Lisa Dawn's Blog: The Princess Blog, page 76

Tangled and Frozen Are Coming to Tokyo DisneySea!

There was a big announcement made earlier today that Tokyo DisneySea, my favorite theme park in the whole world, is getting a big expansion that will include life-sized replicas of locations from Tangled, Frozen, and Peter Pan! This is a huge deal. If you've never been to Tokyo DisneySea, you might not realize the scope of such an announcement. Essentially, Tokyo DisneySea is paradise on Earth. Everything they build looks both natural and magical at the same time. Even the Fantasyland expansion at Walt Disney World from five years ago doesn't compare to this. It was pretty amazing that they built facades of the castles from The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast along with some of Belle's village, but they were still just facades. Tokyo doesn't do facades. They either go big or go home.


This incredible themed port is expected to be completed by 2022. It is reported to be the largest expansion to Tokyo DisneySea ever and will include Arendelle Castle, Rapunzel's Tower, the Snuggly Duckling Restaurant, Pixie Hollow, and more. The lands will also feature new rides. The Frozen ride sounds pretty similar to "Frozen Ever After," which is currently in the Norway pavilion in Epcot, but the Tangled ride is the one that's the most exciting. Guests will go on a romantic gondola trip through the "At Last I See the Light" sequence from the movie to experience Rapunzel's best day ever, complete with floating lanterns. Can we say "best ride ever?" The Peter Pan area will have a new Pixie Hollow attraction for all the fairy fans out there. It will allow guests to shrink down to pixie size and see where Tinker Bell and her friends from the Disney Faries series live and work.


I know this concept art looks amazing, but if you're thinking it's just a bunch of statues and structure, you've probably never actually been to Tokyo DisneySea. When I went there in 2010 with some online friends, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Their Mermaid Lagoon area takes you under the sea to a fully immersive experience of "swimming" through an enormous replica of Atlantica that's completely to scale. My friends and I had a blast walking through Ariel's Grotto and being able to see and touch all of her gadgets and gizmos. There was even a life-sized statue of Prince Eric that Walt Disney World built years later at their Art of Animation Resort. Even minute details like the lighting at Mermaid Lagoon makes you feel as if you are underwater gliding through the dimness of the seafloor as shimmers of light reflect down from the surface above you. Tokyo DisneySea also features some beautiful architecture inspired by the land of Agrabah from Aladdin.




I was also enthralled by the amazing water shows that were like nothing I had ever seen before. The floats contained massive sculptures of dragons, griffons, and other mythological creatures with bright colors and intricate patterns as the characters waved down from them. The boats from Fantasmic have nothing on this. Other sections of the park felt very technological and futuristic and were all tied together by the nautical theme. Even after experiencing New Fantasyland at Walt Disney World in 2013, Mermaid Lagoon at Tokyo DisneySea is my favorite place in the whole world. Walt Disney World's new castle facades just can't compare to the realistic structures, gardens, and fantasy-themed walkthroughs hidden within Tokyo's amazing park.

Princesses are most definitely taking over all the theme parks, and I have no problem with that. It's wonderful to know that there are so many places you can go today to fully immerse yourself in an interactive fairy tale experience. My childhood dreams have fully evolved into a reality that I had no idea I would one day be living in. I don't think I'll be traveling back to Tokyo any time soon, but just knowing that all of this is in the works makes me happy beyond words. One day, I would love to go on Rapunzel's boat ride and experience the festival of the floating lanterns firsthand. In the meantime, I still have all my beautiful memories of when I discovered mermaid heaven on Earth.

Live-Action Little Mermaid Movie News

In my "Little Mermaid" origins post, I mentioned that there were three live-action movies in the works based on the beloved Hans Christian Andersen tale. Since then, a few announcements have been made about all three of these movies. One of them has a theatrical release date, and it's sooner than you might think. The circus-themed indie movie that's had a trailer out for several years now is coming to select AMC theaters on August 17th. That's in two months! I wish I could be more excited about it, but the plot looks a lot closer to the 2006 tongue-in-cheek teen mermaid movie Aquamarine  than the fairy tale that it's named after. The trailer focuses on how a little girl's belief in mermaids has the potential to save the aquatic heroine who is held captive in a tank at a carnival. I've been feeling indifferent about this adaptation ever since the first trailer was released, but it's nice to know that I will have the option to see it on the big screen very soon.


Then, of course, there's the Disney live-action remake cash cow version, which has been on the backburner for almost as long as the indie one. Around this time last year, Disney announced that they had hired
Not only do I disagree that considering all actors who audition for a role is controversial, but I also think it's a silly thing to make an announcement about it at all. Yes, I want to find out who they cast in the lead roles when the time comes, but right now they're just stirring up intrigue over nothing. After all, auditions are for anyone who wants the part. They can't discriminate before they've even looked at their options. Ariel is my favorite Disney character, and I don't care what sort of background the actress who plays her has as long as she can sing. That was the biggest problem with their Beauty and the Beast remake. Emma Watson was obviously autotuned throughout the whole movie, and they added mediocre new melodies like "Days in the Sun" in lieu of the beautiful Broadway number "Home" because Emma would not have been able to handle it.

Some popular casting rumors that have been flying around lately for Ariel include
The final piece of the puzzle is the Universal Studios production that was supposed to star and be directed by . Last year, both Chloe and Sofia bailed on the production. Once again, a full year has passed, and they still have not been replaced yet. That's a pretty telling sign that this movie is probably not going to happen. Sofia Coppola claimed that the movie became too large scale, rejecting her ideas to film underwater and making it more about a business venture than art. If that's true, it's possible that Universal realized they wouldn't be able to compete with Disney, who announced that they were working a production of the fairy a little after Universal did. Perhaps they're planning on waiting until a few years after Disney's movie comes out so they can build an adequate level of hype for their own, whenever that might be.

New Princesses of Heart in Kingdom Hearts III

The internet has been buzzing about Kingdom Hearts III finally getting a release date after fifteen long years of anticipation. Unless it gets delayed again, we will be able to catch up with Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they travel through the realms of various Disney movies on January 29th, 2019. There have been a couple of trailers dropped over the last few days revealing footage from Frozen, Tangled, Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Hercules, and Pirates of the Caribbean. For me, the biggest announcement came from the latter half of last night's trailer in which Larxene of Organization XIII remarked that Elsa might be one of the new seven pure hearts that they needed for their latest quest. Anyone who has played the first game knows that this is a reference to the Princesses of Heart, a select group of Disney Princesses who had their chance to become video game royalty when they got captured by Maleficent in an attempt to use their pure hearts to open the Door to Darkness. My biggest pet peeve about the Princesses of Heart from the first game was that Ariel was not included, despite being a playable character in the game. Instead, Alice took her place, and the team was rounded out by Kairi, Sora's childhood companion from the beginning of the game. If there are seven more Princesses of Heart in the upcoming sequel, maybe Ariel will finally get a chance to be included alongside other Disney Princesses whose movies did not exist yet when the first game came out.



So far, three Disney Princesses have been confirmed for Kingdom Hearts III and are the most likely candidates for the new Princesses of Heart. They would be Anna, Elsa, and Rapunzel. It's pretty clear from the trailers that Arendelle and Corona are going to be two of the new worlds in Kingdom Hearts III. Elsa was shown using ice magic to defeat a Heartless in a recent trailer, but there's no evidence yet that she will be a playable character alongside Sora even though it seems pretty likely. Sora was also shown interacting with Anna, Olaf, and Kristoff in a different part of Arendelle. It looks like there's a good chance he will be joining Anna on her quest to bring her sister home from the ice palace. Rapunzel, on the other hand, was clearly portrayed as a playable character. She was shown carrying Sora over large pitfalls in the woods by using her hair as a lasso on nearby trees, similar to the vine swinging levels of Tarzan's world in the first game. Eugene and Maximus were shown briefly in the scene where Rapunzel gets her hair braided with beautiful flowers in the village square and sees a mural of herself as a baby with the queen and king. The level of detail in this scene rivals the animation from the original film. I love how they took the time to include every little flower braided into her hair.



Now we know that at least two of the worlds from the upcoming sequel will be princess worlds that are new to Sora and his friends. Since Hercules is coming back from the previous games, there's a possibility that Ariel will be as well. She was already in both of last two Kingdom Hearts games, though in the second game, her level was basically just a sing-along. Even though there's no evidence of Atlantica coming back as a playable level, an earlier trailer for Kingdom Hearts III revealed an image of Sora summoning Ariel in a battle where she appears as a translucent spirit-like being made of water. While it's possible that she is in the game as a battle summon in lieu of being able to visit her world, I will keep my fingers crossed that this happens after she is rescued from Organization XIII with the new Princesses of Heart and that she allows Sora to call on her in battle as her way of thanking him.


Kairi is also returning in this game with a new outfit and haircut that she showed off in the most recent trailer. The biggest copout of the secret ending in Kingdom Hearts II is that Kairi revealed a beautiful keyblade that matched Sora's covered in little metal flowers and claimed that this time, she would fight too. She then proceeded to do absolutely nothing, allowing Sora and his other childhood companion, Riku (who was also pictured briefly in the new trailer), to gain all the credit for their victory. What I would love to see in Kingdom Hearts III is Kairi having a chance to legitimately use her new weapon and show off some unique skills as a former Princess of Heart. She probably won't be the seventh princess again since the pure hearts in this game are new, but perhaps Naminé, Kairi's nobody who was played a large role in the Chain of Memories spin-off, will be revealed as the seventh Princess of Heart. Of course, even if Anna, Elsa, Rapunzel, Ariel, and Naminé are all Princesses of Heart in this game, that leaves two more slots to complete the seven. I'm drawing a blank for the rest, myself, but I'm open theories and am eager to play the game next January to find out for sure.


