In a press release last Friday, Disney revealed some new details about this upcoming Princess and the Frog attraction at the ESSENCE Fest in New Orleans. The event featured jazz music and a Q&A with the imagineers who worked on the ride as well as Stella Chase, the daughter of the late Chef Leah Chase, who provided inspiration for Tiana's character. It looks like it was a lot of fun to attend and reminds me of the 10th anniversary event I went to for the film in 2019. The press release features video footage of an interview panel with Stella Chase in which she discloses the positive princess traits that her grandmother brought to the character such as chasing after her dreams and accepting people from all walks of life at her restaurant. These are indeed admirable traits that were represented beautifully in the film, but this interview discussion has very little to do with the ride itself.
Another topic discussed at the ESSENCE Fest in the press release is the new outfit that was designed for Tiana to wear on this ride, which takes place after the ending of the film. Despite being a frog for most of her movie, Tiana has more original looks in her premiere film than any other Disney Princess, so this adventuring gear is just one more historical dress up piece to add to her extensive closet. Costume Designer Ida Muldrow forgoes Tiana's glamorous gowns for a pair of 1920s style khakis, a yellow button-down shirt, red bandana ascot, cloche hat, and hiking boots perfect for navigating the swampy terrain of the bayou. The ride is the first time since Wreck-It Ralph 2 that Tiana is featured with her hair down, an intentional decision to show off her glamorous curls and place emphasis on the versatility of black women's hair and its significance to their identity around the world. The new look reflects how "Tiana was equally at home in the bayou as she was at a banquet". It makes sense for her to wear something more comfortable for this adventure after instead of any of the fancy gowns Charlotte leant her in the film.
One thing that surprised me about this press release is the lack of references to the original Splash Mountain ride. I know it's a controversial topic, but if the ride is being rethemed to be about Tiana, some things will likely remain the same, such as the log flumes and the big drop. How will they justify falling down a big waterfall as part of Tiana's story? It may seem like a silly question for any other theme park ride, but Disney is all about storytelling. Splash Mountain takes you on a complete journey with colorful characters from Song of the South. Similarly, Tiana's Bayou Adventure is supposed to immerse parkgoers in Tiana's first Mardi Gras as a princess alongside friends like Louis. I would have loved to hear more about how the ride would function to tell this story, but the event seemed to focus entirely on the culture behind the ride's retheming. The short film about the research the imagineers did in New Orleans seems to avoid telling us anything about the actual ride. However, I'm sure there will be more specifics revealed as we get closer to the release date in two years.
As a big fan of Princess Tiana, I am cautiously excited for this "new" ride that will replace one I was mostly indifferent to. It was great to see so many people come together to celebrate the film at the ESSENCE festival, and I love how much care they are taking in being authentic to the culture of New Orleans and the 1920s. I just wish I knew more about the ride itself as the press release seemed to discuss everything but. Are you eager for a Princess and the Frog ride to join the ranks of the Disney Parks, or would you rather see something brand new featuring these characters? Let me know in the comments!
Only one month after my recent obsession with Find Me in Paris , the time-traveling ballerina princess drama dropped its third and final season on Hulu today. Though somewhat predictable, this season offered a satisfying conclusion to the show's unique concept that combined dance with science fiction and tied up all remaining loose ends from the previous seasons. We finally learned the truth about Lena's birth and why she's always being chased by anyone remotely interested in time travel. Nearly every character got paired off at the end, even if it meant some questionable decisions on behalf of the writers. The season also offered some of the most beautiful dance sequences in the show yet for its key story moments. While I could have done without the repetitive recap sequences, the final episodes made it clear that this was always meant to be the end and gave the cast and crew many happy memories to look back upon. The final season of Find Me in Paris incorporated the ...
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:...
Yesterday, the Starz network released the series finale of The Spanish Princess , concluding The White Queen trilogy of miniseries that began in 2013. Based on a book series called The Cousins' War by Phillippa Gregory , the trilogy covers the women who stood behind the men in power in the English monarchy from 1464 to the 1530s, preceding the first two sovereign queens, Mary and Elizabeth. The White Queen , The White Princess , and The Spanish Princess grant us a rare opportunity to see what life was like for medieval monarchs. Watching them reminded me of why I prefer the fairy tale versions of royalty. Those stories do not contain the gory deaths, gruesome births, and invasive politics that historical dramatizations like these exemplify. In fact, I had very little interest in watching the second season of The Spanish Princess until I watched some historical videos and learned that the king that Catherine of Aragon was married to was none other than King...
