Handsome Heroes and Vile Villains: Men in Disney’s Feature Film by Amy M. Davis

A semi-sequel to her book Good Girls and Wicked Witches, Davis turns to the portrayal of masculinity in Disney movies from 1934 to 2012. This topic has been missing in Disney studies due to the focus of the Princess line but as she points out, with the influence of Disney over culture we must look at how both genders are portrayed and their interactions with one another.

Davis’ first chapter tackles boyhood from Pinocchio to Peter Pan to Jim Hawkins and how the films position the loss of innocence (seeing death, facing danger, falling in love or at least having a crush) as one of the big milestones to chaning from a boy to a man. She also brings up the interesting point that even though girls are often portrayed as rewards for men, the Disney films put boys in the same position as rewards for facing danger and remaining a good person (Cinderella, Ariel for example).

The second chapter tackles the non-aristocratic heroes like John Smith, Quasimoda and others who often have bigger adventures with themes other than love which can be contrasted with chapter three’s subject on princes whose journey often revolves around the princess. Princes also tend to be more selfish, and lazy, needing to evolve into a better man emphasizing the 90s trend towards emotionally mature “nice” guys as a reaction toward the hyper-masculine men of the 80s.

The final chapter delves into the archytpes of the villains who often hold a more comic leaning than female villains but nonetheless provide a foil to the heroe and represent the patriarchal arrogance and toxicity of men that the world no longer values.

She also analyzes the films’ trend to put the male heroes name in the movie title or at least gender neutralize it to appeal to female and male audiences and the emerging pattern that prioritizes men and women as equal couples who both lean toward “a valuing of intelligence, hard work, responsibility. . . champions who deserve the love and respect of those they lead,” (Davis 185).

Part of My World by Jodi Benson in collaboration with Carol Traver

This is such a moving memoir from the voice of everyone’s favorite mermaid. Beginning with an Introduction by Paige O’Hara, Broadway star though many will recognize her as the voice of Belle, she sets the stage for who Jodi is, kind, personable, humble, talented and committed to God by sharing her gifts with the world.

Jodi’s reflections demonstrate this as she leaves nothing unturned, telling readers of her highest and lowest moments. She’s not perfect, she’s the first person who will admit that but by letting readers see her tough moments like a brief separation with her husband in the beginning of their marriage, her miscarriages, her grief and her losses, she shows the kind of person she is. That she will listen, she will relate because she understands that life can be hard but faith and balance will pull one through. She writes that when she interacts with fans, she wants to make each one feel seen as she knows how much the Little Mermaid means to people. She’s glad to have been such a big part of everyone’s lives and hopes to continue sharing that joy and connection as long as she lives.

So for Little Mermaid fans, they’ll enjoy such insights as Jodi’s time auditioning, her love for the late Howard Ashman, the work that goes into voice acting (which she notes it’s unfairly maligned) and seeing the popularity of the movie explode. You’ll even learn how she first met Howard, Glen and others when she first worked in their Broadway show, Smile whose focus on Disneyland forshadowed so many things.

For Broadway fans, she details the hard work that went to her audition process, her first show, Marilyn, choosing her stage name and its quick shuttering, her originating Crazy for You as Polly.

Her personal life is equally riveting as she discusses the baggage that came into her marriage after a whirlwind will-they-won’t-they with her future husband, Ray Benson, unexpectedly choosing to homeschool her children, and strengthening her relationship with God and the lessons she has learned through life.

Her warmth and sincerity beams through the pages, and I admire her clear communication, looking at all sides of the situation while being self-aware of her own biases without getting too maudlin.

A very well-done memoir that I think many will enjoy.

Disney Princesses: Beyond the Tiara by Emily Zemler

This behind the scenes guide behind the creation of the international-known Disney Princess franchise does not just detail the creation of these icons, but also discusses the cultural impact they represent.

Featuring glossy pictures, one can see the action-models (models who pose for the animators to better sketch actions, hair etc.), the fashion inspiration like Cinderella echoing the Dior look and Grace Kelly, as well mini-bios on the voice actresses and what they brought to the character portrayal.

The book also reflects on societal/company history as each princess reflects the values of the era they came out in, each girl breaking more barriers than the last. Cinderella as being seen as the weak one is a common refrain today but she was seen as very uplifting in the 50s with her kidness, tenacity and being a hard worker despite the toxic enviroment she was in. Her going to the ball pushed that as it was her one chance of rebelling against her step-family and her landing Prince Charming was a happy coincidence.

Ariel is similarly maligned as giving up her legs for a guy but she had been long interested in the human world, Prince Eric was just a catalyst point for her to really go after what she wanted. She was also the beginning of an era where the princesses were allowed to be more fiesty, to talk back to their parents and to have seperate dreams.

