Lisa Dawn's Blog: The Princess Blog, page 64

Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders 25th Anniversary Celebration

Three princess anniversary celebrations within roughly two weeks? Yes, please! Today marks 24 years since one of my favorite cartoons of all time, Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders, debuted. My friends over at the Jewel Riders Archive are kicking off a year-long 25th anniversary celebration in a big way. Instead of attending a panel or screening, I celebrated this princess anniversary with a Skype party in which I got together with the Jewel Riders Archive, the founding member of the original Avalon fansite, and a prominent fan artist from the early days of the fandom to record a podcast where we discussed our favorite memories of the show. It was a huge honor to be included in this elite group of fans. The world of Jewel Riders has been a major inspiration for many of the stories I have written in the past, leading up my most recent one, The Stolen Jewel . The Princess Blog recently celebrated its two year anniversary, and I owe some of its inspiration to the Jewel Riders Archive, which continues to inspire fans to be proactive with their passions as they celebrate their fourth magical year today.


The beautiful piece pictured above was commissioned to celebrate the four-year anniversary of the Jewel Riders Archive. They are generous enough to share this art with all of us by releasing scores of custom-made merchandise available from RedBubble. I couldn't resist ordering a t-shirt of this gorgeous image. Of all the toys and knickknacks available in the '90s featuring Princess Gwenevere and her friends, there were very few options in terms of clothing outside of a gorgeous pair of Velcro sneakers. As a passionate fan, I was determined to show off my love of the fantasy, adventure, and feminine mystique of the series even back then. As a young Jewel Rider, I used special iron-on transfer paper to create my own screen-printed t-shirt of a collage I put together with all of my favorite Magical Girls including the Jewel Riders, the PowerPuff Girls, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and a few others with the phrase "Girl Power" at the top. I have no idea what happened to this shirt since then, so I am glad to have a new way to show off my love of this tragically underrated cartoon.
Other memories I have of my Jewel Rider days include playing with the fashion dolls in their party dresses and their jewel armor as well as piecing together my own Princess Gwenevere and Tamara costumes out of fabric scraps and old clothing. I made my own enchanted jewels for the Sun Stone, Heart Stone, Moon Stone, and Forest Stone using poster board, magic markers, and Velcro backing to attach and detach them from the costumes. The internet was still a novelty in the '90s, so I was excited to discover Stormy's Avalon fansite on my dial-up AOL connection. I emailed her about my love for the show, and she sent me VHS tapes containing of the episodes that I had missed on TV. Natalie and I submitted fan creations to her site, including artwork and fanfiction. You can listen to the three of us discussing our memories with the two founders of the Jewel Riders Archive in the anniversary podcast below. Beware that it's quite long!
http://www.jewelridersarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Jewel-Riders-Archive-Podcast-Episode-1.mp3

There is some crossover between this anniversary celebration and the one I attended last week for The Princess and the Frog. Believe it or not, Ronnie of the Jewel Riders Archive was the friend I met up with there! It's so neat to connect with people from different parts of the world through fandoms. When I was a young Jewel Rider obsessing over the show, I lived with my parents in New Jersey. When I moved to Los Angeles by myself with no personal connections, I felt less alone because I had so many friends I met through various online princess groups who happened to live in the area. That's one of the great things about celebrating shows and movies that we still love so many years. It brings people together from all different walks of life. That's my favorite thing about blogging and using social media. It's also a fitting theme of the Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders series. A common catch phrase from the show is "Friends together, friends forever!"


There are so many princess anniversary celebrations this year that it's hard to keep track of all of them! The Swan Princess will have a "pink carpet" screening of the movie on October 24th that I hope to attend to celebrate its 25th anniversary as well. Final Fantasy VIII, which contains my favorite Video Game Princess, Rinoa Heartilly, just released a remastered edition to celebrate its 20th anniversary. I recently purchased the PS4 version and became hopelessly addicted to it all over again even worse than Kingdom Hearts III (which also released a new content trailer yesterday). Final Fantasy VIII was a huge staple of my teenage years. I think it's the perfect game for princess fans because it's a modern love story that focuses heavily on romance with great characters and lots of magic. Knowing that 24 years have passed since my childhood obsession and 20 years since my teen obsession is an unfortunate reminder that I'm getting older, but it's nice to relive happy memories of simpler times.

These Two Princesses Are Coming Back With a Vengeance!

It's been a while since we've heard from Rapunzel or Bean, and their creators seemed to be perfectly happy leaving us hanging. The previous seasons of both Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure and Disenchantment ended on cliffhangers. Luckily, the story gods have finally heard our desperate pleas as both these shows are coming back from the dead with new episodes less than a month from now! The third and final season of Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure will premiere on October 7th, and Disenchantment will be back with what they are referring to as "Part 2" on September 20th. We've been theorizing and worrying for a long time about the fate of these two princesses, so it's a huge relief to know that it won't be much longer before we learn how they overcome their shocking betrayals.


