Hey TGs,

OK, I love LEGO. Don't you? I love the colours, how you can build anything your heart desires and of course I love minifigures - the blocky little people who are too cute!

So I was psyched to go to the premiere of The LEGO Ninjago Movie in Sydney. I ran into this cool guy...


The movie had waaay more LOLs than I had foreseen. It's hilarious if you like martial arts movies and even if you don't. Truly, it's a giggle per minute and I can't stop singing this one silly song. Is it the new 'Everything is Awesome'? It might be!!!

In this flick, Lloyd, a teen boy, is troubled. He's troubled by how much everyone dislikes him and that most of this dislike stems from his super-bad dad, Lord Garmadon. Garmadon's crazy villainous ways are a threat to the city Ninjago. Can Lloyd and his pals, also secret ninjas, defeat Garmadon? Can Lloyd come to terms with having a four-armed papa who never says his name correctly (he always sounds both L's in 'Lloyd')? Will peace ever return to Ninjago? You'll have to watch the movie to find out, but I think you'll find it's a whole heap of fun. My fave character is Master Wu, voiced by Jackie Chan. He has some of the best lines in the movie and there are quite a lot of great ones.

Are you going to watch The LEGO Ninjago Movie? Let me know in the comments what you think!

xo Claire
 

Hey TGs!

Guess what one of my favourite things to do is?

Did you guess 'play with puppies'? YOU ARE CORRECT. I would put the puppy face emoji in here if I could.

But, also! One of my fave things to do is read. It always has been. I'm sure heaps of you feel exactly the same way. Sometimes TGs write in to say they really want to work at TGHQ one day and if this sounds like you, my best advice is to read. And read. Also read. Then read some more. Read every day. On sunny days. And cloudy days. Read on days that end with 'y'. 

Guess what else? The Australian Reading Hour is coming. It's on Thursday, 14 September. The idea is on this day, you get to stop what you're doing, pick up a book and read for an hour. Cool, hey?! I mean, I'm so on board with this. You should see my piles of books I have that I want to read and I haven't yet read. With a whole hour set aside, I'm going to bliss out and escape into a cool, fictional world. I love doing this. Here I am with a heap of cool books at TGHQ.



If you want to take part in The Australia Reading Hour, ask Mum, Dad or your teachers if you can check out details on readinghour.org.au. What are you going to read? Dork Diaries? Diary of a Wimpy Kid? Gangsta Granny? You can choose!

Here are my fave ways to find out what I might want to read next: 

• Ask my besties what they read and enjoyed.
• Read reviews of cool new books, like in the reviews section Aaron writes for TG.
• Browse at my fave book stores or libraries.

What are you reading right now? If you have a book recommendation for other TGs, tell us in the comments!

Have a fun weekend!
Claire xo

Hey TGs!

Straight up, I've gotta say... SPOILER ALERT, SPOILER ALERT, SPOILER ALERT. 
If you've been waiting for Descendants 2 (you so have) - like, maybe you read about it in the August issue of Total Girl with Dove Cameron on the cover - have I got the scoop for you!

I saw Descendants 2 at the Sydney premiere yesterday. Here are some cool things about this premiere: 



1. They gave us delish shiny red toffee apples. I'm going to share mine around in slices at TGHQ.
2. They also gave away these personalised hats! I saw TG friend Ange from Little Angel with her sisters at the premiere and they got their own cool hats. Super stylin'. 
3. Some actors in great costumes (studded pink leather jacket? Um, yes please!) came out and danced for us live before the screening. Backflips and everything!



BUT what about the movie, I hear you ask...

It's just plain fun. The dancing is amazing - just wait for the jaw-dropping finale. I also love the songs. 'The Space Between', a duet for Mal and Evie, is a song about how even if you and your friend realise you belong in different places, you can still find a place in the middle where you can belong together. It was beautiful.

Descendants 2 is also quite hilar in places. Also, love that OTT fashion. Evie, who is my kinda gal, wears something like three accessories around her neck at any moment: some sort of red bling over a wide choker in deep blue with a bejewelled red choker. Ah-Ma-ZING. 

