The Swan Princess

Based on the ballet Swan Lake. The original Swan princess begins its first part of the story through a five-minute song sequence, "This is my idea". Within this we see a young Princess and Prince, Derek and Odette being forced by their parents to spend every summer getting to know each other in the hope they will one day fall in love and marry. Merging two kingdoms together. 

Eventually, they both realise they are in love with dance and proposal. But when Derek freezes at Odette's question of why he loves her. She fleas from his mother's castle.

Unknown to everyone, evil sorcerer Rothbart plans to take over King William’s kingdom and Odette's escape on a cold, dark stormy night is perfect to put his plan into action. 

For he spent years mastering the Forbidden Arts only to fail, now he wants revenge, he acts upon this by his killing William, kidnapping Odette, and attempting to gain the kingdom by forcing Odette into marriage. 

Odette refuses this proposal so Rothbart casts a transformation spell. Meaning Odette remains a swan by day human by night, but only when there is a full moon. 

Luckily she gains some animal companions such as Speed the turtle, Puffin the puffin bird & Jean Bob the frog who do everything in their power to help her break the spell. 

Derek meanwhile spends the rest of the film trying to find then save Odette despite everyone believing Odette to be dead.

Whilst this is all going on Odette as a swan and Puffin go looking for Derek, discovering him searching for the Great Animal. They create a plan to give him the chance to speak with human Odette. 

She confides in him that the only thing to break the spell is an open declaration of true love. 

Knowing Queen Uberta is holding a ball at the place the very next night Derek tells Odette she needs to intend. For that is where he will make his vow. 

Rothbart overhears this plan, so has Odette thrown into a dungeon. Using his powers of transformation to turn a woman named Bridget into a copy of Odette. It is she who arrives at the castle. Although Odette's animal friends free her from the dungeon so she is able to fly to the castle, She is too late for Derek has already made his vow causing Rothbart's spell to start killing Odette. 

Derek after realising his mistake runs after Odette. Following her back to Swan Lake, where Odette transforms back into a princess just before dying in Derek's arms. 

 Furthermore, a battle rages amongst Rothbart and Derek. Odette's animal friends along with Derek's best friend Bromley assist him in his quest to destroy Rothbart. 

Derek, still heartbroken confesses to a dead Odette that Odette he loves her for her kindness and courage. Queen Uberta is thrilled when Derek's heartbroken conversion lifts the curse allowing her to finally put all her years of wedding planning to use. At the end of the film, Derek and Odette finally marry going onto later adopt a little girl named Elise after rescuing her 

from a fire. 

The Swan Princess has stolen the hearts of many hundreds of fans worldwide, but this wasn't always the case. 

Disney's held back Lion King release meant bad things for the swan Princess leaving it to only make around $9,771,658 against a $21 million budget.

Despite the odds, they then went on to win

 "The Film Advisory Board Award of Excellence", "the Parents' Choice Award", a "Golden Globe" for best original song and many more. Nest animations The Swan Princess took over four years to create having needed over 275 animators and artists bring thousands of cells to life. 

 Swan Princess's original creator & producer, Seldon O. Young is humbled by how many people have admitted handing down the lessons of the Swan Princess to their own children & believes this speaks volumes on how well the story has lived. 

Seldon also told me that when he began this journey there were dreams of having a "great theatrical run" but they never dreamed things would "go on so long," especially after the release of the original failed to make a profit during its time in the box office. 

Now 25 years on the swan princess is taking on a whole new generation. Having gone on to have a run of another seven films,

recently releasing a new 4K ultra version of the original. Whilst having a ninth film and live-action in the works. 

Creating a live-action allows for new talent to be showcased both behind & confront of camera. 

Along with friends Seldon's daughter, Laura Young produced the project.  

There is always a reason for us loving the stories we grew up with maybe even more so as we get older and begin to understand them from a different perspective. 

history has a tendency to repeat itself, especially when reaching milestones, this is when people begin to reflect upon how much something truly means to them. 

Seldon's daughter Laura who has worked as a Swan Princess producer for a number of years has been enthusiastic about the prospect of getting to develop a Swan Princess live action. As it has been a dream for the Swan Princess team for a number of years. She also told me she is "especially happy with how it is being received by audiences all over the world" 

Laura feels the importance of keeping all of the much loved Swan princess elements but modernising it for the modern audience. And says no music for a possible live-action has been confirmed yet but she would like all original music to be included if a live-action was to get the go-ahead. 

