• by Fern Siegel , 5 hours ago

Disney is seriously into princesses. And for World Princess Week, the entertainment giant relied on Fallon to produce a four-minute film that honors imagination and storytelling.

Alex Prager directed the piece.

"Once a Princess, Always a Princess: A Disney Short,"  follows two young girls in neighboring apartment towers who build an imaginative world together. The thrust is how Disney Princess stories give kids a shared experience to kick-start a friendship.

The story, launching on Disney and various digital platforms, features "bigature" castles -- think "Aladdin" and "Beauty and the Beast" — handcrafted structures as tall as a person to create depth. Backgrounds were hand-painted before being rendered digitally, using classic Disney matte techniques.

And the score, recorded by a 56-piece orchestra, is rare for a commercial push. The puppets are also nifty -- requiring 20 performers to work simultaneously. 

Vin Burnham led costume design, while editor Paul Rogers is an Oscar-winner for "Everything Everywhere All at Once."

"Disney Princesses give kids a shared language that instantly, and sometimes permanently, connects them," Leslie Shaffer, CCO at Fallon, told Agency Daily. "It’s what makes this work emotionally lethal — it taps into something real we all have experienced, but might have forgotten. To tell this story, we wanted every frame to feel like genuine movie magic."

Fans can stream "Disney Princess: The Ultimate Concert Celebration," the largest gathering of Disney princess talent, on Disney+.