Lisa Dawn's Blog: The Princess Blog, page 53

Review: Barbie Princess Adventure

Princess Barbie is back with a modern new makeover. Barbie Princess Adventure premiered on Netflix today, and it made me miss the old Barbie more than ever. This musical princess adventure played like an extended episode of the Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures series rather than a remake of the fantastic Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper movie from 2004. If anything, it was an animated version of Netflix's The Princess Switch from 2018 with songs inspired by Disney's 2006 High School Musical. It was more modern than Barbie's 2012 princess doppleganger remake, The Princess and the Popstar, speaking to a new generation of girls who grew up surrounded by technology and social media. I understand that I am far from the target age group for this movie, but I feel like movies set in modern times will inevitably feel dated over time, whereas those set in an era long past like The Princess and the Pauper come off as classic and timeless.

Barbie Princess Adventure begins when Barbie and her friends are selected by their school for a free trip to the kingdom of Floravia. It turns out that Flovaria's Princess Amelia pulled some strings to make sure they were chosen. When she saw Barbie's music video for the song "Try It On," she noticed that the famous vlogger bore a strong resemblance to her and decided to have a little fun. Right before hre trip, Barbie is contacted by a powerful social media rep who also saw her music video and wants to turn her into a viral online sensation to profit off her work. Social media is a big theme in this movie, probably to make it more relatable to modern-day girls. Princess Amelia feels that she doesn't know who she is because everything she does is planned in advance by her massive palace staff in order to maintain her public online image. This serves as a social commentary on celebrity worship and social media fame, but the movie never takes it to a deeper level. There isn't a part where we see the dark side of the media like we do in The Princess Diaries when Mia is tricked into getting photographed in a changing tent. Instead, it keeps things light, fluffy, and superficial.

This movie is a musical, but not the same kind as The Princess and the Pauper. Most of the songs have very little relevance to the plot. They are used more as an excuse for ensemble dance and dress-up montages than to move the story along. The most relevant song is when Princess Amelia sings "(Not) a Picture Perfect Girl," which is vaguely reminiscent of "Free" from The Princess and the Pauper with a modern pop feel to it. The songs in this took me out of the story more than anything else. The audio quality takes a drastic shift every time someone starts singing, and the voices sound heavily autotuned. It has a more modern feel than the Barbie movies of old but a lot less heart. Even the costumes the royal characters wear look uncharacteristically modern. Would a real princess really wear a tank top and skirt to her coronation ceremony, even in modern times? The only thing I liked about the costumes in the movie is that they ramped up the reflection effects on the textures, making the decorative glitter accents on everyone's t-shirts and skirts sparkle and shimmer brilliantly.

Even though this movie was barely over an hour long, I had trouble staying focused. The villain wasn't revealed until around the last quarter of the movie and got defeated within minutes. Before that, it was just a bunch of peppy teenagers jumping around and singing about what a good time they were having in Floravia. To be honest, I'm not even sure why Barbie's friends were there except as an excuse to make more dolls since they never did anything besides follow Barbie around and try to help her pretend to be Amelia. Ken spent the whole movie trying to tell Barbie about his crush on her (which we all know about) and getting interrupted, similar to Kristoff's role in Frozen 2. I think it would have been more interesting if Barbie brought her sisters with her instead of her friends because they have different ages and hobbies and would be more likely to find other things to do in Floravia besides tagging along with Barbie the whole time.

Overall, Barbie Princess Adventure is nothing more than a glorified episode of Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures created solely for the purpose of selling new dolls. I think we're going to have to come to terms with the fact that the Barbie movies as we once knew them ended with Barbie Dolphin Magic in 2017. I appreciate the attempt to criticize social media culture and how we can miss out on the world around us if we don't put our phones away. However, I don't think taking pictures of things we want to remember and sharing them with our friends is such a bad thing. If Amelia's reason for not wanting to be in the spotlight anymore was that she did something that was heavily criticized by the media, it would have made her character a lot more interesting and Barbie's by proxy for needing to cover it up. The fact that the first Barbie princess story in years was one that had already been done multiple times just goes to show that creativity in Hollywood is dead, even for a character who teaches us that we can be anything.

Review: The Rose and the Thorn

"Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale that princess fans never get tired of. Its gothic setting, intrigue, and romance are staples of any good princess story. The most famous novel adaptation is Beauty by Robin McKinley, but there are plenty of others that are just as good. I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a more recent retelling on Twitter called The Rose and the Thorn by Katherine Macdonald. This book shares some common threads with Enchantment by Camille Peters, another "Beauty and the Beast" adaptation I read recently, but unlike that version, it does not overlook the main theme of seeing beyond physical appearances. The "Beast" character in this book is cursed to appear to the world as a monster just like the one in the fairy tale and even picks up some of the violent tendencies of his beastly outer shell once a month, similar to werewolf mythology. However, the book has very little violence overall. Like most "Beauty and the Beast" adaptations, The Rose and the Thorn is a patient romance set in a mysterious enchanted castle.