Dove and everyone else is looking a little more grown up and we get a sense that she's struggling with her identity. Will the soon-to-be King, Ben, like her for who she really is? Let's hope so, because trying REALLY hard to be something she's not in pastel Auradon is really getting her down. When she runs back to the Isle of the Lost, because it feels more like home than high-stress Auradon, Uma, daughter of Ursula (China Anne McClain) has decided to stir up all sorts of trouble. 

I think we're going to see a lot more of China Anne. Her singing voice is too good - it's powerful and she can really belt it. She's such a strong presence on the screen and is the perfect anti-heroine to face off against Mal. 

But wait... how do you have anti-heroines when your heroine is a villain? [insert thinking face emoji here]. I mean Uma is our main baddie but I ended up feeling quite sorry for her.

That's all I wanna reveal for now. To read interviews with the Descendants 2 cast, grab your copy of Total Girl's August issue with Dove on the cover. And catch Descendants 2 on July 28 at 6.30pm on Disney Channel. 

Are you going to tune in? Who's your fave character? Let me know in the comments!
Claire xo

Hey TGs,

How was your weekend? I did two things on my weekend: indoor rock climbing; and watching Spider-Man: Homecoming at a special screening. I guess they're kinda related, huh? Only I don't have any crazy-cool powers and being able to scale a wall all the way to the ceiling is about as good as it gets for me. Spidey in this flick can crawl his way across a celing - so handy if you need to be stealthy.

I should say at this point this Marvel movie is for older TGs.


Do you like my cool Spider-Man stance? Pretty cool, huh?

OK, back to the movie. OMTG, it's just plain fun. It's hilar, well-written and the latest Spidey, Tom Holland, actually has super powers IRL. Well, kind of - he played Billy Elliot on stage in London. Billy Elliot, a character in a musical of the same name, is a boy who discovers his amazing talent for ballet. Tom, with his background in dance and acrobatics, can flip all over the place without breaking a sweat. 

His character is sweet, geeky and vulnerable. There's lots of joy in watching him figure out how to be a superhero, I guess because it would be like that for us as well - even if you're talented, you've got to take your talents out for a spin, and sometimes you fly, and other times you go splat. He does both. 

But I have to mention Michelle - that's the character played by TG fave Zendaya. Can't give you any spoilers but I will say she's nearly unrecognisable and a very different sort of Z from the one you see on the small screen. 

Spider-Man: Homecoming is in cinemas on July 6. Are you going to see it? Let me know in the comments!

Hey TGs!

It's not every day you go down to the mall and see a TG cover star, but today was one such day! Remember TG's May cover with Katy on it. Well, I just saw Katy in the flesh!




I got an invite to come cover Katy Perry's appearance at Myer in Sydney. Perhaps you were there too? There were HEAPS of KatyCats there. We spent what felt like ages getting hyped and they played us a lot of songs. You know that feeling when the bassline shakes the room and makes your heart beat in time with the music? It was like that. 

Then! OMTG! Finally, the moment came - Katy appeared in a shower of glitter out of a confetti canon, I think. She had her hair short and blonde and spiky and she was in a cool, blue jacket. 



And here's what was said: 

• Katy will tour to promote Witness, her new album, in July-August next year. 
• Myer is boosting her tour by giving away 8,000 tickets! Whoa! Crazy, huh? And I'm pretty sure they said each winner would get four tickets! And if my maths holds up, that means 2,000 chances to win! Myer has the deets on how you win exactly so if you want to do this, it's best to suss it out through the store - don't forget to ask Mum and Dad if you can if you want to. 
• Katy said her goal in Australia is to eat as many meat pies as possible! Haha! I wonder whether she likes potato pies; those are my fave. 
• Katy reminisced about the time she wore her hair in a black and white 'do and she had to smile through her tears because there were so many pins and they were hurting her. 
• She likes Tim Tams. 
• She thinks Australia is a fun, chilled out place. 
• She says in her new album, you can hear her progression and how she's gotten a little more grown up. "There's purpose in everything I do... [I make[ better choices and I'm more present," she said. 
• Naturally when she tours, she'll play all the jams you love, plus new ones too. 
• The show will be very bright and colourful, with heaps of escapism "because the world is a strange place". 
• She's got her own range of shoes out and they smell like watermelon!
• Tickets are out on July 19 through Ticketek. KatyCats, are you going to her shows? Let me know in the comments!