When we last saw Rapunzel, she was feeling hurt and anguished by Cassandra's untimely betrayal. Just when Rapunzel was about to grab the Moonstone Opal and potentially liberate the Dark Kingdom, Cassandra snatched it up at the last minute, underwent a dark Magical Girl transformation, and reminded Rapunzel to be careful who she trusts. Fans have been going crazy trying to figure out Cass's motivation behind this decision when she was once Rapunzel's loyal lady-in-waiting. That question will finally be answered on October 7th. A few days ago, the image above was released for the upcoming final season of Tangled, featuring a sinister blue-haired Cassandra looming over a cheerful and energetic Rapunzel swinging on her hair like a superhero. Observant fans have noticed the new outfits on both Rapunzel and Eugene. The second season mostly featured Rapunzel in an adventuring dress or her classic princess dress, but this season seems to have found a happy medium between the utility belt features of her adventure wear and the purple frills of her princess dress. I think this might be my new favorite outfit!

Even though we don't have a trailer, a recent article from The Collider drops hints about lots of goodies we can expect from Rapunzel's return. The season premiere is reported to be an hour-long special in which Rapunzel must save Corona from "an old enemy." Could it be Varian? The article reports Jeremy Jordan's return as the tragic alchemist. For me, the juiciest tidbit was the revelations of

Next up, we have Bean from Disenchantment, who we last saw sacrificing her friend Elfo in order to bring her mother, who turned out to be a powerful evil sorceress, back from the dead. Talk about a big mistake! The trailer picks up right where we left off with the queen wanting to take Bean under her wing. Meanwhile, Bean wants to save the people of Dreamland, who have been turned to stone and bring back Elfo from the dead. There are lots of clips of Bean running through Hell with her demon companion Luci, and it looks like she will even have an encounter with the devil himself. It's unclear whether Elfo will actually go to Hell to meet them because he seems quite content to stay in Heaven. This season (or "part," as Netflix recently started calling seasons of their content) appears to be a lot more story-driven than the first one, which should make it more enjoyable to binge-watch. The previous season had some issues with jumping around between filler episodes before finally revealing the main plot. I'm looking forward to seeing how Bean overcomes the emotional trauma of learning that the mother she idealized is actually an evil villain who must be stopped at all costs.

The new episodes of Disenchantment come out on September 20th followed by the season premiere special of Tangled on October 7th. I am so excited to finally see both of these princesses return to the small screen. They have each been betrayed by someone close to them, which is something that I relate to in my own life. I'm curious to see how similarly or differently Rapunzel and Bean handle these respective betrayals due to their unique personalities. Disenchantment may or may not end on another cliffhanger, but Tangled is definitely ending for good this season, so let's hope the writers gave it their all. I'm also hoping we won't have to wait too long for more episodes after the premiere.

The Princess and the Frog 10th Anniversary Celebration

It's a big year for princess anniversaries. I recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of The Little Mermaid  at the D23 Expo with

The beautiful theater, famous for its larger-than-life Oscar statues, ushered all attendees upstairs, where they received a program listing the panelists. Prior to the film, the screen lit up with a slideshow of concept art for everything from Tiana's character models to the design of the bayou and Mardi Gras parade. A band at the corner of the stage played traditional New Orleans music as guests shuffled inside. This went on until they stopped to introduce Anika Noni Rose. I barely had time to get my camera ready when she ran onstage to perform a stellar rendition of "Down in New Orleans." Her performance was followed up by a speech from the theater manager and an interview with key members of The Princess and the Frog cast and crew hosted by 


I've been to a lot of Q&A screenings, but this one stood out because of the energy behind of the panelists. You could see that they were all incredibly excited to work on this film and had a lot of fun doing it. Anika expressed how much she wanted to be a part of it as soon as she found out it would have the first black Disney Princess. Jennifer Lewis was an absolute riot as she redirected questions to share jokes and stories with the audience. She discussed how she was asked to audition for Tiana's mother but felt that her voice didn't have the right level of softness. When she asked what other roles there were, the casting directors asked her if she could do an old woman voice, which she responded to with hilarious enthusiasm. Randy Newman discussed how he knew his songs wouldn't win any awards like the Broadway-style princess songs that he "can't stand," but he was happy to write '20s-style jazz songs that "would never win anything." At the end of the discussion, Anika Noni Rose brought her adorable goddaughter, June, on stage, and discussed how her parents asked permission for her to wear her Princess Tiana costume to the event. There were a few grown-up Tiana cosplayers in the audience as well.