The story begins when Rose finds herself lost in the woods one day while out with her family and accidentally stumbles into a portal that leads her to the Beast's castle. Once there, she learns that the portal won't open again for six months, leaving her stuck in a magic castle with a beastly stranger. Rose grows close with the Beast and gives him the nickname "Thorn." She learns that he has been trapped there for a long time and is afraid to leave for fear of how the outside world might perceive him. She also learns that several other young women spent time in the castle before her in the hopes that they would break his curse, but none of them could see past his monstrous appearance beyond mere pity. Rose also learns to see and communicate with the apparitions that haunt the castle who were once Thorn's servants. She grows particularly close with one of them named Ariel, who serves as a matchmaker of sorts for the budding couple. When the portal opens again, Rose is forced to choose between her love for her family and her love for Thorn.
One of the things that sets this adaptation apart from other versions of "Beauty and the Beast" is how close Rose is with her siblings. The Disney version presents her as an only child, while the famous Charles Perrault version gives her many two-dimensional siblings who love fine jewels and riches far more than they care about her. In this book, Rose has two sisters named Honour and Hope, who she is exceedingly close with. Her brother, Freedom, once had a troubled relationship with her, but she comes to learn that he loves her just as much as any brother possibly could after her mysterious disappearance. Her relationship with her father is not as strong in this book as it is in other versions. She does not sacrifice herself for his sake in this story, but it is clear that he did an excellent job raising kind-hearted children after their mother died. It is revealed later that Rose's arrival at Thorn's castle might have been more than just a coincidence because of a secret she discovers from her mother's past.

Romance is the most important aspect of any "Beauty and the Beast" retelling, and this book excels in that respect as well. During her time in the castle, Rose convinces Thorn to open up about himself little by little. She is extraordinarily patient with him and never judges his appearance or insecurities. After his experience with other girls who stayed in the castle, Thorn knows that Rose is special. He assumes she would be scared of him at first and is surprised when she isn't. They have many cute moments together, including several that resemble the Disney film. He grows so close with her that he worries he is being selfish by keeping her to himself, so he shows her his magic mirrors to let her see her family. During the book's thrilling climax, Thorn and Rose must prove their love to the powerful wicked fairy who placed the curse on him and his castle.

Overall, The Rose and the Thorn is a traditional retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" with some well-written new elements. I loved Rose's family and the backstory with the two fairies that caused the curse on Thorn and his castle. The book had a few minor typos throughout, but I didn't find them too distracting. Rose and Thorn were terrific archetypes for the "Beauty" and "Beast" characters. The less important characters in the story were fleshed out and full of personality as well. It was a relaxing and patient book that only picked up the pace when it was necessary. If you are a fan of alternate versions of "Beauty and the Beast," you will love this book.

Yes, We Will See These Princess Movies in September!

After much speculation and delay, three princess movies that once had uncertain futures are now officially coming to streaming services next month. Two will be on Disney+, and the third will stream on Netflix. We now have confirmed release dates for these movies with new trailers and previews released for all three within the last week to build up excitement for the next month. The traditional November of princess events and releases probably won't happen this year, so September is going to the final frontier of princess movies for 2020. With the current stigma against going outside, streaming services will become the primary medium for all our princess content, at least for a while.

Of the three princess movies coming out next month, none has suffered more with its release than the live-action remake of Mulan. Disney desperately wanted this to be a theatrical release, which is clear from the fact that they delayed it three times before ultimately deciding to make it an optional purchase for Disney+ subscribers. After months of uncertainty, the movie will release one week from today on Friday, September 4th for anyone willing to pay an additional $29.99 to add it to the content they currently have available to stream on Disney+. There has been some confusion as to whether this would be a rental or a permanent addition to their account. My understanding is that if you pay the one-time fee, you will be able to watch the movie as many times as you want as long as it remains on Disney+. For those who do not want to pay an additional fee, Mulan will be added to the streaming service for all of its subscribers sometime next year. The fee to watch it early is perfectly reasonable if you factor in how much the average family spends on a trip to the movie theater, considering that it was originally made for theaters and not streaming. To solidify its confirmed release, Disney has uploaded several new videos for it within the past week, including a behind-the-scenes featurette and a new music video of Christina Aguilera reprising her performance of "Reflections" from the original film.

The other princess release coming to Disney+ next month has only been delayed one time, but it was a confusing delay considering that it was made for streaming and not theaters like Mulan. Secret Society of Second-Born Royals was an exciting project for me because it features one of my favorite Disney Channel actresses, Andi Mack's
The third and final September princess movie comes out on September 1st, which is only days away. Barbie Princess Adventure was a big question mark on the calendars of princess fans until they finally began uploading music videos and promotional content a few weeks ago. Presenting itself as a modern-day remake of The Princess and the Pauper, Barbie Princess Adventure features a princess who is tired of the pressures of royal life and decides to switch places with Barbie, who looks exactly like her. From the previews, it looks like Princess Amelia invites Barbie to her home country after watching her famous vlog and discovering a clear resemblance between the two of them. Barbie is encouraged by her friends and family to accept the invite and bring them with her on a private jet to the fabled kingdom where Barbie will live out the life of a princess for a few days. When a rival prince kidnaps Princess Amelia right before her coronation, it's up to Barbie and her friends to rescue her in time. The new trailer contains footage for some songs we've already heard as well as a new one that features Ken. Unfortunately, I can't say I'm any more impressed with these new bubble gum pop song clips as I was with the ones I had already seen.

