Lisa Dawn's Blog: The Princess Blog, page 50

So Much Disney News!

Right on the heels of yesterday's Winx disaster, Disney swooped in to save the day with a barrage of new announcements about their upcoming content. Just when I had made a video wondering what there was to look forward to in the coming years, Disney answered my question to the extreme. Not only are there two new princess cartoons coming out within the next couple of years, but we also now have concrete release information about a number of movies that Disney has been teasing us with. If you're not already subscribed to Disney+, you'd better do it soon, or you're going to miss out on a lot.

The biggest and possibly most surprising of the announcements is that after a complete dearth of original animated content on Disney+, Disney's premiere streaming service is working on not one, not two, but four exclusive animated series based on popular Disney film franchises, two of which are princesses. I'm particularly excited to see Tiana join the ranks of Ariel, Rapunzel, and Jasmine with her own series after Disney paid so little attention to her over the years. When they announced that they were using her to refurbish an old ride, it felt like a slap in the face considering how many new things they could have done to continue her story. This series is exactly the type of special treatment the hard-working princess deserves, especially today, on the anniversary of The Princess and the Frog. I'm incredibly excited to return to the bayou and see how Tiana and Naveen will fare at running their new restaurant.

Moana, the other princess to receive her own series on Disney+, is full of potential for new stories now that her people are free to explore more islands. The ending of her movie felt like the beginning of a brand new story of adventures at sea uncovering new civilizations. There was even an episode of Tangled: The Series where Rapunzel discovered a magical remote island. Maybe Moana will have a crossover episode where she finds the same one. Who knows? It's going to be a while before we can stream either of these passionate princesses, though. Tiana is set for release in late 2022, while Moana has to wait until 2023 to sail the sea again.

Disney also made a ton of new movie announcements, though the word "new" is relative. The entire cast of the live-action remake of Disney's The Little Mermaid had been announced in bits and pieces over the last year. Now we have a complete cast list and logo for the film. After a brief hiatus due to covid, Halle Bailey is back to work with her portrayal of everyone's favorite redheaded little mermaid. Another not-so-new announcement is that Disenchanted, the sequel to Disney's 2007 hit, Enchanted, is still under production. After so many years of silence, it wouldn't have been a stretch to assume the project had been canceled. I bet even the production company was having their doubts before Disney launched their streaming service. Sequels rarely get a theatrical budget. Now we know that this movie is still happening, and that Amy Adams will reprise her role as the lovable and occasionally neurotic Giselle. Like Godmothered, Disenchanted will be streaming exclusively on Disney+.

As for the animated theatrical release that Disney was planning for the spring of 2021, Raya and the Last Dragon will be pulling a Mulan with a limited release in theaters and an additional fee to stream it early on Disney+. This is understandable considering how few theaters are open and how much work clearly went into this beautiful film. For the price of two adult theater tickets, you will be able to stream Raya's adventure into your home on March 5, 2021. If that's not something that interests you, you can wait three months and stream it with a regular subscription. Additional details about the movie were released as well, such as a "street-savvy entrepreneur" named Boun, a "formidable giant" named Tong, a "thieving toddler" named Noi, and our first look at the cursed dragon, Sisu. She looks different than I would have pictured her with her fuzzy blue mane and unicorn-style horn. This movie is shaping up to be a unique experience.

Some less princessy updates include a number of new live-action remakes that will stream exclusively on Disney+ including Pinocchio and Peter Pan and Wendy. This version of Pinocchio will be in addition to the one Guillermo del Toro is working on separately with Netflix. Remember that year when three different versions of "Snow White" came out? It'll be kind of like that. Also in the works is a Maleficent-inspired version of 101 Dalmations called Cruella, where we will see the story from the perspective of the greedy fashionista. Lin-Manuel Miranda has been overwhelmed with Disney projects ever since he composed the music for Moana. In addition to the new songs he penned for the remake of The Little Mermaid, he wrote new music for Disney's original animated movie, Encanto, an enchanting magical adventure in Colombia, which is set for release next fall. If you don't want to wait that long for a new animated Disney movie, don't forget that Pixar's Soul is premiering on Disney+ this Christmas, free of charge as Disney's gift to their loyal subscribers.

That about covers Disney's release schedule for the next three years or so. I'm particularly excited about Raya because it's the first original female-driven animated feature that I've seen from them in a long time. Of all of these announcements, Tiana's series is the one that excites me the most. I relate so much to her character and am excited to finally see Disney do something new with her. Which of these announcements are you the most excited about? Maybe it's something I didn't even mention. There were so many! Let me know in the comments below!

Netflix, Are You Kidding Me Right Now with This Winx Reboot?

It's official. Hollywood is dead. If the Mulan remake wasn't bad enough, even our non-Disney childhood favorites are being turned into gritty soulless live-action shadows of their former selves. Remember when things like this used to be a joke? Those days are over. Now we have hyper-realistic Riverdale spinoffs that aren't actually realistic because they feature teenagers with superpowers. They are just realistic enough that all of the whimsical fantasy elements that we loved as kids are now gone, but not so realistic that they are beyond things like vampires, werewolves, or seances. What sort of world are we living in when a show about faery princesses does not even portray its fairies with wings? I suppose you can argue that maybe they didn't want to reveal the wings in the trailer, but isn't that the entire point of Winx Club? See for yourself. Does this look the Winx you remember?