It's been ten years since LoliRock first took the stage on Netflix, and rumors of a potential third season inspired me to watch the show again as I did with Winx Club , which recently previewed its upcoming reboot in Italy . LoliRock is a French Magical Girl show about a lost princess who must master her new powers while trying to liberate a mysterious faraway kingdom. It hits all the right plot notes to fit the Magical Girl algorithm, but poor writing prevents it from being a memorable entry in the genre. One thing that makes LoliRock unique is its focus on music. The three main characters aren't only magical princesses from other worlds but members of a hit rock band that performs full-length music videos at the end of each episode. Unfortunately, the overly synthesized sound of these songs is not very appealing to me, and I ended up skipping over them during my rewatch. The main character in LoliRock is Iris, a beautiful girl who loves to sing that was r...
I've been seeing several viral posts recently about historical fashion lately. One was a gallery of women's fashion every year from 1784 to 1970 , and another was a video re-enactment of how women got dressed in the 18th century . These got me thinking about some of my favorite princess fashions. Though princesses are not known to be historically accurate , their fashions drew inspiration from many different places, and history is one of them. If you take a look at the way fashion has evolved over time, you can get an idea of which parts inspired the princess movies and which parts were altered. Something that surprised me in the re-enactment was how many pieces were assembled on a woman to give the appearance of a single dress. Today, most dresses are a single piece, but historically, gowns consisted of a corset bodice and a large skirt with a crinoline underneath. This was something I also noticed about Disney's theme park princesses . Though they look like one ...
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...
Right after last month's triple whammy , Time Princess released another visual novel called Ancient Dreams. This is the third story to take place in China following Tang Dynasty Hunter and White Snake . The plot of Ancient Dreams is similar to Tang Dynasty Hunter. Both stories are about young ladies who can see spirits that reside within inanimate objects and must help the spirits resolve issues from their pasts through the reincarnations of their previous owners, but I enjoyed Ancient Dreams more. Its three chapters allotted plenty of wiggle room for additional character development and depth. The story takes place in a different era than Tang Dynasty Hunter, which allows for lots of fun new outfits. I didn't notice if the year was stated in the book, but the fashion and technology are reminiscent of the early 20th century, the same era that TaishÅ Adventures and Gotham Memoirs take place. The protagonist in Ancient Dreams is Gu Yunting, the granddaughter of a renowned res...
Almost two years ago, Disney announced that they were working on a spinoff series to Sofia the First . The best place to reveal new updates about this mysterious series would have been the D23 Expo , which took place in Anaheim last weekend. Instead, Disney Jr. quietly posted on Instagram today that we can expect to see the new series, Sofia the First: Royal Magic on Disney+ in 2026. This is fantastic news if it's true, but Disney has broken promises on many other upcoming shows over the upcoming years, so it's a good idea to take all their announcements with a grain of salt until there is something more substantial like a trailer or release date. Still, it's exciting to have a title and more information about the series. Unlike the original announcement about it being a spinoff like Elena of Avalor , the show will now be a direct sequel that continues Sofia's adventures after graduating from Royal Prep . The official summary is as follows: "Sofia the Firs...
Warrior princess fans, rejoice! There's a new team of action girls out today, and they're called the Mysticons . Never heard of them? That's not too surprising. They had a pretty small promotional campaign that I only found about by chance through a post on an animation blog I follow. Now that we're all on the same page, I have some exciting news. To kick off the series, this magical girl power team is going to have a new episode every night this week on Nickelodeon! Keep reading to find out everything you need to know. As you can see from the promo art, Mysticons is an animated series about four female warriors with magical abilities. In the first episode, they learn that they were chosen as the fabled warriors when all four of them touch the ancient Dragon Disk at the same time. While they do get a brief transformation sequence that is more akin to Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders than a magical girl anime, the Mysticons' abilities are more ac...
Several months ago, I expressed concerns about Disney retconning their version of The Little Mermaid with the prequel novel to the live-action adaptation and the rumor of an accompanying animated series . Today, Disney confirmed that rumor at the Annecy Animation Festival. Featuring cutesy CGI animation in the style of Doc McStuffins and Sofia the First , Disney Junior's Ariel boasts a brand new design for the character, which vaguely resembles Halle Bailey from the live-action movie , with a seashell and pearl-accented outfit that is similar to the Merroway Cove mermaids from Sofia the First. She is accompanied by a younger-looking version of the 1989 animated Flounder as opposed to the more realistic CGI one from the new film, which has raised some eyebrows due to the mixing and matching of designs between the movies. Another concern is how much younger Ariel and Flounder look in this version compared to the other three opposing narrations of how they met, which wer...
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