The book is filled with all sorts of history and fun tidbits and goes on to talk about different variations of characters outside of their Disney movie like in the hit tv series, Once Upon a Time and other properties. Other chapters include music and why their songs have had a special connection to viewers, Fandom cosplay, and more.

The Queens of Animation: The Untild Story of Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History by Nathalie Holt

On the other side of the coin, Holt brings attention to the women behind the Disney princesses and other famous animated properties like Mary Blair who helped create the ever-catchy It’s a Small World ride. She may be the most well-known but Holt also introduces Bianca Majolie.

Despite their great work that has defined the art style of Disney’s Golden Age, many have gone unknown or forgotten. As one can imagine, the reason their talents have gone unsung so long was because as women in the fifties, their work was undervalued as most started in the Paint and Trace department, going over the sketches of the animators. They had lower pay, no screen credits etc. Due to some of these restrictions, the boy’s club that would belittle their aspirations to do more when it wasn’t a women’s place. Even though some rose above the ranks like Mary Blair whose influence can be seen from Los Saludos Amigos to The Little Mermaid, her marriage became fraught with a battle of the ego and several of these women succumbed to alcoholism to cope.

Holt not only presents detailed biographical narrative of each women, but she also spends some time hashing out Walt Disney’s relation to his female staff which seems to overall positive albeit paternalistic as that’s how it was at the time. But he was completely cool with them trying their hand as primarly animators so that’s enlightened of him even as he accuses them of being too womanly and emotional to do real work. She also weaves other historical contextual-relevant information like the rise of new technologies, and the improvement of gender politics to the modern age with director, Jennifer Lee and screenwriter, Linda Woolverton.

If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphey

The Dumplin author takes on The Bachelor Nation in this retelling of a Cinderella story. After the unexpected death of her father from a car crash, Cindy tries to push away her grief by burying herself in her fashion studies at Parsons. Unfortunately after a year of creative block, she returns home in hopes of some downtime. Just in time to step in as an extra girl for her mother’s reality show Before Midnight. Cindy’s in it for the money and hopefully the exposure to show off her designs as well as her love of shoes but the bachelor ends up being more than the playboy archtype he seems to be. In fact, she already got a quiet spark when she met him on the plane ride home to CA weeks before. Now that spark can turn into something more by the lines between reality and reality tv get so easily blurred.

One great thing I enjoyed from Murphey’s book is the return of some themes from her smash hit Dumplin novel where Cindy is a fuller sized woman but she doesn’t let that define her. In fact, she embraces her curves and it is part of why she is so into fashion design because she feels that clothing is for everyone while fashion is for the select few. It shouldn’t be that way because clothing is fashion. However, she does have a special soft spot for shoes because she can easily find her size in them compared to the skinny-obssessed sample sizes of department stores. Plus their fashion and versitality is so overlooked.

So the focus is not on Cindy’s body but on dealing with her grief and some of her bad previous experiences that make her overthink and be meek. The show and her time with Henry open her shell as she starts going after what she wants. She knows that she’s smart, she’s fun, and she’s beautoful, time to put that into action.

Also while this is a Cinderella retelling, it doesn’t completely follow the beats. For one thing, Cindy’s stepmother and stepsisters are actually kind to her and a good semi-found family even though there had been some awkwardness at first when melding the families together. Cindy’s stepsisters, Anna and Drew are very supportive and always have Cindy’s back and while Erica intially doesn’t want Cindy to join up with the show, it’s not because of embarassment of her stepdaughter but because she doesn’t want Cindy to be the target of a very judgemental audience/internet. I never realized until now how much I enjoy this refreshing change of pace in Cindy’s stepfamily being non-abusive. But after reading Cinder, Ella Enchanted, and others, it’s just novel idea to scrape this part of the Cinderella story.

Plus it just makes sense as there’s enough drama with being on Before Midnight without adding an abusive family subplot. But don’t worry there’s plenty of Cinderella homages here. Not just in the tv show name but having scrolls instead of roses, a Saworski crystal heel, and three little “mice” in the form of Cindy’s rambunctious half-siblings (her father and stepmother had a surrogate pregnancy after her father’s death. Oh yeah a very blended family), Mary, Gus and Jack. Also there’s a great scene where Cindy puts the shoe on Henry.
Which brings me to the Prince of the story, Henry which Murphey makes sure to imbue with charm and a sufficient enough fashion-empire related backstory to make him a three dimensional character with enough in common with Cindy for them to have believable chemistry. Seriously I was smiling from ear to ear during their clandestine date.

But that date wasn’t the only highlight as the story featured Bachelor-esque challenges for the contestants and prize dates that kept enough tension on whether or not Henry will forgoe true love for prize money thanks to the execs pulling strings behind the scenes.