Now that Elena has been crowned queen, there are no more new episodes of princess shows to look forward to. The future of movie theaters is still uncertain, so we much watch all our favorite new releases from home now on streaming services. Disney's Mulan is an experimental project to see if they can at least come close to their theatrical budget by charging an additional fee for subscribers to watch the movie from home. Secret Society of Second-Born Royals is a Disney+ original that combines Disney's two biggest franchises of princesses and superheroes. Last but not least, Barbie Princess Adventure is the first Barbie musical we will see in years. It's too bad it's set in the world of the Dreamhouse Adventures series instead of creating a new fantasy kingdom like Barbie was prone to doing in the early 2000s. I hope these will not be the last new princess movies in the foreseeable future. The pandemic has taken a huge toll on the entertainment industry, so all we can do is wait and see.

Elena Is Crowned Queen of Avalor

It's been four years since Disney introduced us to their first Latina princess, Elena of Avalor. Today, her reign on Disney Channel ends as she takes her place on the throne as queen. Elena's show had a rocky start for me, but it hit its peak somewhere around the second season. Today's finale movie, Coronation Day, serves as an excellent reminder of all the things it did right. Elena of Avalor has an enormous revolving cast of diverse characters, which can make the show hard to follow for a casual observer. Everyone in the series showed up to celebrate Elena's coronation, reminding us how much work went into building this enormous extended universe of kingdoms that began with Sofia the First. In addition to its evergrowing familia, the show introduced lots of Aztec mythology that I was not familiar with and some fun new mythological creatures like the jaquins, Avalor's answer to Enchancia's flying horses. This is truly the end of an era as it marks the last animated princess show to conclude this year.

My favorite character in Elena of Avalor was Princess Marisa, the mermaid princess played by Jane the Virgin's

Coronation Day was a fitting finale for our new queen. It began with a song summarizing all of Elena's adventures so far and ended with a surprise appearance from the princess who first freed her from the Amulet of Avalor. The special followed in the footsteps of all the other princess shows that ended this year with an important message about the magic of forgiveness. Elena's conflict with her cousin Esteban was elevated in The Magic Within special and came to a close during the finale's climax. Just like She-Ra (who happens to share 

Today, the last current animated princess show has come to an end. It's a bittersweet feeling to know that I won't be able to look forward to new episodes of animated princess cartoons fo the foreseeable future. I am grateful for all of the ground-breaking accomplishments that Elena has achieved for princess culture. She shows us that a true leader trusts her peers to help her make decisions and to balance out her shortcomings. Though the series was less action-packed than the commercials and opening animation initially led me to believe, it established a rich world and mythology that had a lot of passion and heart behind it. I was pleased to see a Disney Princess show incorporate the Latina tradition of quinceaneras, something that I would have loved to be a part of. Ending a Disney Princess series with a coronation is a fantastic way to introduce the next generation of princess fans to female empowerment by letting them know that nothing is beyond their reach.

Find Me in Paris Has Its Last Dance

Only one month after my recent obsession with Find Me in Paris, the time-traveling ballerina princess drama dropped its third and final season on Hulu today. Though somewhat predictable, this season offered a satisfying conclusion to the show's unique concept that combined dance with science fiction and tied up all remaining loose ends from the previous seasons. We finally learned the truth about Lena's birth and why she's always being chased by anyone remotely interested in time travel. Nearly every character got paired off at the end, even if it meant some questionable decisions on behalf of the writers. The season also offered some of the most beautiful dance sequences in the show yet for its key story moments. While I could have done without the repetitive recap sequences, the final episodes made it clear that this was always meant to be the end and gave the cast and crew many happy memories to look back upon.

The final season of Find Me in Paris incorporated the "chosen one" trope that countless other science fiction and fantasy shows use during their final moments to show how powerful their protagonist has become. In addition to mastering her time travel powers and claiming her status as a Magical Girl Princess, Lena also took her love of ballet to a new level. The season kicked off with Lena and her classmates traveling to the South of France to audition to become professional ballerinas for the Company. There are some redundant plot devices from earlier seasons such as the school's director threatening to expel everyone again for practicing hip hop outside of class, but Armando comes to their rescue time and again. Each season of this show includes a dance recital in the 13th and 26th episodes, and this was no exception. I particularly liked the mid-season recital that retold the classic story of "The Nutcracker" with a new twist. The scenery that was used to transform the school into Clara's bedroom was breathtakingly beautiful as were the storybook props they incorporated into the set.

As much as I enjoy the compelling drama of Find Me in Paris, there is one issue that I have always taken with it. The show presents itself as a love story first and foremost, even if it means changing character pairings if they can't keep the same actors. That brings up issues of fidelity and cheapens the romance that certain characters share. The first two seasons formed a love triangle between Lena, the protagonist, Henri, her boyfriend from her life in 1905, and Max, her dance partner from the present day. In this season, Max was written out due to a disability storyline from earlier episodes, so her new dance partner was Nico, a double agent for the Time Bureau. When Max was in the picture, it was unclear whether Lena wanted to be with him or Henri, but this time, it was clear that Lena's first love was her end game. Lena came off as somewhat of a hypocrite when she got jealous of her rival hitting on Henri when she, herself, had not been entirely true to him when they were separated between time periods. Lena's best friend, Ines, switched between three love interests over the three seasons of the show. This season's romance for her forced a breakup between two of my favorite power couples from the previous one and was in serious violation of the "bro code." This was a source of frustration for me in the final season, but I understand why they wanted everyone to have a happy ending.