I've watched The Princess and the Frog countless times on DVD and streaming, but this was the first time in ten years that I was able to experience it again on the big screen. I have to admit that watching it on such a scale simply cannot compare to watching it on a TV or computer. The movie came as a surprise during a time that Disney claimed they would no longer make hand-drawn films, although this is still the last one they did to date. There are so many beautiful little details that the animators incorporated into this film that you just would't notice on a smaller screen, such as the fireflies in the bayou and the pedestrians in the bustling city of New Orleans. The transformation scene at Tiana and Naveen's wedding is still one of my absolute favorite animated sequences of all time. Charlotte's antics are just as funny and entertaining as ever. Seeing this movie with such an enthusiastic audience reminded me of all the reasons I love it so much. I was also pleased to meet up with an old friend and get my picture taken with one of the Oscar statues. Overall, it was a night I'll never forget.


Moving to Los Angeles has granted me so many wonderful opportunities that I could have never experienced anywhere else. I was amazed by how affordable and accessible this 10th anniversary screening of The Princess and the Frog was and how smoothly the event was run. Seeing Anika Noni Rose perform live onstage was unforgettable. The energy of the bubbly Quvenzhané Wallis made the Q&A fun and entertaining. It was wonderful seeing one of my favorite movies on the big screen again for the first time in ten years. I'm looking forward to attending many more events like this one in the future.

Princess Brea's Journey in Age of Resistance

The Jim Henson Company is no stranger to princesses. There have been a number of fairy tale specials featuring princesses alongside his famous Muppet characters. However, the princesses in these specials are usually human women interacting with puppets. The reason for this is probably that princesses are generally perceived as elegant graceful women, while puppets tend to be used for comic relief. That was not the case, however, in Jim Henson's 1982 classic film  The Dark Crystal . This movie created a much darker and more serious take on the original puppetry style of storytelling he became famous for in an epic fantasy setting. This weekend, Netflix premiered its Dark Crystal spin-off series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, which marks the first time that I have ever seen the Jim Henson Company use puppets to portray fantasy princess characters.


The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance contains three princess sisters named Seladon, Tavra, and Brea. Each one wears a different colored circlet around her long blonde hair to signify her rank. I loved Brea's braids and netted ponytails that looked more regal than many hairstyles I've seen on real-life princesses or princess actresses. Brea and her sisters belong to a race that originated in the theatrical version of The Dark Crystal known as the Gelfling. Gelfling appear to be human-like in nature with smaller noses and large pointy ears reminiscent of elves. The series portrays the power struggle between the Gelfling and the Skeksis, a larger bird-like race that manipulates the Gelfling for power. Instead of a queen, the three princesses are daughters of a Gelfling who is referred to as the All-Maudra, a political figure who is really a pawn of the Skeksis' maniacal schemes. Though Seladon, Tavra, and Brea all have their own roles to play in Age of Resistance, Princess Brea is the one whose story we follow the closest. Brea shares the role of the series protagonist with fellow heroes Rian and Deet.

What I loved about Brea was that she reminded me of the classic Disney Princess tropes while not being shoehorned in as a love interest or a fighter. It was a breath of fresh air after so many recent attempts to apologize for the gentle nature of princesses in the media. Brea is unapologetically kind and intelligent. Like Snow White, she has a natural instinct around animals that cause them to feel comfortable around her. She often gets chastised for spending too much time in the castle library, which reminded me of Belle. When she discovers a magical symbol in one of her books that she feels could be important to the future of Thra, her curiosity gets the better of her like Ariel, and she insists on investigating. Her journey leads her into slavery as punishment, but like all princesses, she values her freedom above all else and runs away. It is then that she discovers a powerful secret underneath the castle that she brings to her mother's attention in spite of dire risks. Even though she carries all of these wonderful princess personality traits, she still managed to surprise me by not falling in love when she met the hero Rian. Instead, Rian fell for another heroine named Deet, and Brea carries herself solely by her own self-worth instead of by her importance to another character.

Brea stands out from her two sisters because of her innocence and generosity, traits that fantasy princesses are uniquely prone to. She discovers that the Skeksis are using her family for their own selfish desires because she actually takes the time to get to know them instead of just listening to what other people tell her like her sisters do. Princess Tavra is a strong warrior, but she lacks Brea's ingenuity and compassion, which is probably why the series never focuses on her efforts. Princess Seladon, on the other hand, is a power-hungry misguided pawn to the Skeksis just like her mother until Brea helps her see the light. Seladon sees herself as superior to Brea because she never questions their authority no matter how much she should. That is why Brea is the true heroine of the Age of Resistance. Her unwavering moral compass allows her to see right through the Skeksis' wicked schemes and carry Thra into a new age of benevolence not through strength and dominance, but through love and understanding.