It's been so long since the last official Kingdom Hearts game that it began to feel like Kingdom Hearts III was just a beautiful myth. I'm glad to see that it's finally coming to fruition and very excited to experience it next year. The story has become a little convoluted because of all the spin-offs that were released during the interim, but hopefully, the new game will clear everything up from the fifteen-year gap. I'm also really happy that they are introducing new Princesses of Heart, since that was my favorite part of the original.

Disabled Princesses

Today's post is sponsored by my good friend Kae-Leah Williamson, Royal Purple Mermaid Princess, who contributed to the Tiara Tier on my Patreon account. If you have a suggestion for a future post, feel free to click the link to contribute. Kae-Leah chose disabled princesses for her topic, one that tends to get a lot less love than it should. In the surprise cult hit Netflix movie, A Christmas Prince , a journalist named Amber goes undercover as the tutor of Princess Emily, a little girl with a condition that makes her unable to walk on her own. "I know what you're thinking," says Emily, sizing up Amber's reaction to her condition, "Poor little rich girl. That's what they all say." In the most stereotypical response ever, Amber replies "No, I was thinking brave little girl." That was a nice try to be sentimental on Netflix's part, but having a disability does not make a person any more or less brave just for waking up in the morning and going through the motions of each day.


Of course, A Christmas Prince was not exactly known for its ground-breaking script. The fact that it has a disabled princess in it at all is still a point in its favor. Today's world is more diverse than it has ever been, and that is something that gets reflected in the stories we see on screen. Princess culture should be empowering for all types of girls. Having a fictional princess to relate to makes us feel special and important. Princesses often have disabled friends, but there are very few examples of leading ladies with disabilities, and that is probably due to the fact that most writers do not have enough experience with it to be able to write about it in a consistently believable way. Fortunately, Sofia the First writer
Princess Cassandra is legitimately brave, but not because she lives without eyesight. She is an "archaeomagicalogist" who explores ancient caves, using her other senses like hearing and smell to detect traps and feeling hieroglyphic carvings on the walls so she can read them like brail. My friend Lauren who runs the Spirit of Avalor podcast on YouTube recently did a fantastic interview with Matt Hoverman about this episode in which she expressed how happy she was to have a visually impaired character who wasn't portrayed as overly fragile with no other defining qualities. In fact, Cassandra's blindness was so irrelevant that her pen pal, Princess Zooey, did not even know about it until she met her in person. She had an entire career and personality outside of her disability. Even though it was a part of who she was, it was not the most important or interesting part. That's how I personally feel about people I know with disabilities. It's just another one of their quirks, but it does not define them. When we're young, though, things like that can feel like it's the only thing people see, even if that's not actually the case. That's why princesses like Cassandra are important to show little girls that there's much more to who they are than just their disability.

The first disabled character I remember seeing on a princess show is Gabriella from The Little Mermaid animated series. Gabriella's character design was based on a real little girl named Gabriella Angelina Bommino who died of leukemia before the episode aired. Gabriella was a huge fan of the show and would have loved to see herself become friends with Ariel if she had lived longer. The character they created in her image was a deaf mermaid with an octopus friend named Ollie who acted as her interpreter. The series was big on teaching tolerance and was all about Ariel befriending outcasts in the sea who felt as though they didn't belong, foreshadowing her desire to be part of another world. That's why it made perfect sense that Ariel would befriend a mermaid who wasn't able to sing like the rest. It did a wonderful job of teaching little girls not to treat people with disabilities any differently from anyone else. Between Gabriella's octopus translator and Princess Cassandra's seeing-eye lemur, it seems like giving a disabled princess her own show or movie would also include some fantastic animal sidekicks.

I recently rewatched Quest for Camelot, a 1998 Warner Brothers animated film about a girl who wants to be a knight and falls in love with a blind man who uses his other senses to navigate a fearsome forest. The movie had its charms but was mostly forgotten over the years. Garrett was the closest thing we've had to a blind prince, and he was one of the best things about Quest for Camelot. Like Cassandra, he was brave and adventuresome. If we had more characters like that in our fairy tales, it would put a lot of young girls' insecurities to rest and show them that they are just as beautiful and important as any other princess.