The time travel elements were downplayed in this season as most of it took place in the present day. I can only assume it was an alternate timeline since no one was wearing masks or social distancing. If it were a truly accurate interpretation, all of their auditions and beautiful recitals would have been canceled. The previous season ended with a tease that made it look like a large portion of this season would take place in the 1980s, but that was, unfortunately, more of a tease than anything else. Most of the time-travel drama revolved around the protagonists escaping from the Time Bureau agents, who posed a bigger threat than ever before. Even characters from 1905 like Claudine spent the majority of the season in the present day. There was also a new character named Romy, who got on my nerves most of the time. She was a young girl who forced her way into Armando's class and turned out to have a closer connection to Lena than anyone could have realized. Though it felt like she was tacked on at first, I understood the purpose she served later on when Lena learned the truth about her past.

Overall, Find Me in Paris has stayed pretty consistent over all three seasons with equal amounts of romance, action, and stunning displays of the performing arts. I've never seen a show quite like it, and I doubt I ever will again. I appreciate that the finale stayed true to the love story between Henri and Lena, but I did feel that the series lost some steam by the end and was forced to rely on some classic sci-fi tropes. That said, the costumes and performances in the final season were some of the best yet, which is more than enough to make it worth watching. I loved seeing Lena's transformation from a Russian princess to a modern-day teenager and how the show brought everything full circle. Though I would have liked a little more footage from 1905 in this season, there was a beautiful royal ball that took place around the midpoint and was extremely satisfying. If you enjoyed the earlier seasons of this show, you will probably continue to enjoy it right up to the end.

Review: Dreamer of Briarfell

Lucy Tempest's Fairy Tales of Folkshore series had a rocky start for me with the Thief of Cahraman trilogy. I'm glad I gave her books another chance because I loved her "Cinderella" retelling, Princess of Midnight. Now, she has a new book that combines "Sleeping Beauty" and "Robin Hood," which is one of the best "Sleeping Beauty" retellings I have ever read. Dreamer of Briarfell resolves the most common issues with developing "Sleeping Beauty" into a full-length novel while still remaining true to the roots of the fairy tale. The biggest obstacle an author has to face with adapting this story is finding a way for the princess to fall in love with the prince when she is asleep for the most important part of her adventure. I've seen some creative solutions to this issue, but none quite so clever as what Lucy Tempest did. This is by far my favorite book in the Fairy Tales of Folkshore series.

Dreamer of Briarfell tells the story of Princess Fairuza, Adelaide's rival in the original trilogy. Fairuza is Folkshore's version of Sleeping Beauty, cursed to die before the sun sets on her eighteenth birthday. A botched amendment to the spell from an attempt to save her resulted in her spirit separating from her body when the curse took effect. Fairuza awakens in a castle where her brother brought her unconscious body for safekeeping and realizes to her horror that no one can see or hear her. She is caught in a ghost-like state between life and death and helplessly floats through the halls until a handsome rogue shows up who can miraculously communicate with her. When she tells him about her plight, he agrees to help her and allows her to join him on his quest to the enchanted land of Faerie in her ghost-like form. Along the way, she is reunited with her two handmaidens, who she learns had a larger part in amending her curse than she initially realized. The only problem is that the rogue who is determined to save her is also quest of his own to rescue his beloved Maid Marian.

From the very beginning of the book, Fairuza and Robin see each other in ways that no one else can. She encounters him prior to her curse at a masked ball where he saves her from the threat of a werewolf. For a large portion of the story, he is forced to act as her interpreter because he is the only one who can communicate with her. Fairuza has little interest in the heroic stories of Robin Hood that had grown popular throughout the land, so she sees Robin as a person first and a hero second. Her quest to find a fairy king to proclaim his love for her and break her spell is heartbreaking when it is crystal clear from the beginning that Robin Hood is perfect for her. Fairuza believes that marrying a noble man is the only way to break her curse, and a thieving rogue seems to be the furthest thing possible, regardless how strongly she feels toward him. His loyalty to Marian poses an even bigger threat.

This book does a terrific job of expanding upon the mythology within the Fairy Tales of Folkshore series. It incorporates Greek mythology with the Underworld, which will be explored further in Folkshore's upcoming adaptation of "The Little Mermaid." It also makes references to the earlier books in the series by bringing back characters like Bonnie from Beast of Rosemead and Beauty of Rosemead and expands upon how everyone is related through various relatives in the land of Faerie. I love the dichotomy between the human world of Folkshore and the magical world of Faerie, where time moves differently and everyone is a magical being. The main characters from Folkshore always start out knowing little about magic and travel to Faerie and learn that they are much closer to the magic than they could have ever realized. In this case, Fairuza must learn to give up her prejudices against fairy people like her brother Leander did before her when she learns that many of the people she cares about are part of that race. It's a beautiful lesson on tolerance in a detailed fantasy setting.

