired series seems to be, I'm surprised I never heard of it until a little over a week ago when I learned that Netflix is turning it into a movie . Perhaps one of the reasons it was so overlooked is its super generic title, which sounds like it could be about literally anything. Most fictional stories are about the battle between good and evil. A better title would have been The School for Princesses and Witches , which would have been more eye-catching to lovers of fairy tales. Maybe the vagueness is good, though, since this book contains many horror elements that could scare off young fairy tale aficionados or particularly sensitive older ones like myself. When I began reading The School for Good and Evil , I had many questions that were mostly resolved by the en
Review: The Princess (Hulu)
The Princess has arrived on Hulu. Due to my exceeding low expectations for this stereotypical modern princess movie , it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There were some contrived themes about overcoming the patriarchy and women being stronger than men , but the protagonist was surprisingly relatable thanks to Joey King 's stellar performance. Although the trailer gave a good baseline of what to expect, there were a few things that were misleading such as the irreverent comedy aspect, which was heavily downplayed in the actual film. I appreciated that the movie took itself more seriously than the trailer led me to believe. There's nothing ironic or innovative about seeing a delicate-looking woman kick everyone's ass in a modern film. It was the more serious elements that provided an opportunity to enjoy at least some parts of The Princess . Someone working on this film thought it would be a great idea not to give the main character a name, and I think that w
Disney Is Making a Fairy Tale Musical that's NOT a Remake!
Big news! It was just announced that Disney is working on a new musical inspired by yet another one of the fairy tales that we love, "The Princess and the Pea." The title of the movie will be Penelope, and it is being written by Robert Sudduth , who worked Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist , a well-received jukebox musical series that aired on NBC last year. For those of you hoping for another Tangled or Frozen , I'm sorry to inform you that Penelope is going to be live-action , which means it will probably look more along the lines of Once Upon a Time . If you still desire a Disney Renaissance-style animated musical adaptation of "The Princess and the Pea," look no further than the 2002 indie film The Princess and the Pea , which might be even better than this one turns out. This isn't the first live-action musical adaptation of the classic Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale either. The Wonderful World of Disney released a made-for-TV adaptation of t
Review: My Sweet Monster
I wasn't sure what to expect after the movie My Sweet Monster was recommended to me and I found out it was released last year. There are very few movies I've enjoyed that came out within the past five years or so. Then again, there haven't been many animated princess movies for a while in general. My Sweet Monster is a Russian CGI princess musical with a plot that feels like it could have been released in the '90s with environmentalist themes and a wacky setting. It's on par with lower budget animated films like Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest or Charming . I appreciate that it was a musical, which is becoming less common these days, and that it isn't pandering to political themes, probably due to cultural differences in Russia. It isn't one of the best animated films I've ever seen, but it's refreshing for something that came out within the last year. My Sweet Monster is about a ditzy princess named Barbara, voiced by Haylie Duff , who wants to
Disney Is Celebrating World Princess Week with a Reunion of 1997's Cinderella!
The prince is giving a ball... again! When Disney announced their Ultimate Princess Celebration last year , I was under the impression that it would be a year-long event culminating in World Princess Week , when they aired the mediocre Disney Princess Remix special on Disney Channel . Instead, it looks like the event will be ongoing until they can find a new way to keep their Disney Princess brand relevant . That means World Princess Week is back for another round! It will take place next week from August 21st through August 27th. Instead of a teenybopper remix of princess classics, however, Disney is doing something a little different this year. Their primary television network, ABC , will air a 25th anniversary reunion special of the 1997 production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella on their news show, 20/20 , followed by a presentation of the film, airing live for the first time since it debuted on The Wonderful World of Disney. This is a particularly appropriate time
The Cinderella 1997 Reunion Wasn't What I Expected
When I learned that 20/20 was having a reunion of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella from 1997 to celebrate World Princess Week , I was expecting a journalist like Barbara Walters to show up in a big room with the cast and lead a discussion about their memories of shooting together and what they've been up to since then. What I got instead was a mash-up of individual interviews from various people involved with the film from the past and present day talking for an hour about what a great movie it was. Don't get me wrong; it was great, but that isn't what comes to mind when I hear "reunion." Not only was there never more than one person on camera at a time, but there was also no host to introduce and close out the special. If someone tuned in without knowing anything about it, they would have no idea what they were watching. The biggest highlight for me wasn't even part of the special. It was a clip of Brandy giving a live performance of "Start
Review: Barbie - Mermaid Power
Barbie: Mermaid Power is a direct sequel to two of the four Barbie movies from the new generation, Dolphin Magic and Big City Dreams . For full disclosure, I have not seen Big City Dreams or Barbie and Chelsea: The Lost Birthday , which came out before it. I also haven't seen Dolphin Magic in five years, so my memory of it is patchy. Like most people from my generation, I am a bigger fan of the Barbie movies from the early to mid-2000s , which focused primarily on fairy tales and roleplay. However, since this one had mermaids in it, I had to check it out since I quite enjoyed the Mermaid Tale films . Since the Barbie movies have moved to Netflix, their runtimes have gotten shorter. Both Mermaid Power and Princess Adventure come in at a little over an hour, but Mermaid Power does a lot more to fill that time. The plot is similar to Avatar: The Last Airbender , only with mermaids. Due to a natural phenomenon that occurs once every hundred years, all the mermaids in the sea ga
The Comprehensive D23 Expo Princess Announcement Post!
