It turns out I wasn't the only one who was excited to learn that the 1997 version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella was coming to Disney+ last week. Everyone involved in the making of this classic film from over 20 years ago got together for interviews, a live watch party on Twitter, and more. The biggest surprise of this celebration was a brand new music video from Disney aficionado Todrick Hall featuring the leading lady herself, Brandy Norwood. It starts out as a fun little singing session between Brandy and Todrick as they serenade each other with songs from the classic musical. Then, something magical happens as Brandy is transformed into a slightly updated version of her princess look from the 1997 film and returns to the ball with Todrick as her prince. The video comes to a "happily ever after" with socially distanced cameos from several of the other cast members in the film.
Todrick Hall is no stranger to producing professional-quality Disney fan videos. I was particularly impressed by his "Spell Block Tango" mash-up video of Disney villains with the musical Chicago back in the day. It's evident that his "Cinderella" video was a labor of love by all the wonderful little touches in the background of his studio. There are countless Broadway posters lining the walls, a classic storybook from Disney's animated 1950 version of the story, and dolls of both Brandy and Whitney Houston in their iconic gowns from the 1997 movie. The costume that Brandy wears when she transforms into Cinderella at the ball is slightly different from the in the original film. It is a darker shade of blue and made of more shimmery material, adding to the magic of the music video. Her crown is also larger, implying that she has evolved from a princess into a full-blown queen. The choreography during this scene is on point and every bit as magical as it was in the original film.
What I enjoyed the most about this video was the look of sheer delight on Brandy and Todrick's faces as they performed these classic songs. You could tell that the video was made as a result of love and enjoyment for the original and not as a forced promotion for Disney (even though Whoopi Goldberg throws one in at the end). It's adorable how amazed Todrick Hall looks when Brandy walks into the room. She also seems to be having the time of her life adding her own soulful spin on iconic songs like "In My Own Little Corner" and "Impossible." The rest of the cast, including Bernadette Peters, Jason Alexander, and Paolo Montalban, who dressed up for his cameo, show their appreciation for the movie by appearing in the "Cinderella" storybook at the end. It was delightful to see that all of these performers still remember their roles in this gorgeous movie.
Todrick Hall isn't the only one who blessed us with new "Cinderella" music last week. On the same day that Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella launched on Disney+, Andrew Lloyd Webber released another song from his Cinderella musical called "I Know I Have a Heart." This song is thematically similar to "Far Too Late." It expands upon Cinderella's regrets toward not telling Prince Sebastian about her feelings for him and running away from the ball. The song emphasizes her heartbreak after he picks a different woman to be his bride with the line "I know I have a heart because you broke it" and deconstructs today's feminist princess trope that encourages girls to suppress their femininity and hide their emotions. This version of Cinderella embodies the modern princess trope of being rebellious and independent and denying her feelings for the prince. "I Know I Have a Heart" enunciates the dangers of this attitude by showing us that no matter how tough a woman may act on the outside, she is just susceptible to pain and heartbreak on the inside.
"Cinderella" is a story that was once considered outdated. With these two musical revivals, it seems to be back in fashion. It makes sense that all of the people falling on hard times due to the current state of the world would want to embrace the fantasy of having their problems magically disappear. Personally, I've never grown tired of this story and am happy to see it make a comeback in any form. I think that the currently airing Disney+ series, WandaVision, is another example of a modern deconstruction of the "Cinderella" trope, but I will expand on that after the season ends.