I saw the original Dark Crystal a long time ago and remember very little of it except that the Gelfling race is a matriarchy in which the dominant females possess wings and the ability to fly. I'm very happy for fans of the movie that were able to experience Age of Resistance on Netflix this weekend because it contains a great deal of valuable exposition that they might have been wondering about for a long time. For me personally, I felt that the backstory was a little too heavy-handed and that the series was often trying too hard to be an over-the-top fantasy epic like Lord of the Rings . However, Princess Brea made this ten-episode season well worth watching for me. She is everything that I believe a modern princess should be while still possessing the same flaws as any other human or Gelfling. Brea is my favorite princess that the Jim Henson Company has created thus far.

The Little Mermaid 30th Anniversary Celebration and More at the D23 Expo

It has been a long and fruitful day at the D23 Expo in Anaheim. This weekend was the sixth biennial expo where Disney showcases all of their movies and merchandise that they have planned for the next two years. I skipped the previous expo in 2017, but I decided to stop by on the final day for this one to celebrate the 30th anniversary of my favorite movie, The Little Mermaid . I was fortunate enough to get a seat at this morning's anniversary celebration panel hosted by the voice of Ariel herself,

The panel concluded with a surprise appearance from Auli'i Cravalho, who will be playing Ariel in the upcoming The Little Mermaid Live! TV special on November 5th, not to be confused with the upcoming live-action theatrical production. Auli'i shared her excitement about playing the iconic role and revealed a concept image of the stage for the live production, complete with brightly colored jellyfish. Another highlight of the panel was when Jodi got bombarded with male contestants from the audience who were competing to kiss her for a surprise rendition of "Kiss the Girl." She kept trying to remind everyone that she was already married and repeatedly mouthed "I love you" to her husband in the audience. When the stagehands brought a fake boat prop out to accompany the song, she finally agreed to a light kiss on the cheek. It was a hilarious debacle. The grand finale of the celebration consisted of a full audience and cast sing-along of "Under the Sea" with bubbles filling the air and fabric water running down the aisles. It was a celebration I'll never forget.

Even more princess goodness happened on the show floor, where the booths and merchandise at the convention are located. Disney almost always premieres a new Designer Princess collection of dolls and artwork at their Disney Store booth at the D23 Expo, and today was no exception. The latest collection, entitled Midnight Masquerade, features the princess all dressed up for a masquerade ball, complete with floor-length gowns and handheld masks. It includes several Disney heroines that are rarely featured alongside the princesses such as Megara from Hercules , Esmeralda from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Giselle from Enchanted . The experience was enhanced even further with a photo opportunity to pose with beautiful golden masks in front of a wall displaying all of the artwork from the collection. I was thrilled to have my picture taken alongside such elegant works of art. The Little Mermaid was also featured at the booth to celebrate its anniversary, but only with expensive glass artwork displays. The limited-edition doll of Ariel in her pink dress had already sold out when I arrived, and the surprise Vanessa doll wasn't far behind.




There were plenty of other princess-related photo opportunities at the D23 Expo this year as well. Several companies were cashing in on the princess love by featuring them in promotional items. Besamé Cosmetics, the company that released a special make-up set for Snow White's 80th anniversary, revealed a new Sleeping Beauty make-up collection and gave out metallic gold tiaras to anyone who stopped by their booth. A skincare company called H2O was the sponsor for The Little Mermaid's 30th Anniversary Celebration panel. Their booth on the show floor included a backdrop of the wave from the crescendo of Ariel's "Part of Your World (Reprise)" with a rock in front that was perfect for guests to lean on and recreate her most iconic pose. The Disney Animation booth featured life-sized models of Anna and Elsa from the upcoming Frozen 2  movie, and a nearby exhibit displayed tons of princess costumes from various live-action movies, including four different versions of Cinderella, Jasmine's outfit from the new Aladdin , Belle's dresses from Beauty and the Beast , Giselle's wedding dress from Enchanted, and more. They even had Cinderella's full-sized coach from the 2015 movie on display!



Disney Princesses always have a presence at the D23 Expo. They were featured even more than ever this year between The Little Mermaid 30th Anniversary Celebration, the costumes, the photo ops, the designer dolls and artwork, and the product promotions. I'm glad I got to be a part of it and cover my walls and beautiful new princess imagery. The Little Mermaid panel was a lot of fun and a wonderful opportunity to revisit the making of my favorite movie. The next D23 Expo will be in 2021 and will likely feature lots of clips and tidbits about the live-action Little Mermaid movie that is set to release later that year. The D23 Expo can be an overwhelming experience for first-timers, but the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and merchandise make it all worthwhile.

