Disney’s Twisted Tales Book Series

We Disney fans can be hard to please at times, don’t you think? Give us something new and exciting, but please (oh please!) don’t change anything about Disney that we already love. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, just read some of the social media comments whenever Disney decides to close a theme park attraction or announce another live-action remake.

Never mind, don’t do that.

It’s usually not pretty.

Instead, perhaps you’ll want to try reading Disney’s Twisted Tales book series instead. You know, just to see where you fall on the “okay-with-Disney-changes” spectrum?

Each of the seven titles in the young adult book series adjusts (twists!) a crucial plot point of a popular Disney animated film. The first book, for example, reveals what would have happened if Aladdin never found the lamp. It’s called You Really Ain’t Never Had A Friend Like Me.

No! Kidding! It’s called Twisted Tale: A Whole New World by Liz Brazwell.

Originally published in 2015, I finally got around to reading it last month. It seemed like the right time, following the release of the new live-action Aladdin this past summer. Perhaps all these live-action remakes that follow the same story lines had me looking for something a bit different?

Did I mention Disney fans are hard to please sometimes?

In any case, I enjoyed Braswell’s book enough to pursue another title in the series. Yesterday, I finished reading Conceal Don’t Feel by Jen Calonita which is the latest title in the series and based on Disney’s Frozen. Today’s post offers spoiler-free reviews of both books and a broader overview of the series itself.

Twisted Tales: A Whole New World

Let’s start with A Whole New World.

There’s a lot to like about Brazwell’s bold new take on Aladdin. For starters, she spends way more time on Jafar’s character than the original film did. As much as I love the original Aladdin, I always felt like Jafar’s scenes were a little brief, particularly toward the end of the film when he becomes ALL POWERFUL for what seems like a few seconds. Brazwell expands his role significantly and offers more insights on Jafar’s evil motivations.

The book also spends more time describing the mystical city of Agrabah and its many inhabitants. Brazwell introduces quite a few new characters to expand her version of the story. Some of them are more complete than others, but collectively they offer a richer backdrop than the original film.

Finally, I also enjoyed the overriding message of how some choices in life can still lead us to the same destiny. It reminded me a bit of the old Sliding Doors movie with Gwenyth Paltrow, if you recall that film. In both A Whole New World and the more recent Conceal Don’t Feel, we learn how unique paths and decisions for specific characters can still lead to the same conclusion. These are fairy tales of course, but it’s an interesting idea to consider nonetheless.

There were a few aspects of Brazwell’s book that I didn’t care for too. Most notably, the last third of the book tended to drag on a bit longer than I thought was necessary. Second, since Aladdin doesn’t find the lamp in this version of the story, the role of the Genie is significantly reduced. More Jafar and less Genie makes it a much darker book than the animated version. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, depending on your perspective, but it definitely lacks the pop culture silliness and light-hearted charm of the original.

Conceal Don’t Feel

Earlier this week, I also read Jen Calonita’s Conceal Don’t Feel based on Disney’s popular Frozen. Calonita’s book has a similar writing style but much lighter feel than A Whole New World. In this latest book in the series which just released in October, Elsa and Anna are raised without knowing each other.

I liked how the plot for Conceal Don’t Feel varies right from the start. It grabbed my interest and made me wonder where the author was headed. Eventually Calonita ties in the necessary aspects of the original story through a series of flashbacks, but she waited long enough to let you realize this is a different story. Brazwell’s book, by contrast, follows the original Aladdin storyline almost verbatim for several chapters before veering off into a separate direction.

I also enjoyed how Calonita took some of the best lines and scenes from the original Frozen and reworked them into her version of the story. At times the same lines from the film are repeated by different characters. If you’ve watched Frozen a million times than you’ll be able to spot these references easily. If you haven’t, then the changes still make sense and are enjoyable on their own.

In terms of weaknesses, I didn’t spot quite as many in Conceal Don’t Feel as I did in A Whole New World. I suppose some of the plot nuances aren’t fully explained if you dive into the details, but I didn’t find it overly troublesome. Overall if you enjoyed Frozen and are interested in revisiting Arendelle in a new way, then I think you’ll be pleased with Calonita’s choices.

That, or you could just wait until Frozen 2 releases in theaters a few weeks from now.

Conclusion

Overall I enjoyed A Whole New World and Conceal Don’t Feel enough to pursue other titles in the series. There are currently seven of them, covering new takes on The Little Mermaid, Mulan, Beauty and the Beast and others. Disney recently announced two more new titles based on Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty are also coming soon.

The timing is interesting, introducing new twists on old stories at the same time as releasing new live-action films with the original plots in tact. Perhaps more of the same drives interest in something new? You can decide for yourself if you want to give Disney’s Twisted Tales series a chance.

Add a little (twisted) magic to your world.