Description: Featuring concept art, memorabilia, and original interviews, Disney Princess: Beyond the Tiara - The Stories. The Influence. The Legacy explores the legacies of the princesses and what they represent today.

Verdict: Everyone knows the Disney Princess characters, but how did they become the cultural icons we know today? From the Princesses Walt Disney and his artists brought to the screen in the twentieth century, such as Snow White and Aurora, to the recent additions such as Moana, Tiana, and Rapunzel, each Disney Princess character’s influence has expanded beyond their original film.

Each of their unique, individual stories create a fabric with the power to inspire our imaginations, spark social conversations, and empower us.

Organized by themes of origins and inspirations, re-imaginings, toys and collectibles, fashion, music, parks, fandom, and more, Disney Princess: Beyond the Tiara features memorabilia and interviews with Disney historians, directors, voice talent, and fans.

Explore the different eras, influences, and legacies of the Princesses with Disney Legends such as Jodi Benson (voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid and author of the book’s foreword), Lea Salonga (the singing voice behind two Princesses, Jasmine and Mulan) and composer Alan Menken.

What is it that has made these characters resonate through so many generations and cultures? How have they become a reflection of pop culture as we know it? Delve into these indelible characters and find the Disney Princess within you!

OK, from the off I can tell you that just holding this amazing book is a joy all of, and unto itself! The pure weight of this hardback alone is rather wondrous, but the front cover, let alone all the colorful and informative pages within make this a MUST HAVE for all those Disney fans (Princesses or otherwise) out there!

A simply beautiful hardback book from start to glorious finish, it most assurdly appeals to both adults and children for the veritable tome is sprinkled throughout with interesting behind the scenes stories, drawings and merchandise along with an array of photos of celebrities who have portrayed various princesses and the fashion their characters have influenced.

Phew! Indeed, the cultural analysis of the far-reaching impact Disney princesses have had on our society is truly eye opening and this magnificent and wholly encapsulating new hardcover book (the size of which will impress you also, as it is HUGE) is just a really enjoyable read, with great visuals.

Opening with a lovely foreword from Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel, amongst other things, she might well have also been the very first Princess we were all introduced to, within this genre, and her love for the character continues on today.

She details how she “never expected the lasting impact the role would have” on her or had no idea the magnitude that The Little Mermaid would touch viewers back then and how it continues to with new generations.

The book then continues onward with the backstory for how the Disney princesses came to be. As we all know by now, it was the brain of the late, great Walt Disney and thus a lot of time is spent within the book showing how, and importantly why Walt Disney decided to tell the stories of his chosen princesses in his own unique, and now memorable ways.

Indeed, this was a good starting point that set the foundation for what is to come within the book, and so we are taken through his, and the studio’s magnificent history, one step, one princess at a time.

Oh, and please don’t let the cover fool you, for as much as it is subtitled Princess, it is much more than a book about them - it is an all-singing, all-dancing book about Walt Disney’s wonderful creations and all that went into their construction.

Featured Disney Princesses include:
Moana
Merida, Brave
Rapunzel, Tangled
Tiana, The Princess and the Frog
Mulan
Pocahontas
Jasmine, Aladdin
Belle
Ariel, The Little Mermaid
Aurora, Sleeping Beauty
Cinderella
Snow White

About the Author - Emily Zemler is a writer and journalist based in London. She is a frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times and Rolling Stone, among other prestigious outlets. Emily is the co-author of A Sick Life, with TLC’s Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, and the author of The Art and Making of Aladdin.

Jodi Benson is best known as the voice of Ariel in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. She has a long list of stage, film, video game, and television credits, and was named a Disney Legend in 2011.

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