Review: Magic at Midnight

Fellow author Lyssa Chiavari, who helped me with my book relaunch, recently released a YA fairy tale anthology called Magic at Midnight  containing various fairy tale adaptations by her and other authors from Snowy Wings Publishing. Generally, anthologies tend to be a mixed bag. I know some other authors that I follow have contributed to fairy tale anthologies, but I mostly avoid them because I worry I might not like all of the stories if I'm not familiar with most of the contributors. Despite having a multitude of authors, Magic at Midnight was fairly consistent in tone, but I was surprised to learn that the tone was very different from the fantasy image portrayed on the cover of a young woman in a ballgown running into the sunset. Instead, nearly all of the stories contained elements of sci-fi or horror, which is not usually my cup of tea, although I do enjoy my fair share of sci-fi if I'm in the right mood. I am of the personal opinion that princesses do not mix well with vampires or werewolves, but I didn't mind the stories involving robots as much. Those stories would be considered steampunk since they combined modern technology with old-fashioned customs, but I'm far from an expert on steampunk, myself.


I think Magic at Midnight would be a good book for princess fans to read around Halloween season because many of the supernatural beings and chilling surprise endings had more of a horror than a fairy tale feel to them. It never got too graphic, but the concepts portrayed in the stories were often disturbing enough that it was difficult to read more than one tale in a single sitting. I'd like to see Snowy Wings Publishing release a horror anthology in October by the same authors because I think that would work a lot better. Some of the stories in this book bore hardly any resemblance to their intended fairy tales, such as Rapunzel with vampires, Red Riding Hood becoming a werewolf for the umpteenth time in a modern adaptation, or the LGBT "Little Mermaid" unrequited romance that had no mention of mermaids and read more like an original short story. Most of my favorites were the ones that stayed closer to their roots, such as the story based on "The Goose Girl," which essentially told the same fairy tale with robots or the one based on "The Pied Piper," which gave an emotional recount of the classic story, presenting the titular character as an antihero being interviewed by a young lawyer.

In general, I tend to stray away from the horror genre, but I have nothing against science fiction. For that reason, I enjoyed the stories that I refer to as "steampunk." Lyssa Chiavari's "CinderellA.I." presented a futuristic Disneyland-like setting in which the animatronics who put on shows for the guests are sentient and begin to question their purpose. I also enjoyed "The Forest of Carterhaugh" by Karissa Laurel about a crippled teen who escaped her insecurities by playing a virtual reality video game that made her feel empowered. "Leo 6" by Melanie McFarlane was another emotional sci-fi drama about a girl who would do anything to save her sister. I would have preferred the story without the "Rumpelstiltskin" reference because it was so vague and unnecessary. "Dance of Deception" by Clara Kensie was an interesting take on "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" with an X-Men style twist. Another one I really liked was "The False Nightingale" by Mary Fan since Hans Christian Andersen's "The Nightingale" already had a robot in it, so it wasn't much of a stretch to make the story more sci-fi. The characters felt very real to me in Mary Fan's version, and I loved how it ended.

Overall, I think that the cover of Magic at Midnight is a bit misleading. It's more of a sci-fi and horror anthology with slight fairy tale influences than it is an actual book of fairy tales. If you're into sci-fi and horror, you should definitely check it out. If you're more of a fairy tale princess lover like me, it would be better to wait until October when you're in the Halloween spirit. It's not a fast read. Some of the stories are mildly disturbing or emotionally heavy. For the best enjoyment, I would recommend only reading one story a day instead of trying to finish it quickly like I did.

Cosplaying at the Broadway Princess Party

Some of you may recall reading about my experiences at the Broadway Princess Party last December at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa. The show has picked up a lot of momentum since then. It now has a pages on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. They have also extended their tour to even more venues across the country than ever. I didn't have a dire need to see the show again, but it was hard to resist when I learned that it was coming a local venue at half the price and encouraging cosplay with the incentive of prizes. Last night, I donned my Sofia the First dress, amulet, and tiara and headed out to Hollywood Improv to meet with a friend and see how the show has changed over the past few months.


The same three princesses were starring in the event as before--Laura Osnes, who headlined the revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella on Broadway, Susan Egan, who originated the role of Belle on Broadway and did the voice of Megara in Disney's Hercules , and Courtney Reed, who I saw perform as Jasmine when the Aladdin show went on tour in February. Benjamin Rauhala, the "Fairy Godfairy" who came up with the idea for the Broadway Princess Party, was just as vibrant as ever, backing up the girls on the piano. They sang most of the same songs and told the same stories as the last time I saw the show, but this time they did not change outfits into various evening gowns every few minutes. Their matching dresses in different colors were a nice fit for the show, but I did miss the glitz of the Costa Mesa version just a bit, especially the part when Laura Osnes used a balcony to pretend to be Rapunzel in her tower, which she wasn't able to do at this smaller venue.