So yeah, this is Fate: The Winx Saga, which is coming to Netflix on January 22, 2021. It's about as similar to Winx Club as Chilling Adventures of Sabrina was to Sabrina the Teenage Witch. At least this trailer gave me a good laugh. They took all the angsty teen supernatural tropes and slapped a Winx label onto it, thinking that no one would notice that it looks nothing like Winx. Some sources claim that this adaptation is intended for those who grew up watching the cartoon. I don't know about you, but I can't imagine anyone who enjoyed the Winx Club cartoon enjoying this trailer. In fact, I can hardly imagine anyone enjoying it at all. Not only did they rip apart all of the fairy tale princess elements that made Winx Club what it was, but they didn't even keep the same characters! Flora and Tecna, two of my favorite Winx fairies, have been replaced by a new character named Terra. None of the actors look anything like how I would have pictured these characters in real life. They got the hair colors right, but they all have the same deadpan expressions as any other generic CW show (even though this is made for Netflix).

Is there anything about this trailer that resembles the original Winx? Yes, but not a lot. It looks like they will be keeping Bloom's backstory. In the cartoon, she is adopted after her parents found her as a baby in the middle of a catastrophe and grew up wondering where she really came from. After being haunted by stunning visions of her birth sister, Daphne, she eventually discovers that she is a princess from the lost planet of Domino. In this trailer, she states that she deserves to know what she is, which was exactly why she attended Alfea College for Fairies in the original show. However, the cartoon portrayed the girls using their powers after they transformed into glittery winged fairies, and this shows them doing basic CGI magic tricks like conjuring fireballs between their fingers while looking anything but sparkly. I was expecting some bad CGI to come out of a live-action remake, but not this lazy witchcraft coven garbage.

I know that some people will read this and say that if I don't like it, I don't have to watch it, but the problem isn't the fact that it exists. It's the fact that this is considered normal by today's standards. Disney, Netflix, and the mainstream media obviously think that this is what people want to see, or they wouldn't keep dishing it out. We may never see a comeback of the magical carefree worlds of our childhood because they are all being dampened into dark, gritty reimaginings featuring angsty teens. Speaking of which, did anyone else find the shot of Bloom and Prince Sky from the trailer kind of creepy? I liked their relationship in the show because Sky was worried Bloom wouldn't be interested in him if she knew he was a prince, so he kept it a secret and needed to make it up to her later when she learned that he was lying. Here we see them staring each other down in confusion like they're both aliens. Then again, one of them actually is, but she isn't supposed to know that yet. I think they were going for sexual tension, but I didn't get that impression at all.

I can't even with the mainstream media right now. Three great animated princess shows ended in 2020, and this is what they're following up with for 2021. Granted, all three of those shows were spinoffs or reboots, but they were still way more magical and princessy than this looks. I heard that there would be a live-action Winx reboot some time ago, and I spent the subsequent year blissfully ignoring any news about it because I knew that no matter what they did with it, it would turn out awful. However, I was hoping for something charming with hilariously bad CGI like Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, not Chilling Adventures of Bloom. Stick a fork in me because I'm done!

Review: Dress Up! Time Princess - Helen of Sparta Visual Novel

When the developers for the Dress up! Time Princess app asked fans what type of story they would like to see next in the game, an overwhelming majority of people requested Greek mythology. Many were expecting a classic myth such as Hades and Persephone. The developers of this game are always full of surprises and like to incorporate some history into their visual novels or retell an old story in a new way. Therefore, it wasn't too much of a surprise when the latest visual novel turned out to be Helen of Sparta, a fantastical reimagining of the Greek legend about the most beautiful woman in the world who acted as a catalyst for the Trojan War. Don't worry, though. There isn't any war or bloodshed in this visual novel. In fact, there isn't a whole lot of anything aside from breathtakingly beautiful costumes.

Before I started playing Helen of Sparta, I wasn't very familiar with the legend of Helen of Troy except that her beauty caused a bunch of thirsty men to kill each other. Now that I've completed it, I still don't know much more else. This visual novel is the most bare bones story the game has released thus far, to many players' disappointment. The biggest blow for me was when I unlocked all three possible endings only to realize that the game has no "good" ending. I won't spoil it, but that two endings result in failure, and the third results in a cliffhanger that says "Come back at a future time." Every other story in this game has multiple "good" endings depending which route you take, so it was more than a little disheartening to place so much time and effort into getting a perfect score in every level only to learn that there would be no reward. Well, that's not entirely true. The story rewards you with some of the most beautiful gowns and accessories in the app so far. Fantastical hair colors, iridescent fabrics, flowers and butterflies galore await your transformation into this legendary beauty.

The novel's story revolves around a prophet named Cassandra, who predicts that Helen's beauty will become the catalyst for a great catastrophe that will take many lives. Helen spends the rest of the game trying to prevent this catastrophe with her two love interests, Apollo and Achilles. The methods they use to try to prevent the prophecy are vague and confusing. It seems like the writers just wanted an excuse to have Helen travel to various places where she could encounter Greek gods. This also makes the dress up aspect of the novel a bit awkward. Unlike Swan Lake, which portrays the princess returning to the castle to change every night, Helen's companions suggest that she change \clothes while they're out in the middle of the woods traveling to a temple or just arrived in the Underworld and want to fit in with the setting. Why Helen would have a change of clothes in the Underworld or the middle of the woods is beyond me, nor why it is necessary for her to change so many times in a single day. The only scene that I think it was necessary is when she does a dance in Aphrodite's temple because she needs to wear a special costume for her performance.