Oh... and here are the tour dates in case you're wondering!

• 07/24/2018 PERTH, WA PERTH ARENA 
• 07/30/2018 ADELAIDE, SA ADELAIDE ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE 
• 08/02/2018 MELBOURNE, VIC ROD LAVER ARENA 
• 08/03/2018 MELBOURNE, VIC ROD LAVER ARENA 
• 08/08/2018 BRISBANE, QLD BRISBANE ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE 
• 08/13/2018 SYDNEY, NSW QUDOS BANK ARENA 
• 08/14/2018 SYDNEY, NSW QUDOS BANK ARENA 

OMTG, you guys, I think I just set a record for myself in terms of epic movie watching! Yesterday, I saw TWO special screenings of cool coming flicks just so I could report back on what's good! (Also, because I am a fan. But mostly to report back!)




I kicked off in the morning with The Boss Baby. Now, I only have an older sister, so I don't know what it feels like to see Mum and Dad come home with a brand new baby - apparently, you feel kinda jelly! And to make matters worse for Tim Templeton, our hero, his new kid brother is... um... a little weird. I mean, he's in a tiny business suit, he can talk (in Alec Baldwin's voice) and he wants to eat sushi! Something's most def up with him and Tim can't wait to figure out what it is so he can hopefully regain his parents' undivided love and attention. 

My fave things about this flick: It includes the most heart-melting puppy EVER. I mean EVER. Also, because of Tim's oversized imagination, there are some truly cray cray moments and it really is totes hilar. 
That said: there's a bit of gross-out humour, which isn't really my jam. Just a warning in case you're eating something soft or squishy while watching!

Next up in the afternoon - The LEGO Batman Movie! Since I was a massive fan of The LEGO Movie, I figured this one would rock my socks and it totally did! For starters, look who I got to meet!! How cool do we look together as a crime-fighting squad?! Big props to the cool people behind this flick for putting on so much fun stuff in the arvo - from face-painting to caricatures to cool LEGO stickers and masks and activities on the seats. 



This flick's about LEGO Batman, the hero of Gotham City, even though, well, he clearly hasn't actually banished crime from Gotham at all! Turns out a life of a crime-fighting billionaire can be kinda lonely when you're all holed up in the Batcave with a microwave dinner. Enter Dick Grayson, a.k.a. Robin - a lonely orphan with massive, cute eyes - will he and Batman discover they're actually the crime-fighting fam the world needs?

My fave things about this flick: The visuals! As with the first LEGO movie, it's a bricky, blocky, colourful feast for the eyes. I also really dig Rosario Dawson's Batgirl (or Barbara Gordon when not in costume), as well as the too-cute Harley Quinn. The insane, funny nature of this movie is perfect for fans of superhero flicks too.
That said: Batman is hilariously self-centred and so focused on being a cool, tough guy that I guess he's just not as sweet as Emmet, our hero in The LEGO Movie. But does a softie secretly lurk under that tough-guy exterior? It might...

The Boss Baby is in cinemas from 23 March.
The LEGO Batman Movie is in cinemas from 30 March.
Check out the current issue of TG with Emma Watson on the cover for a 'How to draw LEGO Batman' guide, plus a poster of Batgirl!

 

Hi TGs!

Are you excited about Beauty and the Beast? I DEFINITELY am. So much so that, at the time of writing, I have seen it twice! OMTG!

The first time was with Aaron and Abbey. The second time was last night, at the Australian premiere! Heaps of fans had lined up on the street to watch everybody arrive at the State Theatre. It was all done up in special enchanted sparkles. Some gold-painted people were dressed up as candelabras so it was like the furniture had come to life! And there were lots of roses - like, collections of rose crystal jewellery and roses on the red carpet.

Here I am standing on the red carpet!


Here I am in front of this magic mirror. 

An awesome girl who looked wonderful was dressed up as Belle! Here she is. 


Here's what happened when I tried to selfie with her. 

Very ineffective! I am too short! Haha!

Once we got inside the theatre, we got to see one of the stars of the film! Josh Gad, whose voice should be very familiar as he's Olaf, plays LeFou, Gaston's hilar sidekick. He told us the funniest thing that happened to him on set involved one of the many horses in the film. His horse was called Buddy, "but it was no buddy of mine!". Buddy was supposed to walk beside Josh along with Luke Evans (who plays Gaston) and his own horse. But Buddy was having none of it! Instead of going for a nice walk, Buddy decided to head backwards, then to bolt through the village! Even the horse's trainer started to laugh because he'd never seen anything like that before!

He recorded a message of us all greeting Luke Evans on this phone AND treated us to a brief sing-a-long sesh of 'Gaston' the song. Which, by the way, is one of funniest bits of the movie. 

But how was the movie? I can tell you right now you'll go to sleep singing the songs to yourself and you'll sigh for days over how stunning and gorgeous and magical it is. I know I am! Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme... 

Tell me in the comments about whether you think you're gonna heart it!

xo Claire

Beauty and the Beast is in cinemas from March 23.
Total Girl with Emma Watson on the cover is on sale Monday March 13.

 

Hey TGs, happy International Women's Day! Here are three cool things to do today:

1. Get pumped on what you and other women and girls have achieved!
2. Get inspired by your fave females, whether real, fictional, historical or current! There are SO many. 
3. Combine your powers with other women and girls - if you band together, who knows what you'll achieve. 

Today, just for Women's Day, here's a spesh online-only Real-Life Read. Lisy Kane, a Melbourne-based games producer, is pretty ah-mazing so I thought you might like to read all about her! She spoke to TG to coincide with the release of Barbie Video Game Hero, in which Barbie is a coder!


My family had a laptop when I was young, a really old one, and we played a lot of video games. I was fascinated with how they worked and didn’t realise they were made by humans – real people! I wanted to create things and made things like pinball machines out of old cereal boxes, toilet paper rolls, and marbles! They worked! They weren't great, but I enjoyed putting them together.

These days, I even make games outside of work - I take part in Game Jam and do behind the scenes stuff. For Global Game Jam, I did some audio coding. I make music on the side! I’m always making stuff.

Making games, you get to work with amazing people. In my role as a producer, I get to see everything – I get to see the code happening, I get to see the art being drawn. I’m the least artistic person in the team! But I love seeing these worlds being created. That’s what I love most about video games. A game I’m working on is a complete fantasy world filled with animals. I get to see that world being put together every day! 


As a producer, I make sure the directors, coders, designers and artists all know what they’re doing so we can hit our release date! I got started doing IT in high school, then I studied game design and business at uni. I did work experience at a game studio while i was at uni. I didn’t know games were made in Australia, I thought they were all made overseas in big studios in America. But there are a lot of studios in Australia making games.

If you want to get involved in making games, play lots of games! All types - and then think about why they're fun to use. You can explore work experience at a game studios – see if you can talk to them and ask for advice. Most will be extremely happy and helpful if you reach out to them. Look for free tools like Stencyl so you can make your own games! You don't have to code, you can drag and drop. Play around and make games with your friends - that's even more fun.

The industry of games and tech is mostly male, which means one type of story is being told. Bringing more people, especially girls and women, means more stories will be told. So we need more women to enter the games industry and make cool games for me to play!

Hi TGs!

OK, weird confession time - I LOVE containers. You guys, I have a LOT of containers. 
By 'containers' I mean anything that can hold another thing: lots of tins, boxes, pouches, handbags, folders... you name it. Sometimes my friends make fun of me for loving containers so much, but maybe they should think about a world with NO containers!!! Terrible, right? All your stuff would be EVERYWHERE. 

Rant over. Did you know today's new mag day for TG? You can get your very own March issue with Tay on the cover right now. And newsstand copies all come with a super adorbs exclusive TG pencil case! I LOVE them. 

BTW, there's two to collect: one with a cactus print (BEST) and one with an icy pole print (ALSO BEST). My fave is probs the cactus, though. 