I was particularly excited for the special guest at this show,

Cosplaying as Sofia the First turned out to be a struggle for me. I had a lot more trouble fitting into the dress than I did a couple of years ago when I made it. Apparently, the rumor that getting married causes people to put on weight is true! Due to the way we were seated, it was also very difficult for me to turn around get my food and drink from the table because my dress was so big at the bottom and tight at the top. I was rewarded for my efforts later, but not in the way I expected. When I saw the show in Costa Mesa, Laura Osnes asked everyone who dressed up to stand, and hardly anyone did. This time, like Ariel, I was ready to stand, but the request never happened. Instead, Susan Egan went around the room handing out prizes to people who were celebrating special occasions. She asked if anyone was there to celebrate a birthday, and so many people responded that she joked about them lying, but she didn't mind and gave them prizes anyway. After that, I suppose they had just about run out of prizes. Susan pointed out that she saw three princesses in my section and gave a prize to two energetic little girls who had come in costume. I was not specifically called out for my costume at any point during the show, which made me begin to regret attending in something so big and uncomfortable. Everyone else my age who dressed up was wearing more casual outfits that slightly resembled the princesses they portrayed, which is known as DisneyBounding.


After the show, we were invited to attend a popup shop outside where they were selling event merchandise, many of which was new from the last time I saw the show. The actresses' CDs and signed lithographs were still there along with Courtney Reed's choker designs, but now there were also t-shirts, mugs, and tote bags. The three princesses did not come out to sell them and meet everyone like they did in Costa Mesa. Instead, Adam Levy, the show's permanent guest prince, was trying to run the digital register and struggling with it humorously. I got a picture with him and was ready to leave when a young blonde girl approached me to comment on my costume. She looked a little familiar from some interviews I'd seen online, but I'm terrible with faces, so I didn't want to guess. As it turned out, she was none other than

The changes they made to the Broadway Princess Party since the last time I saw it turned out to be pretty minor. They talked about current events a little, such as the Royal Wedding, but aside from a new special guest and small prizes, it turned out to be pretty much the same show. Cosplaying did not improve my enjoyment, and I actually began to feel a little silly wearing such a big dress while trying to eat the food we were required to order for attending a show at Hollywood Improv. I wish I had a moment to stand up and show off my costume to the actresses and guests, but it all turned out to be worth it later when I met Darcy. That never would have happened if I hadn't dressed up. I don't think I will be seeing the Broadway Princess Party a third time if it comes back to town, but I do think it's worth seeing once for the princess in all of us.

Wreck-It Ralph 2 Trailer Analysis

If you're one of the five people on Earth who still hasn't seen the new Wreck-It Ralph 2 trailer that dropped this morning, I'm here to break it down for you. The trailer featured roughly the first half of a scene in which all of the living voice actresses for the Disney Princesses reprised their roles as Vanellope snuck into their secret internet headquarters that was presented at the D23 Expo last year. A screenshot released last week previewed the scene with Ariel missing, but now we see that she was just off-screen combing her hair with her favorite dinglehopper in a blinged out version of pink tea dress along with lots more animation of other the princesses in their oddly disproportionate new CGI style animation. Let's take a look.



For starters, it's a bit odd how Ariel and Cinderella have swapped the levels of bling on their ballgowns. In the 1950 animated movie, Cinderella's dress appeared to have made from a lightweight silvery-white fabric emblazoned with pixie dust. The amount of sparkle was very impressive for the time period since there was no way to add particle effects or textures by computer. Conversely, Ariel only wore a sparkly dress at the very end of The Little Mermaid when she emerged from the water in the anachronistic blue dress that her father gave her during her final transformation sequence. Maybe Disney thought that adding sparkles to her pink dress in this version would be reminiscent of the scales on her tail since she might not be as easily recognizable her in human form.


On the subject of recognizability, let's jump back to Cinderella for a moment. Pictured above, we have an image of three angry-looking princesses from the Wreck-It Ralph sequel juxtaposed with an image of three sassy princesses from the yet-to-be-released princess parody movie, Charming . Both images have a "Charlie's Angels" feel to them and feature Cinderella up front and center because she is the quintessential princess. Their sassy riled up expressions are a sign of the decline of feminity in modern times. The two Cinderellas both have a solid blue dress with blonde hair swept up in a modern bun. This is to make the character recognizable to a broader audience. Even though this is the image most people recognize as Cinderella today, it is not what she looked like in 1950. One of the biggest issues that Disney Princess fans have is how much Cinderella's image has been altered over years compared with the other princesses' modern redesigns.
The picture on the left portrays what Cinderella looked like in 1950. She had light auburn hair in a '50s "victory roll" inspired updo and a white dress that was dripping with glitter. With the popularity of the Barbie franchise, Cinderella's hair became lighter and her dress became darker. over time. Next, we have a CGI image of Cinderella from the show Sofia the First. In this version, her coloring looks closer to what it is today, but her hair is at least a shade closer to auburn than in the Wreck-It Ralph 2 trailer, and her dress does have a bit more of a silvery tint to it. This is the closest thing we have to happy medium between the original look and modern-day look of the character. Finally, the image on the right compares how the new Disney Princess Hasbro dolls to the now discontinued Mattel dolls. The modern versions are shorter and have larger heads that are disproportionate to their smaller bodies. These Hasbro doll proportions seem to have inspired the look of the Wreck-It Ralph princesses, who also have larger heads and smaller bodies than they did in their movies. Personally, I think that the Sofia the First look is the best compromise for transferring the princesses to a computer format, as they look far more screen accurate than the bug-eyed look from the trailer.




