It seems Disney are hard at work on not one but three new Fairy Tale films featuring Princesses! Its nice to see them returning to classic stories, and I dearly hope they run in the same vein as their older movies that I grew up with rather than submitting to the pop-culture parody that Shrek has made the standard of animated films.

Rapunzel (subtitled: “Unbraided”) is the one I am most looking forward to. Its a rework of the classic tale, with a few typical disney themes inserted, and curiously, it mixes traditional and CG animation to create its own unqiue style which is intended to reflect rococo oil paintings. Indeed one of the concept illustrations is very heavily inspired by Jean-Honore Fragonard’s “The Swing.” It was originally scheduled for release in 2007 but Disney have since decided to “retool” it and its now dated for 2009. I don’t mind the wait though, I’m very excited about this film

The Frog Princess Looks to be very interesting. Set in the 1920’s New Orleans it will feature the first African American Disney Princess, named “Maddy” who starts off as a chambermaid working for a spoiled southern belle. I’m curious to see how they adapt the story to the era. I should also mention that “The Frog Princess” is a completely different fairy tale to “The Frog Prince” and exists in many variations across Europe

Enchanted This film on the other hand, looks dreadful. Its Live action and Cell animated. And the storyline seems to be about a Princess getting kicked out of a fairy tale world and in to present day New york where she falls in love with a divorced lawyer. The promotion poster which features a woman coming out of a man-hole looking something like a cross between a pageant queen and a bad 80’s bride is enough to put me off. I’m staying clear of this one

BABY has finally released their much anticipated Marie Antoinette series I just adore the one-piece dress. The print is in gorgeous rococo style with swooping garlands and details of cakes and hats and shoes, and such a decadant excess of lace! Truely a dress fit for a Princess. I would even forgo my favourite colour to get this piece in Royal Blue as it is the colour of France and feels more suited to the series. Alas, it shall probably be sold out by the time I can raise the funds, but I can dream, can I not?

The image to the left is linked to the item on BABY’s site for your viewing pleasure, I could look at it all day..