Dark fantasy, horror Director Colton Tran who has been working alongside Laura for ten years was also on hand to help with this ambitious project. 

Finding working on the live-action "a different challenge" but told me it was "cool" to be able to bring a story that is originally an animation to life. He also spoke of being "able to bring a darker side" to the project by adding mist within the end sequence. 

As with any project, especially a popular one it is always important to have someone shoot behind the scenes footage. For this works really well for social media campaigns and promotion. Filmmaker Beau Stine was on set to make this happen. 

Stine told me he enjoyed being apart of observing this well-loved tale coming to life and feels that it's special effects "looked amazing" with the final edit exceeding his expectations. However 

 felt his biggest challenge just like any shoot involving BTS footage was to be prepared enough to "capture every great moment but to do so in a non-invasive way.'' 

 keeping in mind that the actors, director and crew are doing their best. Stine believes that being "Mindful of the energy and production process is key". 

Portraying Prince Derek was Utah's very own.  actor, musician & stuntman James Gaisford is trained to ride horseback, regularly partakes in his own stunts & is up for any challenge. 

was the perfect fit for a young Prince Derek. 

As a child, he regularly played the role of Derek in his back garden. As well as being experienced at playing "Catch & fire" One game which resulted in an arrow to the leg. 

James's favourite part of the filming was getting to live out his nine-year-old childhood dream. Saying a close second would be London Kress's portrayal of Princess Odette saying "She is such a sweet person and really emulates her character" 

If a live-action was to go into works Gaisford plans to partake in all his own stunts and is interested in exploring more of the themes imitated by the Swan princess's extensive back catalogue. 

I have come to the end of my blog, I know it has been extremely long with an awful lot of text so If you have stayed with it a massive congratulations. This is one of the longest things i have posted on here or attempted to write since regaining the ability so thank you for sticking with me through this journey. 

Also, I would like to a massive thank you to Seldon Young, Eden Young, Laura Young, Colton Tran, James Gaisford and Beau Stine for their involvement. I always feel so apprehensive about asking people questions in case they get annoyed. But I've come to realise that if people don't want to answer they just simply won't respond. 

I've been friends with the youngs & Colton for a number of years, it's one thing asking your friends questions but a whole other asking for help for people who you don't know. Or in this case who you know from social media but don't actually know. But everyone was so nice and these turned out to be some of the most interesting insightful interviews I've had the pleasure of doing so far. 

So thank you again to all involved it means so much and a massive thank you to everyone who has read to the end. 

Links:

Concept trailer: https://youtu.be/8GbC5hVuS3s

Concept trailer BTS: https://youtu.be/hsYdalaHRxI 

Swan princess website: https://swanprincessseries.com/

Colton's website: https://www.coltontran.com

Beau's website: https://www.beaustine.com/

Jame's IMDB: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm4197678/ 

Charities

I originally wrote this after messaging Nick Knowles's P.A some questions for a blog. After not gaining a response for a number of months,I changed the blog to be about charities and charitable people. I had a whole paragraph on Nick already so it seemed like a good start only then I went to upload it to somehow cut the top half of the blog instead of copying it. I had over half of the work I already did along with the links to website from the top half,so have added the rest in. I'm not sure wrote I wrote in the beginning but I think what I have written continues to make sense. 

Number 1: The Abled Fables

The abled Fables aim is to create inclusive  apparel and children's books to promote disability inclusion. Their first book "Gary's gigantic dream" has just recently been published. Gary's gigantic dream follows a giraffe named Gary as he gets fitted for his first wheelchair. The abled fables also shares stories of children with disabilities. 

Number 2: The tiered girls society:

The tierd girls society have created a website to give women with chronic illnesses a break from their conditions.  The website includes clubs, courses, ebooks and even a shop. They have even created a facebook type app that allows you to communicate and make friends with others in the same situation whilst joining in with clubs and events. 