If you're a Disney fan, you are probably aware that this weekend is the D23 Expo , a massive fan convention that happens once every two years where they make the biggest announcements and reveals of upcoming Disney content for the next couple of years. This was the first Expo in three years, so Disney made sure to pull out all the stops to celebrate their upcoming 100-year anniversary. As usual, I am here to fill you in on everything princess that happened at the expo . Get your tiaras ready because this is going to be a big one! Disenchanted Friday afternoon was the biggest panel of the event, and no announcement since then has come close to the level of excitement I felt for these upcoming films. First up was Disenchanted , the sequel to Enchanted that will launch on Disney+ in November, which dropped not only a new poster but also the movie's very first trailer! I had been curious about this movie for a while as I'm sure many other fans were, and this trailer did not l
The School for Good and Evil Finally Has a Real Trailer!
As soon as I heard that The School for Good and Evil was coming to Netflix and was based on a popular princess book series to Soman Chainani , I went ahead and read the first book . I had mixed feelings about the visually stunning setting combined with outdated stereotypes about princess characters being selfish and vain . The initial teaser for the film revealed very little about how it might look or how closely it would follow the book. Today, a new trailer was released that shows significantly more footage from the movie does seem to follow the book, right down the lavish visuals that provide a sensory overload of beautiful fairy tale imagery. While the initial teaser and casting announcement focused on the two headmistresses who barely even made an impression in the book, the trailer shines the spotlight where it belongs on Sophie and Agatha, the two protagonists. Like the teaser, the trailer pushes the fairy tale angle with the claim that Snow White, Cinderella, and Jack who cl
Review: The School for Good and Evil (Netflix)
Back in June when I found out that Netflix was making a movie adaptation of The School for Good and Evil , I went ahead and read the first book in the series . I liked the idea of a school for fairy tale characters, but it left me with a lot of questions regarding how changing their childhoods would alter their stories and why the author had such a superficial perception of good, evil, and girls in general. The Netflix adaptation resolved many of these issues by cutting irrelevant scenes and dialogue and making just enough minor changes to the plot to make it more coherent. Was it a perfect movie? It was never going to be, considering the source material. The filmmakers did a great job of salvaging whatever substance they could find from the book and turning it into a fun teenage romp with gorgeous costumes. The School for Good and Evil is about two girls named Sophie and Agatha who live in a backwoods town called Gavaldon. Though the other people in the town are cruel to Agatha and m
Review: Disenchanted
Fifteen years after the premiere of the one-of-a-kind Disney Princess tribute film, Enchanted , Disney has released the next chapter with its latest direct-to-streaming sequel, Disenchanted . While direct-to-streaming is the modern-day equivalent of the direct-to-video sequels of the past, this one could have easily been a theatrical release due to the grand scale of its cinematography that made its thematic direct-to-streaming predecessor Godmothered feel like a cheap imitation. While it may not have been perfect, the plot of Disenchanted is a natural progression of Giselle's life from when the first movie left off with a relatable message for today's audiences , who have a decade and a half more life experience than they did when they saw the original. Disenchanted has a bit of a rocky start with Giselle's sidekick, Pip, telling his children that more happened after the first movie as though he is trying to convince the audience that it was necessary to make a sequel
Princess Peach Has the Spotlight in the New Mario Trailer!
When I heard that Illumination was teaming up with Nintendo to make a Super Mario Bros. movie , my first thought was "Well, it can't possibly be worse than that live-action one ." I'm far from a hardcore Mario Bros. fanatic, but I have cosplayed as Princess Peach and recently reviewed her game , so there is some interest there. Unfortunately, the initial teaser trailer did not show the classic pink and blonde princess at all, so I had little interest in learning more about it. All of that changed when the second trailer released yesterday, and Peach was all over the place. She has significantly more dialogue in this trailer than Mario himself, so there's a lot to dive into. Let's get started. Right off the bat, I love that this movie keeps the brightly colored cartoony feel of the games, something that is impossible to capture in live-action. Illumination is not exactly known for their stellar animation, but their comical designs are a good match for the
Which Disney Princesses Could Have Attended Royal Prep?
In honor of the upcoming Sofia the First spinoff , I decided to rewatch the series . When I got about halfway through, I began to think about how well it developed Royal Prep as a school for princes and princesses without pushing a narrative that the classic Disney Princesses attended, which would retroactively change their backstories. I love the idea that a magical princess school can exist in the same world as the Disney Princesses without forcing them into the narrative. As I've expressed in the past, I had a major issue with The School for Good and Evil for claiming that every well-known fairy tale character attended their school even though most of them actually grew up impoverished and didn't have the resources to get any education, let alone a magical one. Ever After High does this to a lesser extent by insinuating that all of the fairy tale characters sent their children to the school, which makes more sense because it's normal for parents to want their children
Disney Celebrates the 25th Anniversary of Anastasia!