Alongside the release of the trailer, Disney also posted close-ups of the new designs for the princesses on all of their respective Facebook pages. In these images, we can see their realistically rendered hair and long fake-looking eyelashes. Tiana and Mulan appear to be the only ones who aren't suffering from what I will hereby refer to as "Fake Eyelash Syndrome." Rapunzel is wearing quite a bit more makeup than she was in her movie, which I don't think was entirely necessary. Merida's Pixar-like features have been exaggerated to accentuate the fact that she's from "the other studio," which is why no one can understand her when she speaks in this scene. Of all the conversions from hand-drawn animation to CGI, I think Tiana and Mulan's faces came out looking the most screen accurate. Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora look way too goofy and exaggerated, but I suppose that was meant to go along with the humor of the scene. Jasmine's outfit has extra bling and a split overskirt to match her new look from the current Disney Princess supply of stock art. I'm glad the new theme park dress hasn't taken over since it looks nothing like what she wore in the movie.

Overall, there are things I like and things I don't like about the new designs for the princesses. They all have fantastic hair, but many of their features got distorted to create a comedic uniform look that matches the tone of the scene. I think the older princesses suffered the most from this transformation because their looks have already evolved so much in Disney Princess stock art over the years that their CGI models aren't even based on their original designs. Of course, with all the original voice artists involved, they all least sound fantastic. I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the scene play out in theaters in November.

Review: Crown of Ice

My friend who helped me with my book relaunch yesterday also referred me to some wonderful princess stories that Snowy Wings Publishing distributes. The first one I chose to read was Crown of Ice  by Vicki Weavil because I was burnt out on Disney's Frozen and eager to read a more faithful adaptation of "The Snow Queen." Crown of Ice delivered exactly what I was hoping for. It gave me a new twist on a classic tale while still remaining true to the essence of the story. The characters were rich and full of life, and the book had lots of suspense on every page.


Crown of Ice is the first book in a trilogy called The Mirror of Immortality. From what I've read so far, the trilogy is off to a very strong start. This book is told from the perspective of Thyra Winther, more commonly known as the Snow Queen. Instead of making her another trite misunderstood heroine, Thyra begins as an antihero who is fully aware that her intentions are not pure. She lies and manipulates shamelessly with the intention of preserving her own life. Yet, it is impossible to hate her. That is because in spite of all of her power, she is still a victim. The true villain of the story, Mael Voss, is a sorcerer who transforms innocent human girls into Snow Queens and forces them to assemble the shards of a broken mirror, a clever call-back to the original fairy tale. If a Snow Queen fails to perform her task in time, she is transformed into a wraith, a pitiful creature who loses her body and mind and feels only pain.

Gerda and Kai, the main characters in the original "Snow Queen" also play a large role in this story. Since the Hans Christian Andersen version was told from Gerda's perspective, it makes sense that it would appear as though the Snow Queen seduced Kai to convince him to stay in her castle. In Crown of Ice, we learn that Kai was genuinely impressed by Thyra's ability to solve mathematical equations as well as he can. She finds his skills to be a great asset when it comes to piecing the mirror back together, which is why she brings him to the palace. If they can work together, she knows that she can solve the puzzle of the mirror in time.

What makes Thyra work as the main character is that she isn't the evilest person in the book. The true villain is Mael Voss, who holds her captive along with countless other girls who have turned into wraiths and haunt the corridors of the palace in a way that reminds me of Ursula's garden from The Little Mermaid. As much as Thyra lies and manipulates to get what she wants, Mael Voss does so tenfold. In the end. Thyra's hatred for him is also part of her motivation to become a better person. Even though she wants to stop Gerda from taking Kai away from her before they fix the mirror, she has no desire to hurt her and adamantly protects her in whatever way she can.

Since Thyra is more of a neutral character, Mael Voss's wickedness is balanced by a good sorceress named Sephia. Sephia came about from the old witch in the fairy tale who tried to keep Gerda living with her forever, using the flowers in her garden to hypnotize her to forget about Kai. It's interesting how this book takes the basics of each character from the fairy tale and expands on them to give them more depth. I loved that there was a good sorceress to counter the cold and deadly powers of the Snow Queen and Mael Voss.

If you're looking for a strong adaptation of "The Snow Queen" that contains realistic characters and unexpected twists, look no further than Crown of Ice by Vicki Weavil. I enjoyed this book far more than I was expecting to. Even though Thyra Winther appears to be an evil queen at first, she soon blossoms into a good princess. Through it all, her motivations are completely understandable because no one would want to be a miserable wraith like the ones described in this book. I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing Thyra's story and loved that Gerda and Kai remained true to their essence from the fairy tale as well.

