The Princess Blog

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Princess Celebration , which is an attempt to celebrate all of the Disney Princesses, including ones that may feel outdated by today's standards, by releasing imagery that makes it look like they're all friends.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...

If you've found the quality of Disney entertainment a bit lackluster lately, you aren't alone . There was barely any hype surrounding the  awesome new princess movie  they just launched on Disney+, especially compared to some of their previous movie openings . Of course, it isn't entirely their fault that they can't have big movie premieres during a time of lockdowns and safety measures , but combined with theme park closures, it leaves us feeling a little empty inside. Have no fear because fans will always be here  to bring back the pixie dust and excitement of the old days even when the studios are too busy counting their losses to notice. Last week brought two groups of powerhouse princess cosplayers  singing about the good old days and making some poignant observations on how Disney Princesses have evolved over the last few decades. Even though they were produced by different, though equally talented, independent studios, the videos perfectly illustrate the evol...

The newest Disney Princess to grace the silver screen is Raya from Raya and the Last Dragon . Since many theaters are still closed due to the pandemic, this is the second theatrical movie available to stream on Disney+ for an additional fee, the first being the live-action remake of  Mulan , which I did not think was worth the extra money for Premier Access. Raya is a worthwhile experience that recreates the magic of watching an animated Disney classic  in theaters for the first time, even though I watched it at home. It is full of magic, adventure, and heart with gorgeous visual imagery inspired by Southeast Asia. My biggest concern about this movie was that Raya would be a cookie-cutter independent warrior princess  with no personality, but I was pleased to learn that she is just as flawed and human as any other well-rounded protagonist. She share some traits with  Elena of Avalor , such as her overconfidence and trust issues but has a unique enough story to...

Raya and the Last Dragon  is speculated to be the next big Disney Princess movie . Until recently, many details of its plot were kept under wraps. We know she's a warrior princess , that her people are divided, and that she needs to find the last dragon to help reunite them. Anything else about the story was only hinted at during last month's Investor Day presentation . Today, Disney treated us to a new poster and full-length trailer that gives us a first look at Raya's backstory as well as many of the other characters in the cast, including the dragon, Sisu, herself. The movie is on schedule  for its March 5th release in theaters and on Disney+ for an additional fee. If this trailer is any indication of what to expect on that day, we are in for quite the adventure. The trailer begins with Raya discovering a stray baby and, like the kindhearted princess she is, searching for its parents. Then the baby reveals herself to be a "con-baby" (whatever that means) with...

The biggest princess news today is that Disney released their first teaser trailer for Raya and the Last Dragon , their next female-driven animated feature that is slated for release in March 2021. Early interviews  have hinted that Maya might be joining the Disney Princess line as an adventuresome  daughter of the village chief . The trailer does not look anything like a Disney Princess movie from eras past, but it does follow the newer trope  of princesses who fight, wear pants, and rebel against society . In other words, it's an action movie that's trying to mooch off the popularity of the Disney Princess brand at the same time. I don't know what to make of these "princess" movies that no longer contain any of the things we love about princesses. However, it doesn't look like a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, the animation in the teaser was stunning. It just doesn't look like the princess movie that it is implied to be. The begin...