Number 3: The Cameron Boyce foundation 

The Cameron Boyce foundation was set up in memory of Cameron's after his death in the summer of this year. And strives to advocate for everything Cameron was passionate about during his life. Including getting clean water to those who desperately need it, raising awareness to epilepsy and finding an end to gun violence. 

Their first project is one on which is called "Welding peace" with the aim of ending gun violence through a social media campaign which asks people to hold up something they love (EG: a musical instrument,a piece of sports equipment ect..) the main aim of this is to show young people violence is not the answer and to give them creative outlets to Express themselves with. 

Number 4: Care packages 

There are many care package organisations around online. The aim of care package companies is to raise awareness for many disabilities whilst sending out small gift boxes to terminally/ chronically ill people. Receiving a little gift or pick me cam really help when you are going through a hard time and I really love this concept. 

Number 5: ME Action

M.E Actions aim is to make the world a better place for those living with M.E they have begun a campaign called "Millions Missing" 

Aiming to raise awareness of M.E it's causes and impacts to the general public in the hope that one day we will be able to access much better treatment. 

Number 6: Spoonie support network

Spoonie support network offers advice and support to anyone living with a chronic illness. Also allowing them to gain friendships with people who understand. 

Number 7: Positive about DS 

Positive about DS share positive stories about people with Down syndrome. 

Number 8: Sophia’s Voice, set up by Natalie Weaver after her daughter's Sophia's death. Sophia suffered from a rare extreme facial, hand and foot deformities and Rett syndrome

 In the last year alone Sophia's voice has worked with 50 families to help pay for medical equipment and supplies, even covering car and utility payments. After Natalie's 

announcement of Sophia’s death on social media, followers raised more than $40,000 for the non-profit in just a few days.

Number 9: Claire's Place Foundation 

The Claire's place foundation was set up by Claire Wineland who spent her life fighting cystic fibrosis but tragically passed away in September last year. Her foundation aims to provide emotional and financial support to those affected by cystic fibrosis. 

Number 10: The Annabelle Davies Center 

The Annabelle Davies Centre was set up by Annabelle Davies, with an aim to be there for families in need. Whilst also helping them build resilience and confidence. The centre works with multiple agencies and partners in order to offer the best possible. care. There is currently one centre set up with an additional two being built in the near future. 

Links: 

https://adaviscentre?igshid=1eniugm2cac70

https://linktr.ee/meactnet

https://linktr.ee/rainbow_packages

https://shinebrightbundles.wixsite.com/2019

https://www.thetiredgirlsocietyapp.com/

https://l.instagram.com/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fthecameronboycefoundation.org%2F&e=ATP3bUm4O9FJ7lcGiTYlj2S1oAQ0g_5B1AktBDwvksjuJft9uQgN9F9K2MFduVSUKDoG2ztZX-LV2TF3 

https://clairesplacefoundation.org/ 

https://positiveaboutdownsyndrome.co.uk/ 

https://people.com/health/parents-of-10-year-old-with-rare-condition-made-her-final-weeks-count-we-said-lets-have-fun/ 

https://m.facebook.com/SpoonieSupportNetwork/ 

Stroud's independance charity trust

Working within Stroud's local community offering support and guidance to Stroud's young and vulnerable since 1969. The Independence trust offer Programs starting from six months up until one feels able to leave with the aim of being able to give them people focus points.


Whilst
Enabling them to gain skills and complete tasks that allow them to build on there strengths, capabilities and ambitions.
Boosting thier confidence whilst assisting them in improving thier mental wellbeing. This also helps them gain the confidence to set up thier own groups in order to later take a passion for employment.




Christmas is a rime forgiving, the Independence charity trust plans to serve up a full Christmas dinner to the young vulnerable people who come through thier door. For many of these young people, this may be the only hot meal and company they will receive over the festive period.

They are also looking for charitable donations in order to give them the best possible Christmas.
These donations will be used for stockings so will need to be reasonably sized gifts of use. (eg:Toiletries,socks,sweets/chocolate,books,hair accessories ect..)

Donations can be dropped off at Independence Trust First Floor Offices, The Cross, Parliament Street, Stroud GL5 2HL (entry to the building is the wooden doors etc the right of the steps of the car park), or Trading Post Records, Kendrick Street, Stroud until December 23rd.

