The Princess Blog

Today marks the last multi-part special on Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure  before the series finale on March 1st. I had high hopes that Cassandra's Revenge  would resolve Cassandra's heartbreaking betrayal arc once and for all, but it looks like that is being saved for the finale. Though there were some revelations in this special about Rapunzel and Cassandra's powers, they weren't quite as big as I was hoping. The special brought back Varian for a gorgeous new Alan Menken duet  with Cassandra. It also progressed the sinister plans of the mysterious blue girl, who is the true antagonist likely has some sort of connection to Zhan Tiri, the show's final boss. It was an enjoyable special in terms of art and music, but I felt let down by the fact that they are saving all the big resolutions for the finale. Cassandra is beginning to feel like a broken record, saying the same things over again until the plot allows her story to progress. The special kicks off wi...

It's been almost a year since Kingdom Hearts III made its long overdue debut . Amidst the disappointment that fans had with the highly anticipated game, the most popular question of all was "What about Kairi?"  The new Kingdom Hearts III: Re Mind  DLC, which came out yesterday, attempts to answer this question . Kairi is essentially the  princess of the Kingdom Hearts universe , but is never treated as such. She is constantly placed on the sidelines, even after she receives her own keyblade to fight with at the end of Kingdom Hearts II. The Re Mind DLC addresses this issue immediately. When you start up the game after installing the DLC, a lovely new illustration of Kairi slowly fades into existence next to Sora's on the menu screen as a gentle reminder that she has been patiently waiting for her turn to be included in the story. For half the price of the game, I can understand why some people would consider Re Mind to be a disappointment. There are some new scen...

After years of reading fairy tale adaptations and reimaginings , I was in the mood for something a little different. I discovered The Stepsister Scheme  by Jim C. Hines  on a list of 20 modern fairy tale books . It stood out for a few reasons. First, the book takes place after the "happily ever after" part of its leading princesses' fairy tales, which gives it a similar feel to Just Ella  by Margaret Peterson Haddix , in which the princesses are more experienced and willing to fight to keep their happy endings. Instead of focusing on one princess, the book features Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty in a  girl-power team-up , giving it a Magical Girl vibe with a stronger focus on friendship than romance. It's also about a bunch of princesses teaming up to rescue a prince, and there aren't as many books out there about that as there should be. Right from the get-go, I knew this wasn't another reimagining of a story I've already heard a million t...

Odette turned into a swan. Ariel turned into a human. Tiana turned into a frog. Thumbelina turned into a faery . Transformation is such a huge theme among fairy tales that it is practically embedded into their DNA. If you think beautiful transformation sequences are just a visual motif, you would only be half right. This theme is so common among fables because it represents a storytelling technique that has existed ever since stories started being told. Every good story takes a character on a complete journey, whether physical or metaphorical, that changes them by the time they reach its end. Likewise, each princess or prince who has transformed into their final form by the end of the movie leans a powerful lesson from their experiences. We see that lesson visually through the magic of animation and visual effects. For me, transformation sequences are the ultimate high point of traditional animation . Every fairy tale princess begins her story as a sheltered ingenue  who i...

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 favorite Disney 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+ or...

Happy New Year, princesses! I concluded my 2019 with yet another of my favorite fairy tale, "The Little Mermaid."   A Princess of Wind and Wave  is the final book in Melanie Cellier's Beyond the Four Kingdoms series and her last book of 2019. Though it wasn't my favorite "Little Mermaid" adaptation of the year , it did focus on certain aspects of the fairy tale that other versions tend to overlook. A Captive of Wing and Feather , the previous book in the series, featured a protagonist who couldn't communicate with humans during daylight hours, which is something that would ordinarily apply more to "The Little Mermaid" than "Swan Lake."  Perhaps it was for this reason that Isla does not lose her ability to speak in A Princess of Wind and Wave , making it one of the few "Little Mermaid" adaptations  that does not require her to find an alternate method of communication on land  such as writing or sign language. Instead, her ...