The Princess Blog's Five-Year Blogiversary Extravaganza!
Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
Can you believe I've been writing articles about princesses for five years? I still remember posting a list of 100 princesses for my 100th post, and now I have over 600 posts and counting! That's a lot of princesses! For most blogiversaries, I've shared free or deeply discounted Kindle copies of my books, but unfortunately, I haven't written anything new this year. Instead, I've been busy getting settled in my new castle, so I filmed this mini-music video in some of my favorite rooms as a video tour. I hope you enjoy it! Feel free to pause it to get a closer look at some of my new furnishings and old memorabilia. Let me know how many princess easter eggs you can spot in the background!
As for what's next, I'm very excited to announce that I've applied to be a big sister through the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America in the hopes of sharing my experiences with a special little girl, attending more princess events, and getting a better grasp on the modern generation's perspective of princess media. I hope that this experience can inspire me to write more princess stories that will appeal to the youth of today. I know I'm way behind on my Story Saturdays, so let me know if that's something you would like to see more of. It would also be nice to spend time with someone who gets just as excited about princesses as I do!
As another special treat, I reached out on my Facebook page for suggestions about what to post for my 5th anniversary. One of my favorites was the five reasons that princesses are still relevant and important. Here are my thoughts on the subject. Feel free to share yours in the comments as well!
1. They Inspire Us To Be Our Best Selves.
As we get older, it's easy to get set in our ways and forget the things that motivate us to work hard, chase after our dreams, and spread love everywhere we go. Young and older people alike need these stories to remind them to keep fighting for their happily ever after.
2. It's Harder Than Ever to Remember to Be Kind and Courageous.
In today's politically charged society, many people get caught up in arguments both online and in real life with others who refuse to accept to any opinion outside of their own. Princesses remind us to be patient and listen to others with respect and understanding so we can live in a more harmonious world.
3. Escapism Is an Important Aspect of Daily Life.
Life is hard, and it only gets harder with age. It is important and healthy to spend a little time each day imagining a place that's just a little more magical, grand, and loving than the one we live in. These little bursts of escapism can help us relax and reduce stress throughout the rest of our day.
4. They Let Girls Know It's Okay to Still Be Girls.
In a society where gender fluidity is being encouraged more than ever, princesses validate feminine girls to be themselves and not feel like they need to change to match the societal norms. Of course, there are plenty of modern princesses for girls who feel more masculine as well.
5. They Make Us Feel Empowered.
By watching princesses live out our dreams, we can feel reassured that our big decisions like moving away from home, attending a big social event, applying for a competitive job, or starting a family can lead to our own happily ever afters, taking the fear and anxiety out of these decisions. After all, Cinderella never would have escaped her stepfamily if she didn't go to the ball, Ariel never would have been able to explore the human world if she didn't trade her voice to Ursula, and Tiana never would have met Naveen if she didn't work so diligently to save up for her restaurant.
I hope you've enjoyed reading my posts for these past five years. I've loved seeing all of your recommendations and hearing your opinions, even if they differ from my own. Let me know if you have a favorite subject to read about. I have no plans to stop blogging. Princesses are an ever-expanding and timeless subject that will always provide new media to explore. Maybe someday we'll even see some new fairy tale adaptations. Thank you for sticking with me these past five years, and here's to five more!
I love this post!!! I'm honored you chose my idea to write about :) As I get older (in my thirties already) I find life does indeed stay challenging and it's a constant temptation to turn into more of a villain. It would be easy to give into despair, bitterness, anger and coldheartedness. I find I still need Princesses on a regular basis to encourage hope in a happily ever after, dreams coming true (when many haven't), and as a model to be kind and generous at all times. Thank you for sharing a Princess mentality with me and for this community <3
I completely feel you on the villain sentiment! I lose my patience a lot more than I care to admit lately. Thank you for the fantastic suggestion! I'm glad you enjoy reading my posts. Take care! :)
Sugar said…
Wow you sound very similar to rapunzel when you sing! I think one important thing about princesses is that they teach you that being nice isn't a weakness, that not every girl should be a kick ass princess and that's okay, and that a nice dress and sparkly tiara can be a symbol of strength as much as an armor and a sword. I'm glad I found this site!