Alternatively, if you are looking for a project to begin in the new year why not offer your services as a volunteer. Do you have or know anyone with computer skills who could possibly put in a few hours a month to help build a website for this amazing charity? Or have you got the carpentry skills to be able to offer help, advice and a listening ear to those attending the carpentry group held at the men's shed?

Are you feeling blue and would like some support organising your own project to get you out of a slump?

Then get in touch with Stroud's independence charity trust and they would be more than happy to advise you on how to go about your next steps.

If you are interested in any of the above then here are the details to get in touch:

Telephone0345 8638323E-mailgloucesterhub@independencetrust.co.uk

Disability inclusion in the Dumping Ground part 3

Welcome to part three of my dumping ground blog. 

Moving on up to later characters within the dumping ground. I have gone through this character by character as whilst writing the last blog it all got a bit confusing. They also all arrived within around not very long time periods of each other so I feel it works better this way. 

First up Sasha: Sasha is the most feisty dumping ground resident but she also has a softer side that comes out every now and again. 

before getting put into care Sasha lived with her mother. Who was mostly absent leaving her to care for her brother's Dexter & Murphy 

Having little food turns Sasha down the wrong path. Turning to crime

in order to feed her family & keep a roof over their heads. 

Being caught by the police numerous times meant her being taken into care.

Where she mixed in with the wrong crowd resulting in her committing more crime. Her last chance before getting sent to a secure facility was a trial run at the DG. 

Having obvious anger issues, presumably partly due to raising her brothers alone. Sasha becomes calmer as each series goes on she still has her outbursts every now and then. 

In the episode "Perfect Match" having realised her mum does not want her home, Sasha puts herself up for fostering. She gets a callback pretty quickly from a couple named Lou & Anj who also have dwarfism.

I think I mentioned this previously but I always find it humbling when the characters get matched up with couples who share the same medical conditions. If this was real life this would mean a better understanding between them all, making for an easier more peaceful life for them all. 

Initially, Sasha isn't sure about Lou & Anj as she was unaware they had dwarfism. 

But decides to give them a chance, a comment is later made by a stranger about them being a "Lovely little family" making her realise she's not yet let go of the hope that one day she will be back with her own family Who she brings up multiple times throughout the day.

This random comment prompts her to steal from a village shop, hiding the contents in Anj's bag. 

Lou and Anj later go on to adopt Harry while Sasha awaits for a time where she can go back to her family. 

A while after Sasha's half-sister is born Dexter comes to live at Ashdeen Ridge. From years of playing the mother role, Sasha is very protective of her little brother which causes friction between the other housemates and the two siblings. 

Having stayed a while Dexter leaves. Going back to live back with his mum.

struggling with her own emotions, turning every pain into anger rather than actually finding someone to talk to upon planning to leave, rather of saying her proper goodbyes she ends up insulting everyone. 

This seems to be her way of trying to prove to herself what she is doing is right even though she knows deep down how much she wishes to stay where she is. By now she has friends who she deeply cares about. In the end, Sasha makes the decision to complete her education whilst under the dg roof. 

A few series later Sasha's old friend Freya turns up, still feeling angry about the past Fraya begins to purposely set out to frame Sasha in a series of events Making it look to be Sashas' fault every time. 

Anger begins to boil more and more as it builds up Sasha begins to lash out inviting a bunch of people to a party at the DG then eventually smashing up a car in her rage. 

Now insecure but innocent, Jody enlists the help of her friends to uncover the truth. They soon discover that Freya has taken photos of all the resident's files and plans to upload them if anyone comes clean about what is really going on. Meaning everyone could be in serious danger if Fraya's plan is exposed. 

This is by far one of the greatest Sasha episodes because it shows how far she has come as a person after being given a second chance. It also shows how far she is willing to go for her friends. 

Chloe: I was really excited at the addition of Chloe because her storyline was so well thought out and portrayed. The whole idea of having her fall from a window as a baby and her mum blaming her brother (Ryan) felt & still does feel so clever to me. Doing it this way also allowed for an emotional side. Much hurt is able to be demonstrated through it, hurt that's been bottling up for years until they are finally ready for a reunion. 