Review: Unicorns of Balinor

Unicorns of Balinor is a series of children's books by Mary Stanton, who was one of the writers for my favorite cartoon, Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders. The unfinished series consists of eight short chapter books about a girl named Ari who leans she was once a princess from a magical land called Balinor. The story contains elements of Anastasia , Jewel Riders, and Wicked. Though it helps to read them in order, any of the books can easily be enjoyed on its own. Each one tells a complete adventure story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. This is not the only Jewel Riders-inspired book series from the turn of the millennium. Avalon: Web of Magic by Rachel Roberts was another series of chapter books about girls from the real world who also learn that unicorns and magic exist in a different realm. Her books incorporated lyrics directly from the original Jewel Riders soundtrack. The Jewel Riders references in Unicorns of Balinor were more subtle but still present.


The Road to Balinor is the first and only book in the Unicorns of Balinor series that takes place in what appears to be the real world. Ari wakes up in recovery from a horrible accident and realizes that she can't remember anything that happened before it. All she knows is that she has a close bond with her beloved horse, Chase, whose bronze mane and coat matches her hair. When her caretakers insist on selling Chase to Lori, her spoiled bratty neighbor, Ari decides to run away with Chase when she discovers the magical land of Balinor. There, she learns her true identity as their missing Princess Arianna and Chase's true identity as Sunchaser, the unicorn Lord of all Animals. Unfortunately, Lori follows her and manages to stick around for every subsequent book despite being completely useless. Ari is then given a series of quests to prove her worth as the High Princess, leading up to her defeat of the wicked Shifter in Night of the Shifter's Moon , the second to last book in the series.

I could tell a lot of things about Mary Stanton from these books. She is clearly an animal lover. Her biography reveals that she based many of the unicorns in Balinor on real horses that she grew up with, and her real-life farm experience went into her descriptions of Glacier River Farm, where the story begins. Dr. Bohnes, the human wisest sage in the book was also a veterinarian. All the animals in Balinor can speak just as well as any human, and they are treated as equal to humans or sometimes even superior, in the case of the Celestial Unicorns. The first book foreshadows a threat to Balinor that wanted to take away the animals' voices, similar to the plot of Gregory Maguire's Wicked, but this evil scheme was never mentioned again. In fact, there were a lot of things that seemed to be conveniently tacked on or forgotten in each book. It seems that Mary was more focused on making the books more enjoyable individually than on telling one overarching epic story.


My favorite human character in this series was Ari for her kindness and humility. My favorite animal was Atalanta, a beautiful violet and silver unicorn known as the Dreamspeaker, who watched over Ari and came to her in times of need. I felt like Lori's character was a missed opportunity as Ari's foil. We've all seen the bratty girl archetype in movies and shows, but those characters can turn out to be the most interesting if done correctly, such as Violetta from Mia and Me. Lori eventually becomes Ari's lady-in-waiting out of sheer greed, but even then she never grows as a character, learns from her mistakes, or does anything remotely interesting. The character who did manage to surprise me was Lincoln, Ari's pet dog who started talking when she crossed over the gap into Balinor. In the final book, Shadows Over Balinor, he turns out to be a great deal more than he appears. Another great "character" is the magic scepter that Ari retrieves in Valley of Fear . The scepter has a sculpted unicorn head on it that talks in the way as the bird on Mary Poppins' umbrella. However, it only answers direct questions in the most generic way possible. This worked much better for comic relief than Lori's predictable reactions to everything.

Overall, Unicorns of Balinor is a fun series in doses, but it doesn't work well as an epic princess story because the main plot of Ari finding her family and recovering all her memories never gets resolved. The quests Ari is given in each book seem conveniently tacked on for the sake of adding another book to the story instead of progressing her goal to return to her former life and restore peace to Balinor. Even when the Shifter is finally defeated, a new villain is quickly introduced for the sole purpose of continuing the series, which turned out to be fruitless because the stopped after the eighth book. If you love princesses who talk to their animal friends, you will probably enjoy this series. However, I don't think it's necessary to read all eight books unless you become attached to the characters because each book is very similar in both story and tone.

Review: Kingdom of Music (The Swan Princess 9)

The Swan Princess has released yet another sequel in their never-ending franchise. Fortunately, the last one was such an unfathomable disaster that the story had nowhere to go but up. I was pleased to find that Kingdom of Music was an improvement over the last few CGI direct-to-DVD sequels. This is in part thanks to its throwbacks to the original "Swan Lake" inspired story as well as cultural diversity, which is trending right now in the world of fairy tale princesses, and the coming of age for Alise, Odette and Derek's adopted daughter. Actually, I think they could have generated more interest among the Swan Princess crowd if they had made her grow into a teenager a bit earlier, since that is the classic age for fairy tale princesses. They decided to go the Sofia the First route instead by making her an ordinary little girl who falls into royalty without the obstacle of romance getting in the way. However, Lucas, the orphan boy Alise met in Princess Tomorrow, Pirate Today, appeared to be a potential future love interest. That potential came to fruition in the latest movie.