Tis the season to appropriate princess movies your studio owns but didn't originally produce? After years of fans having to explain that Anastasia isn't a Disney Princess , Disney has decided to take advantage of their acquisition of this beloved property by releasing some new merchandise. Disney loves celebrating anniversaries of their films every time there is a milestone, and this year just happens to be the 25h anniversary of Anastasia . Now that the rights to this ground-breaking animated musical rest in the hands of the mouse, Disney is the only company that can celebrate this milestone, and they decided to do so in a small way--with some limited edition trinkets. It started with a mug that was available for a short time on ShopDisney's website and at their theme parks . The mug featured a pattern of golden lace with ornate portraits of Anastasia and Dimitri on either side and an insignia of the famous "Together in Paris" necklace that Anastasia's gran
Review: Cinderella and the Secret Prince
It seems like every time someone wants to make a low-budget fairy tale movie, their first thought is to come up with a new take on "Cinderella." One might think that after the extremely poor reception of Happily N'Ever After , this idea would have lost some traction. Yet, it seems that is not the case. Cinderella and the Secret Prince is a novel take on the classic tale that managed to escape my notice when it was released in 2018. Produced by a humble animation studio called Gold Valley Films , which only has four movies under its belt, I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt like I did with Charming , another low-budget fairy tale film that came out around the same time. I discovered Cinderella and the Secret Prince on Plex , a free streaming service with a number of obscure shows and movies. Though I wasn't expecting much, I found it surprisingly charming. It is very reminiscent of the Barbie movies from the early 2000s that take classic fairy tales
Is Disney Retconning Their Little Mermaid (Again)?
We have to wait a bit longer than initially anticipated for the new trailer of Disney's live-action remake of The Little Mermaid . To ease the wait, fans were treated to a surprise yesterday in the form of an excerpt from the upcoming prequel novel , Against the Tide by J. Elle . Typically, books like these are considered side stories that don't need to fit perfectly with the main canon of the films, but that would be difficult in this case. It would be impossible for the little that has been revealed of this book not to have any effect on the upcoming May 26th film release. So much of it is different from what Disney has already established about Ariel's backstory in both the prequel series and the 2006 direct-to-DVD movie, Ariel's Beginning , which already contradict each other to an extent. According to this upcoming novel, Ariel and her sisters are granted responsibilities as Protectors of various territories in the sea as teenagers, which would make her later
Vintage Princess Fantasy Sequences
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I wanted to review the new trailer for Disney's remake of The Little Mermaid today , but sadly, the trailer was canceled at the last minute . I'm upset about this because Aladdin had many more official promos at this point in its release. Instead of dwelling on present frustrations, let's take a deep dive into the past and see how fairy tale princesses were treated in film before the Disney Princess brand existed. There are a number of old movies from the '30s and '40s that feature a fantasy sequence with one of the main characters living the life of a fairy tale princess. These scenes were typically separate from the main plot of the film, separating the idealized dream of royalty a concept from historical fact . The first princess fantasy sequence comes from the 1939 film The Little Princess starring Shirley Temple , which is based on the book A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett . Though the story does not actually feature any princesses, Sara C
Check Out These New Princess Teasers!
After a disappointing Super Bowl Sunday that did not reveal the promised trailer for the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid , Disney quietly dropped the 30-second TV spot online a couple of days ago. This is a teaser rather than a trailer with even less content than I was hoping for. Half the video shows footage that has already been released at the D23 Expo , while the other half reveals two-second flashes of additional scenes from various points in the movie. They are so quick that you might miss them if you blink. The only way to get a good look at what's going on is through screenshots. One clip features our new Ariel bouncing off a phosphorescent pink cloud of translucent jellyfish. This is a fun little image that gives us a first look at the movie's visual effects in creating the fantasy underwater kingdom of Atlantica from the original film. Her playful movements are reminiscent of the showstopper "Under the Sea" number, which might be where this clip c
The Swan Princess Is Getting a Prequel?
If you're a Swan Princess fan, you might be familiar with the Chamberg Daily News , the YouTube webseries for official announcements about the never-ending onslaught of tie-in movies to the original 1994 adaptation of "Swan Lake." Instead of exploring the new settings and characters that were introduced in The Swan Princess 10: A Royal Wedding , it looks like the series is going back to its roots for its 11th installment. According to the latest video newsletter from the Chamberg Daily News, the next Swan Princess movie will be a prequel entitled A Fairy Tale Is Born that will explore the events before and leading up to the original film. I've been pretty vocal about my thoughts on the pointless CGI sequels that spat all over the beautiful hand-drawn animation of the original trilogy. As such, I'm not too thrilled about adding a prequel to the mix that would further soil the imagery of the original film. To be fair, it has not been officially confirmed that
It's a Good Time To Be a Cinderella Fan!
It's been a while since I've shared anything new from PattyCake Productions . Using state-of-the-art costume designs, visual effects, and professional actors, this group excels at recreating characters and scenes from classic Disney movies and putting their own spin on them. Their latest series showcases the evolution of various Disney characters through remakes , TV specials , and numerous other sources beginning Cinderella in a video that released on YouTube today called "If the Shoe Fits: The Evolution of Cinderella." The video features all five of Disney's Cinderella properties including the original 1950 animation , the 2015 remake , the 1997 Rodgers and Hammerstein adaptation featuring Brandy , the 2014 Disney adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods , and the version of Cinderella that was portrayed in ABC's Once Upon a Time . PattyCake has done it again! This music video was absolutely magical and exceeded all of my expectations. It takes
Disney Is Remaking Moana, and Who's Surprised?