So here's what I can fit into mine: 
TG March mag
Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life textas
Typo pen that's also a fan (sooo good in the heatwave)
Cool mirror that looks like a perfume bottle
Tokidoki stamp
My TG watch
Glitter glue
Hair elastics
Cute lil doll of Steven from Steven Universe, which I got this morn from TG friend Deeny (she works at TG's brother mag, K-Zone).

BTW, if you're wondering what's up with the hearts in the background, those are the REALLY COOL heart notes you can pull out of the middle of the mag. YAASSS.

Tell me - which pencil case is your jam - cactus print or icy poles? What can you fit into yours? 

xo TG's Claire



* Contents of pencil case for illustrative purposes only. Free with the March issue of Total Girl, newsstand copies only.

Hey TGs!

Do you like space as much as I do? One of my fave ever interviews that ever ran in TG was with Marsha Ivins, an astronaut who'd been to space FIVE TIMES! I knew Hidden Figures would be the movie for me because I like rockets that go blasting off into zero gravity and also films about maths. 

Hidden Figures has gotten really famous lately since it's won a swag of awards. I totally see why! It was smart and inspiring. I really think it's for YOU. For girls just like you who want to do big, amazing things. For girls who want to break down barriers and who won't take no for an answer and who want to be the first to get to do things that girls have never done before. The coolest thing is it's based on the real stories of real ground-breaking women who worked at NASA way back in the 1960s. 



When we first see our hero Katherine Goble, she's a little girl who is very, very, very good at maths (the real life Katherine graduated high school aged 14! How epic is that?!). Even though she lives in a time when being a girl and having brown-coloured skin make life very difficult for her in the world where she wants to make a mark - the mathematics behind space exploration - she's quietly tough and determined which makes all the difference.

Do you want to see Hidden Figures? If you went to space, what would you most want to do? Let me know in the comments!

xo Claire

Hey TGs!

Meet some new friends of mine - the Twozies!

Here they are. Aren't they ca-ute?! Adorbs, right? 
As you can see, Twozies are cute lil babies in animal hats. They come with a pet... but here's the fun bit - their pet doesn't match them, so you've got to go swap with a friend or other collector to reunite the Twozie and his or her pet!

These are some Twozies that live at TGHQ. The puppy-hatted baby with the doggy is mine. The whale and sloth babies/pets belong to Sandra, who is a BFF of the TG team. 



But, as I said, they don't come matched. In a little fun pack, you'll get a totally random match up and while they'll still be SUPER SQUEE, they'll just not quite belong together. See what I mean? 




Safe to say I'm pretty obsessed with them - opening them is a surprise, matching them feels heaps rewarding and collecting them has been epic. Since they're def my jam, I thought you might like collecting them too (two!?). If you would like the fun and the surprise of your very own Twozies, find them with non-subscription copies of Total Girl's February mag, which is out on Monday!

Do you wanna play with Twozies? What do you like to collect? Tell me in the comments below!
xo Claire

Hey TGs!

Let’s talk fave karaoke songs. Mine are Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen and Sorry by the Biebs. Yours? I mean I’m about 99.9 per cent sure you LOVE music and also ADORE singing. Which brings me to the most recent flick I saw, Sing, which is all about Buster Moon the koala’s dream of reviving his downtrodden theatre with a huge singing contest.

I’m sure you’re going to love Sing, too! Here are three reasons why:

1. The details are incredibly good. For example, at one point, a rooster in a business suit walks across the screen. This rooster isn’t really a character, he’s just there and he’s so cute and awesome that I ROFLed. Same goes for the whale in the hat.
2. The music! Kinda goes without saying, but it’s good, really good. I thought the music was used in the film quite cleverly – it always worked with the story, and wasn’t just there because the song was a massive hit or whatevs.
3. It’s hilar! You are going to ROFL, most definitely. I mean spoiler alert the carwash scene? TOO good. Haha!

I went to the Sydney premiere of Sing on the weekend. Here were three good things about this premiere:

1. They set up a mini stage with big lights and heaps of props. You can’t tell in this pic, but I tried to do a rockstar jump. Didn’t quite work out, as you can see.
2. They had fairyfloss AND choc tops. Which was too many treats for me to handle! The choc top was delish, though.
3. They had a super fun DJ, here she is. 