Update: I just received confirmation from Christy Altomare (Wow!) that she will be attending the fall leg of the Disney Princess concert tour and was unable to attend the first few months because she is performing in a new musical at the Paper Mill Playhouse and that Anneliese has always been part of the concert. If you attend this concert in the fall, you will have the good fortunate of seeing her live! It's been ten months since Disney launched the Ultimate Princess Celebration when they announced that they had acquired the Broadway Princess Party and retooled it into Disney Princess - The Concert . After several cast changes and the cancellation of the entire 2021 leg of the tour, I was fortunate enough to attend one of the first successful performances at the Bass Concert Hall . Initially, I was excited to see Anastasia's Christy Altomare , but she was replaced with Disney Channel's Anneliese van der Pol , who played Chelsea Daniels in That's So Raven and Rav
A year and a half after Hulu's The Princess , a film about a generic fairy tale princess picking up a sword and saving herself, is owned by Hulu, Neflix decided to take on their own version of the trope with Damsel , a film about a general fairy tale princess picking up a sword and...saving herself? Though these two films share similar themes, the primary foe in Damsel is a mythological dragon instead of a greedy conqueror, giving Netflix's take on the overdone plot more of a fantasy feel. However, the sweet taste of magic is as fleeting as the film's promise of happiness to its sacrificial brides. Like The Princess , Damsel is a gritty action flick with little levity. I found The Princess enjoyable enough for what it is, and Damsel , though generic, has its moments as well. The first act is particularly eye-pleasing with breathtaking imagery of castles, gowns, and indulgence in the royal life before the film's visuals and plot plummet into a dark pit. Elodie is a
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 Henry VIII, who was
Happy New Year, princess fans! When a new year begins, many of us think about things we can do better than the year before. There is no company this notion applies to better than Disney, which has been failing in every direction now more so than ever. Their latest feature, Wish , was a genuinely solid movie that sadly did not make the profits it deserved. Following its theatrical run, many fans noticed that the concepts presented in the official Art of Wish book would have elevated it from a good movie to a great one. Most of these concepts revolved around love and romance , which has been strategically removed from modern Disney Princess archetypes , despite being a staple of the brand prior to the past decade. Despite some early rumors that Asha might be the daughter of King Magnifico and Queen Amaya, the film's director Chris Buck explained in an interview why he was adamantly against making her a princess, which may have been another mistake that could have altered the m
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:
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 dr
As soon as I saw the previews for Netflix's new animated series, Unicorn Academy , I couldn't get over how similar it looked to Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders . Teenagers forming magical bonds with unicorns to save the world from evil? Yes, please! With a Jewel Riders graphic novel on the horizon, this is the perfect time to revisit that premise. Unicorn Academy is loosely based on a book series of the same name that got picked up by Netflix and recently aired its first season. The premiere movie and successive eight episodes follow six unicorns and their riders on their quest to protect the magical realm from the evil Ravenzella, who performed reprehensible acts to previous generations, including the father of the main character, Sophia. The show contains a lot of teen angst and drama as well as rainbows, sparkles, and magic. Although Unicorn Academy features an entire school full of unicorn riders training to be protectors, it only focuses on the six students liv
The first post I wrote in this blog was called "How the Disney Princesses Stayed Modern for 80 Years." The answer was a combination of creating new princesses to match the times along with branded promotional videos, events, and merchandise that combine the old with the new. The latest example is this year's Ultimate Princess Celebration , which is an attempt to celebrate all of the Disney Princesses, including ones that may feel outdated by today's standards, by releasing imagery that makes it look like they're all friends. This is a wonderful method of keeping some of my favorite childhood characters relevant , but it is also a shield used to cover up a darker truth that many of these characters would not be deemed acceptable by today's standards. We have reached a point in Hollywood in which traditional feminine traits are considered weak or problematic . As such, characters like Raya are considered the only acceptable way to portray a woman in the medi
Now that Sofia the First has come home to Disney+ , Disney has shared a big announcement today to celebrate the show's 10th anniversary . Sofia the First is getting a new spinoff ! Series creator Craig Gerber announced earlier today "I am excited to be continuing my creative partnership with both Alyssa and Disney Branded Television. Together, we have produced three meaningful, diverse shows, and I am looking forward to broadening the scope of our collaboration while also championing new voices. It’s particularly thrilling to return to the enchanted world of ‘Sofia the First,’ where it all began 10 years ago, and create a follow-up series that is just as magical." The announcement comes as a surprise at a time when Disney Junior seemed to have been straying away from its princess properties. It is not entirely clear whether the spinoff will feature the same characters as the original series as teenagers/young adults or a new cast of younger students attending Royal Pre
The best time of the year is back! Every year, the Cedar Park High School Choir gets together to write a brand-new show filled with princesses, songs, and games for its annual Princess Tea . This year's show, Ariel's Treasure Hunt , is the third one I attended since moving to the area. Many things remained the same such as the lobby set up with fairy tale photo ops, royal souvenirs, and the castle entryway, but there were plenty of surprises to be found during the performance as well. The female choral group, known as the Seasons, dominated this year's show with a wide array of Disney Princesses, while the male singing group, Pitch Black, cosplayed various Disney heroes, supported the princesses, and performed several group numbers during the intermission. I sat at the Cinderella table, which was adorned with an old storybook, an autographed note, and a clock stuck at midnight. This year's show, which is freshly written by students each year, revolves around Ariel wan
Comments
As I get older (in my thirties already) I find life does indeed stay challenging and it's a constant temptation to turn into more of a villain. It would be easy to give into despair, bitterness, anger and coldheartedness. I find I still need Princesses on a regular basis to encourage hope in a happily ever after, dreams coming true (when many haven't), and as a model to be kind and generous at all times. Thank you for sharing a Princess mentality with me and for this community <3
I think one important thing about princesses is that they teach you that being nice isn't a weakness, that not every girl should be a kick ass princess and that's okay, and that a nice dress and sparkly tiara can be a symbol of strength as much as an armor and a sword.
I'm glad I found this site!