I highly recommend Dreamer of Brairfell to anyone who enjoys fairy tales. It is a beautiful love story with excitement and adventure waiting on every page. I never wanted to put this book down. Turning Fairuza into a ghost was the perfect solution to the issue of Sleeping Beauty being asleep for the majority of her story. Incorporating the rich mythology of Robin Hood into her love interest was a clever twist that made his side of the story that much more intriguing. I loved the idea of Sleeping Beauty going on an adventure with her rescuers to offer advice to pass the trials they needed to do in order to save her. In a way, it gave her a chance to save herself, but she couldn't do it alone. For me, this was the perfect reimagining of a somewhat outdated fairy tale.

Goldilocks and the Three Books

The story of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" is not exactly a princess story, but it is one of the only popular fairy tales that rarely gets adapted in mainstream media. That's because it acts more as an isolated event in a young girl's life than as a complete story. A few of you told me in my last survey that you would be interested in adaptations of this fairy tale, so I scoured the Amazon Kindle store and found a total of three full-length novels inspired by the story. Then I went ahead and read them all. (The things I do for you guys... :-P) What was particularly interesting was that the dichotomy between the three novels followed the progression of Goldilocks's experience in the bears' cottage, so I thought it would fun to arrange my reviews in a way that follows the story. Ready? It's time to enter the cottage of the three books.

Someone's Been Sleeping in My Bed  by Linda Winstead Jones - This book is too hot.

This book is not bad by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I found it to be a creative take on the story. It takes place in Wild West America at the turn of the century and features a southern belle named Maddalyn who ends up trapped in a snowstorm after her coach gets robbed on her way to Wyoming to become a schoolteacher. She seeks food and refuge in the cottage of three brothers until she gets caught by one of them is invited to stay. Like most fairy tale adaptations, this book is part of a series containing five others, but it looks like most of the author's works are hardcore adult romances, which explains why the love story in this book felt so forced. Though it was the longest of the three I've read, the main character fell in love with one of the "bears" the fastest. The romance kicks off so quickly that the rest of the book is a tedious series of "Will they? Won't they?" close calls of Maddalyn and Eric wanting to be physically intimate with each other while his two brothers conscientiously work to keep them apart for their own protection. I liked it enough for what it was, but it seemed a little too steamy for my tastes. It would have been better if the romance was built up gradually instead of forced down my throat like a pot of hot stew.Golden by K.M. Robinson - This book is too cold. This book was my least favorite of the three. There seemed to be no heart behind the story whatsoever. It's a fairly traditional YA dystopian novel that has very little to do with "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" about a girl named Auluria who wakes up with amnesia in the cottage of the "Baer" family. She seems to have a torrid history with them, but can't remember most of it. The book is dialogue-heavy and provides little explanation for the complex backstory despite being the first in a trilogy. Auluria is in love with Dom Baer, but it turns out that she did something terrible to him before she lost her memory. She works for some kind of rebel society that is trying to take down the government or something. Actually, I'm not really sure what the goals were for the rebels or the group they were rebelling against. All I know is that her cousin has some sort of agenda with the Baers, and she was working for him until she decided she had a thing for Dom and switched sides. I didn't care about any of the characters or their questionable decisions, and the book ultimately left me feeling too cold to care what happened in the rest of the trilogy.Goldilocks and the Bear by Vivienne Savage - This book is just right. This is by far my favorite of the three. It is the third book in a series of fairy tale adaptations by this author and felt the most like a genuine fairy tale. Of the three books I read, this is the only one that contains magic and takes place in an era of princesses and kings. It was also the only one in which the cottage that the golden-haired heroine enters is inhabited by literal shape-shifting bears. Lady Victoria is a king's cousin who seeks adventure and wishes to avoid marrying into a boring life of royalty. She spends most of her formative years training to defend herself to support her desired lifestyle and gets more than she bargained for when she enters an empty cottage and falls asleep in the bed of Ramsay, a shifter from a Scottish clan. Though it does have some of the same spice as Someone's Been Sleeping in My Bed, the steamy romance takes more time to build up organically. The second half of the book incorporates the story of "Aladdin" as Victoria and Ramsay agree to help an old sorceress recover her true love from his prison within Aladdin's lamp. This book is short and sweet and contains everything you could want from a fairy tale retelling without ever dragging out the story.
Books are kind of like stew. You never know which one will be right for you until you taste it. In this case, I found myself in a cottage with three delicious-looking books, but only one of them turned out to be to my tastes. This experience taught me that it's difficult for me to take an interest in a story without magic or some sort of feasible romance. Regardless of my opinions, I was impressed to find that there are people out there who were able to turn such a simple isolated incident into a full-length novel. It just goes to show that we all have unlimited creative potential if we are willing to apply ourselves instead of running from our responsibilities and falling asleep in someone else's bed.

Story Saturday: The Princess and the Shadow

This story was inspired by a book of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales I received for my birthday. I thought "The Shadow" was a very interesting story with a disappointing ending, so I decided to rewrite it from the princess's perspective and a few minor alterations. The new ending is inspired by "The Goose Girl" by the Brothers Grimm since it acts as a sort of gender-bent version of this narrative.