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 sovereign queen, Elizabeth, in 1558. 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 Henry VIII, who was famo
The latest visual novel in Time Princess is called House of Horrors, which sounds more like a horror movie than the fairy tales and historical novels that first attracted me to the game. In fact, it has been nearly four months since Time Princess released a story about actual royalty with Cleopatra , and the teaser for their next one is set in modern times. While House of Horrors may not have been what I was hoping for, I didn't find it as scary as the title would imply. The story is very linear and unveils an intriguing mystery piece by piece with beautiful Victorian-inspired gothic clothing. I think it came out a little too soon after Ghost Manor to feel fresh and new, but the mystery aspect made it worth a quick playthrough. House of Horrors is one of few recent visual novels in Time Princess that acknowledges the enchanted storybook the protagonist enters to receive the memories of each character she inhabits. It is relevant here because when she wakes up, she finds that s
A few weeks ago, I was looking forward to playing Time Princess's rendition of Catherine the Great , but then it got postponed, possibly for political reasons, though that has not been confirmed officially. There wasn't much time to mourn its loss before something completely different dropped to make us forget how much we were looking forward to it. Kingdom of Beasts, the new story, is unique in several ways. It is the first full-length visual novel in Time Princess that celebrates its LGBT love interest in an open way instead of being discreet about it like previous books in this game . It also addresses hard-hitting issues like racism and slavery but does so in a visually stunning fantasy setting that doesn't get overly dark or depressing. Kingdom of Beasts tells the story of Dahlia, an inquisitive young woman who runs an underground network of spies. Dahlia must set off on an unexpected journey when her parents force her into an arranged marriage to restore their famil
The latest visual novel in the Time Princess app revolved around a real-life murderer and sparked so much controversy that the developers had to edit some of the story's features the very next day after it was launched! Have You Seen Claudia? takes place in Chicago during the year 1893 and is about a young woman who gets wrapped up in a scandal involving the famous serial killer H.H. Holmes . It plays out a murder mystery that will keep you guessing right until the very end. Though it in no way condones Holmes' monstrous criminal acts, many players were offended that he was listed as a companion in the game's Lantern section. In a hot update the following day, the developers removed him and one other character from that section. They also changed the clothing names and descriptions so they no longer reflected other famous killers and victims. This story beats Dancing On Ice by leaps and bounds as the darkest one in the game, but the mystery element makes it that much mor
Time Princess released its latest visual novel so quickly after the last one that I barely had time to breathe. Compared to the other visual novels in this game, Spring Sonata is most similar to Whispers of the Rain since it takes place in a more realistic contemporary setting and Si-woo's Sight because the protagonist is an aspiring musician in Korea. It certainly isn't the next historical fantasy novel I was hoping for, but it was quick and entertaining enough for a short weekend. The story is very straightforward and only has one true ending, so there is little reason to replay most of the levels. Spring Sonata is about a young cellist named Jeong Si-eun who attends a prestigious music school in Korea. I found this character difficult to relate to at first because she is quite pretentious about her musical knowledge and skills. Because of this, she has trouble making friends at her new school and doesn't understand how to play with emotion. Over the course of the g
It might be a little late for Halloween, but that didn't stop Time Princess from adding a new visual novel about a haunted house. Ghost Manor draws some inspiration from the new TV series Ghosts , as both stories are about a young woman who inherited an old mansion from a dead relative that finds out there are a bunch of ghosts living there. The visual novel is a little heavier than the show since much of the plot revolves around the protagonist trying expand her business to pay off a ridiculous inheritance tax. Ghost Manor is probably the most challenging visual novel in Time Princess to date. There are many possible endings and other events that don't show up on the story's flowchart, which makes it nearly impossible to complete at 100% without asking for help. As much as I love the gorgeous new song with English lyrics that plays on the story map for Ghost Manor, I started to get sick of it after replaying the same levels 20 or so times hoping I would unlock something n
The latest visual novel in Time Princess is a little more historical than the last few , though it has nothing to do with actual princesses or royalty. Trendy Times takes place right before the Great Depression when women started wearing pants in public for the first time. It is about a fashion designer who is determined to put pants for ladies on the market even though it is a foreign concept at the time. Due to the fashion designer angle, the story has some unique outfits that stand out from other dress-up items in the game as well as beautiful illustrations that are done in an art deco style. Like Spring Sonata, the visual novel aspects are very clear-cut with theirs decisions. Most choices either trigger a bad ending or move the story forward, so there's no need to replay levels multiple times to see all of the endings. Marguerite Gautier is an orphan whose only dream is to put her design ideas for women's pants on the market even though the concept of a woman wearing pant
From the game that brought interactive historical fiction about royal figures like Marie Antoinette and Princess Sissi and creative gender-swapped retellings of Swan Lake , Aladdin , and Romeo and Juliet comes a story about a woman who finds an abandoned baby in the middle of the street. This latest visual novel from Time Princess feels a little out of left field considering how much history, mythology, and fantasy the game has tackled in the past. Whispers of the Rain takes place in 1980s Japan, but the story is so universal that it could take place anywhere. It also contains some of my least favorite costumes in this series to date. Everything looks so plain and boring compared to the extravagant ensembles from other visual novels in this game. With two more new stories coming out just around the bend, it seems like they're phoning it in to release as much content as they can as quickly as possible. Whispers of the Rain follows Time Princess's recent trend of gritty crim
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:
Cleopatra is a visual novel that a lot of people were hoping for from the Time Princess app. It's the third story about historical royalty following Queen Marie and Princess Sissi , but the fashions are unlike anything in the game so far. This latest Time Princess adventure transports us to the indulgent world of ancient Egypt, where pharaohs bathe themselves in gold and jewels that dangle shamelessly from their embroidered robes. The story itself is not a friendly one. Like all royal struggles, Cleopatra's history is fraught with warfare, betrayal, and murder. I knew who she was but had very little knowledge about her history before reading this story. Not only did I learn a lot, but I was also able to indulge in some gorgeous exotic fashions. Cleopatra's tale begins with a massive betrayal from her brother, Ptolemy. In a surprisingly gender-equal monarchy, Cleopatra was supposed to rule peacefully at Ptolemy's side as co-rulers. However, Ptolemy was greedy and wante
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