The story isn't the only thing that falls flat in Helen of Sparta. The love interests, usually one of the most appealing aspects of visual novels, lack any depth. They are both taken at face value from their opening lines onward. Achilles is Helen's bodyguard and doesn't care about anything but protecting Helen, even if it means beating up someone who is mildly irritating her. Apollo is a big flirt, but I'll take his godly sweet-talking over Achilles' anger issues any day. All of the other visual novels in this game give you happy endings with a specific love interest based on how many times you choose that person in the story. Helen of Sparta is different. There are no happy endings, so choosing Apollo or Achilles at various times will open up new levels that immediately loop back to the main story. That means you must go back and choose both of them every time just to unlock the main story path, which is a pain in the neck when you realize there's no reward for being faithful to one or the other. Each love interest has his own "bad" ending, but you don't have to consistently choose the same person to unlock it.

I got through more than half of Helen of Sparta in a single day, but it took over two weeks before I could unlock the required pieces for the final levels. The visual novels in this game have a steep learning curve that becomes more apparent when a story is only one chapter long. I wish I had known that there were no happy endings so I wouldn't have been as disappointed with all the work I put in to unlock the final level. The clothing in this story is so beautiful that crafting all of it presents a reward in itself. If you are a first-time player, you should definitely play the other stories before this one. The difficulty level at the end of the game is much higher than the other visual novels in the Dress up! Time Princess app. You should also keep in mind that none of the decisions you make in this story will have any consequences because all three endings are bad. It looks like the developers are planning to release a follow-up story at a future time, which will hopefully tie up at least some of the many loose ends that this one left behind.

Review: Godmothered

Last Friday, Disney released a wealth of princess movies on Disney+. One of them was an original film created exclusively for the streaming service. This movie went under the working title of Frills for a little while, but switched back to its original title, Godmothered, later in the year. Many princess fans were hoping Godmothered would be a prequel to "Cinderella" that would chronicle the life and times of the beloved yet mysterious Fairy Godmother character. Instead, it was close to the Kristin Chenoweth series that ABC promised a few years ago and never delivered. Like the trailer suggests, Godmothered has the look and feel of a poor man's version of Enchanted, Disney's 2007 live-action and animated hybrid about a woman from the fairy tale world trying to navigate the pitfalls and cynicism of reality. Fans of the animated sequences in Enchanted will be rewarded for sitting through the entirety of Godmothered with a stylistic treat just before the credits roll.

There isn't much I can say about Godmothered that wasn't already given away in the trailer. The movie tells the story of Eleanor, a naive fairy godmother in training from the "Motherland," who is eager to receive her first job. When she learns that the fairy godmother school is getting shut down due to a lack of interest and that all of her fellow trainees are being converted to tooth fairies, she takes matters into her own hands to find the only letter left remaining in the archive. She travels to our world in search of the little girl who wrote the letter, Mackenzie, only to find that she is already grown up and widowed. Like Giselle, Eleanor spends the rest of the movie trying to convince this jaded and broken family to believe in magic again and find their happily ever afters. While she does this, she unwittingly makes a complete fool out of herself by walking around Boston in an enormous pink ballgown. Where Giselle gradually shifts from a full-skirted wedding dress to a lovely blue curtain dress to a modern prom dress and becomes more "real" in the process, Eleanor does not have any physical or mental growth to adapt to her new environment throughout the course of the movie, resulting in some silly antics that are hard to swallow at times.

Godmothered is the second princess-inspired movie that Disney created exclusively for their streaming service. The first was Secret Society of Second-Born Royals, which was horrendously received by critics. If you did not enjoy that movie, then you will likely not enjoy this one. Though the plot is different, both movies share a similar level of quality in regards to the script and effects. It was particularly jarring to watch a pivotal scene in which Eleanor uses her magic to fly around the archive searching for Mackenzie's letter. The CGI of her attempts to levitate around the high shelves portrayed lousy physics, while the distance of the shots made it evident that the person bouncing from shelf to shelf was a CGI puppet and not the actress. The script had plot holes galore as well. The most obvious one was when Eleanor made a big deal out of needing to transform something into a coach so she could return to the Motherland even though she initially traveled through a portal and poofed herself away at the end with a flick of her wand. The movie also included some pandering about Disney's acquisition of Fox that added nothing to the story. As if it wasn't enough that they dropped the beloved Anastasia onto Disney+ the same day that Godmothered was released, an extended sequence portrays Eleanor watching The Sound of Music for the first time with Mackenzie's daughters and engaging in an extended singalong of "My Favorite Things." You know, just in case you forgot that Disney owns the rights to this movie now, and hey, it's also on Disney+, so you can watch it next!

If there is any part of Godmothered that redeems itself, it's the ending. This movie jumps through a lot of hoops before it ultimately reveals the same message that Disney taught with Frozen, which is that true love comes in many forms. I don't think the subplots about Mackenzie wanting to impress her heartless boss at the news station, having a crush on one of her co-workers, or Eleanor trying to save the godmother school were entirely necessary for the movie to reach this conclusion, but they needed to make it feature-length somehow. The "Cinderella" references peppered throughout the film come full circle in a clever and unexpected way during the final few sequences in which Eleanor learns the true meaning of being a fairy godmother. I wish the movie had spent more time building up this emotional climax instead of relying on one gag after another of "Look at that crazy lady in the pink ballgown walking around an urban setting!" It really wanted to sell the Enchanted angle, possibly because that movie still is not available on Disney+. The epilogue was also a lovely throwback to the ending of Enchanted. I'm not sure why the Motherland wasn't animated at the beginning of the movie, but everything probably hearkens back to the film's low streaming budget. Little did Disney that their theatrical princess release from this year would also wind up almost exclusively for streaming and that they would lose most of their profits.

For the most part, Godmothered is a movie that parents will leave on to entertain their kids for a couple of hours while they do other things. It has very little substance until the end and a noticeably low budget. It is technically a Christmas movie since it was made for a December release, but it is not particularly religious aside from a holiday concert at the end. If you have a burning desire to watch Enchanted and can't because it isn't on Disney+, this movie will satisfy just enough of your craving to make you want to see Enchanted more because it tackled this story so much better. However, if you are still willing to sit through all the ridiculous antics and weak attempts at humor in the middle of the film, you will be rewarded at the end.

Story Saturday: Ghost Princess

 "Ghost Princess"Princess Starlight loved ghost stories. She spent most of her childhood collecting artifacts that belonged to the kings and queens who came before her, in the hopes that she could meet their ghosts. They came to her a few times in her dreams, but she was never certain whether it was real or just a dream. Her parents grew concerned about her strange behavior and worried that she might never find a prince to marry because of her obsession with death.
Meanwhile, in a faraway kingdom, Prince Edward was crowned king after his father passed away from an incurable disease. His older sister, Princess Leah, passed away shortly afterward due to the strange illness, even though she seemed to be in perfect health. Shortly after his coronation, Edward sent word far and wide that he was seeking a princess to marry and secure his place on the throne. Princess Starlight had little interest in marrying a prince, so she ignored her parents when they encouraged her to attend Edward's balls.
Everything changed, however, when the rumors began to spread. Every single princess that Edward chose to become his bride broke off her engagement before the wedding day and fled back to her kingdom claiming that his castle was haunted. Stories filled the land about strange noises, threatening messages that would appear in the middle of the night, and other odd occurrences until Edward had trouble finding any princesses to visit him at all. Starlight's parents decided that perhaps it was for the best that she refused to consider an engagement, but the gothic princess had a different idea. When word reached her about the haunted castle, Starlight set off on the next ship to Edward's kingdom, sending word that she would like to become his bride.

