I was a little late to the party watching this one, first waiting for it to come out on YouTube instead of being exclusive to Disney+, and then I admit it sat in my Watch Later for another three months. I think I was nervous that they would underplay the strength of the early Princesses or try to make them fit more “modern” ideas of strength, or maybe I was just afraid the story would be too childish. Anyway, I finally watched Castle Quest, and I thought it was actually pretty good. Especially considering the whole mini-movie was probably made just to promote that Disney Princess “Ultimate Adventure Castle” set! (That actually didn't click for me until the very end, which is either a good sign of the story quality or a terrible sign of my perception skills.) They really gave us a whole solid story, that was tied into a multi-Disney-Princess magic castle. And not a story that would only appeal to children, either.
Gaston is the main villain here, and he has been collecting various magical treasures from various kingdoms and using them to increase his power. He is presented as vain and humorous, but still in a way you could tell he was a genuine threat. (One of his treasures is the Magic Mirror, which acts as his sidekick but seems to be more of a morally grey free agent than strictly on his side. I'll bet Gaston misses Lefou and his blind unwavering loyalty!) Now Gaston has kidnapped King Triton and is trying to figure out how to gain control of his trident, which seems to have a mind of its own and refuses to obey Gaston. (Was that power added as a safeguard, after Ursula got her hands on the trident, I wonder? Because in The Little Mermaid, the trident did work for enemies.) In order to save Triton, five Disney Princesses must complete certain challenges set up by Gaston: Snow White, Tiana, Rapunzel, Moana, and of course Ariel, what with it being her father who's imprisoned and all. Not coincidentally – and I can't believe it took me to the end of this mini-movie to notice this – these are the same five Princesses who appear in the Ultimate Adventure Castle set. I don't know why those five were chosen in particular, or whether the decision was first made for the Lego set or the mini-movie, but their personalities did end up working very well together in our story. Yes, I was disappointed that Jasmine wasn't among the Chosen Five – of course I was – but luckily the Magic Carpet and Iago both appear in the movie, so that was something! Actually, I think all in all, there were references to many Disney Princess movies in this short film, like a big epic crossover – and even a little beyond just the Princess movies; we have a cameo by Mr Smee from Peter Pan!
I am unsure how the five Princesses who appeared in the movie and Lego set were chosen, since they don't seem to have anything in common that couldn't also be achieved by another group of Princesses. The film has it that these five are particularly good “warriors”, and no, that isn't incongruous for Snow White, because they actually present her resilience and kindness to animals as a strength that will help them every bit as much as Rapunzel's talent with her frying pan. It still seems odd, though, that if this was their standard, someone as fiery as Jasmine, or an actual literal warrior like Mulan, wouldn't be chosen. I guess they wanted to include the very first Disney Princess, as well as the most recent Disney Princess that audiences actually liked and would be happy to see in their Lego sets, and then it only makes sense to include Ariel when it's her father that's been kidnapped. I do, of course, have my suspicions about the ratio of earlier to later Princesses who were chosen – but I said nothing about that.
I do appreciate how, for the most part, each Disney Princess uses the strengths she's shown to have in the movie, and they were all presented as strengths. Snow White's ability to communicate with animals and her knowledge of dangerous forests, Ariel's sense of adventure and interpretations of what various human objects are for, Tiana's logic and knowledge of plants, Rapunzel's skills with a frying pan and her determination to never be trapped, and Moana's Wayfinding skills and ability to build a canoe, all are used to great effect. (Oh, and Ariel turns into her mermaid form and communitactes with sea animals, of course.) There is no indication, no obvious indication anyway, that any Princess's skill set is better or worse than another's. Even when they have Snow White carry an axe, it feels somewhere between loveably incongruous and a normal tool for someone who spends a lot of time in forests – or at least, I was able to see it that way. I won't say they never made fun of her, but for the most part it felt like it was in good taste. The story had actual high stakes, moments when I really wasn't sure how the Princesses would get out of whatever fix they were in, and it was always thanks to their own inner strength that they did get out of said fix. The movie's message, a very typical Disney Princess message, wasn't subtle, but it was very nice and was also woven into the plot's final dangers very cleverly.
I am here for an epic, multi-Disney-Princess crossover, and the way they set it up like this castle has gateways into the world of every Princess, there is no further excuse not to have all kinds of Disney Princess crossover stories! Never mind how they all come from different times and places; they now have a castle that can transcend dimension. One thing I did notice is – okay, so at the end, it's made out like these five Princesses all have special rooms inside this castle, and gateways to their own worlds so they can come and go as they please, and I immediately started wondering: just these five?? Was there some kind of Disney Princess contest in which all the others were deemed unworthy or something?? I don't think that was meant to be the idea at all, but watching these five Princesses and only these five enjoying their special castle rooms, it really felt to me like there was some special exclusive prize all the other Disney Princesses were missing out on. What I would have liked to see is just a brief glimpse suggesting all the other Disney Princesses have rooms at the castle too, and either have them make cameos at the end or show us how they might be making their appearances very soon. Maybe a little teaser that there will soon be more adventures, with a different group of Princesses every time. Because I for one would love to see more Lego Disney Princess crossover adventures.
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