“The Art of the Disney Princess” artfully re-imagines classic cartoon characters - Jim Hill - Editor In Chief - JimHillMedia: Walt Disney Company news, reviews, history & commentary, Jim Hill

As lucky moviegoers who live in New York & LA get their very first glimpses of “The Princess and the Frog” today, Global Disney Consumer Products is taking a look back at all the Disney Princesses that proceeded Tiana.

Of course, you may not remember ever seeing a picture of Snow White as she might have appeared in the stretching room at The Haunted Mansion.

Photo by Angela Ragno

But there’s a good reason for that. You see, artists from around the globe were invited by GDCP to re-imagine their favorite Disney Princesses. And armed with pen, pencil, paper, paint brush and/or drawing tablet, that’s just what they did.

Now some of these unique and imaginative compositions were on display earlier this year at the D23 Expo …

Photo by Angela Ragno

But to get the full effect here, to see all of the brilliant and/or unconventional ways that these cartoon beauties have been re-imagined, you really have to pick up a copy of “The Art of the Disney Princess” (Disney Editions, October 2009).

Featuring an introduction by master animator Glen Keane (who provides a sketch of the Disney Princess that he himself helped bring to life, Ariel AKA The Little Mermaid ) …

… this museum-quality book is a delight to flip through. On each page of this 176-page hardcover, you’ll find another one of your childhood favorites playfully reimagined. Be it Stacey Aoyama’s wonderfully stylized Princess Jasmine …

… or Maria Elena Naggi’s take on Belle from Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” This richly detailed oil painting clearly draws its inspiration from Francois Boucher’s “Portrait of Madame Pompadour.”

You’ll find all manner of riffs on the Disney Princesses in this nifty Disney Editions book. Everything from Dan Beltran’s picture-postcard-perfect version of Princess Aurora …

… to Vince Musacchia’s comic book-inspired rendering of Cinderella. Who clearly seems to be having second thoughts when it comes to her choice of footwear for the Ball.

Even Disney’s newest Princess (i.e. Tiana from “The Princess and the Frog”) gets in on the makeover fun with Dorota Kotarba-Mendez’s somewhat impressionistic version of this beauty.

Beautifully designed by Winnie Ho, “The Art of the Disney Princess” would make an excellent gift for any little or grown-up girl on your holiday shopping list who might enjoy seeing their favorite Disney characters re-interpreted in all sorts of media.

And speaking of holiday shopping … If you’d like to show your appreciation for all the great stories that you’ve read here on JimHillMedia.com over the years, please click on the banner above before you begin your next Amazon.com shopping spree. If you do that … Well, JHM then gets a teeny tiny chunk of whatever you spend.

Happy Holidays!