If this had been posted a few days ago, it would have been an obvious April Fool's Joke, but nope. Disney waited several days after April 1st to drop the bomb that they are remaking their 2016 animated classic Moana , a mere seven years after its release. For a while, there had been an unwritten rule that they would wait at least ten years to remake their classics so people had enough time to enjoy the originals and grow up with them. It seems that rule has now been abolished. If seeing such a familiar title appear on the big screen again isn't enough of a déja vu, it was simultaneously announced that the original Maui, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson , and Moana, Auli'i Cravalho , are returning to work on the project. As of this point, they have only been credited as producers, but I would not be surprised to see them in the movie. Moana joins the ranks of The Little Mermaid and Snow White as the third yet-to-released live-action Disney Princess remake currently in
Review: The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Princess Peach is one of the most famous video game princesses of all time, so it's only fitting that she has her own movie. Okay, technically, it's The Super Mario Bros. Movie , but there was a lot of focus on presenting Peach in a way that would be acceptable by both fans and modern feminist standards . While I have been critical about the decline of femininity in the past (and still am), there was a lot that I found charming about the way her character was represented in this film. Yes, she was a badass "girl boss" who was able to do everything perfectly on her first try, but the new movie also expanded upon her backstory of how she became the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, something that often got glossed over in the massive video game franchise because it typically focused more on gameplay than plot development. Aside from that, it was just a fun time at the theater in general. The Super Mario Bros. Movie begins with the ordinary lives of Mario and Luigi a
Unpacking Today's Massive Little Mermaid Promo Release
We are exactly one month away from Disney's new adaptation of "The Little Mermaid." After a long stretch of dishing out breadcrumbs to hungry fans , Disney decided that the one-month mark is as good a time as any to release all the content they've been hiding from us. Today has been a monsoon of new content that is personified by the shower of Ariel emojis that rain over the screen when looking up #TheLittleMermaid on Twitter. Why now? The primary reason seems to be that advance tickets have just gone on sale through Fandango . If your local theater is selling tickets, I recommend snatching them up before it's too late. With this ticket sale comes an onslaught of new posters, videos, and merchandise including specialized shops just for this movie on Amazon and ShopDisney . There is so much to "sea" that I thought I would try to compile everything in one place to make it a little easier to digest. First, there are so many new posters that I don't e
The First Trailer for Wish Has Arrived!
Ever since last year's D23 Expo , fans have been waiting with bated breath for more news about Wish , the next original animated Disney classic that celebrate Disney's 100th anniversary from when the company started in 1923. This movie serves as a rare opportunity to celebrate everything we love about Disney's past, including magic, music, animation, and fairy tales with an original plot to boot. With so much focus on live-action remakes , Wish is a breath of fresh air that will hopefully bring back all the things we love from Disney's peak eras of animation. The movie stars a heroine named Asha, who may or may not become a new Disney Princess , that goes on a quest to save the wishing kingdom from an evil king named Magnifico. Just minutes ago, the first trailer for this highly anticipated film premiered on Good Morning America . You can watch it below. The trailer boasts beautiful animation as well as a clip of the gorgeous song that superstar Ariana DeBose perform
The Swan Princess 11 Gets a Trailer and Release Date
There has been much rumor and speculation about the upcoming prequel to The Swan Princess , and the wait is finally over. The Swan Princess social media team announced this morning that the latest installment will be released in exactly three weeks on May 23rd. That means we don't have much longer to wait to learn about the events leading up to Derek and Odette's birth. There's something a little fishy about that date, and that is it is the same week that Disney will premiere their live-action remake of The Little Mermaid in theaters. Maybe that's just a coincidence, but honestly, I don't think so. Direct-to-streaming sequels like this have a lot less buildup, and it seems like they are trying to ride off the coattails of another popular princess fandom to get people to watch this while they're waiting. Either that or someone has a lot more faith in a direct-to-streaming sequel outshining what is probably the most highly anticipated Disney remake of all time
Review: A FairyTale Is Born (The Swan Princess 11)
Promoted on Sony's website as "Part One of the thrilling conclusion to the Swan Princess series," The Swan Princess: A FairyTale Is Born marks the 11th film in the franchise since The Swan Princess came out in 1994, meaning it is expected to end with a total of 12 movies. That's still not as many as The Land Before Time , but it's close! With all the experience that Richard Rich and his team have making Swan Princess films, they had plenty of time to hone their skills with animation and plot development, which is why the last few movies have not been as nightmarish as some of the earlier CGI ones . This movie serves as a nice homage to its roots as a partial prequel that ties up any loose ends long-time fans of the series may have had about Queen Uberta's origins and the absence of Odette's mother and Derek's father along with some nostalgic orchestrations of memorable songs from the original film. Do you ever get the feeling that you've jus
Review: The Little Mermaid (Live-Action 2023)
Disney's 1989 animated classic The Little Mermaid is a movie that means so much to so many people, myself included. It inspired children to chase after their dreams, encouraged future ingenues to pursue musical theater, pioneered the Disney Renaissance , got the general public interested in animation, had a huge impact on the lgbt community , and held a universal appeal to dreamers everywhere. It is not only my favorite Disney movie, but my favorite movie of all time. If there was one film I didn't want to see suffer from Disney's live-action remake syndrome , it was this one. Even though I knew it would never live up to the original because nothing ever could, I went in with high hopes that it would at least capture the spirit of the story for a new generation of audiences. And I am so pleased to inform all of you, my lovely readers, that it did. Back in 2019 when Disney first announced the casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel , the internet tried to turn the adaptation of th
Should Ariel Be Able to Write?