Additionally, Murphey does add some drama in the form of mean girl Addison who leans heavily into the stereotype because she wants her fame, it doesn’t devolve into girl on girl hate bit rather Cindy finds worthwhile and very honest friends in Sara Claire and Stacey. In fact, the book features all kinds of love, not just the glorified heterosexual kind within the Bachelor by including people of various sexualities and identities to add more realism to the piece alongside its body positivity themes.

Overall, a very fun and charming retelling that made me smile from ear to ear.

By the Book by Jasmine Guillory

Now it’s hard for me to be won over by Beauty and the Beast retellings as Belle is one of my favorite Disney princessess so of course, I heartily enjoyed this take on the classic.

Izzy works her (and my) dream job at Maurice Publishing but after two years, she isn’t getting any chance of promotion and her boss’ curt demenour of no positive feedback leaves her feeling drained and restless. She wants more and she wants to write but she’s also suffering doubts after a senior editor, Gavin dismisses her work under the guise of friendly-mentoring-tough-love. But Izzy thinks she has a chance to impress her boss if she gets the reclusive Beau Towers to reply to their emails and start writing his memoirs.

Guillory makes a great creative choice in having Izzy stay at Beau’s mansion not because she is kidnapped but because she has to finish the job she ste out to do or go back humilated to her boss. Also she’s a bit too tipsy to drive back after dealing with Beau’s hostile attitude.

Yeah, Beau is hard to like intially as he is surly and monosyllabic as the Beast he is based on while his assistant Michaela “Kettle” putters about to make Izzy feel at ease. But the forced proximity and Izzy’s determination to stand up for herself and not deal with Beau’s petulant, privileged nonsense gets him to take a hard look at himself as he gets to work.

By having the characters work on the memoir, it allows for organic look into Beau’s backstory while also creating good fights as delving into the past is sure to bring difficult topics that are hard to talk about much less write for the purpose of showing the world. But while it brings conflict, it allows for Izzy to get involved in the work and remind her why she enjoys editing again. Being able to work on notes, reading through and learning more about Beau and just the one on one work. Plus in encouraging Beau to write even if the first draft is bad, she is inspired to start writing her own book again.

Really the whole book is an ode to readrs and writers and publishers and why I jsut love books so much. See here: “I work hard at my job because I love books. I love everything about them. I love the way you can fall into another world while you’re reading, the way books can help you forget hard things in life, or help you deal with them. I love all the different shapes books come in, and the way they feel in your hand. I love seeing authors develope their idea from just a few sentences to a manuscript to an actual book that’s on the shelves, and I love the face they make when they see their name on a book cover for the first time. I love when readers discover books that felt like they were just meant for them, and they’re so happy and grateful and emotional that everyone in the room wants to cry, and sometimes they all do. Those books do change lives,” (Guillory 69).

Also I love how Izzy’s personality is not one of intense intellectualism like other book nerd portrayals of her but rather an upbeat girl who holds this positive spin on things. Which seems annoying (and can be) but it is a god way to look at things because it makes her little quirks like anthromorphizing furniture (you got to love the way these authors incoporate the movie references) more believable. Plus it makes more sense as it fits her dreamy nature of wanting more adventure.

Plus Beau’s backstory isn’t the classic abusive father you might be thinking of. But rather it focuses a bit on sexism as Beau comes to a fallout with his parents divorce, blaming his mom entirely for being a bitter, washed up actress who didn’t love his father enough until he finds out the truth of her accomplishments behind her father’s Oscars. It’s a common theme of putting down woman who actually contribute as much, sometimes more to a man’s work but not getting the credit.

Speaking of men taking credit of women’s accomplishments, on the other side of th coin is Gavin (you can guess who he’s based on) who crushes those dreams before they come to fruition because he feels threatened and that he deserves it more.

As for the romance, I love how they indulge in other activities besides writing and editing like Beau teaching Izzy to surf and baking her sweets that just sound mouthwatering.

Other little homages like Izzy’s enthusiastic best friend, Priya standing in for Chip and little moments when Izzy realizes she has feelings for Beau as “something that wasn’t there before” will sure to please readers as well.

Now this is a romance but it doesn’t feature the steamy scenes you might expect from previous Guillory novels. Rather it fades to black and the next morning like a rom-com but the kissing sessions are intense enough to bide you (same goes for Murphey’s book).

Another well-done retelling that made me happy to read.

The next one, Kiss the Girl will be by Zoraida Corduva based on The Little Mermaid if you couldn’t tell. I really enjoyed her magical realism novel, The Inheritance of Orquidea Divena as well as her romance short stories in the Amor Actually anathology so I’m excited to see her retelling coming next year!