Story Saturday: Book Relaunch!

Instead of bringing you a new short story this Saturday, I am celebrating over 500 likes on my Facebook page with a relaunch of all the novels I wrote! The covers have been completely redesigned using stock images and Photoshop. I have also lowered the prices for all the Kindle versions. This weekend only, I have a special promotion happening in which the first book I ever wrote, Elf Princess Roweena , and my poetry anthology, Castle , are completely free! You can find the complete list on my Amazon page.


I was inspired to do this relaunch by fellow author Lyssa Chiavari of Snowy Wings Publishing who created the new cover for Elf Princess Roweena. She referred me to some resources about indie publishing, and I realized how much self-publishing has changed since I wrote my last book, Blood Red , back in 2013. It's a lot easier to market yourself as a writer now thanks to Kindle Direct Publishing and other online marketing resources. Since I will be working on my screenwriting again at UCLA's online program very soon with The Stolen Jewel , I thought now would be a good time to breathe new life back into my old prose. Below is a brief history of my experiences writing these books.


Elf Princess Roweena was my senior project at Ramapo College. I was studying screenwriting there, so very little has changed since then as far as my career goals. The Advanced Writing Projects class I took strongly encouraged students to graduate with a full-length novel under their belt. I initially wanted to write the story as an animated series to follow another series I had been working on called The Legacy of Hope and Love. However, my teacher was very particular about her preference toward prose, so Elf Princess Roweena became my first novella. The serial format is still present as it is the only book I've written that is divided into five distinctive parts that would have been five episodes of the series. It's the story of a headstrong elf princess who lives in a kingdom of lush trees protected by pixies. When the wicked gremlins begin destroying their land and killing pixies in the process, Roweena runs away to protect her kingdom. Things get a bit more complicated when she begins to fall for Keenan, the son of the gremlin leader. Elf Princess Roweena is free on Amazon Kindle this weekend only.


Of Land and Sea  is an adaptation I wrote of my favorite fairy tale, "The Little Mermaid." I wrote it as a pet project after I graduated college in an attempt to keep up my writing. The concept of the role reversal from the Broadway show Wicked inspired me to tell the story of the misunderstood princess who married the price that the little mermaid had sacrificed herself for. I developed the story of Helena of Kamdren around Hans Christian Andersen's background and philosophies, using anagrams for "Denmark" and "Copenhagen" as the names of the two kingdoms in the book. The religious perspectives I wrote about do not reflect my personal views but were kept in tribute to the original storyteller. The second half of the book focuses on what it means when the little mermaid becomes a "Daughter of the Air," something that is glossed over in most other adaptations of the story. Some versions say she simply died and turned to seafoam, and others say she went to Heaven. Hans Christian Andersen's tale ends with her watching over children as they perform good deeds for 300 years before she can earn her soul, so I decided that was a new story waiting to happen.


Castle (and oher poems about growing up in a fairy tale world)  was my experimental poetry anthology. I went through a lot of powerful emotions in a short period of time while I was living in Florida. I also sent a great deal of time staring at a very iconic castle and trying to decode its literal and existential meaning. As a result, this book of poems about fantasy, love, and reality poured out of my psyche into a small black book that I carried around with me everywhere for whenever inspiration struck. The writing was transcribed into this unique anthology of poems about what it means to grow up and lose your innocence while still loving fairy tales and wanting to believe they can come true. Castle is available for free on Amazon Kindle this weekend only.


Most Wanted Knight  was my attempt at a junior romance novel, also known as "clean" romance. It takes place in the same extended universe as Of Land and Sea and alternates between the perspectives of a renegade knight and a rebel lady-in-waiting. The imagery and setting were heavily inspired by Taylor Swift's music video for "Love Story," which had just come out at the time. I also wanted to make a book for girls with a strong male lead because that's not something you see very often in fairy tales. I tried to pour as much suspense into it as possible because reading is all about escapism and enhanced reality.


Rebirth: A Faery's Tale  was my coping mechanism for getting over a difficult breakup. I wanted to use the idea of a faery made of flames who couldn't touch a human without hurting him as a metaphor for a toxic relationship. It was also going to be my first illustrated novel, but sadly, my illustrator opted out after some unfortunate experiences with licensing. The intent of the illustrations inspired me to include a lot more imagery in the book than my previous ones contained. I love the idea that fire is always changing its shape and can never be contained and that water, which is usually associated with healing properties, is toxic to someone made of flames. It was extremely enjoyable for me to develop the world of faeries and their perspectives toward the humans who are completely oblivious to their presence. When I joined a screenwriting group a few years later, I developed the novel into a feature-length screenplay.


