“Lily and the Lion” is a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. When I read it, it was unlike any princess story I had ever seen, so it became my favorite, and still is, to this day. It took a Shakespeare professor to put two and two together in my mind… the story was based on “Cupid and Psyche”, which was in fact my favorite myth since childhood. Further still was my shock when one of my friends told me that the story was in fact Beauty and the Beast. The main reason why it shocked me? The trade for father and daughter and the marriage to an enchanted prince happens within the first six paragraphs of the story. That’s not even half the story.
Let’s share what happens to the princess after they tie the knot:
Lily (read: Belle) wants to take her husband to her sister’s wedding. He warns that he’ll become a dove at the touch of torchlight. She insists. It happens.
Lily leaves their child to chase her dove!husband as he flies across the world for seven years; he drops feathers from time to time so that she might follow him.
Lily misses a feather and goes to the sun for help. Sun says, “I haven’t seen him, but here’s a casket. I’m sure it’ll be useful.”
Lily then goes to the moon for help. Moon says, “I haven’t seen him, but here’s an egg. I’m sure it’ll be useful.”
Lily then goes to the winds for help. The south wind says, “Found him! He’s at the Red Sea, fighting an enchanted princess who turned into a dragon because he wants to split you two up.”
The night wind adds, “Not to worry, when you get there, you can take the dragon. Count 11 rods from the right shore of the Red Sea, and break it. That’ll smite the dragon and break the spells of both the dragon and your husband. There’s also a griffin who always chills down there. If you ride the griffin quickly enough, he’ll take you and your husband across the sea home; but take this nut and throw it in the sea halfway because he needs to rest.”
Lily goes to follow the wind’s counsel, and gets halfway there: after smiting the dragon herself, the spells break, but the princess takes the prince and flies away on the griffin.
After lots of crying and wandering, Lily finds a castle where there’s to be a feast and a wedding. She finds out the bride is the dragon princess. She cracks open the sun’s casket and finds a beautiful dress, which she wears to the feast.
Lily is fucking hot shit in that dress. The dragon bride is jealous and wants it, and asks what she could give for it. Lily asks for alone time with the prince. The dragon bride agrees, but drugs the prince so that he’s asleep for the meeting.
“I have followed thee seven years. I have been to the sun, the moon, and the night-wind, to seek thee, and at least I have helped thee to overcome the dragon. Wilt thou then forget me quite?” All the prince hears in his sleep is whistling wind.
Lily gives up the golden dress and thinks she’s fucked, but remembers the moon’s egg. She cracks it, and 13 golden chickens start running around the field.
The bride somehow sees these chickens glistening and approaches Lily, trying to get the brood. Lily says she’ll give them up for time with the prince.
“WTF was up with that wind?” asked the prince. The bride’s servant awkwardly explained what it actually was, and the prince decided it was best to not be drugged.
Lily says everything all over again, and the prince recognizes his wife’s voice, breaking his newest enchantment which was having forgotten her in the first place.
Lily and her husband sneak away on the griffin, flying across the Red Sea. Lily drops the nut in the sea and they don’t die.
When they arrive at home they find out their child has actually turned out good-looking and okay despite having had no idea where the fuck his parents had gone to, or why.
Now, based on the stories of the extensive research done before each Disney film is even developed as a mere concept, you’d think this would have come up, no? I often hear people say they love Belle and the story of Beauty and the Beast because she’s a break from the norm, but she could have easily been far more than that.
Wake up, Disney. If ever there was a story that should get a few sequels, this is it.
