Handmade Film Opens Disney's 1st Princess Week Under New CEO

Josh D'Amaro spent his first World Princess Week as Disney CEO on paper, paint, and puppets.

The Walt Disney Company launched "Once a Princess. Always a Princess," a handcrafted film about the childhood stories that stay with us.

It serves as the emotional centerpiece of this year's World Princess Week.

D'Amaro ran Disney Experiences for six years before taking over from Bob Iger in March, which put him in charge of parks, cruises, and consumer products.

He arrives at the CEO role knowing exactly what the Princess franchise moves in dolls, park tickets, and licensing deals.

D'Amaro's first swing at World Princess Week is a four-minute short with no product in the frame.

Director Alex Prager and the production team created handcrafted "bigature" castles inspired by classics "Beauty and the Beast," "Aladdin," and "The Little Mermaid."

Custom puppets and hand-painted matte backdrops build out the fantasy environments, using the same technique Disney animators used decades ago.

The floating carpet and underwater sequences were also created using practical effects, while a 56-piece live orchestra performs the score.

"I grew up with the Disney Princesses and their colourful, weightless worlds, full of beauty and drama, adventure, friendship, and true love," Prager shared.

"One of the things that drew me to making the Disney Princess film is at its heart, it's about relationships and human connection."

This creative decision gives the campaign a unique touch that stays in line with Disney's brand identity defined by whimsy, magic, and wonder. 

Joanna Balikian, SVP of brand management at The Walt Disney Company, credits the values inside the stories for the franchises' longevity.

"The enduring strength of Disney Princesses lies in its ability to evolve with each new generation while remaining rooted in stories that inspire courage, compassion, and possibility," she said in a statement.

This approach gives Disney room to sell the same characters to a six-year-old and her mother, which is what continuously keeps the franchise relevant.

Castles, Puppets, and an Orchestra

Developed with creative agency Fallon and Publicis Production, the short film follows two girls who live across the street from each other.

What started as a small game turns into a magical happenstance, transforming ordinary surroundings into a fantasy world.

A paper bird becomes a message from one friend to another, carpets gain the ability to fly, and the pool becomes an underwater kingdom.

The film then jumps forward in time to show the girls as adults passing their play rituals on to their daughters.

This generational handoff gives Disney a marketing device that positions the Princess franchise as a precious experience a mother hands down.

The short is available on Disney+ and YouTube, anchoring a week-long rollout across streaming, linear TV, retail, and live events.

"Disney Princess: The Ultimate Concert Celebration" played live at Disney California Adventure last week and is now streaming on Disney+ and YouTube.

The largest gathering of Princess talent included Brandy, Paige O’Hara, Jodi Benson, Halle Bailey, Auli’i Cravalho, Anika Noni Rose, and Lea Salonga.

New episodes of "Sofia the First: Royal Magic" arrive during the week, while "LEGO Disney Princess: Magical Mayhem" premieres on Disney+ on August 21.

The franchise is also moving into charitable work through Disney’s ongoing brand partnership with Make-A-Wish.

An upcoming miniseries will also explore families’ relationships with Princess stories.

Disney has granted thousands of Princess-themed wishes, one of the most requested categories among children facing critical illness.

Hand-Me-Down Memories

World Princess Week sits inside "Create Your World."

It's the umbrella campaign that Disney has been running since 2024 to keep Princesses active across content, products, and experiences.

The Princess business is also a part of a much larger licensing operation.

Disney topped License Global's 2026 Top Global Licensors report with $63 billion in retail sales of licensed products, up $1 billion from last year.

Disney Princess generated more than $1 billion in retail sales globally in 2025, according to an article by Forbes.

The latest film works as a fresh emotional entry point, creating even more brand stories that can live across Disney’s entertainment ecosystem.

It takes a more specific route by focusing on what happens when these stories move from one generation to another.

Three takeaways stand out for marketers with this campaign:

• Make production part of the message: The handmade sets and practical effects push the campaign’s argument about imagination, while the execution gives the idea physical evidence.
• Give legacy IP a new emotional job: Disney Princess already has recognition, and the campaign uses that recognition to explore how memories and relationships move the franchise into adulthood.
• Build one story across many touchpoints: The film establishes the emotional premise, while streaming releases, live performances, products, and charitable initiatives give audiences different ways to enter the same franchise.

Strong narrative storytelling can give familiar brand assets a new reason to matter without forcing the audience to relearn what they represent.

Our Take: Can Handcrafted Production Make IP Feel New Again?

It's deliciously old-fashioned how Disney is spending this much effort making a fantasy world with actual stuff like paper, paint, puppets, and mini castles. 

We live in an age where almost anything can be conjured in seconds. 

So, watching a carpet physically float through a scene gives the fantasy some weight.

We think that the short doesn't really make the Disney IP feel new.

Instead, it makes the IP feel permanent, the way a character you met at six still takes up room in your head decades later.

Disney sells this permanence better than anyone, and D'Amaro spent six years running the division where real craft does the persuading.

We'll be watching whether the rest of his tenure treats craft as a brand argument or just a bigger production budget.