The Princess Blog

Over the past several years , I have reviewed various princess media . The majority of the shows, books, and movies I've discussed have been rooted in fantasy with a few exceptions . Historically, princesses were the daughters of real-life monarchs and other leaders , but most of their appeal is rooted in legends, myths, and fairy tales . Sometimes, the lines between fantasy and reality can become blurred when using real historical figures as protagonists. In the case of media like Anastasia , Reign , or Six , audiences understand that the primary function of these presentations is to entertain them while throwing in some historical nuggets to do their own research on later if they so choose. It has recently come to my attention that there is a stigma revolving around Disney's Pocahontas , a movie I greatly enjoyed as a child, due to its numerous historical inaccuracies. Is it inherently immoral to enjoy a piece of historical fiction that colors the character's lives in a ...

It took three long years, but I finally received my copy of Finding Anastasia  in the mail, a game I had backed on Kickstarter and promoted in my board game post  last year. This game is breathtakingly beautiful and tons of fun at parties, so it's a shame that it isn't more widely available. Inspired by the historical legend that was popularized by the beloved 1997 animated movie , Finding Anastasia is a social deduction game in which players who claim to be Anastasia are given invitations to a tea party held by the Empress to find her long-lost granddaughter before Rasputin's spies can eliminate her. The Kickstarter campaign for this game ran for a long time, allowing many upgrades to pass into its final production, including a gorgeous custom teacup to hold the jewels, tarot-sized player cards with original artwork, and a beautiful box that can be mounted on a wall when not in use. Finding Anastasia is produced by Good Knight Games  an independent game group that has ex...

Look at this stuff! Isn't it neat? I posted a couple of videos on my YouTube channel  several years ago showing off my collection, but it has grown quite a bit since then, especially after getting a castle of my own . As a self-proclaimed princess enthusiast, I'm always on the lookout for new and exciting additions to my collection. And let me tell you, I've hit the jackpot recently. From 3D prints of enchanted jewels to rare memorabilia from classic and upcoming princess movies, I've added some truly amazing items to my collection. My household recently invested in a 3D printer, and I've found that it's a fantastic tool for growing your princess collection with items that might be difficult to find online such as Magical Girl transformation wands, tiaras, and more. I also may have inherited some of Ariel's hoarding tendencies lately as a side effect of my hype for the upcoming remake of The Little Mermaid . Having a 3D printer is a lot of work, but it can...

Tis the season to appropriate princess movies your studio owns but didn't originally produce? After years of fans having to explain that Anastasia isn't a Disney Princess , Disney has decided to take advantage of their acquisition of this beloved property by releasing some new merchandise. Disney loves celebrating anniversaries  of their films every time there is a milestone, and this year just happens to be the 25h anniversary of Anastasia . Now that the rights to this ground-breaking animated musical rest in the hands of the mouse, Disney is the only company that can celebrate this milestone, and they decided to do so in a small way--with some limited edition trinkets. It started with a mug  that was available for a short time on ShopDisney's website and at their theme parks . The mug featured a pattern of golden lace with ornate portraits of Anastasia and Dimitri on either side and an insignia of the famous "Together in Paris" necklace that Anastasia's gran...

There have been a number of Disney Princess -related announcements this week, mostly pertaining to things I have already posted about, so I decided to compile them into a quick update so they don't get buried by another story. First and foremost, the newest Disney cruise ship, the Disney Wish , completed its maiden voyage this week. I was particularly excited about this ship because it contained a new stage show inspired by Disney's The Little Mermaid . While I was hoping someone on the ship would have uploaded footage by now, I have not been able to locate anything substantial as of the time of this post. Please let me know if any of you find anything about this show. There are some new promo images  for it that made the rounds last week, giving us a better idea of the overall look and feel. It is my opinion that this show was meant to premiere after the upcoming live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid , explaining the lead actress's resemblance to Halle Bailey . The ...

Tangled  wasn't the first movie to feature a mistreated girl who learned she was a princess, but it was the first to popularize the "lost princess" archetype. Why is this trope so appealing throughout so many recent books and films? Secretly being a princess is a fantasy that many little girls have when they're growing up, especially when they face difficult times. This popular story narrative gives a literal interpretation Sara Crewe's philosophy from A Little Princess  that every girl is a princess even if they don't know it. One of the reasons this is such a common theme in princess stories is that it goes along with one of the seven basic plot archetypes , the "Rags to Riches" trope. In the past, that trope was used more often for stories based on  "Cinderella,"  but the "lost princess" trope has become more common in modern media due to the lack of dependency on a man that the "Cinderella" trope  requires. The first...

Barely even a week after their Phantom of the Opera visual novel came out, the Time Princess app released Taishō Adventures, an original story set in Japan that could not be more different than Phantom. This is the first new story that had more than one chapter since I started playing Time Princess, harkening back to its original three visual novels . It takes place during the Taishō era , a period of Japanese history that lasted from 1912 to 1926. Since this the same time period that Gotham Memoirs takes place, there is some overlap of the clothing styles. The setting in Taishō Adventures also incorporates some classic Japanese fashions including colorful kimonos and beaded floral accessories as well as many Japanese cultural references including idioms, fairy tales, and architecture. It delivers a satisfying resolution no matter which story path you take, which is more than I can say about Helen of Sparta or Shadows of London . It takes a little while to grasp the story in Ta...

It's difficult to find things to be thankful for this year. There have been numerous cancellations and delays of highly anticipated princess movies throughout the year due to the pandemic. That's why we should give thanks when a movie actually arrives on schedule, which appears to be the case for Godmothered , an original movie streaming on Disney+ for this year's holiday season. Godmothered  is scheduled to come to Disney+ next Friday, December 4th. It isn't the only movie we have to look forward to on Disney's newest streaming service, though. Princess fans can anticipate a wealth of long-awaited content this holiday season to make up for all the delays during the rest of the year. Check out the trailer for Godmothered  below. When this movie was first announced as Frills  early this year , many fans were hoping for a Cinderella  prequel about the backstory of the Fairy Godmother. Instead, we are getting something that looks like a poor man's Enchanted . Jil...

You know those movies that you watch with your friends because they're so hilariously bad that you can spend the entire time making fun of every single thing that comes onscreen? Well, that's what this is. I had heard about Armando Gutierrez's  time travel Anastasia movie shortly after he released his weird experimental film of The Little Mermaid  that takes place in a modern circus. Anastasia: Once Upon a Time  is an outlandish interpretation of the theory that the Anastasia Romanov escaped the fall of the Russian Empire, except that here, she was sent through a time portal to the year 1989 that was created by Rasputin. The spark to create this movie probably came from Don Bluth's 1997 animated classic , but the two films have very little in common. You can tell that it came from the same creative minds as 2018's  The Little Mermaid  because both stories have a mythical princess befriend a young blonde girl who is obsessed with royalty and magic. I guess ...

In general, I find that animated movies don't translate well the stage even though they have musical numbers that seem perfect for Broadway . Disney shows such as Aladdin  often miss the point of having an additional hour to develop the characters and squander the time on extra dance numbers that are completely unnecessary to the plot. In the case of Anastasia , which was not produced by Disney, they cut a major character from the 1997 Don Bluth masterpiece . Rasputin, the movie's chilling undead villain, was replaced by a more sympathetic antagonist named Gleb, a Russian revolutionary. They most likely did this for the sake of historical accuracy and because it would have been difficult to portray a rotting corpse on stage. "In the Dark of the Night"  is one of my favorite villain songs of all time, so Rasputin's absence was very noticeable when I attended the final performance of the Anastasia tour at the Pantages Theatre  in Hollywood. Anastasia  is one ...