"The Princess and the Shadow"Princess Rosebud felt uneasy about her upcoming wedding to Ian. He came into her life like a whirlwind and literally swept her off her feet with his exceptional dancing ability that seemed almost supernatural. The next thing she knew, her father was planning their wedding. She didn't dread the thought of being married to him, but there were things that made her second guess her rash decision. For one, he would never tell anyone where he came from. His full name, Iacolin, didn't seem to originate from any kingdom she was familiar with. He regaled her and her father with stories of exotic places like the pyramids of Egypt, the cathedrals of Paris, and the lush green hills of Ireland, but he never spoke of any place with a fondness that led her to believe he thought of it as home.
All of these things would have been minor complaints were it not for Nicolai, the man in the wheelchair who seemed to follow Ialocin everywhere he went. The two looked strikingly similar except that Nicolai's eyes were clearer with flecks of hazel and green, while Ian appeared to have no irises surrounding his dark pupils. He explained to Rosebud that Nicolai was once his shadow, but he tragically became separated from him on his travels due to his inability to use his legs. Rosebud wondered if there was such a thing as a shadow that couldn't use his master's legs, especially when Ian was such a skilled dancer. She also found it suspicious that every time Ian gave her a genuine compliment that made her want to be with him always, Nicolai would whisper something into his ear before he said it. The princess began to wonder if Ian was really the one who held such affections toward her. On the eve of their wedding, Ian came to his bride-to-be with grave news.

"I'm afraid my shadow has fully deluded himself into believing he's a real man. He must be taken care of as soon as possible, preferably before the wedding. You won't want to be distracted by anything on your big day."
"How awful," said Rosebud. "First he loses the use of his legs and is separated from his master, and now he has lost his mind? We should do everything in our power to help him."
"Yes," Ian agreed. "We must help him by putting him out of his misery."
The princess gasped. "You don't mean..."
"You have a gentle heart, my love, but such matters must be dealt with swiftly."
"I will give it some thought and speak to my father about it later tonight," said Rosebud.
Ian smiled as she left, thinking that his plan had worked perfectly. Instead of going straight to the king, the princess consulted her handmaiden at her final fitting for her wedding gown.
"I'm just not certain he's the one I should marry," she said. "His entire past is a blank slate, and now he intends to kill his own shadow. What sort of man would separate himself from his shadow?"
"It's only pre-wedding jitters," said Rosebud's handmaiden. "Everyone gets them. The day before the wedding can be the most nerve-racking."
"That may be," said Rosebud, "but I can't help but wonder if Nicolai truly is Ian's shadow."
"In that case, maybe you should speak to both of them separately. You won't want to be distracted by anything on your big day."
"Perhaps you're right," agreed the princess. "I will give them a small test to see which of them has more humanity."
First, the princess wheeled Nicolai into a room where they would be alone. She noticed that even though his wheelchair cast a shadow on stone floor, it ended before his torso and head rose above the seat. Perhaps there was some truth to Ian's claim after all. Nicolai was unable to bow due to his disability, but he nodded reverently to the fair princess.
"To what do I owe the honor of being graced with your loveliness?" he asked. "Tonight, on the eve of your wedding, your eyes shine brighter than all the constellations in the sky, yet there is a sadness in them that I wish I could remove."
Rosebud thought she had heard some of these words from Ian on one of the many times that Nicolai whispered into his ear, but perhaps she had only imagined it.
"It's true that I am feeling uneasy," said the princess. "You see, our neighboring kingdom to the east has threatened to go to war with us, and I'm not sure what to do."
Nicolai was not as well-traveled as Ian, but he made up for his lack of mobility with books. He was a well-learned man who knew just about everything there was to know about the ways of science and politics. Fortunately for Rosebud, he was very familiar with the ways of the kingdom she spoke of. He knew that they lacked the fine steel that her kingdom used for weapons and armor. If they did go to war, they would be wiped out, which may be good for Rosebud's father, but it would eliminate an entire race of people.
"I do not believe that the kingdom to the east truly wishes to go to war," said the learned man. "They are simply using the threat as leverage to gain better resources from your own kingdom. If you share some of your fine steel with them, I think you will find they will be most compliant."
The princess pondered upon this answer and decided that she was satisfied.
"There is one other matter that I would like your advice on," she said. "What sort of punishment would you give to a shadow who has been separated from his master and goes out into the world claiming to be a man?"
Nicolai knew why she was asking him this. Ever since his shadow had separated itself from his handicap body and traveled the world, it had claimed itself to be a man and was now marrying the very woman Nicolai had fallen in love with. He decided that this was enough of a punishment for him already.
"He deserves nothing better than to sit helplessly as his master marries the woman he loves," he said.
Rosebud was puzzled by this answer. Did Nicolai know that the question was about him? Did he love her? He was kind and intelligent and would make a fine king if he truly was a man. She thanked him for his time and wheeled him out of the room. Next, she invited Ialocin to speak with her. The confident man entered with pride, completely unaware that the answers he gave tonight had the potential to alter his fate, which he believed to already be set in stone.
"My dear princess, you look ecstatic to be marrying me on the morrow," he said, oblivious to the unease in her eyes that Nicolai had spotted instantly. "What is it you wish to ask of me before our wedding?"
"I do have one concern, and I'm afraid it may distract me too much to go through with our marriage tomorrow."
The confident man barely flinched. "I'm sure it's nothing we can't fix. Name your concern, and I will have it handled before morning."
"You see, our neighboring kingdom to the east has threatened to go to war with us, and I'm not sure what to do."
"That's easy," said Ian, with a bright smile but not even a glint of light in his eye. "I've traveled to that kingdom many times. The people there are weak. Let them go to war with us, and we will guarantee a surefire victory. Of course, there will be casualties on both sides, but that is something you must expect when it comes to these things. There's no need to worry because you will be safe and sound in the castle with me."
The princess didn't like this answer nearly as much. Only someone inhuman would show such a blatant disregard for other lives.
"There is one other matter that I would like your advisement on," she said. "What sort of punishment would you give to a shadow who has been separated from his master and goes out into the world claiming to be a man?"
"Ah," said the shadow. "You must be referring to Nicolai. It is my firm belief that he should be put out of his misery as quickly as possible. Therefore, he deserves nothing better than to be locked inside a barrel studded with knives and tossed away to sea first thing in the morning so that we may be happily married by noon."
"You have chosen your own punishment," said the princess. "I would wish mercy on your soul, but as you are actually a a shadow, I doubt you have one."
"Surely my dearest princess is confused," said the shadow. "It is Nicolai who has committed the crime you speak of."
"I was confused, but no longer. Did you hear all of that, Father?"
Rosebud opened the door to reveal the king with several armed guards behind him. The guards took the shadow away in chains, where he was subjected to the exact punishment he chose for himself early the next morning. By noon, the princess was happily married to Nicolai who made every bit as great a king as she thought he would. Together, they ruled justly. Years later when she was with child, Rosebud made certain to hire additional servants with the sole job of making sure her children's shadows stayed attached to their bodies. Though it was an unusual job, it was done with proficiency, and they all lived happily ever after.

