Once Upon A Time

Once Upon a Time is the best. I repeat BEST show in existence.

From the creators of 'Lost' and ABC (owned by Disney) have created a masterpiece. Because ABC is owned by Disney, the fairy tale characters closely resemble the Disney costumes (ex: Belle and Cinderella shown below).

The season finale came out last week and I absolutely loved it. This is a series that I would actually consider buying instead of just watching it once it was that good.

Belle

Cinderella

I don't want to give too much away but...

Once Upon a Time, if you don't already know is the story of Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin, He's just Not that Into You, Something Borrowed) and her prince (Josh Dallas) but combined with every other fairy tale imagined.  It starts as the classic tale, the prince and princess defeat the evil queen and live happily... for a while.

Snow White and Evil Queen Regina in Fairy Tale world

As Snow White and Charming prepare for the birth of their first child, the evil queen (Lana Parrilla) casts a curse on the kingdom that moves every fairy tale character into our world, which has no magic so the she will be the only one with a happy ending.  The only way the curse can be broken is by Snow White and Charming's daughter, Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison, How I Met Your Mother), when she turns 28, sent to the our world beforehand to avoid the complications of the curse. On her birthday, her son (given up for adoption at birth), Henry (Jared Gilmore) finds her so that he can help break the curse, he is the only one who knows the truth.  Emma Swan travels to the tiny town of Storybrooke to protect and care for her son who has been adopted by the evil queen who is mayor of Storybrooke.

Snow White, Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood in our world

As the series progresses, you learn about the character's pasts in fairy tale land and the effects of the curse in Storybrooke with some surprising twists and turns. Need I mention that Rumpelstiltskin or Mr. Gold (Robert Carlyle, 28 Weeks Later) is behind most of the schemes that arise?

With this all-star cast and amazing plot line, I am going to be addicted to this show for a while. I wonder how they will continue season 2... If you haven't seen it yet, catch up while there is still time!

Emma Swan

Rapunzel

Since I began with the oldest Disney Princess, it is only suiting that I ended the week with the youngest and my favorite, Rapunzel.

Rapunzel is another Brothers Grimm fairy tale from Germany. There was once a couple who desperately wanted a child that lived next to an enchantress, Dame Gothel, who had a large garden . When the couple finally was with child, the wife suddenly had cravings for the plants in the garden and wanted them to the point where she was near death. The husband, who loved his wife, crept into the garden for three nights to bring her some of the plants. On the third night he was caught by the enchantress and demands that the couple give them the child upon birth and he agrees to do so. The enchantress raises Rapunzel until she is 14 and then locks her in a tower because she is so beautiful.

The enchantress visits Rapunzel by saying "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so I may climb the golden stair"and Rapunzel lets down her hair.

One day, a prince is riding by and hears Rapunzel singing. He searches for her, memorized by her voice until he sees how Dame Gothel enters the tower. The prince then enters the tower the same way Dame Gothel does and asks Rapunzel to marry him, she agrees.  The couple plans their escape where the prince will bring Rapunzel silk every night to weave into a ladder. The way the enchantress discovers the two has many different variations including that Rapunzel foolishly let's information slip about the prince and others where she says that her dress is getting tight around her stomach (pregnancy). The enchantress is furious and cuts off Rapunzel's hair.

When the Prince returns later that night, the enchantress fools him by letting down Rapunzel's hair and screams he will never see Rapunzel again, blinds him and throws him out of the tower. After months of wandering the desert, he hears Rapunzel singing. They are reunited at last and her tears heal his eyes and he discovers she has given birth to twins. They soon get married and live happily ever after.

The Disney version is obviously kid friendly with no blinding or teen pregnancies. Rapunzel is also a stronger character in Tangled  than she is in the original story. Go girl power!

Fun Facts:
Tangled (Disney's version or Rapunzel) is Walt Disney Pictures 50th full length animated feature.

Mandy Moore, who played Jamie in Nicholas Sparks' A Walk to Remember is the voice of Rapunzel.

There is a short titled Tangled Ever After that is about the Royal Wedding of Princess Rapunzel and Flynn Rider that was featured during the 3D theatrical performance of Beauty and the Beast.

Belle

One of my favorite princesses: Princess Belle!

Belle's story begins as a traditional French fairy tale. There was a rich merchant with three daughters, the youngest being Beauty (Belle) who was lovely and kind while her sisters were selfish and wicked. The merchant then lost all of his money and had to move himself and his daughters to a small town. While on a business trip the merchant asked his daughters if they wanted anything.  The two older sisters were selfish and wanted jewels and fancy dresses while Belle only wanted a single rose.

The merchant, on his way back, became lost and stumbled upon a castle where he was allowed to stay. He was given some riches yet when he went to pick the most beautiful rose for Belle, the mysterious Prince (who was actually a Beast) appeared and demanded either his life or one of his daughters to come of their own accord.  The merchant reluctantly agreed and returned home where Belle was the one to volunteer to go.

Upon arrival Belle was given anything she wanted, she was no prisoner yet he asked her every night to marry him.  After a few months, Belle grew homesick and wished to return home. The beast agreed only if she took a magic mirror and ring and if she returned in one week. When Belle returned home, she was dressed in such fine clothes, her sisters became jealous and forced Belle to stay home by crying, wishing that Belle would stay with them in hopes that the beast would become angry and eat her. Because of Belle's kind heart, she stayed. The beast became heartbroken and when Belle looked into her mirror to check on the beast, she found that he was dying and returned to him, crying over him stating she loved him. The beast then turned into a handsome prince and they got married and lived happily ever after.

Fun Facts:

Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film to win Best Motion Picture at the Golden Globes.

The dance between Belle and the prince in the final scene is actually reused animation from Sleeping Beauty's  last dance between Aurora and the Prince because the animators were running out of time.

According to the Official Encyclopedia of Disney the Beast's real name is Adam, but it is never mentioned in the film.

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.

Disney Collection: Alfred Angelo

So, I believe it is fair to say that I have looked at hundreds of wedding dresses online.  It is also safe to say that one collection always brings me back, Alfred Angelo's Disney Bridal Collection. 

They have two series of princess dresses (suited to each Disney Princess of course!) for Cinderella, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Belle, Ariel, Jasmine, Snow White, Tiana, and Rapunzel. I stumbled upon these amazing wedding dresses when I thought to myself one day "Humm.. I wonder if anyone has ever created a Disney wedding dress?"  Imagine my delight when I Googled it and there they were!

Cinderella

The second series of the dresses are out now (3rd for the Cinderella dresses) and I must admit I was disappointed.  I have a strong preference for the first series rather than the second (with exceptions of Jasmine and Belle second series).  These dresses are fairly priced and come in sizes 0 to 30W

Belle  Advertisement   

Due to copying I could not post all of the photos of the dresses that I wanted to.  I encourage you to go to the site if you love Disney princesses as much as I do or wedding dresses for that matter!