Princess Starlight was greeted with all the fanfare that a princess might expect, but she barely noticed the colorful banners or trump quarter as she walked the halls of the ancient castle, surrounded by demonic statues and creaking stairwells. The servants had prepared a luxurious room with a pink canopy bed and wide windows, but the princess insisted on staying in the room of the late Princess Leah. King Edward was noticeably uncomfortable with her decision, but it seemed like no other princess was willing to marry him, so he was forced to comply.
Princess Starlight barely slept that night. The silk sheets prepared for her were perfectly comfortable, but she couldn't stop fidgeting in the hopes that she might discover the ghost of the late king or princess. She searched every corner of the room for signs of the supernatural and found only the usual things you would expect in a princess's room--fine gowns, embroidery floss, and some boring books about royal policy. There some faint banging and creaking behind the walls, but she assumed it was just the servants preparing food and festivities for the next day. Eventually, she gave up and fell asleep on the soft bed.
In the morning, Starlight noticed an embroidery hoop tossed upside-down in the corner of the room that she was certain hadn't been there the night before. Excited, she raced over and flipped it around to see what sort of secret message had been left for her. An old piece of cotton was embroidered with dainty stitches that looked like they could have only been the handiwork of another princess. In the middle of a complicated floral design, the words "You don't belong here" were scrawled in delicate cursive.
Princess Starlight searched the room for any sort of hole in the wall that the hoop could have fit through. She knocked on the wall and noticed that it was hollow even though there was no other room next to hers. Finally, she found a narrow slot that was encased in shadows behind the bookcase. It was just the right size for the embroidery hoop. She peered inside but saw only darkness.
"Hello?" she called into the dark void.
"Sorry we were running behind this morning, Princess. It's been a while since we've had any guests. What are you doing back there?"
The disembodied voice frightened and excited Starlight at the same time until she realized it was coming from the doorway to her chamber. A maid had let herself into the room to prepare Starlight for her day with King Edward. Starlight sighed and prepared for a boring day of horseback riding, dining, and idle conversation with the repulsive young king. She went back to her room to retire as early as she could and got to work on solving the mystery of the castle ghost.
Using the embroidery floss she found in Princess Leah's room, Starlight tore off a piece of an old dress and placed it in the embroidery hoop. Her stitches were not as neat as the ones in the message, but she had to work quickly if she planned to finish before morning.
"Who are you? Why don't I belong here? Is there a way we can meet?" she stitched. She pushed the needlework through the slot behind the bookcase along with the rest of the old dress in case the ghost needed more fabric. Before she went to sleep, Starlight scrawled a note to the maid saying that she wished to sleep in the next day and did not want to be disturbed. Hopefully, that would give her enough time to find the source of the message without being interrupted again.
The next morning, Princess Starlight discovered a much longer message sewn in stitches that were so tiny that she had to squint to read them.
"You were the first one to find my hiding place. Clever," it said. "If you haven't been frightened away like the others, you might find me if you dare to study the history of the castle."
Starlight was pleased with herself. She had passed the ghost's first test. What could it have meant by the history of the castle? Should she ask Edward? No, that was too risky. If she revealed that she was awake, she would be whisked off to another day of mindless activities and lose time in her investigation. She took another look at the late princess's bookshelf. Royal Etiquette, Foreign Policy, Palace Architecture. Bingo. She removed the last book and noticed a tiny latch hidden behind it. When she pulled the latch, she heard a clicking sound. Part of the wall opened with such a narrow crack that she could only see it if she stood directly in front of it. She had checked for secret passages the first night, but this door blended perfectly with the rest of the room. Hiding the latch behind a book about the castle's architecture was a cheeky ploy. She pulled open the secret door. On the other side was a dark passageway.
"Hello?" she called.
She was met with a faint groan that came from the bottom of a staircase. Starlight felt her way down the stairs until she saw a figure lit by a tiny speck of sunlight that spilled in through a loose brick in the wall. "Are you a ghost?" she whispered.
"I might as well be," rasped a weak voice. "I've been trapped here for so long. Everyone thinks I'm dead."
As Starlight's eyes adjusted to the light, the shape of a beautiful maiden with golden hair in a baggy silver gown grew clearer. Actually, the gown looked like it was a regular size for a petite maiden, but the woman in it was so drained of color and mass that she barely had an ounce of life left within her.
"You're the one who's been scaring away the other princesses, aren't you?" Starlight gasped.
"They can't be queen. It was supposed to be me. It isn't fair," the maiden's parched voice cracked.
"Are you Princess Leah?"
She nodded sadly.
"Why haven't you told anyone?"
"My father's dying words were that I would succeed him because I was the eldest. Edward locked me down here and said that if I ever tried to escape, he would have me killed on sight."
"That's terrible! Come back with me. You need to eat something."
"No. I can't let anyone see me."
"Don't worry," Starlight said, wrapping Leah's arm around her shoulders. "I have a plan."
Starlight returned Princess Leah to her own bed and quietly emerged from the room. She found the handmaiden from the previous day and told her that she had decided to marry Prince Edward the following evening. However, there were a few conditions. She insisted that she must not see him before the wedding because it would be bad luck and that all of her food must be left outside her door while she prepared herself for the big day. The maid thought this was an odd request, but Starlight could very well be the last chance Edward had for finding a bride, so she agreed. Ample food and drink were left at the door soon after, and Starlight brought it inside and gave all of it to Leah. Life returned to the ghost princess's cheeks. The two princesses spent the rest of the day planning their scheme for the wedding.
King Edward gathered as many guests as he could on such short notice. The castle was decorated with all of the garlands, streamers, and tapestries that had been prepared for his earlier engagements. Princess Starlight walked down the aisle in a glittering ebony gown that matched her hair. A priest stood before her and read her vows.
"Do you take King Edward to be your lawful husband to have and to hold till death do you part?"
"Death has not parted the kingdom from its true ruler," said the princess.
Several people gasped. She nodded toward the grand door in the back of the room. Princess Leah entered, her face as pale as her flowing white dress. One lady in the crowd fainted.
"Ghost!" someone shouted.
"What is the meaning of this?" demanded King Edward.
"I know everything," said Starlight. "You were willing to make me your queen instead of the one who truly deserves it."
And with that, she snatched the crown off Edward's head and placed it upon Princess Leah's.
"God save the queen!" shouted Starlight, raising Leah's arm into the air. Everyone cheered.
"My brother has committed an unforgivable crime," said Princess Leah. "He will be granted the same mercy that he gave to me."
After that day, King Edward was never seen again, and Queen Leah ruled with dignity and grace. Princess Starlight returned home ready to begin a new chapter in her life. She had enough with death and was ready to begin living.

Review: Tsioque

Tsioque (pronounced "chalk") was an unexpected treat buried within a video game bundle on Steam. It's a point-and-click adventure game where you play as a (very) young princess trying to liberate her castle after she is imprisoned by a powerful shadow lord. The game is created entirely with hand-drawn animation. It opens with a lovely storybook narration about how Tsioque's mother, the brave queen, left the kingdom to fight a phoenix, leaving Tsioque vulnerable to the shadow lord. The gameplay begins after she is captured and placed inside a prison cell in the dungeon. Once she figures out how to escape, has free rein to explore the mysterious and often dangerous areas of the castle. Each room is full of fun and surprises just waiting to be discovered.

Despite its child protagonist, Tsioque is not what I would consider an easy game. If you enter the wrong place at the wrong time or react too slowly, you can easily get caught by one of the many villainous castle guards. What's nice about this game is that the "Game Over" screen instantly takes you back to wherever you just were, so you don't have to repeat the same actions or scenes over again like many other video games require. There were a couple of times that I needed to seek help on where to go or what to do next because it wasn't always obvious. Though it got tedious to wander back and forth between all the rooms wondering which one I was supposed to do something in, the clever fairy tale-inspired touches kept me interested in continuing toward my goal. There are references to "Sleeping Beauty" scattered throughout the castle, including an enchanted spinning wheel, a fairy godmother who resembles Flora, and villainous underlings who appear to be similar to Maleficent's goons.