Review: Anastasia Once Upon a Time

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

Anastasia: Once Upon a Time starts out a little weird and then gets much weirder. The Romanov family celebrates what would become their last royal ball before the Russian revolutionaries take down the monarchy. That seems pretty normal since it's the only thing in the movie that's even remotely historically accurate. Speaking of historical accuracy, all of the costumes that Anastasia's family wears at the ball look at least remotely believable, but Anastasia's color-shifting purple dress with glitter swirls looks like a deluxe Disney Princess Halloween costume straight out of the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. Anastasia confides in her dear friend Rasputin that she wishes she could share the royal ball with the poor people in her kingdom. He somehow uses his unlimited wealth of magic to let a bunch of orphans in, when the youngest begins singing the only song in the movie. It was a beautiful song, but the scene itself was so bizarre that I couldn't believe what I was watching. No one at the ball knew that Rasputin had let these underdressed orphans in as a favor to Anastasia, and in the midst of their confusion, music starts playing and a girl who looks like she's in preschool begins singing in a classically trained operatic voice that could not possibly belong to a child that age who would never have been able to afford singing lessons. Afterward, everyone applauds as though this whole thing was planned entertainment for the ball, and nobody cares that they let a bunch of strange kids in.

When the Romanovs are attacked, Rasputin uses his ridiculously overpowered magic to open a time portal for the entire family to escape. Anastasia's brothers and sisters are ready to go until they see their father get shot and turn back. Rasputin gives Anastasia a magic necklace that changes colors to tell her who she can and cannot trust and pushes her into the portal. I guess he figures her brothers and sisters can just hang around and die because they're not important to the plot anymore, at least for now. Anastasia comes out of the portal in the year 1989 and meets a girl her age named Megan, who just happens to have a new book about the history of the Romanovs. Here's where things start to get really weird. Even though Anastasia doesn't say anything to Megan upon their first meeting, Megan somehow knows that she's in danger and gives her a place to stay. When she finally does speak, Anastasia introduces herself as "Annie" and acts more like an alien from outer space than a time-traveling princess. She's never seen or heard of things like swings or spaghetti, both of which I'm pretty sure existed in 1917. Meanwhile, Megan has a book with an exact photo of her new friend in it, but she never even suspects that Annie is the lost princess until she tells her directly.

The second half of the movie is a bunch of awkward '80s style music, montages, and hijinks. Megan and Anastasia sneak onstage with a famous pop star at the mall, and for some reason, the pop star decides they're both awesome instead of calling security. In an overdone movie trope montage, Anastasia goes into a fitting room and tries on various fashions from the late '80s to replace her purple Disney Princess costume. Rasputin comes through the portal with a magic map to try to find Anastasia, but keeps getting sidetracked by things like trying to figure out how to properly ride a bus, learning '80s style dances, and getting cast as the villain in some random play. I'm not sure why he finds any of these things more interested than finding a time traveling princess, but sure. At first, it seems like he wants to find Anastasia to help her get back to her family, but then we learn that the Russian revolutionaries have some kind of mind control magic and manipulated Rasputin to bring her back to them so they can finish her off. I had no idea that so many people in Russia had such powerful magic in 1917. You learn something new every day. Anyway, Megan, a little girl, knocks Rasputin, a large man, unconscious using the power of friendship or something like that, and Anastasia miraculously goes back in time to before her father was shot and saves her whole family. Happy ending. I guess.