Another reason Chloe's first episode "hold the front page" is so clever is because Ryan's character at this point has been on our screens for a while. Yet we have been given hardly any back story. He's grumpy, moody and clearly angry at someone\ something. Ryan's character, especially in the younger years, really reminded me of Crash from TSOTB. 

In them both, you can see they have clearly been mistreated. A really great Crash line that sticks with me is in a scene from "Spare Dad" when he is talking about why the nickname Crash has stuck. He says something like "because I'm angry with the world, you made me angry" (not sure if that's completely accurate but it's something similar) Ryan is also clearly angry with the world. 

What's fascinating is why. You don't just become angry something has to make you angry, another thing this show is good at showcasing angry characters but penning them such incredibly heartbreaking backstories allowing you to really feel for them. I really hoped that with Ryan they would have taken this deep manifesting trauma further, I know a lot of people feel the same way. 

Possibly done in the right way it could have worked, but may have been too deep for a children's show. 

Hold the front page shows the start of Tyler's journalism journey when he is able to expose the truth of what really happened on the day of Chloe's fall. Ryan has carried around the knowledge that he is to blame, but a simple conversation with the shop keeper from the downstairs building says otherwise. It does make you wonder why he never spoke up before despite having to know the truth for a number of years. 

It also makes you wonder how no one else figured out what really happened when all Tyler conducted was a simple investigation which uncovered it all. Although having it this way mad for a really promising plot to be then taken so much further. 

Even after the truth comes out Chloe and Ryan's relationship remains quite rocky. Ryan hadn't been reading Chloe's letters beforehand so knows very little about her, she knows little of him so of course, it takes them a while to truly get to know each other and form a connection. 

Ryan's last episode "A million ways to say goodbye" makes it clear that even though having now properly known Chloe for a number of years they still disagree on a lot of things especially when it comes to forgiving thier mum. Ryan still feels all the hurt but it's a different matter for Chloe who for having spent many of her early years with her, has many good memories of time spent together and still believes her to have their best interests at heart. 

Ryan's next step in this episode proves how strong of a bond they both now have. For the uses Chloe's phone to text their mum. Arranging to meet her outside their old block of flats. Taking her into the building of Chloe's accident he then goes on to confront her. Ending in her confessing to the truth. 

After learning how to stand up for himself Ryan decides it is time for him to leave the DG to go and live out his passion for horse care. Leaving Chloe to continue life at Asdeen Ridge alone. 

Chloe's other main episodes focus more around her thoughts, feelings and emotions. she is a very thoughtful person which we have seen many times since her arrival. 

Most recently in the episode "the last dance" where she helps Mike come to the decision to go and be with his newfound family. 

Where in "The fairytale Princess" "snake" and "Another Planet" the storylines all focus on Chloe's wish to feel liked, seen and appreciated by others. There are many times where she feels left out or overlooked, for various reasons including disability. 

Very much like Sasha Chloe also seems to struggle with being able to let out her emotions. Meaning she turns to find new friends in unlikely places to help her cope rather than confiding in anyone how she really feels. 

Much of this tactic is probably down to her early years of feeling left out or having a lack of understanding around why her brother was sent away aa well as why she ended up in a wheelchair. 

Towards the end of series seven, we see Chloe become addicted to an online roleplaying game, again this shows an element of Chloe's loneliness. Many online friendships are made because people are lonely or turn to the internet as a support network. 

Much like Chloe, people who feel as if she has very few friends who she can really trust tend to turn to the internet. Of course, at this point, she is also most likely missing Ryan. 

I think the main of this episode was to show how you shouldn't meet up with strangers and despite Chloe's newfound friend turning out to be May Li's son the adults still put a stop to their meeting. But not their friendship for they both attend Mike's charity prom together as a couple. 

Something that the Tracyverse has done incredibly well at since the start of it all is inclusion, their way of subtlety mixing disabled people with abled people without it being a massive deal and without it causing drama. Which is the way it should be but mostly isn't presumably when meets Chloe he 

doesn't know she's disabled, but he doesn't mention it or ask questions which is really refreshing. It seems ingrained into a lot of peoples heads that disabled people only date other disabled people or should only date other disabled people. I suppose in a way that theory or way of thinking does make sense in terms of understanding that person. but it doesn't necessarily show the real world. Despite shows like "The "undatables" claiming that is how it is. 

