The Princess Blog

It's been three years since the announcement  that Jennifer Lopez was working on a serial adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella . At this point, it seemed like the project was cancelled, given that nothing else was announced since then. Impossible things are happening every day, and  Disney+ has landed the rights to it after a bidding war with Amazon. It looks like the pumpkin is still fresh. When it was first announced, three other Cinderella adaptations  were released within the same year. Enough time has passed that it isn't as derivative now as it was at the time. Still, the serial format is perplexing, not to mention the fact that it has been in production for at least three years and still doesn't have a release window. There have been new developments since the project was first announced, namely that it will be the backstory of the Fairy Godmother, which is reminiscent of another series that got announced years ago. The Deadline article states th...

When I learned that 20/20 was having a reunion of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella  from 1997 to celebrate World Princess Week , I was expecting a journalist like Barbara Walters  to show up in a big room with the cast and lead a discussion about their memories of shooting together and what they've been up to since then. What I got instead was a mash-up of individual interviews from various people involved with the film from the past and present day talking for an hour about what a great movie it was. Don't get me wrong; it was  great, but that isn't what comes to mind when I hear "reunion." Not only was there never more than one person on camera at a time, but there was also no host to introduce and close out the special. If someone tuned in without knowing anything about it, they would have no idea what they were watching. The biggest highlight for me wasn't even part of the special. It was a clip of Brandy giving a live performance of  "Start...

The prince is giving a ball... again! When Disney announced their Ultimate Princess Celebration last year , I was under the impression that it would be a year-long event culminating in World Princess Week , when they aired the mediocre Disney Princess Remix special on Disney Channel . Instead, it looks like the event will be ongoing until they can find a new way to keep their Disney Princess brand relevant . That means World Princess Week is back for another round! It will take place next week from August 21st through August 27th. Instead of a teenybopper remix of princess classics, however, Disney is doing something a little different this year. Their primary television network, ABC , will air a 25th anniversary reunion special of the 1997 production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella  on their news show,  20/20 , followed by a presentation of the film, airing live for the first time since it debuted on The Wonderful World of Disney. This is a particularly appropriate ...

There is no fairy tale that has been retold as many times as "Cinderella."  With a new jukebox musical on Amazon Prime  and West End stage show from Andrew Lloyd Webber , the story has no shortage of modern-day retellings. That's why I couldn't bring myself to get excited when I heard that Jennifer Lopez is developing a limited series  based on Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella  with Skydance Television  and Concord Originals . This version alone has had three made-for television films and a 2013 Broadway revival starring Broadway Princess Party 's Laura Osnes . Can you blame me for not feeling at least a little skeptical of yet another version of this rags-to-riches classic that the media has shoved down our throats for years? What's even more concerning about the announcement is that it is not another feature-length film, but instead a limited series with multiple episodes written by Rachel Shukert , who worked on Netflix series GLOW and The Baby-Sit...

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...

"Cinderella"  is quite possibly the most well-known fairy tale of all time. Every culture has its own version of the story, and it has had more movie adaptations than any other fairy tale, which says something about its timelessness and popularity. Andrew Lloyd Webber is even working on a new musical of it to open whenever we're allowed to go to the theaters again. Of all the "Cinderella"s out there, there is one project that has been kept so under wraps that it hasn't even had a trailer even though it was supposed to come out today. That project is Sony's Cinderella  starring one of the most adorable pop stars of our time, Camila Cabello . The movie was meant to celebrate diversity and feature the first gender neutral Fairy Godmother along with an array of modern pop songs. Like so many other movies  that were supposed to come out over the past year, its release today never happened . It just might be more likely for a plain yellow pumpkin to become ...

It's time to talk about  everyone's favorite makeover story . Cinderella has been done and redone so many times that she's turned into more of a trope than an actual character. Every time I have dressed up as a princess for Halloween that I thought was at least fairly recognizable someone has asked me if I was supposed to be Cinderella. It never fails. I've been asked it as Belle, Ariel, Princess Peach, and more. She is by far the most common character to pop into anyone's head when they think of the word "princess." With  Disney's 2015 remake  and the  the recent Broadway revival , that is unlikely to stop any time soon. What is it, exactly, that makes Cinderella such a timeless character? The story goes so far back through so many cultures that no one actually knows where or when it began. The most famous version is  the one by Charles Perrault , which incorporates the fairy godmother, pumpkin, mice, and glass slippers that have become so...

I was appalled to learn that the beautiful Broadway actress, Diana Huey , was dealing with  disgusting racist comments  about being an Asian American cast in the role of my favorite princess in the touring production of The Little Mermaid. The play had a short-lived run on Broadway  in 2007 before several songs were cut and a few were added for the tour. Diana is  one of many women  to portray Ariel, but one of very few women of color to do so. A few days ago, she wrote a beautiful Facebook post  highlighting her concerns on the matter, which made me love her even more. I think she makes a beautiful mermaid princess. The Broadway stage is notoriously color blind. It values singing, dancing, and acting skills above all else. Princesses come in all colors, shapes and sizes. Princess stories have a long history of being portrayed onstage. One of the most famous productions is Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, which debuted as a  live TV speci...