I can't say that Anastasia: Once Upon a Time is the worst princess movie I've ever seen because it's so bad that it's almost good. I wish I had been watching it with other people so that we could have made jokes about all the ridiculously convenient plot twists and bad special effects. Nothing about this movie made sense, which in a way, is brilliant because it never leaves you with that one lingering thing you wish had been done differently. Why can Rasputin shoot lighting from his fingers? Who knows? Why do they Decembrists have mind control abilities? Who cares? How was Anastasia able to go back in time to before her father was shot? Does it really matter? If there are any surviving descendants of the Romanov family today, I'm pretty sure they would be offended by this faux historical drama. As for the rest of us, at least it's at least bad enough to take our minds off all the problems going on in the world today.

Review: The Fairy Princess and the Unicorn (a.k.a. Bayala: A Magical Adventure)

This movie is a bit of an enigma. The animation is more beautiful than it has any business being, but the script feels like something that came straight out of a 1980s marketing team solely for the purpose of selling toys. And that appears to be exactly what it was. It has the look and feel of a Barbie Fairytopia movie from a bygone era. While it's nice to know that there are still movies like this being made, would it be too much ask for them to be made better? The Fairy Princess and the Unicorn is an extremely misleading title. The movie was not about a single fairy princess but, in fact, many winged elf princesses, most of whom were sisters. A unicorn appeared in one scene for about ten seconds and had absolutely nothing to do with the plot. The movie was apparently renamed from the more fitting title of Bayala: A Magical Adventure, which would have been a perfect fit for it. I guess their marketing team was worried that a movie named after a world no one has ever heard of wouldn't draw enough interest from their target audience, so they changed it to something that had very little to do with the actual movie. It was produced by a German animation studio called Ulysses Produktion but recorded with English voices.

The world of Bayala has a lot in common with Centopia from Mia and Me. Both are fantastical realms where winged fairy-like people reside, who are referred to as elves. They live in beautiful homes made of colorful flowers and trees. Different sections of the land contain different types of elves, who can be identified by their wings and powers. Everything about this movie is pure eye candy. Some elves have rainbow-colored wings, others have wings made of frost, others are more butterfly-like, and others still have brightly colored feathered wings. The sun elves have a duty to help protect dragon eggs, while the dragons watch over their own young. The shadow elves are enemies of the sun elves, ruled by the wicked Queen Ophira, who kidnapped the eggs of several sun elves before they were born and forced them to grow up in her Shadow Realm. Princess Surah, who is the closest thing this movie has to a protagonist, has a similar backstory to Adora from She-Ra. She escapes the Shadow Realm as a teenager, but by then, she has already grown shadow elf wings, causing her to be afraid of her own powers, similar to Elsa from Frozen.

As beautiful as this movie was to watch, I had trouble staying focused on the many characters and plot points that were forced into its 80-minute runtime. It was targeted toward a very young audience and felt even more juvenile than a Barbie movie. Yet the story threads were difficult to follow even for an adult. It seemed like every five minutes, we were meeting someone new or learning about some new quest. Marween, a scrappy young elf, becomes just as crucial to the plot as Surah when she discovers a dragon egg and realizes that she has a rare ability to talk to dragons. The film keeps shifting between her quest to return the egg and Surah's quest to return to the Shadow Realm and recover her lost sister, Nuray. Because of all the convoluted overarching plots, Surah's reunion with her twin sister Sera near the beginning of the movie feels forced and not as emotional as it should have been. Even though she struggled with whether or not to use her shadow elf powers, Surah maintains virtually no psychological scarring after being raised by the evil Queen Ophira. She also has an older sister named Eyela who was just crowned queen, packing even more story into the already convoluted plot.

With such a messy script, it seems like the entire budget of the film went into the animation, which is admittedly breathtaking. I've never seen a CGI fairy movie with such smooth movements, character models, and facial expressions. It made the world of Bayala come to life to the point where I wished I could become an elf and live there myself. There were many different parts of the world such as the Shadow Realm, Sun Realm, Frost Realm, and Rainbow Realm, and it felt like it could have easily been a real place. The bright pastel color palette made it pleasing to the eyes with plenty of teal and blue instead of abusing the usage of pink like so many movies for this age group are prone to doing. I loved that every being that lived in Bayala was magical. The elves had a unique political alliance with the dragons to the extent of which I've only seen previously in books. Unicorns probably played a crucial role in Bayala's ecosystem as well, but it felt like any story points involving them got cut for time. I can see why the creators weren't able to include more scenes to flesh out the many characters and story threads. The movie's animation was so lush and detailed that it must have taken a ton of work just to pump out the scenes they did use.

I think that The Fairy Princess and the Unicorn should have kept its original title or at least been changed to something that went better with the plot like The Fairy Princesses and the Dragon Egg. Regardless of the title, the movie still offers beautiful imagery to lovers of fairy princesses and unicorns. If you are looking for an emotional fairy tale with strong characters that are easy to relate to, it may be best to look elsewhere, such as one of the many Barbie movies with fairies or mermaids in them. However, if you are looking to lose yourself in a magical world of winged princesses, dragons, unicorns, and soft colors, Bayala may be a good option for you. The animation is stunning, and the world is every bit as magical as Mia and Me's Centopia.