LA Photographer Seriously Commits To Three-Dimensional Disney Princesses

Having been raised in Los Angeles with Disneyland just a few freeway off ramps away, my childhood birthdays were often marked with a trip to the happiest place on earth and handshake with one of those real-life Disney princesses. It would often take some encouragement from my parents, but I spent a sizable amount of my childhood chasing the polyester skirts of Cinderella or Belle with an autograph book in one hand and a Minnie Mouse sucker in the other. But it didn’t take much longer than the second grade to parse out a passable princess from a third-rate Cinderella or to glean that Jasmine was in fact not from the Middle East at all, but a white dark-haired college girl from Orange County. Needless to say, the princess impersonators didn’t hold much magic for me for very long.

But after taking a look at photographer Ryan Astamendi‘s “the Princess Series” in which he transferred these idealized cartoon beauties into actual women, I wish I could dare my 8-year-old self to find even one flaw.

Daily Mail reports that Astamendi worked for 18 years as a character artist for the Walt Disney Company, and goodness does it show. The detailed images, although free of any reinterpretation or commentary on princess culture, put any slap-dash Halloween costume or grandmother’s remake to shame.

Although most are appropriate for your little girl or guy’s eyes, a quick glance before or after any Princess-themed birthday parties will have you rethinking the Snow White impersonator you booked.

(photo: dailymail.co.uk)