The same goes for Sasha and ex Josh even though it was short-lived. 

Having said all this Finn's relationship with Ivy is really sweet and I do really hope that in series eight they are given more screen time, as they both have down syndrome it would be nice to have an episode where they do talk about it but in a positive way. 

Finn: We first meet Finn in series three episode nine "Long way home" When

after getting a strange text Ryan decides to check up on Harry in his new foster home, he soon discovers that Harry's foster family are not all they seem. Ryan rescues Harry & Finn & brings them back to the dumping ground where they explain to Mike & May li, that neither of them get on with the family, as they argue all the time & blame the two boys. 

Finn has many hobbies including swimming. And despite having confidence issues has managed to achieve a lot within his time at the dumping ground such as becoming a young person's representative and winning a swimming competition. 

for Aaron Staffman's electoral campaign. For more on Finn and his actor Ruben please check out my previous blog 

Other things that I feel are worth a mention is the episode "Where is love" wIn this episode Mo discovers that the adults who raised him are not, in fact, his parents and are indeed his grandparents, who legally adopted him as a baby because they felt his real parents would not be able to care for him properly as they both have cerebral palsy. 

This is a massively important storyline to cover because as sad as it is, this does happen to people. 

Nevertheless, there are disabled parents out there who do a tremendous job at raising their children and who have worked out ways around any issues they may encounter. 

I follow young disabled people who have been quite open about this and plainly said things like "I won't ever have children because I feel I wouldn't be able to look after them properly." Others have spoken of fostering or possibly adoption from fear of passing down an illness. 

But I've seen situations of people speaking of becoming ill and then not long after divorced. however, still do a remarkable job of raising children in ways adapted to suit their needs. 

So it's not impossible just harder than it would be for the average person. 

Other random things I have picked up on are the added addition of Chloe's ramp and later lift. The scene in which they open Chloe's lift shows just how significant accessibility is. The pure joy captured on her face at being able to go upstairs is the purest thing. 

Access is a big issue for many disabled people and having access demonstrated throughout television, shows people what can be done in order to help disabled people live normal lives. 

There's also been quite a few added characters lately with disabilities like the addition of Ivy & Amy Hill. Ivy is Finn's new girlfriend who works at the leisure centre where he practices swimming She also supported him throughout his competition. Amy Hill was an ex care kid who Mike had looked after as a child. 

It was really nice to see a successful adult with a disability on screen because you don't see that enough.

I'm not sure if they went out purposefully to look for a disabled actor or not but the fact it was there meant a lot to me. For a disabled child to be able to see a very successful person with a disability gives them the confidence to prove to themselves that despite everything, they can be successful in whatever path they choose to take. 

That concludes my dumping ground blogs. I really enjoyed going back through all the episodes, choosing the ones I felt most important. There were a lot of things I forgot about that were a joy to rediscover. 

Doing this has also given me so much joy so I really hope you have all enjoyed my findings. 

Thank you so much for reading.

Christmas gifts for the chronically ill

I wanted to do a bunch of Christmas blogs but had very few ideas on what to write about. This idea came to whilst writing my charity gift blog. I then saw another blogger and do something slightly similar so had a read for inspiration. I have also included ideas from others as well as things that have helped me throughout my time of being chronically ill. 

 My plan was to write a note by each to explain why I had written in the item but realised that is not needed for it to make sense. I have instead put them into categories. 

To help with block out noise/light when in sensory overload: 

1: Ear defenders\ear plugs\headphones 

2:Sleep Mask

For comfort:

3:Pyjamas 

4: Blankets

5:Slippers 

For pain:

6: Water bottles/ heat pads 

7: Foot\back massager 

8:Oils 

9:Shower chair\ bath lifter 

10: A salt lamp 

For boredom/distraction: 

11: DVDs\ boxsets 

12: Audible subscription 

13: Big word Wordsearch or simple puzzle books

14: Colouring books

15: Sensory toys (eg: Fidget spinners) 

16: Amazon fire stick/ TV subscription 

17: Magazine subscription 

Practical items:

18: Handmade I.O.U These could be anything that they may find useful from offering to clean their house anything such as cooking them a meal etc.. 

19: Coffee machine 

20:Online gift vouchers