One of the most common complaints about Disney's The Little Mermaid that the new remake tried to "fix" is that after Ariel demonstrated she could write by signing her name on Ursula's contract, she never used this method to communicate with Eric when she was mute. In an interview on TikTok , director Rob Marshall said that in order to fix this "plot hole," he "wanted to eliminate the whole idea that she can write at all." Instead of signing a scroll, she plucks a scale from her scale to seal the deal with Ursula, giving her no other way to reveal her identity when she meets Prince Eric. The popular YouTube account HISHE (How It Should Have Ended) played with this idea in their recent video , in which Ariel scrawls her entire story to Eric in the sand the moment she meets him on the beach. Even novel adaptations of the fairy tale have incorporated this method of communication for the voiceless mermaid. Is it true that no one who worked on the
"Be Pretty, Girls, and Things Might Work Out."
Just when I thought I'd put this discussion to rest, a New York Times article went viral a couple days ago that did a profile on Sean Bailey , the main in charge of Disney's long-running slate of live-action remakes . According to the author of the article, Brooks Barnes , Bailey's remakes are "crucial to [Disney] remaining relevant" because the animated classics they cover "showcase ideas from another era" such as "Be pretty, girls, and things might work out." Are we doing this again ? It looks like we're doing this again . Let's start with the next upcoming live-action remake, Snow White , starring Rachel Zegler . Some might argue that this movie is a good example of one that needs an update because so much of the story is focused on the protagonist's physical appearance. Is that really what saved her in the end? Nope. Not at all. In fact, the queen's jealous of Snow White's beauty is the very thing that caused h
The Legacy of Sleeping Beauty: Is She As Passive as We Think?
When I wrote my series of fairy tale origin posts , one major story that I skipped was "Sleeping Beauty." It wasn't because I didn't care for this story as much as the others, but instead that it had a less complex narrative of changing with the times . In fact, this fairy tale is so simple that no matter how many updates modern adaptations incorporate, it is rarely altered so drastically from its roots to the point of being unrecognizable, except in the case of a ridiculous 2016 horror movie called The Curse of Sleeping Beauty . Of all the movies I argued against depicting the theme of "Be pretty, girls, and things might work out," Sleeping Beauty is the biggest outlier. It is probably for this reason that it is the only Disney Princess movie that did not get a direct live-action remake , but instead a creative reimagining with Maleficent , which focused on the more active villain than the mostly passive princess. Determining how much Sleeping Beauty h
Review: Ruby Gillman - Teenage Kraken
Some days, you feel like a mermaid princess . Other days, you feel more like a kraken that wants to lash out at anything that disturbs your peace. DreamWorks' newest animated feature, Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken finds the best of both worlds by providing a relatable kraken princess who just wants to be an ordinary girl with ordinary problems. Several years ago, I thought I was being ironic as a princess fan playing a kraken in the King of Tokyo board game . I never imagined there would be a movie someday that combines the two genres alongside a villainess who bears a tongue-in-cheek resemblance to my favorite Disney Princess . When you push the parody and jokes aside, Ruby Gillman is a pretty standard coming-of-age teen drama that can easily compare to any other mainstream teen movie from the past few decades. Apart from her blue hair and skin, Ruby Gillman is an average awkward nerdy girl who just wants to fit in with the rest of the kids in her high school. The biggest problem
Why Princesses Are Migrating from the Screen Back to the Page
It's a well-known fact that most feature films begin their life as books. Even the classic Disney movies that are considered the epitome of children's cinema were mostly adapted from old fairy tales that were published around the late 19th century . However, for the majority of the 20th century, most fairy tale fans were more interested in seeing these stories come to life on the screen than they were in the source material, and who could blame them? Classic Disney movies are visually stunning, beautifully orchestrated, and fleshed out beyond their short-form origins in a way that is less violent and more family-friendly . However, the current decade seems to be a transitional period that takes fairy tale adaptations back to their roots. Countless issues in Hollywood including union strikes and a long-running dearth of creativity make it more difficult than ever to enjoy modern adaptations of classic media. The past decade has also seen a steep increase in fairy tale authors
Review: Barbie (2023)
While princesses return to their storybook roots and Hollywood goes on strike , one highly anticipated movie that encapsulates the face of pop culture today is hitting theaters: Barbie . One of the many things that sets this live-action adaptation of a previously animated property and toy line apart from Disney's endless onslaught of live-action remakes is that this film is an original story that only uses the familiarity of its brand as a selling point. It isn't entirely original since similar concepts were used in Disney's 2007 Enchanted and the 2000 made-for-TV movie, Life-Size that Tyra Banks as a living doll, but this is the first time that Barbie has ever been portrayed in the real world. Her many animated films and series, which are directed toward younger audiences, feature her living in a fantasy version of Malibu with her sisters or reenacting classic fairy tales, ballets, and other popular stories. This movie depicts Barbie learning about the hardships an
Disney Kicks Off World Princess Week with a LEGO Special!