The game's story seems a bit contrived at first, but there's a reason for that. While the goons are always out to kill Tsioque, the demon lord himself only shows up to complain when there's too much noise in the castle. After several instances of this, you begin to wonder why he never tries to kill the princess when she's standing right there. What is his motivation in wanting to capture Tsioque? What is her ultimate goal? Without giving too much away, the ending is similar to that of The Lego Movie. It adds a surprising level of depth to the game once you realize that it's all a metaphor. If you haven't seen The Lego Movie and don't know what I'm talking about, you should watch it because it's a great movie. I also loved the story within the story of the brave queen going off to fight the wicked phoenix and how much Princess Tsioque admires her, which might explain her own fearless tendencies.

Princess Tsioque may be brave, but the game never lets you forget that she's still a little girl. There are some adorable animations of her attempting to lift lances or swords that are twice her size and toppling onto her face. It reminds me of another favorite princess game of mine, Child of Light, in which Princess Aurora struggles to keep her oversized crown balanced on her head while she fights. Tsioque is a clever risk-taker, but not a fighter. It is never in question whether she can take on the large guards that stalk her castle at night, so getting caught always means certain death. She must instead defeat them through stealth and cunning, which makes it all the more frustrating when her darn invisibility cloak keeps blowing away! There are also some scenes that could have only come from the mind of a little girl, such as a bizarre tea party between a unicorn, a princess, and a troll.

This game took roughly six hours for me to complete and was quite a bit longer than I was expecting for a fairy tale point-and-click adventure. It got frustrating at times, it was an enjoyable experience overall. I loved watching the brave little princess outsmart her way past the powerful guards and discover the secrets of the irritable shadow lord. The hidden mysteries and fairy tale references made it an especially pleasant experience with many things that reminded me of my childhood. I recommend this game for anyone who still remembers what it was like to be a little girl who fantasized about being a princess.

Review: The Spanish Princess/White Queen Trilogy

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 famous for being a sexist pig that killed wives who didn't give him male heirs. That made me curious about Queen Catherine's future. Unfortunately, the series ended before introducing Henry's relationship with Anne Boleyn, who played a significant role in Catherine's downfall.

Of the three miniseries, my favorite was The White Queen, because it started out so innocent compared to the other two. It is about Elizabeth Woodville, a noble lady from the House of Lancaster who appealed to King Edward IV of the enemy House of York to recover her late husband's property. Instead of merely giving back her land, Edward decided to marry her and make her his queen even though they came from two households that stood against each other due to the Wars of the Roses. The "White" part of The White Queen part stems from the House of Lancaster's symbol being a white rose, while the House of York is represented by a red rose. This is the closest that the trilogy gets to a classic "Cinderella" love story in which a woman of lower rank rises to power because of a royal's love for her. However, there is no fairy tale ending for Queen Elizabeth. The rest of the miniseries spirals into a Game of Thrones-style race for power that forces Elizabeth to take drastic means to protect her children's claim to the throne. The White Princess premiered four years later in 2017 and picks up with Elizabeth's daughter, also named Elizabeth, who reluctantly marries into the throne and schemes to keep the royal bloodline in her family.

The Spanish Princess premiered in 2019 and takes place 15 years after The White Princess took the throne when Princess Catherine of Aragon is summoned to England to marry Arthur, the son of Queen Elizabeth, who has noticeably aged. I found it amusing that the creators of the show did such a good job making Elizabeth and Henry VII look older, while Catherine and Henry VIII look exactly the same throughout both seasons of The Spanish Princess even though it spans over 20 years of their lives. A frumpy dress and updo do little to make Catherine appear to be a middle-aged queen, and the scruffy beard Henry grows at the end of the show looks laughable over his baby face. The Spanish Princess was the only one of the three miniseries to run for two seasons, spanning 16 episodes instead of the usual 10. The first season covers Catherine's short-lived marriage to Prince Arthur and her subsequent attempts to marry his brother, Henry, by convincing everyone that her marriage with Arthur was never consummated before his untimely demise. The second season, which concluded yesterday, covers her unhappy marriage to Henry as he slowly descends into madness over his obsession with having a male heir.

Catherine of Aragon is not a likable character, which made it difficult for me to enjoy this portion of the trilogy. She is introduced in the first episode of The Spanish Princess as a spoiled brat who expects everything to be handed to her on a silver platter. She becomes more sympathetic over time due to being cast aside after Prince Arthur's death and suffering a number of tragic miscarriages during her marriage to Henry. Her second marriage is built on love at first but degrades due to Henry's overwhelmingly sexist nature. The show is very dark with no humor and few to no pleasant moments for any of the characters. My favorite character, Lady Margaret Pole, suffered just as tragic of a downfall as everyone else in The Spanish Princess. I wouldn't recommend this show if you are looking for something uplifting. The numerous childbirth scenes are painful to watch, whether they end in miscarriages or not. The series ends on a hopeful note with Catherine placing her dreams for the future on her daughter, Mary, but anyone who studied history knows that the infamous Bloody Mary brings anything but hope for the future of the English monarchy.

Thus concludes a seven-year run of miniseries about the women behind the men in power that led up to the first sovereign queen. Personally, I found these miniseries more educational than enjoyable. The writers don't try to sugarcoat any aspect of medieval life and may have portrayed it as gloomier than it actually was. Surely people living in such extravagance must have had at least a few moments of happiness in their lives, right? I wouldn't recommend binge watching these series, as every episode is extremely heavy and usually involves some sort of death or trauma. If you are a fan of princesses and fairy tales, it serves as a nice reminder of why people from such a depressing era needed stories of magic and romance in their lives. It also reminds us to be grateful to live in a time where women are not seen as lesser beings, and having a daughter is no longer viewed as a curse from a higher power.

Review: Princess of Roses

When you love a book series as much as I love A.G. Marshall's Fairy Tale Adventures, you are bound to come upon a book that you don't love quite as much as the rest. The first three books in this series were just about perfect in terms of creative retellings, relatable characters, and playful references to other adaptations. I cannot recommend them enough. The latest Fairy Tale Adventures release is Princess of Roses, a retelling of the beloved classic "Beauty and the Beast." On its own, this book is a perfectly fine adaptation that expands upon the universe of the series and adds ample backstory to both main characters. However, after being spoiled by the overwhelmingly magical other books in this series, I found this one to be a tad bit lacking. It downplays much of the magic and mystery that I love about the original fairy tale by devoting an extensive section to the realistic and mundane elements of the main characters' lives before they were touched by magic.

Rosemary Mercer is the hard-working daughter of a merchant who must run the shop while her father is away to help her two sisters. Her fiancé, Tonio, runs another local shop, and their marriage is meant to unite their two businesses. If this story doesn't sound like the one you were expecting, that's because the "Beauty and the Beast" section of the book doesn't begin until the halfway point. The elements are all there--the daughter of a merchant with two superficial sisters, a self-absorbed prince, and a father who was sent away on a business deal promising to bring back gifts for his daughters--but as the longest book in the series, Princess of Roses spends an inordinate amount of time developing the characters' lives prior to the curse. Due to A.G. Marshall's skillful writing, the pacing never feels slow in spite of the length. In, the first half of the book, Rosemary's engagement gets broken off, and she unknowingly meets the prince prior to his transformation. These chapters help to build the world to a larger extent than most other adaptations do, but they do not feel entirely necessary to tell this story.

The thing that I missed the most from other "Beauty and the Beast" adaptations that I've read is the mysterious magical element of the castle where the "Beauty" character is held prisoner. Though some have criticized this beloved story in which a maiden falls in love with her captor, most versions portray her being treated well during her stay with fine gowns, grand feasts, and magical servants. In this version, Rosemary is the servant. She makes an agreement with Prince Darian to free her father from captivity in exchange for one year of service in the unfinished new castle that he commissioned. His regular staff has abandoned him due to his gruesome appearance. There are no magical secrets awaiting Rosemary amongst the towering staircases that she must traverse to haul water up to cook for the cursed prince. She has no clothes except for a tattered yellow ballgown that gets covered in sweat and filth from everyday wear and tear. By the time Darian inevitably realizes what he has done by working her to the bone to singlehandedly perform the duties of an entire palace staff, it is almost too late.

At this point, I feel like I'm being harder on this book than it deserves. The setting and descriptions are terrific. I loved the references to the first three books in the series, which were my favorites. Rosemary is a wonderful heroine who teaches Darian the value of hard work, similar to Tiana and Naveen from The Princess and the Frog. The climax is brilliantly executed and packed with all the magic that I wish I had seen throughout the rest of the book. It brings back some of my favorite elements from the first book, Princess of Shadows, by having Rosemary enter the mysterious and dangerous shadow realm to rescue Darian. As bothered as I was with the way Darian treats Rosemary as his servant, it is easy to understand his ignorance due to his upbringing and subsequent regret after he develops feelings toward her. The alternating viewpoints among the chapters give readers an opportunity to grasp the story from both perspectives.

Princess of Roses is a fine adaptation of "Beauty and the Beast." It is just not my favorite entry in an otherwise brilliant series that expands upon some of the most underappreciated elements of classic fairy tales in a creative and original way. I enjoyed watching the romance develop between Rosemary and Darian, though I wish the first half of the book did not spend so much time on her relationship with Tonio when I knew they were never going to end up together. It was exhausting to read about Rosemary's trials and tribulations as the sole servant of an enormous castle in a sweaty old dress. If you are new to this series, I would not recommend starting with this book. There were so many wonderful references to the first three books that can only be truly appreciated by reading them first. I guarantee you will not regret it if you do.

Let's Give Thanks for These Princess Movies on Disney+ Next Month!

