🦉🐿️🐦Once Upon a Dream by Liz Braswell🐦🐿️🦉
“I fell in love with Rose because she was happy and lighthearted. I fell in love with her because she was beautiful and as cheerful as the sunshine. I fell in love with her because I heard her singing with her beautiful voice… as carefree as a songbird. I fell in love with a girl who danced and twirled across the meadows like an angel of happiness.” - Once Upon a Dream, Liz Braswell
So...I really did not like this book. Once Upon a Dream: A Twisted Tale by Liz Braswell is right now my least favourite of all the Twisted Tales. And this is because Liz transformed Aurora's character into something that was completely unrecognizable. Like Aurora got angry and she was sarcastic and she was actually slapping people and murdering with a sword. I read from the hardcover edition (note the cover is a similar design to the Jasmine installment) from the library. This cover design was the old design. I think Once Upon a Dream and A Whole New World were the first two books in this series. And I feel like these books are weaker in terms of plot and characterization because Liz Braswell was still "finding her footing" in writing the series.
I would like to give you a very basic synopsis. Everything is as it happens in the movie, except when Aurora sleeps, she is sentenced to an alternate version of her life. Maleficent is an evil villain, and she is make Aurora see her as a motherly aunt, her parents as neglectful and cruel, the three good fairies as manipulative and self-serving. Which is actually kind of brilliant. In the real story, Philip doesn't actually kill the dragon, and so he actually has not broken the curse.
I would like to include some quotes for my gif quote series though.
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Her golden hair fell like a ripple of costly fabric, first down one shoulder, and then the other, as she quickly shifted position. Page 15.
I actually thought that this was a beautiful description of Aurora's hair. I thought of this exact gif when I read this sentence.
[Aurora] picked up a single long, golden lock and began to systematically brush it. Page 63
Please see this post for more graphics from this Disney picture book. A lot of this book - a lot of the descriptions of Aurora - are about how beautiful she is. And she is very beautiful. In my honest opinion, Aurora is the prettiest Disney Princess.
“She is indeed, most wondrous fair. Gold of sunshine in her hair, lips that shame the red red rose.”
Aurora's design is all thanks to Marc Davis.
Belle is another Disney Princess who is known for her beauty, but Belle's character model is unfortunately not consistent in her movie.
All this strengthened Aurora's new resolve and crystalized her intentions. She came up with a Plan.
A Plan to improve herself. To keep herself busy... To make what was left of the world better for those around her...
The Plan was this: each month she would work on one quality she felt was lacking in until she was a better person. First was Gratitude. Next was Patience. After that was Pure Thoughts.
She made lots of wonderful little lists chock-full of ideas for exercising each deficient part of her psyche.... Page 68
This was really random and fascinating. Aurora actually has a self-improvement plan and some goals!
Scrapped animation from the abandoned project DISNEY PRINCESS FAIRYTALES. The product was originally going to include an Aurora and Belle segment. After multiple workshops, and rewriting Aurora’s storyline, it was changed to the Aurora and Jasmine segments in what ended up becoming DISNEY PRINCESS: ENCHANTED TALES. Disney intended to release more entries in this series, with the second film having already been completed including an Cinderella and Mulan segment. However, once John Lasseter took over, he put an end to all sequels and spinoffs stating they ruined the company’s prestige. Ironically, he would eventually usher in the era of live action remakes and sequels later on, most notably the theatrically released WRECK IT RALPH 2.
Somehow when I re-read this part I thought of this edit (original post now deleted):
✧･ﾟ:*。au in which after hearing such inspiring stories about Princess Cinderella, Princess Aurora personally invites her to a ball; both instantly befriend each other once they meet. 。*:･ﾟ✧
I would love this AU to happen. Where Cindy and Aurora have sleepovers at each other's palaces and they write letters to each other about their resolutions and visions for self-improvement.
sweet princess, if through this wicked witches trick a spindle should your finger prick, a ray of hope there still may be in this, the gift I give at thee. not in death but just in sleep the fateful prophecy you’ll keep, and from this slumber you shall wake when true love’s kiss the spell shall break🌹.
little princess, my gift shall be the gift of beauty.
