Julie Andrews and The Colbert Report

Julie Andrews on The Colbert Report to talk about Princess Week and her new books.

Julie Andrews also sings with Stephen Colbert.



This is fantastic. Thank you Meghan Lima.

Cinderella

Now for the popular favorite... the second official Disney Princess... Cinderella! 

Where do I even begin with this girl?

Cinderella or The Little Glass Slipper was first published in France in 1697 by Charles Perrault but is known throughout many different countries with small twists to each of them. Cinderella continues to influence many modern stories such as A Cinderella Story. Because there are so many different versions, I'm going to stick with the Brothers Grimm version (like I have done for the other princesses).

When Cinderella's mother was dying, she called her to her death bed and asked Cinderella to always remain kind and generous and God would protect her. Cinderella's father after some time, married another woman that had two daughters of her own, like the classic Disney tale, they were all wicked and cruel (...This never ceases to amaze me how dumb the father was to marry into this mess). Cinderella plants a hazel tree at her mothers grave and goes to it three times a day to pray.

One day the King decides to throw a ball for the land, wanting his son to choose a girl to marry. All eligible women are asked to attend. Cinderella begs her stepmother for permission to go and the stepmother threw lentils into the fireplace ashes stating that Cinderella could only attend if she picked them all out within an hour. With help from two white doves, Cinderella accomplishes the task the stepmother quickly rushes out with her two stepdaughters leaving Cinderella weeping. When Cinderella returns to her mothers grave wishing to go, the birds drop a sliver gown and gold shoes (pimped out) down from the tree and assists Cinderella but she must leave before midnight. She goes to the ball and falls in love with the prince.

Cinderella loses track of time and runs out losing a shoe in the process.  The Prince goes on a quest to find her and tries the shoe on her stepsisters feet first. In order for the shoe to fit, one stepsister cuts off her heel and the other cuts off her toe. The prince was only alerted to the trickery by the birds. The prince comes back a third time and Cinderella tries on the shoe and the prince instantly recognizes her (really dude?).  They are soon married and the stepsisters try to gain favor with the prince and new princess but the doves swoop down and peck out their eyes. And they lived Happily Ever After.

Into the Woods (a musical) follows this plot (intertwined with others of course) pretty well in terms of Cinderella.

The Disney version seems to follow Perrault's version (it has a fairy Godmother and such).

Fun Facts:
In the Disney movie: Cinderella's bed sheet has patches, but when the birds fold it, the patches are gone.

Ilene Woods, voice of Cinderella, got her show biz start at age 2 and quit at age 17 when she married and became a mother!

Facts from IMDB and story help from Wikipedia.

Tiana

Oh my word... it's Princess Tiana!

Tiana is the first African-American Disney Princess and is the second official Disney Princess that is American (her story is set in New Orleans, Louisiana).

Tiana getting ready to kiss frog prince Naveen

The Princess and the Frog is based off of The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker published in 2002.  In The Frog Princess there is a clumsy princess who has magical powers and is being forced to marry a stuck up prince. She runs away to a swamp where she meets another prince whom she loves but he is a frog. To change him back, she kisses him but turns into a frog herself.  The two then go on a quest to find the witch who originally put the spell on the prince.  They reverse the spell and live happily ever after.

Original Story

As you may or may not have guessed The Frog Princess is based off of a fairy tale story The Frog Prince by the Brothers Grimm. In this story, a spoiled princess makes friends with a frog who magically transforms into a prince (it's the other way around in The Princess and the Frog). Modern versions say the prince transforms when the princess kisses him but the Brothers Grimm love to make everything gruesome.  The frog actually transforms when the princess throws it against the wall in disgust (a common folkloric trait of undoing shapeshifting magic), other versions say the frog stayed on her pillow for a night.

Fun Fact:
Many high profile celebrities were considered for the voice part of Tiana such as Jennifer Hudson, Tyra Banks and Alicia Keys.  Anika Noni Rose finally won the part in 2007.

Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen