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Showing posts from May, 2019

Jasmine's Solos Ranked

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Another Aladdin  production , another Jasmine song. With the recent addition of "Speechless," Jasmine has had a different solo song in every incarnation of the story. Yes, "A Whole New World"  is consistently used as the romantic duet, but it is not seen as Jasmine's signature song in the same way that "Part of Your Wold," "Someday My Prince Will Come," or "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" is associated with their respective princesses because it is just as much Aladdin's song as it is Jasmine's. While Ariel and Rapunzel have many original solos scattered throughout The Little Mermaid and Tangled series , the Aladdin series sadly did not contain any original songs . As a result, Jasmine's songs are buried within so many different productions of Aladdin  that even die-hard fans might have trouble finding them all. That's why I decided to compile this list of my top three Jasmine solos along with a little backgrou

Review: Aladdin (Live-Action 2019)

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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 e

Star vs. the Princess Blogger

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Today I'm going to talk about a show I have barely ever mentioned before in my blog. Star vs. the Forces of Evil  is an animated Magical Girl Princess series that premiered on Disney Channel in 2015. I watched the first few episodes, decided it wasn't my cup of tea, and ignored it for the next four years until they announced that series was about to end. I caught up with the last few episodes leading up to today's finale  so I could determine if it got any better. This is not a traditional review because I don't consider myself a fan of the show. I skipped over most of the episodes leading up to the finale, including the entirety of the second and third seasons. If you are a long-time fan of the series, you are welcome to comment below and correct me on any inaccuracies that you will likely find in this post. I would love to hear about why the show appealed to people in ways that it did not appeal to me. This is Star vs. the Princess Blogger. Game on! My first i

That New Maleficent Trailer Though

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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 chang

How Princesses Inspire Creativity

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I've written before about how princesses inspire me  during daily life, but I also owe a huge debt of gratitude to these stories when it comes to my creative endeavors. Fairy tales have been evolving for hundreds of years . The solidarity between the storytellers who pass these tales along to new generations so we can retell them in unique ways is incredibly motivating to me as an aspiring writer. It sets an idea in place to get the creative gears turning while opening up possibilities to create something entirely new and original. Being that today is Mothers Day, I'd also like to point out that mothers who share princess stories with their daughters empower them with endless potential to play make-believe in a world where anything is possible and girl can be anyone or anything they desire. It isn't just the stories themselves that act as a catalyst for creative minds. Mythological, royal, and fairy tale women have been portrayed in artwork for just as long as their st

Gamora Is Officially NOT a Disney Princess

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Well, the verdict is in. "Black Vortex, Part One"  is out on Disney XD, and we finally have the full story of that clip where Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy  gets trapped in a Disney Princess nightmare. The "Black Vortex" arc is likely inspired by the Netflix series Black Mirror . It portrays the famous Marvel guardians getting trapped in worlds that look familiar at first but have something that's a more malicious just below the surface. Unlike Black Mirror, these are worlds that remind us of different types of classic animated media instead of the world we live in. Each episode is split into two vignettes, so the princess storyline does not cover the entire 20 minutes. The second half of "Black Vortex, Part One" covers the Guardians of the Galaxy  character Drax, who gets trapped in a motion comic that contains pokes fun at several other well-known superheroes including Spider-Man and Superman. The Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout! ca

The Internet Dropped Two New Princess Shorts!

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Just when I thought I wouldn't have anything else to talk about until the Aladdin  remake  comes out, the magical world of the internet surprised me yet again with two charming new YouTube shorts. Technically, neither of them are about princesses, but both are related to some of the most well-known Disney Princesses . The first is a new music video  from PattyCake Productions , the dream team that brought us "Princess Academy" and "The Grande Mermaid."  The second video is a clip from an upcoming episode of the animated  Guardians of the Galaxy  series on Disney XD called Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout! (not to be confused with the ride at Disneyland of the same name). This episode will premiere this Sunday with the clip below featuring Gamora, the green-skinned Avenger. Just in time for Mothers Day, "Tough Love"  is the second episode of PattyCake Productions' Villains Lair web series. It features three of the most