CLC goes into the woods

Since it's Fairy Tale and Disney month at CLC, some of us wanted to talk about these topics.

Amy:

Which Disney princess could you see yourself becoming best friends with?
I have to choose two here, Belle and Ariel. All of us are book lovers, right? I can see Belle and I spending together in the Beast’s castle library. It would be bliss. I also love castles so it would be quite nice to have lavish dinners made for me while being entertained by the staff. Oh, can’t forget dancing in a ballroom with a beautiful gown on.
I’m not sure if it’s because I’m a Pisces, or was just born loving anything to do with swimming and water life, but I would be in heaven living under the sea with Ariel. On top of that, when I was little I wanted to be a mermaid.

If you could be a princess, which one would you be?
Definitely Ariel.

If you could be a villain which one would you be and why?
Even though the show Once Upon a Time is not Disney, I would love to be Regina and the evil queen (they are both played by Lana Parrilla). I’ve always loved magic in any show/cartoon. It must be so much fun playing the evil queen. If you haven’t seen the show, you must watch it. Oh, and her costumes are so cool!

Which Disney character can you relate to the most?
Ariel and Belle.

Which fairy tale would make a good chick lit novel (that hasn't been used already)?
I’m going to choose Aladdin. There’s adventure, danger, romance, drama, and comedy all rolled into one.


Melissa A:

Confession: I wrote this a few years ago for my personal blog. However, I don't get as many viewers there and it has been a long time. I thought it would be a good fit for this month's theme, in any case. It's my chick lit version of "Goldilocks." (For more fun, here's a link to a post about which Disney character I relate to the most.)

"Just Right"

Goldie was working at an investment firm in NYC, until they went down due to a Ponzi scheme. She ends up losing her job in a tough economy, along with her Upper West Side apartment, and is now a squatter for abandoned apartments in Manhattan. In the meantime, she has been keeping a food themed blog called "Just Right," where she does food and restaurant reviews. Giving it a "just right" rating means everything is of the best quality. She even rates the comfortableness of restaurant furniture with "just right" also meaning best quality. A major newspaper stumbles upon her blog and offers her a freelance job as a restaurant critic.

Soon, she's the critic everyone wants to have at their restaurant. She's asked to be on TV shows and is given a full-time job at the newspaper. At one point, she ends up going to the restaurant of Johnny Bear, the hottest chef in the city. (Both in quality and looks.) However, she doesn't like his cooking style. In the meantime, she's squatting at one of the most posh apartments in the city. When the hot chef finds out her secret by accident, they may be able to strike a deal that will benefit both of them...Will she give him a bad review and risk his wrath along with her secret or give a good, but dishonest review and risk losing her job and good restaurant critic reputation?

Since I love asking authors who they'd cast if their book were optioned for film, I'll do the same for myself. I'd cast someone like Kristen Bell as Goldie, and since everyone seems to love Ryan Gosling these days, he could be Johnny Bear.

Gail:

What is your favorite line from The Princess Bride? 
"They were both poisoned. I spent the last few years building up an immunity to iocane powder."

If you could be a villain which one would you be and why? 
Maleficent. She had insane amounts of power, but deliberately chose to misuse it. I think I could be much sneakier about that sort of thing. Bonus: great cheekbones, and she can become a dragon at will!

Which is your favorite Disney cartoon or movie? 
Lilo and Stitch! I can probably recite it word for word at this point.

What is your favorite song from a Disney movie?
Either "Go the Distance" or "Zero to Hero" from Hercules. That movie had the BEST songs.

Which fairy tale would make a good chick lit novel (that hasn't been used already)? 
I'd love to see a good (bordering on creepy) dark chick-lit adaptation of Snow White and Rose Red.

What is your favorite non-Disney movie based on a fairy tale? 
Hook (with Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams). I should really go watch that again.

Jami:

My modern-day chick lit adaptation of Cinderella:

Ella Johnstone’s father, Kenneth Johnstone, built the largest, most successful fully organic/natural cosmetics company in the world. Ella had a privileged childhood and learned the business at his knee. When Kenneth married Divinia Dellacourte, Ella gained two older stepsisters who were more interested in parties, men, and getting their pictures taken by the paparazzi than learning the business. Kenneth assured Ella that she would inherit the business solely, but after he suddenly grew ill and died, Divinia produced a will showing all four inherited equally and Divinia was named chair. Now Ella is stuck doing all the work for the company while Divinia and her daughters outvote her and spend all the profits. Ella is working so hard and is so tired she doesn’t even have time to use her own products.

When Chemical Cosmetics announces it’s looking for merger partners, Ella is immediately opposed, but her so-called family outvotes her. They want to get rid of the company so they can spend all their time partying. The owner of Chemical Cosmetics, Chan Hollingsworth, is holding a prospectus meeting to get to know all potential partners. The Dellacourtes lock Ella away in the office, forcing her to rewrite the annual report while they attend the meeting. But a make-up researcher, Terry Snodbrother, breaks her free and demonstrates his new products on Ella. Terry is also a fashion designer and puts his clothes on Ella, including a pair of spike heels that don’t hurt the wearer. Terry warns Ella that the make-up still needs work, and if she leaves it on her skin for too long, she’ll get burned.

Ella gets to the meeting, and she is so beautiful even the Dellacourtes don’t recognize her. Ella tells Chan his company is evil and he is hurting women. He needs to change his products and his image. Chan has never had anyone talk to him like that before. He wants to install Ella as his new CEO. But the meeting takes so long, Ella is forced to flee as her face starts to burn, leaving behind a pain-free spiked heel.

Chan runs a huge social media campaign to find the designer of the heel. Ella is busy helping Terry with that little burn problem and doesn’t know about it. The Dellacourt sisters pretend the shoe is theirs, but their feet are too big. When Chan finally tracks down Terry, she is putting the new improved make-up on Ella. Chan recognizes her immediately and offers to make her CEO. He buys Johnstone Cosmetics, fires the Dellacourtes and puts Ella in charge of everything. Then he puts all his holdings in a trust so there’s no conflict of interest when he and Ella become a couple.

Becky:

What is your favorite song from a Disney movie?
"That's How You Know" from Enchanted, such a happy song and I love this part of the film.

Which is your favorite Disney cartoon or movie?
Enchanted, closely followed by Toy Story and Finding Nemo.

What is a lesson you took to heart from a fairy tale or Disney movie?
To 'just keep swimming' from Finding Nemo. When I used to swim a lot I used to say this in my head when I was feeling tired, but it applies elsewhere in life too to just keep going!

Which Disney character can you relate to the most (doesn't have to be a princess)?
Not relate to as such (well, i have my moments...) but I feel I have a connection with Dopey thanks to a personalised book I had when i was a child where I was a character in a Snow White and the Seven Dwarves book, one line was 'Dopey has a tear in his eye as Rebecca says goodbye,' It's stuck with me! I still have that book.

Do you believe in happily ever after?
I suppose you can only know this with hindsight for your own life, we'd all like it though so we can hope!

Which Disney princess could you see yourself becoming best friends with?
Not technically a princess (she made a better choice...) but I'd love to be friends with Giselle from Enchanted, just for her positivity to rub off on me a bit!