The Swan Princess: Kingdom of Music is the ninth movie from this animated series of films that began with The Swan Princess in 1994. Early attempts to convert the designs from traditional animation to CGI with The Swan Princess Christmas  in 2012 were shoddy, to say the least, but there is a clear improvement in this movie's animation. I really liked Alise's teenage design because it made her look like a real fairy tale princess without being a clone of Odette. Her scrawny frame hasn't changed, but her long brown hair is now braided to one side, and she has a flowing chiffon magenta gown with gold accents that compliments her recent growth spurt. I did find it a little weird that Odette and Derek still wear the same clothes from the first movie after so much time had supposedly passed, but I guess they wanted to keep at least some level of recognizability in the films. Another thing I found odd about was that Rogers was still being referred to as "Lord Rogers" even though he had agreed to become king by marrying Queen Uberta in A Royal MyZtery , which took place years earlier.
The plot of Kingdom of Music revolves around a Chinese brother and sister named Prince Li and Princess Mei Li. Mei Li is in love with a peasant boy named Chen, who is cursed to turn into a dragon for falling in love with the princess. Mei Li follows her brother Li to Odette's kingdom in the hopes that Odette and Derek might be able to help her find a way to break Chen's curse. However, unlike the spell that Rothbart cast on Odette, Chen seems to turn back into a human randomly and often whenever he feels like it. Having so little explanation for this curse made it seem less urgent than Odette's and prevented the possibility for a climax as exciting the original film, in which there was no moon to allow Odette to turn back into a princess on the one night she needed it the most. Since the terms of the curse were so different from Odette's, Mei Li and Chen were disappointed to learn that they could not break it in the same way. That's where Prince Li came in.
Prince Li was traveling to Odette's kingdom to perform in an annual American Idol-style music competition held every year to celebrate Odette and Derek's love. You might think American Idol seems out of place for The Swan Princess universe, and you would probably be right. Even more confusing was that Jean-Bob was one of the judges even though the first movie seemed to imply that no one but Odette could understand him. He spent the whole movie reluctantly trying to channel Even though Lucas played a major role in this movie as Alise's love interest, so much of the story focused on Prince Li and Princess Mei Li that they forgot to develop a personality for him. Instead, he became a clone of Prince Derek from the first movie and was determined to be with Alise simply because they grew up together. Therefore, when Alise falls for Prince Li and offers Lucas very little explanation for it, he becomes hurt and jealous. This should have been an opportunity for Lucas to move on and find someone who won't drop him for the first handsome exotic prince she sees, but it instead resulted in Li conveniently becoming the key to breaking Chen's curse because it required someone to give up the one they love. I would have preferred to see Lucas be the one to break the curse because it would have shown character growth and taught kids that love doesn't always work out the way you want it to. However, this was clearly Li and Mei Li's story, not Alise and Lucas's.
Kingdom of Music had a lot of potential and was more enjoyable than many of the other Swan Princess sequels. The biggest problem it had was that it tried to include too many different story elements into a single movie. If it was only about the singing contest or Mei Li and Chen's curse or Lucas coming to terms with his growing feelings for Alise over the years, it could be been much stronger and more emotionally impactful. The movie ended with "To Be Continued," so we know there are more on the way. I see no reason why they couldn't have split up so many great ideas into multiple movies. As it stands now, the story felt too rushed and overly convenient. In spite of that, I'm still interested in seeing future sequels now that Alise and Lucas have come of age and are more relatable to me as an older princess fan.

The Princess Blog Is Celebrating Two Years!

Two years ago today, I thought about how far my professional career had strayed from my true passion now that I was in my 30s. What was I doing to create my own happy ending? Sure, I had written a few books and had recently gotten married, but I didn't feel like I was living my life to the fullest and celebrating my love of fairy tales and storytelling. That's when I decided to start a blog. The topic for my blog was obvious. I've loved princess stories my entire life, and there are more of them out there now than ever. Starting The Princess Blog not only gave me an excuse to continue indulging in my fandoms, but it also forced me to write every day. I now have over 300 posts about everything from movies to books to lifestyle guides. It's gone through a few changes over the past couple of years, such as posting every week instead of every day as well as one major cosmetic makeover, but its basic philosophies remain the same as they have always been for the last two years.