Today marks Disney's third annual World Princess Week , and it kicked off with a surprise special on Disney+ featuring four of the original voices called LEGO Disney Princess: The Castle Quest . The special featured LEGO versions of Snow White, Ariel, Tiana, Rapunzel, and Moana embarking on a quest to rescue King Triton from Gaston, who used Snow White's Magic Mirror to help him take over an abandoned castle. While his unexpected combination may seem a little reminiscent of Wreck-It Ralph 2 , in which Vanellope got together with a group of all the Disney Princesses, this special takes things to the next level. Since the characters and backgrounds are made of LEGO bricks, it doesn't take itself seriously and goes all out with Easter eggs and references. For instance, Ariel and Moana's quest brings them to a pirate ship where they encounter Smee from Peter Pan , Iago, and the Magic Carpet from Aladdin . The special may have contained an unapologetic amount of fan servic
Review: Once Upon a Crime
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When I think of Japanese fantasy media, the first thing that comes to mind is anime . That's why I was surprised to see a live-action Japanese movie centered around fairy tales. Once Upon a Crime is a recent Netflix release in which Little Red Riding Hood is a detective who attends the infamous royal ball with Cinderella to solve a murder. The movie uses a similar concept to Once Upon a Time by combining fairy tales and changing the circumstances around certain characters to add an element of surprise. With its lack of wide shots and cheesy visual effects, it was by no means a cinematic masterpiece. However, it did something different with these characters that I have never seen in any other iteration, which is really saying something considering how many versions of "Cinderella" are out there. The movie presents itself as pure camp from the very beginning when a witch named Barbara asks Little Red Riding Hood if she's impressed by the fact that she's a wit
The Swan Princess Lasted Far Longer Than Forever, But It's Over Now
The twelfth and final installment in The Swan Princess franchise was aptly titled Far Longer Than Forever in tribute to the romance theme from the original film . As some fans have pointed out, the title accurately represents how long the filmmakers have been milking the series for almost 30 years with one awful sequel after another. Some of the later sequels had potential , but this movie did not do them any favors as a finale. Written as a direct follow-up to A FairyTale Is Born , the eleventh film in the series, Far Longer Than Forever ties up some loose ends after a tedious and forgettable journey that fails to acknowledge many characters and plot points that had been introduced over the course of the other eleven movies. Despite the obvious nod to the famous song that this latest installment uses as its title, A FairyTale Is Born seemed more suitable as a conclusion because it contained more tributes to the original film. Far Longer Than Forever makes the mistake of focus
The Snow White Situation
I've been stepping around the controversies regarding Disney's new Snow White movie for some time now. Several new revelations have come out in the past few days, so it's time to discuss it. Everything about this movie has gone up in flames, sometimes quite literally . The fact that Disney is remaking the first feature-length animated movie of all time in live-action was already a sign of poor showmanship. After adding the fact that the lead actress Rachel Zegler seems to hate the original film and that the leaked photos so far have been less than flattering , many people are wondering if it's a good idea for this movie to still happen at all. As it turns out, so is Disney. As of today, Snow White has been officially delayed from its March 2024 release date to March 2025 . Although Disney is blaming the Hollywood strikes for this more so than the controversy, it does give them some extra time to smooth out the movie's rough edges that have had countless fans u
Review: Wish (Disney 100 Celebration)
In recent years, it has become trendy for everyone to criticize the Walt Disney Company as much as humanly possible. In many cases, it is justified , but these criticisms are unfounded regarding Wish , Disney's tribute film to their 100-year animation legacy. This is a movie that provides Disney fans with everything they have been asking, begging, and wishing of the studio for years. It is a beautifully animated original story that is all heart with no pandering and is neither a sequel nor a remake . Since the movie is also an homage to the Disney animation of the past, it is packed with subtle Easter eggs that only true Disney fans will notice and are not obnoxiously in your face like some of their previous attempts with Wreck-It Ralph 2 or Chip'n Dale: Rescue Rangers . In fact, this movie was so entertaining that it got me thinking about the characters on a deeper level than the writers may have even intended long after I left the theater. As previewed in the trailers ,
Fans "Wish" Disney Had Used These Abandoned Concepts
Happy New Year, princess fans! When a new year begins, many of us think about things we can do better than the year before. There is no company this notion applies to better than Disney, which has been failing in every direction now more so than ever. Their latest feature, Wish , was a genuinely solid movie that sadly did not make the profits it deserved. Following its theatrical run, many fans noticed that the concepts presented in the official Art of Wish book would have elevated it from a good movie to a great one. Most of these concepts revolved around love and romance , which has been strategically removed from modern Disney Princess archetypes , despite being a staple of the brand prior to the past decade. Despite some early rumors that Asha might be the daughter of King Magnifico and Queen Amaya, the film's director Chris Buck explained in an interview why he was adamantly against making her a princess, which may have been another mistake that could have altered the m
These Disney Princesses Are Making a Comeback!
Since the November princess anniversaries are too far away for this year, Disney is setting their sights on other things to celebrate in the coming months. For those of you who read my latest review of a "Sleeping Beauty" retelling yesterday, the timing could not have been more appropriate. Today marks the 65th anniversary of Disney's 1959 animated classic, Sleeping Beauty , and they are celebrating it with some beautiful limited edition merchandise . This year also marks the 30th anniversary of Disney's Beauty and the Beast Broadway musical , which is being celebrated in a big way. Finally, four Disney Princess television shows may or may not still be in production this year, so we will wait with bated breath for updates in the hopes that we can see some of our favorite princesses return on the small screen. Princess Aurora is the featured princess on Shop Disney today , marking the 65th anniversary of her film. There is lots of great merchandise available, but o
Moana Is Getting a Sequel Instead of a Series!