"Royal princesses were not supposed to show fear." Page 74
The first Aurora gifset by 60sgroove I've included here doesn't show Auora being fearful, but she does look royal in the graphics. In the second gifset she does look afraid in this gif, so that is why I am including it. I also love that there is a lavender colour filter on the gifs. It gives the graphics a dreamy quality. Really lovely. Incidentally, this graphics maker is one of my favourite Disney creators on tumblr. ( I don't give anyone a tag lol).
Briar Rose/Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty
the princess shall indeed grow in grace and beauty, beloved by all who know her. but, before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she shall prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die.
“Behold, King Stefan’s castle. And in yonder topmost tower, dreaming of her true love, the Princess Aurora. But see the gracious whim of fate. Why, ‘tis the selfsame peasant maid who won the heart of our noble prince but yesterday. She is indeed most wondrous fair, gold of sunshine in her hair, lips that shame the red, red rose. In ageless sleep, she finds repose.”
“A daughter was born, and they called her Aurora. Yes, they named her after the dawn, for she filled their lives with sunshine.”
they say if you dream a thing more than once, it’s sure to come true
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"The bird stretched out and gave a single impatient cheep. Puffing its chest in the sunlight, it revealed a coat of feathers that were the purest sky blue imaginable." Page 125 of Once Upon a Dream: A Twisted Tale, by Liz Braswell
Her first urge was her bedroom. Safe... comfortable bed. Page 100
I could actually relate to this so much. Please take a look at my epic post of Animated Characters Waking Up.
“Why it - it’s a very unusual cake, isn’t it?”
At home there was a cake. A bright pink-and-blue cake, lopsided, covered with mounds of frosting. Page 118
I love that Fauna's cake is in the book.
"I didn't wear shoes at all in the forest. I was barefoot all the time, and my skin was as thick as hides." Page 183
I liked the quote about Aurora being barefoot. Although I'm not sure a princess would have skin "as thick as hides", even from dancing in the forest barefoot all day. But I am including Amy Mebberson's first Pocket Princess comic, the sketch, and the finalized version. Belle yelling at the girls for not wearing shoes is still so hilarious to me.
Anyhow, I wanted to show you guys this art. I think that this was Liz Braswell's vision for Aurora in this retelling. And I guess that was my biggest problem with this book. Aurora is soft-spoken, graceful, elegant, feminine, and sweet. She isn't sarcastic. She doesn't swear. She doesn't slap people. She doesn't murder people. She isn't confrontational. In this book, Liz actually recreated the "What else is there?" scene with Derek and Odette with Phillip and Aurora. And I guess I get that Liz wanted Aurora to be a more feminist and empowered character, challenging the love of her life to find something more substancial about her to love, but that wasn't Aurora in the 1959 Disney animated film. I actually feel like the characterization in Wreck it Ralph Breaks the Internet was a lot more on point.
The best part of this book was that it showed how toxic it would be if Maleficent was an "aunt" to Aurora. Which was the basic gist of the 2014 live action film. In this world, in this book universe - which is a spinoff of the animated world in Sleeping Beauty, it was only possible for Maleficent to take on a "motherly role" through abuse and gaslighting and manipulation. And I thought that was really important. This book was published in 2015, a year after the live action film. The Twisted Tale series are always based on the canon animated film, not the live action movies. But still I wonder if Liz Braswell made Maleficent a pseudo-aunt/mother to take a dig at the live action film, where Maleficent cared for Aurora, and the fairies were too silly and distracted to look after her properly.
Anyhow, I'm so glad I put my thoughts and reactions in a post. I wouldn't want to make a series of posts about a book I didn't really like.
My Twisted Tales tag
My Liz Braswell tag
Cinderella Twisted Tale book tag
Frozen Twisted Tale book tag
Ariel Twisted Tale novel
BATB Twisted Tale book tag
Aurora installment book review