I celebrated my previous anniversary with a sale on my novella Rebirth: A Faery's Tale by making it 99 cents on Amazon Kindle. What better way to celebrate my writing latest accomplishments than with another sale for my readers? Today only, the ebook for  Of Land and Sea , my adaptation of "The Little Mermaid," is now available for 99 cents. Get it while you can! I wrote this book to give fans an opportunity to discover more of the world created by Hans Christian Andersen in the original fairy tale. It starts from the perspective of the princess that stole the prince from the little mermaid and ends with an exploration of what it means to be a Daughter of the Air. Of Land and Sea isn't the only book I'm celebrating today. Earlier this week, I released my latest novella, The Stolen Jewel . I am so happy to finally unleash the story of Princess Charlotte into the world because so much of it is inspired by my own life. The Stolen Jewel started its life on this blog and continued as a screenplay under the UCLA Professional Program for Screenwriting Online before ultimately finding its home on Amazon with my other books. If you would like to see how far my writing has come since Rebirth and Of Land and Sea, I implore you to check it out and leave me an honest review.


Ultimately, The Princess Blog is about you, the reader, and the content that you would like to see. There were a few ideas that I experimented with and decided to stop doing because they drew less interest than my other posts such as Story Saturday and The Princess Vlog. If you would like me to bring any of these back or start something new entirely, please let me know in the comments or on one of my social media pages such Facebook or Twitter. I'm always happy to receive feedback from my readers. One of my favorite things about this blog is that every so often, I receive review copies of books from other aspiring authors, which I am all too happy to read and analyze. If you partake in any princess-related craft that you would like me to promote, I would be happy to help. Life isn't always easy for starving artists like us, but we need to keep believing in our dreams so we can find our happy ending. If you have a specific topic that you would like me to write about or wish to support my blog, you can also check out the offers on my Patreon account.

In the early days, I wondered if it would be possible to keep up the momentum after I wrote about every princess-related topic I could think of. However, over the past two years, I learned that this beloved subject will never run out of fresh ideas as long as there are still people in the world who believe in empowering girls and women. In fact, there are more exciting princess events than ever within the coming year that I can't wait to share with you. Later this month, I will be attending the 30th anniversary celebration of The Little Mermaid  at the D23 Expo. The celebration will continue on November 5th with the newly rescheduled television production of The Little Mermaid Live! on ABC starring Moana  actress Auli'i Cravalho as Ariel. Another upcoming princess anniversary is The Swan Princess, which will have a pink carpet anniversary screening this October that I hope to attend and write about. The Swan Princess: Kingdom of Music , the latest in an endless line of sequels, was released yesterday, and I will review it soon. My sister site, The Jewel Riders Archive, is planning a big surprise for the 25th anniversary of Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders that I'm also eager to participate in, so keep an eye out for that as well.

The Princess Blog has opened my eyes to a whole new world of possibilities to chase after my dreams on my own terms instead of waiting for a Fairy Godmother to produce a magical employment contract. I don't need to get paid to do what I love as long as it continues to make me happy. I hope I make my readers happy as well. Which event are you most excited for in the coming year? Let me know in the comments. I am always open to suggestions for new content and media. If you do happen to take advantage of today's sale on Of Land and Sea: The Untold Story of The Little Mermaid or the new release of The Stolen Jewel, please let me know what you think with a review. If you would like to see more books from me in the future, feel free to sign up for my author mailing list. Here's to another magical year of dreams and inspiration!

Princess Audrey Becomes the Queen of Mean in Descendants 3!

It's hard to get excited about something as cringe-worthy as Descendants , which premiered on Disney Channel in 2015 as a blatant ripoff of Mattel's Ever After High. It was followed up with an even more cringe-worthy sequel in 2017 that barely had any semblance of a plot. These movies seemed like an easy cash-grab to show off the singing and dancing talents of various Disney Channel teens by turning them into rebellious offspring of classic animated Disney characters who jump around in leather '90s grunge and brightly colored hair. They focused mainly on the villains' kids, with the cliché message that you shouldn't judge people by first impressions. That's all well and good, but there weren't many royal children to demonstrate that princesses aren't always sugar sweet either. The only token princess to fill this role was Audrey, the daughter of Princess Aurora from Disney's  Sleeping Beauty . Instead of being polite and loving, Audrey comes off as a spoiled and entitled brat, likely as a result of being raised by someone who got everything she wanted in the end. While this would have made for a great reversal of the common princess trope, Audrey was usually left in the background until Descendants 3 premiered his weekend.


"Audrey's Royal Return" was a promotional short that came out a few weeks before the premiere of Descendants 3 that featured Princess Audrey recounting the events of the previous two movies while receiving a full Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique-style princess makeover treatment. She emerges with killer pink and blue highlights in her hair and a modern-day version of Aurora's pink dress with pants underneath. "Ben's going to be sorry he ever let this go," she says, referencing how Prince Ben, the son of Belle and Beast, dumped her without a second thought in the first Descendants movie for Mal, the daughter of Maleficent and series protagonist. This promo video was a great refresher of what happened so far without all the cringe-worthy pop dance numbers as well as a hint of what was to come in the new sequel. No longer was Audrey going to prick her finger on the spindle of fate like her mother did before her. This princess was ready to fight back.

