The Princess Blog

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...

I finally completed the third book in Kenley Davidson 's Andari Chronicles, and I am pleased to say that Pirouette  had everything I felt that the first book,  Traitor's Masque ,  was lacking. Not only is it my favorite adaptation of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" that I've read so far , but it also boasts a disabled princess  as the book's main heroine instead of making her a friend or supporting character. The biggest surprise to me after reading the other two books  was that the world of the Andari Chronicles does indeed contain magic. It's just that no one in Andar knew about it because their kingdom had magic-blocking properties that they were unaware of. This opened up a whole new set of conflicts that made the story of Pirouette  the most engaging, exciting, and suspenseful one in the series so far. I savored every paragraph and finished it wanting more. Most adaptations of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" alter the original fairy ...

Traitor's Masque  by Kenley Davidson is the first book in the Andari Chronicles. I enjoyed  Goldheart , the second book, more than this one thanks to a more concise story and a more relatable protagonist. Traitor's Masque  is an original adaptation of "Cinderella."  It feels like I enjoy every consecutive "Cinderella" adaptation I read less each time because it's so overplayed. Every storyteller thinks they're being more unique than the last by incorporating a bunch of new twists and turns. If they really wanted to be original, they would use one of the hundreds of other fairy tales out there that hasn't already been adapted to death. That said, Kenley Davidson is still a fantastic author. She wrote A Beautiful Curse , which was my favorite book from the Entwined Tales series. Her Andari Chronicles stand out from similar series of fairy tale adaptation novels because she incorporates a more realistic spin. The world contains no magic and a weal...

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 ...

*The following post contains spoilers for some of the final cutscenes in Kingdom Hearts III. For a less spoilery post, please refer to the review I posted last week. Kairi is the only original  Princess of Heart  in the Kingdom Hearts series. She has been there since the very beginning when we saw her playing on the Destiny Islands with Sora and Riku. While Sora and Riku demonstrated enormous growth since the first game, Kairi still remains very much static. It's been 13 years since the first game, but her role still follows many of the same outdated tropes as much older video game princesses . While being a damsel in distress  is not necessarily as bad as it's cracked up to be, a princess character does need to have some sort of redeeming quality to make up for her lack of physical prowess. For Cinderella , it was her unwavering loyalty to her stepfamily and her late mother despite the tragic events of her life that would have turned anyone else into a bitter cyn...

Thirteen years after the release of Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts III  is finally available for us to peruse. With over a decade of buildup and hype, this game is a massive undertaking both to play and to review. There's just so much of it. There are a lot of cutscenes, a lot of new abilities, a lot of Disney characters, a lot of hidden Mickeys, and a whole lot of backstory to catch up on  if you haven't played all nine of the previous games in the series. It's just a lot in general. Fortunately, Kingdom Hearts III definitely lives up to all the hype. It is beautiful, emotional, and fun to play, but because of its enormous scope, it never lets the player take a breath. Between the endless array of minigames and the endless array of bonus abilities popping up on your screen during battles, it's very difficult to find time to sit back and enjoy the  rich and tranquil environments  of the Disney movies that you are playing in. For the purposes of this review, I will...