Happy World Princess Week!

We are two days into World Princess Week, the annual celebration of the Disney Princess brand, which takes place from August 25th to 31st this year. The beloved brand has moved on from its Ultimate Princess Celebration campaign to begin a new marketing campaign called "Create Your World." The campaign kicked off at the beginning of the month with a commercial entitled "The Magic Within" in which little girls imagine Disney characters and symbols popping into their ordinary lives so they can live the modern princess life. This particular brand campaign seems more consumer-based than "Live Your Story," which encourages incorporating princess traits like kindness and bravery in everyday life. "Create Your World" sounds like an invitation to buy lots of Disney merchandise and turn your home into a castle, which is on brand with modern Disney's questionable decisions that favor corporate greed over good storytelling.


Although World Princess Week started yesterday, most of the festivities around it took place earlier this month. For instance, Coco Jones performed her new World Princess Week cover of "Almost There" at the D23 Expo a little over two weeks ago. On August 13th, Disneyland Resort hosted "Create Your World: A Disney Princess Regal Experience" to showcase all the new merchandise they will be releasing over the next year to go with the campaign. The event looked absolutely magical with glitter, castles, gowns, surprises, and even a guest appearance from four famous princess actresses--Jodi Benson, Paige O'Hara, Linda Larkin, and Anika Noni Rose. Lots of fun things were featured there, including makeup, dolls, and plushies. A similar event was held yesterday in Times Square so the magic of Disney Princesses could be celebrated from coast to coast.


World Princess Week usually takes place during the last week of August and features Disney Princess movie marathons on TV as well as lots of fun imagery of the princesses on social media. Unfortunately, this year's artwork was recycled from earlier World Princess Week events and had few new images to offer. One particularly fun revelation from this week is that the premiere movie of my favorite show, Sofia the First, Once Upon a Princess, is now free to watch on YouTube. This is super exciting because the movie rarely aired on television since its inception and was never on Disney+ despite the rest of the show being available there. The surprise release is likely in anticipation of the upcoming series, Sofia the First: Royal Magic to ensure that younger fans can watch the original story from the beginning before diving into the sequel.


World Princess Week is also being celebrated in Disney Parks worldwide. Disneyland Paris even has a special exclusive show for this magical week called "Live Your Story," inspired by the former Disney Princess anthem. Hong Kong Disneyland has a special themed walkway called "A Royal Walk with Princesses," and all of the parks have special princess-themed food items that are only available this week. If you don't have a Disney vacation planned in time for World Princess Week, never fear. ShopDisney is featuring a Royal Savings Event on their new "Create Your World" merchandise so you can bring some of the magic home. Disney Channel is showcasing a specially curated schedule of Disney Princess movies all week including Raya and the Last Dragon, Moana, The Princess and the Frog, Brave, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and the Cinderella remake. Disney Jr is joining in the action as well by using the week as an opportunity to promote their new Ariel series.


World Princess Week is a celebration of all things Disney Princess, and this year's "Create Your World" campaign is a call to action for young fans to embrace their inner princess and create their own magical world. While the campaign's focus on consumerism is questionable, the festivities surrounding World Princess Week are fun and engaging. From movie marathons to exclusive events, themed food, and special merchandise, there's something for every Disney Princess fan to enjoy. Here at The Princess Blog, we celebrate princesses every week, so stay tuned for more royal treatment all year round!
I have always dreamed of being a writer and creating the next great fairy tale princess heroine. Princesses inspire us to be our best selves. While you're here, feel free to follow my page on Facebook, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and check out my books. I'm also on Instagram and Twitter.

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