Blood Red  was the last book I wrote nearly five years ago. This book was actually inspired by my anger toward the fact that the 2011 movie Red Riding Hood and ABC's Once Upon a Time took the classic tale of "Little Red Riding Hood" and turned the titular character into a werewolf. The story was never supposed to be about a struggle with dual identity. It was about an innocent girl who wanted to help her grandmother. I wanted to show the world that it was possible to do a new twist on the tale without combining the characters of Red and the wolf. Instead of a little girl, I turned Red into a Hollywood movie star, using my experience as an extra on TV and film sets to enhance the descriptions of her career. When her grandmother's life is threatened by a gang, Red is forced to come to terms with dangerous secrets from her past.

I hope you enjoyed my history with writing prose as well as my two complimentary ebooks this weekend. If it's not too much trouble, kindly leave me a review on Amazon or Goodreads to let me know what you thought of these stories. I learned a lot this week about how the world of self-publishing has changed since I stopped writing prose, and I hope you can benefit from that as well with my new artwork and ebook promotions. Happy reading!

Wreck-It Ralph 2 Photo Analysis (Where's Ariel?)

USA today has finally released an article containing an image of the elusive scene containing all the Disney Princesses from Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet ! This scene was previewed at the D23 Expo last summer and locked up tight ever since. Now that they've finally released a screenshot of it, there appears to be something missing. Ariel, my favorite princess that I was most curious about isn't in the shot. It was pretty clear what all the other princesses were going to be wearing in the movie since they are always portrayed on stock art in their signature looks. Ariel, on the other hand, is a bit of a black sheep when it comes to a signature look. Sometimes she's a mermaid, sometimes she's a human, sometimes she's wearing the pink dress from the movie, and sometimes she's wearing a green dress that was never in any movie. It's just my luck that even after an image of the mysterious scene was finally released, I still don't have an answer to my question! Detailed reports of the scene from D23 claim that Ariel was in human form and eventually put on a t-shirt with the rest of the princesses thanks to Vanellope's interference, but no one seems to know what she was wearing before that.

Let's take a look at what we do have, shall we? As described by the lucky few who previewed the scene in person, all of the Disney Princesses are clearly shocked and appalled to see Vanellope von Schweetz invading their inner sanctum. It's pretty adorable how in this universe, all of the Disney Princesses are friends like in the Pocket Princesses comic and have a place where they can hang out together and relax. Aurora looks nice and cozy on a plush green couch wearing her signature dress in because we don't want anyone to confuse her with Cinderella by wearing blue even though Elsa also wears blue. Belle is kneeling on the floor with what appears to be a hoop skirt holding up her dress, since it's not all puffed out like it would be if she were wearing a tulle crinoline. Those are always fun to sit in when I cosplay. Cinderella is taking Meeko's place of braiding Pocahontas's hair, which would be adorable if Pocahontas didn't look so pissed off at Vanellope. Jasmine is just chilling on Carpet because I guess she got joint ownership of him after marrying Aladdin. She's holding a flower that looks suspiciously like the one Aladdin gave her in the "A Whole New World" sequence, but it can't possibly be same one. That flower must be long wilted by now. The others (minus Ariel) are just chilling in the back of the room.

I love the details of their common room. It looks like it came straight out of a princess meet'n'greet area from one of the Disney Parks. Parts. The entryway reminds me vaguely of the interior of the castle from Frozen, but more pink. The top of each window is decorated with a blue and gold insignia representing each princess who resides in the room. In this picture, I can make out Cinderella's glass slipper, Rapunzel's sun crest, and what I believe is a feather from Pocahontas. Bright sunlight streams in behind each window, providing Belle plenty of light for reading. Even though there are some cozy-looking chairs in the room, there doesn't appear to be enough of them since many of the princesses got stuck standing or sitting on the floor. That's no way to treat a princess!

Since the movies came out at different times with different art styles, the princesses appear to have been given a somewhat uniform look while still remaining true to their individuality. Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora have larger eyes than they were animated with in to match the look of the princesses from the '90s. Anna, Elsa, Moana, and Rapunzel could have easily been uploaded from their original models. They might be a little older than the finalized versions, though, because Rapunzel and Anna's outfits look more like they did in some of the concept art while the movies were still being developed. At that time, Rapunzel's skirt was a darker purple than her corset, and Anna was shown her in copycat "Kiss the Girl" dress without her signature pink cape. It makes sense that they would go back to earlier models of the new characters since they had to upgrade the older ones to CGI. They would have a more consistent look if they meet somewhere in the middle.

I'm so happy I was able to get a glimpse of this scene before November, even though my favorite princess was absent. If I were in Vanellope's place, I would probably sneak into the princess's room too. I would absolutely love to snuggle up on the couch and hang out with all my favorite Disney Princesses. Wreck-It Ralph 2 will be released on November 18, 2018, and I'm eager to see this scene play out in its entirety. Maybe then I will finally have an answer to the burning question: What is Ariel wearing?