In my recent post , I mentioned that Moana was one of several Disney princesses with an upcoming series announcement that had not gotten any news or updates in over three years. Today, Disney revealed the reason for that. As it turns out, they secretly decided to turn the series into a theatrical sequel , and it's coming out later this year! This upcoming follow-up might replace the unwanted "live-action reimagining" that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson announced last year since it was unlikely that the studio had decided to the animated series into a feature film at that time. The sequel follows Disney's recent trend of recycling established content in theaters instead of weaving new tales except for last November's Wish , which was an overwhelming commercial failure. The sequel announcement was accompanied by a brief "First Look" teaser revealing nothing about the movie's plot. Why did they decide to go this direction instead of a series o
Review: Sailor Moon Cosmos
It's been over two years since the last double feature for the Sailor Moon Crystal anime series , which covered the second to last arc of the original anime and manga. Closing the gap between the two anime versions of Sailor Moon, a two-part theatrical release premiered in Japan last summer called Sailor Moon Cosmos , which covered the final arc of the story, Sailor Stars. The film was released in two parts, which is barely enough time to cover the expansive story and is probably confusing to people watching it if they aren't already familiar with the source material. Although there is no English release of the film planned at this time, I was able to watch a fansub that allowed me to experience the thrilling conclusion to the newest iteration of this popular Magical Girl franchise. Sailor Moon Cosmos has the same plot as the controversial final season of the original Sailor Moon anime , but covers it in a much shorter time span. It introduces the trans-friendly Sailor Stars
Review: Damsel (Netflix)
A year and a half after Hulu's The Princess , a film about a generic fairy tale princess picking up a sword and saving herself, is owned by Hulu, Neflix decided to take on their own version of the trope with Damsel , a film about a general fairy tale princess picking up a sword and...saving herself? Though these two films share similar themes, the primary foe in Damsel is a mythological dragon instead of a greedy conqueror, giving Netflix's take on the overdone plot more of a fantasy feel. However, the sweet taste of magic is as fleeting as the film's promise of happiness to its sacrificial brides. Like The Princess , Damsel is a gritty action flick with little levity. I found The Princess enjoyable enough for what it is, and Damsel , though generic, has its moments as well. The first act is particularly eye-pleasing with breathtaking imagery of castles, gowns, and indulgence in the royal life before the film's visuals and plot plummet into a dark pit. Elodie is a
Moana 2 Joins the Upcoming Princess Trailers of 2024!
The princess movies of 2024 are few and far between , but there are still a few to look forward to. While it may not be the original princess story we were hoping for, Disney announced Moana 2 earlier this year along with a brief teaser. The full trailer that launched today does not give much more information about the film's plot, but it does reveal a bit more footage. Following the concept for a cancelled TV series, Moana 2 sees Moana reuniting with some old friends for a new adventure at sea. The movie is set for Disney's usual princess movie release date of Thanksgiving weekend , marking it as one of their biggest blockbusters planned for the year. The fact that they gave such a prestigious date to a sequel is somewhat disheartening but may imply a higher quality film than the Disney sequels of old . The trailer portrays an aged-up Moana joining together with a new crew of Wayfinders to take on her biggest foe yet--an enormous whale covered in magical glowing symbols
Netflix Announces New Animated Princess Musical!
With the status of Disney's Penelope still up in the air, Skydance Media swooped in to the rescue yesterday with the announcement of a new animated princess musical coming out this year! Spellbound will be a direct-to-streaming Netflix original featuring a new princess named Ellian who goes on a quest to save her family after they get turned into monsters. Though Netflix originals tend to be hit or miss , this movie has some big names behind it that gives it the potential to surpass its theatrical competitors that are coming out the same weekend. This is the first original animated princess movie we've got since Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken came out a year ago, so it's pretty exciting news, especially considering that Disney's big holiday princess fare this year is a sequel and not an original story. Get ready to learn about creative team behind Spellbound ! The movie is begin directed by Vicky Jenson who worked on Shrek . The talent behind Princess Ellian is o
Disney's Descendants Makes Even Less Sense Thanks to The Rise of Red!
I have never been a fan of the Descendants franchise , which was originally created by Disney to take down Mattel's semi-successful Ever After High line of dolls, books , and webisodes. It succeeded in this endeavor thanks to Disney brand recognition despite being an inferior product. Coming out nearly a decade after the original , we have a fourth Descendants movie entitled The Rise of Red . This movie introduces a new generation of fairy tale offspring with countless changes to the classic stories, most of which are for the worse. Its only redeeming factor was a heartfelt tribute to Cameron Boyce , who played the son of Cruella de Vil in the original films. The Descendants franchise had very little working in its favor from the start, but it at least had a leg up over The School for Good and Evil by basing the backstories of the Disney characters on their films instead of superimposing an artificial school setting where they learned to be heroes and villains. This film retcon
Spellbound Releases Its First Trailer!
Spellbound is quickly becoming the most anticipated princess movie of the winter season. With its all-star cast, convenient streaming format, and apolitical plot structure, this movie is a lovely throwback to animated musicals of the past. Its nostalgic score is composed by Alan Menken , the musical pioneer of the Disney Renaissance. Until today, there were only a few clips of the movie available online along with a brief summary. As of this morning, is a complete trailer available to give us a better idea of what to expect when the movie launches on Netflix on November 22nd. Unfortunately, the trailer does not contain any clips of the anticipated musical numbers, but it does give a solid preview of the animation, plot, and characters that we can expect to see in Spellbound . Make your own judgements by watching it below. The first thing I noticed about the trailer is that this movie is extremely aware of how much star power it has, possibly to its own detriment. Instead of trying t
The D23 Expo Is Here With Lots of Disney Princess Announcements!