Fortunately for us, Descendants 3 was true to its promise to unleash Audrey's wrath as the movie's biggest foe. For the first time since the series began, actress

The concept of good princesses turning bad after being scorned in love is not particularly common as far as Disney movies go. Even Anna from Frozen  was hurt but not angered by Hans' betrayal. Audrey's behavior is more reminiscent of Emily from Corpse Bride, which was produced by Warner Brothers, not Disney, than it was of a traditional Disney villain. This movie worked so much better than the first two because it's something that was a long time coming and should have been addressed much earlier. In the original Descendants, we're just supposed to go along with Ben dumping Audrey with it because Mal is the main character, even though she tricked Ben with a love spell. We're never given a real reason why Ben was with Audrey or why he chose Mal over her. Of course, Audrey doesn't take it very well and comes off as a bit of a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, but who wouldn't after getting dumped for the daughter of their mother's worst enemy? Audrey was long overdue for a revenge scheme.

I hope that Descendants 3 will be the last movie in the Descendants line so Disney can be respectful to the late , who played Carlos, one of the four main villain kids, and had a nice tribute video at the end of Descendants 3. However, I wish that the story addressed in this movie had taken place at from very beginning to eliminate the need for sequels. Audrey had been pushed aside like yesterday's meatloaf and yet had nothing to say about it until now. This movie worked better than the other two because it was the only one that actually made sense. If we shouldn't judge villain kids as evil, then we shouldn't judge princess kids before getting to know them either. You never know if there's another Queen of Mean just waiting to happen.

Review: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power - Season 3

I have some good news and some bad news about the third season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Remember how I said this would only be six episodes long if it got split from the first half of the second season? It turns out that it was. That's the bad news. The good news is that this season is everything that season 2 was not. There is no filler or cheap laughs. The season is an action-packed rush of story and character development, even if that means sacrificing screen time for many of the lesser princesses. Every episode is filled with raw emotion and suspense that had me on the edge of my seat until the very end. If you were disappointed with the last set of episodes, this one will restore your faith in the series tenfold.


The third season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power revolves around Hordak's latest scheme to open a portal that would let countless Horde soldiers into Etheria to commence their wicked takeover. However, things don't go quite as planned when both Adora and Entrapta learn that the portal is dangerously unstable and that opening it would pose an apocalyptic threat to all parties involved. This compels us to care about every character in Etheria no matter what side she is on. Even though the Princess Alliance is generally good and the Horde is generally evil, the good guys don't always make the right decisions, and the bad guys don't always make the wrong ones. On that note, this season made me ship Hordak and Entrapta hard. They are absolutely perfect for each other, and I hope Entrapta stays with the Horde now just so she can be with Hordak even though I intially wanted her to go back to the other princesses after what happened during the first season.

This season reveals a little more about She-Ra's backstory through Mara, the last girl to transform into She-Ra before Adora found the sword. Adora learns that she was born in another world and came to the Horde through a portal--the very same portal that Mara sealed to save Etheria. We don't learn what the name of that world was, however, which opens the possibility that Adora still might be He-Man's twin sister from Eternia, and the writers just don't want to state it explicitly. We also see more of Madame Razz and her absent-minded ramblings that cryptically help Adora. A major theme among these six episodes is that history repeats itself. There's the obvious example of Adora needing to seal the portal and save everyone the same way that Mara did before her, but there are also more betrayals from characters that have a history of struggling to choose sides and as well as an explanation of why Hordak is so angry all the time.

Without a doubt, the biggest player in She-Ra's third season was actually Catra, not Adora. Catra makes it very clear that she knows how to wield power and will not let anything get between her and what she wants. Not even Scorpia's undying adoration for her can save Catra from her own inner demons. We saw the seeds of Catra's jealousy from the very beginning when Shadow Weaver made it clear that she would always choose Adora over her. In the new season, that jealousy takes an ugly turn that transforms Catra into an unstoppable super-villain that exceeds even the likes of Hordak's treachery. She is so fully consumed by jealousy that she refuses to consider the long-term consequences of her actions as long as they hurt Adora in the short-term. I'd like to say she's beyond the point of redemption, but this season has had so many twists and turns in terms of which characters are on which side that we should never take anything at face value.

I wish these episodes had been released at the same thing as the second season because they redeemed all of its episodic nonsense and fluff. For the first time since the show premiered, I'm getting a real feel for what the writers wanted to do with it, which is something different from its predecessor in the '80s. Instead of being a black and white superhero show about good vs. evil, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is a story about people who each struggle with their own inner demons and need to make decisions based on what they feel works best for their current situation. Sometimes those decisions mean helping the ones they hate. Other times, it means putting everyone they know in danger in exchange for a brief sense of euphoria. No matter what happens, we can empathize with their intent, and that's what makes the writing behind this show so brilliant.