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 . Though it isn't quite the Cinderella prequel I was hoping for, there are things I enjoyed about the Godmothered trailer. The godmother character is lovely and optimistic. I like that she is plus-sized, something that princess fans have wanted to see from Disney for a while now. I also like the theme of bringing magic and hope into our cynical reality, especially during these challenging times. It is jarring to have a fairy godmother character who is so naive about the world that she isn't familiar with basic lifestyles or technology. This innocence makes more sense for Giselle in Enchanted because she is an isolated young maiden. Fairy Godmothers are supposed to be wise sages who guide their mentees through their years of experience, as demonstrated by the fairy godmother school that our heroine attends at the beginning of the trailer. It looks like this film is doing a reversal of the common trope by making the "princess" character a worldly cynic who teaches her guardian some life lessons.
If Godmothered isn't your cup of tea, there are plenty of other princess options coming to Disney+ next month, many on the same day. Those of you who didn't purchase Premier Access for the remake of Mulan will be pleased to know that it will become available to all Disney+ subscribers next Friday for no additional fee. Anastasia, everyone's favorite Don Bluth princess turned Disney Princess, will also finally be able to join her fellow animated royals on the streaming service as well, a welcome addition now that Thumbelina  has been removed. Two of the lesser-known live-action Disney Princess movies, Into the Woods and The Nutcracker and the Four Realms will be arriving on Disney+ later next month. I'm a little surprised The Nutcracker wasn't there already, but I can't say I missed it since it was my least favorite interpretation of the story. I recommend seeking out the Barbie version for a true holiday classic. Finally, Pixar is giving us a present this Christmas by releasing their next theatrical movie, Soul , on Disney+ for no additional fee.
With so much unpredictability surrounding 2020, it's nice to have something to rely on. Disney+ was off to a rocky start last year. It looks like they are finally getting their act together. With three new movies and some older favorites, they are giving princess fans plenty to be thankful for this holiday season. As for me, I'm thankful to all of you who take time out of your day to read my blog. Which of these movies are you looking forward to the most? Let me know in the comments. Stay safe out there and have a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

Review: Rebel Rose

Rebel Rose is the first book in a new series of official fanfiction called The Queen's Council, which is about the Disney Princesses growing into queens of historically accurate kingdoms that incorporate their fictional movies as a jumping-off point. I generally avoid fanfiction, official or otherwise, but the concept behind this series sounded intriguing. After all, I recently completed a visual novel about Marie Antoinette, so it seemed like a logical next step to read about Belle experiencing the French Revolution as well. I found many similarities between the two stories. Both are about powerful women who are concerned about the wellbeing of their people and the way they are perceived. The Marie Antoinette visual novel in Dress Up! Time Princess is a bit more educational because it doesn't try to blend a magical fairy tale into the darkly realistic setting. Still, I thought Rebel Rose was pretty good overall for what it was trying to do.

Before I go any further, I want to emphasize that this is not a children's book. I know that sounds odd to say about an official Disney Princess novel, but Emma Theriault clearly wrote the book with adults in mind--specifically adults who saw the Disney movie as children when it was released almost 30 years ago. The book does not contain any smut, but it has several scenes of Belle and Lio (Beast) in bed together as Belle tries to soothe Lio's PTSD from his time as the Beast as well as some gruesome imagery of the French Revolution, including a beheading. Keep this in mind if you were thinking about purchasing the book for a daughter or niece. It also requires at least a basic understanding of the French language and history. I studied French for seven years and still had trouble with certain historical terms that are never explained to the reader. The youngest age I would recommend for this book is around 16, but even a high school student might struggle with all the French and political jargon.

Mixing fairy tales with history is a little like trying to mix oil and water. When I started reading the detailed descriptions of Belle living in late 18th century France, I couldn't help but picture a cartoon character walking around in the real world like something out of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? The more I read, though, the more Emma Theriault blended the key characters and locations from Beauty and the Beast into the setting until it all came together as one seamless entity. The story revolves around Belle rejecting all of the pomp and circumstance of the French court, something that was never established in the original film. It opens with Belle and the newly transformed Prince Lio traveling to Versailles to discuss their principality's standing with King Louis XVI and Lio's cousin, Bastien. Bastien plays a significant role after he returns to the castle with Belle and Lio. He elects to secede their principality from the French monarchy to avoid getting caught up in the revolution, which makes Lio the king.

Belle adamantly refuses the title of queen or even princess, which could be interpreted as either consistent or inconsistent with her personality, depending upon how you look at it. On the one hand, Belle is always the odd one out, and there's nothing odder than being married to a king without a title. She is also an intellectual with many clever ideas about how to run the kingdom and gain the trust of the people, which seems contradictory to her rejection of power. Even though she doesn't want to be queen, she spends the majority of the book fighting to have more say in Lio's advisory council and trying to reform the laws of Aveyon. The easiest way to do this would be to accept her title, but I suppose the author wanted her to have more of a character arc. I know everything I've described so far sounds nothing like Beauty and the Beast, but the book cleverly weaves threads of the Disney film into the fabric of the story by the time it reaches its thrilling conclusion that kept me on the edge of my seat.

Rebel Rose is a book that I don't think could have existed ten years ago or even five years ago. Its mature themes combined with a childhood favorite for many provide an educational dose of nostalgia for Millennial women that is on trend with the modern era. It is an enjoyable book that never insults the intelligence of its audience. It is clear that Emma Theriault is a true historian and did plenty of research on the French Revolution. Though it takes place over two hundred years ago, it is a progressive story that contains not one, but two queer characters and deepens Belle's relationship with Lio by giving him symptoms of PTSD. If you grew up loving Disney's Beauty and the Beast as a child and want to experience the story through a darker and more realistic lens, this book is for you. However, I would not recommend purchasing it as a present for Disney-loving children or teenagers in your life.