Disney fans from all of the world are gathering at the Anaheim Convention Center this weekend to celebrate the D23 Expo , the ultimate Disney fan event. The Expo contains all the biggest announcements about upcoming Disney shows, experiences, and merchandise, and it is an absolute blast to experience in person . Its most anticipated event, the Disney Entertainment Showcase, took place Friday night. A whole slew of trailers, performances, and exclusive footage was revealed for all of the upcoming Disney movies over the next three years. Three of these included Disney Princess franchises – Snow White , Moana 2 , and Frozen 3 and 4 . However, the vast majority of the announcements consisted of sequels, remakes, and spinoffs , meaning there is still no update on the Penelope movie that was announced two years ago. The Snow White trailer was one of the last to be revealed during the Disney Entertainment Showcase due to it being one of the most heavily anticipated ( or dreaded , de
Review: A Fairy Tale After All
There aren't many arthouse movies that incorporate fairy tale or princess themes since Disney holds the monopoly on most of them. When one of my readers recommended A Fairy Tale After All , a film that was released by Premiere Entertainment Group , I was curious what an original fairy tale-inspired indie flick might look like. This movie stands apart from the 2018 indie adaptation of The Little Mermaid and its spiritual sequel, Anastasia Once Upon a Time , because it tells an original story using different creative mediums including animation , puppets , and music . The overall quality is on par with other indie attempts at adapting fairy tales, but I appreciate that the filmmakers tried to do something different with commonly used princess tropes. The story has an important message about grief and accepting loss. Sky is an imaginative teenage girl suffering from the loss of her father and struggling to fit in at school. To cope with these struggles, she escapes to a fantasy wor
Do Princess Stories Need to Be Historically Accurate?
Over the past several years , I have reviewed various princess media . The majority of the shows, books, and movies I've discussed have been rooted in fantasy with a few exceptions . Historically, princesses were the daughters of real-life monarchs and other leaders , but most of their appeal is rooted in legends, myths, and fairy tales . Sometimes, the lines between fantasy and reality can become blurred when using real historical figures as protagonists. In the case of media like Anastasia , Reign , or Six , audiences understand that the primary function of these presentations is to entertain them while throwing in some historical nuggets to do their own research on later if they so choose. It has recently come to my attention that there is a stigma revolving around Disney's Pocahontas , a movie I greatly enjoyed as a child, due to its numerous historical inaccuracies. Is it inherently immoral to enjoy a piece of historical fiction that colors the character's lives in a
Review: Wicked (Part 1)
While not technically a princess movie, Wicked is quite possibly the most high-profile release of the year with a princess-like character, G(a)linda. I have been a huge fan of the Broadway show for almost 20 years and know it by heart, so this release was a pretty big deal to me as it was to many other die-hard fans. Many were concerned about the fact that the play was split into two films--one for each act. Now that I've seen it, I have to say that I understand this decision. There is so much that happens in the musical that forcing it all into a single movie would feel overloaded. The longer runtime gives the story a chance to breathe while adding more exposition to enhance the phenomenal characters and plot. As an added bonus, there were lots of Easter eggs referencing the original 1939 Wizard of Oz movie that inspired Wicked as well as an anticipated cameo from two beloved Broadway performers. Wicked is the story of Elphaba Thropp, who is better known as the Wicked Witch o
Review: Spellbound
Although it was overshadowed by some more "popular" moviegoing experiences this weekend, Spellbound is one of this year's most anticipated releases amongst old-school Disney Princess fans. Promising to bring back the feel of classic animated films, the movie was released by the relatively new Skydance Animation Studio and distributed by Netflix . The Disney tie-in comes from its creative team, using the renowned Alan Menken and Glenn Slater for its music and lyrics and featuring many well-known actors for its voice talent, including Rachel Zegler , Disney's upcoming Snow White , in the lead role of Princess Ellian. The movie takes place in a Latin American-inspired medieval kingdom reminiscent of Elena of Avalor . Does it live up to the hype? Let's explore. The premise of the movie, which is shoved in our face from the expository opening song, is that Princess Ellian's parents, the king and queen of Lumbria, have mysteriously turned into monsters, forc
Review: Moana 2
After reading some of the initial reviews , I was skeptical about Moana 2 . However, now that I've seen it, I can say with confidence that it is an underrated classic like Wish . While it may be an infamous Disney sequel that was converted from a failed concept for an animated series , we've come a long way from the days when Disney would slap three barely finished episodes together and call it a sequel . This is a polished, complete, and cohesive story with theatrical-quality animation and music. I am grateful that Disney finally released something original instead of another live-action remake . Considering the destructive path they've been on lately , this movie is a step in the right direction. It is a return to what Disney does best--beautiful animation, songs, and a thrilling adventure story with a spirited princess-like heroine that is on par with the original film . A few years have passed since Moana's big adventure of returning the heart to Te Fiti so her
The New Snow White Trailer Is Finally Here!
At D23 Expo Brazil , a new trailer premiered for Disney's upcoming Snow White remake . Unlike most of their trailers, which release to the public immediately after their first screening, this one remained under wraps for three weeks. Today, Disney has quietly made the new trailer public. Along with new footage that wasn't in the original teaser , the trailer included our first listen to "Waiting on a Wish," a new song to be performed by Rachel Zegler specifically for this adaptation. This song is obviously meant to replace "I'm Wishing" from the original film, which places too much focus on Snow White's desire for romance, something that Disney has been shying away from with their recent movies . You can check out the new trailer below. The trailer opens with a first look at Snow White's father, who was not included in the original movie, following the tradition of live-action remakes to reveal characters that we didn't get to see in th...
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