Are you going to see Sing? It’s out on Boxing Day. And don’t forget to tell me your fave songs to sing – in the shower, in the car, anywhere!

Xo Claire

Hey TGs!

I'm updating my blog because IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS! And I hope you're enjoying the school hols. One of the best things about the school hols? The Boxing Day flicks!

Yep, just four sleeps until Moana is out in cinemas! Check out the trailer right here...

Some of you would have read my earlier blog post from when I went to a special Moana screening, but I thought I'd update it with this super epic video Q&A with Auli'i Cravalho
the Hawaiian teen voice actor behind the heroine. Here she is!



How cool is Auli'i? THE COOLEST, that's how cool. 

Here are my thoughts from my earlier post from that early screening of Moana. 

1. OMTG it is SO BEAUTIFUL. It is breathtaking.
2. That little pig who is Moana's friend - can it be MY friend? 
3. I'm not crying, YOU are. 

Moana is all about a Polynesian girl, the teen daughter of an island chief, who must go on an adventure to save her people. If you love the beach, long summers, coconuts and silly chickens, you're going to love this - it has it all. I think Moana is the hero we deserve: brave and headstrong, super determined and an unstoppable force of nature. I wish I could be more like her!

Did you know a lot of the voice actors have Islander backgrounds? For example, newcomer Auli'i s part-native Hawaiian (her singing voice! SWOON!). Her spirited, feisty grandma is voiced by Rachel House, who is part Maori and who you might remember as Paula in Hunt for the Wilderpeople. And let's not forget Maui, the demigod who Moana journeys with, who is voiced by actual legend The Rock. The Rock, a.k.a Dwayne Johnson, is part Samoan. 

So you know what? I'm calling it. Moana is the next Frozen and you're going to LOVE the music. Catch it in cinemas on Boxing Day. 

Are you excited about Moana? If you had a talking animal sidekick, what would it be? 

Claire xo

Hey TGs!

OMTG I LOVE premieres, and I love the world of Harry Potter. So, as you can imagine, when it was time to go to the premiere of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, I was basically doing backflips with excitement. 


 (By the way, I cannot actually do backflips. I am just not that talented. Haha.)

Fantastic Beasts is set in a world well before Harry Potter and his pals ever went to Hogwarts. It's set in the 1920s, in New York - a world that's grand and gilded with some elegant gowns and beautiful buildings. In this world, a stranger from a strange land, Newt Scamander, brings a suitcase of magical animals and some of them break free! EEK. 

I should say at this stage the movie is for older TGs - parts of it are quite dark and scary. But other parts of it are genuinely magical and of course I loved all the creatures. SPOILER ALERT my fave was the Niffler that appears early on that looks like a platypus with a treasure-stealing habit. I like shiny things too! Haha!

At the premiere, I loved getting to climb into Newt's enchanted suitcase. Have a think about how they managed this special magic trick! It was the coolest!

Also, we were given real, special magic wands at the premiere! But I have given mine to a very special person, Tam, who really IS magical. <3

Are you going to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them? It's in cinemas TODAY! If you had a magical pet, what would it be? Let me know in the comments!

xo Claire

Hey TGs, I'm back from my holidays!



I know you guys loooove Zootopia, so I thought I'd dig up some cray facts for you: 

1. One giraffe has more than 9 million CGI hairs on his body! According to Screen Rant, this is more hairs than the last three Disney animated features put together! That is way, way hairier than even Rapunzel, who’s pretty famous for her mane (but isn’t, you know, actually COVERED in hair). Even smaller creatures have epic numbers of hairs – a mouse has about 400,000 hairs.
2. Shakira the pop star from Colombia voices the super glam Gazelle. She contributed a song called Try Everything; Sia and Stargate wrote it.
3. Judy the rabbit and your adorable heroine gets her mobile phone coverage from ‘PB&J’ – it says so on her screen. PB&J, get it?
4. In Germany, the title of the movie is Zoomania.
5. One of the sloths, Priscilla, is voiced by Kristen Bell (who also voices this character you may have heard of, Anna in Frozen). IRL, Kristen is a massive fan of sloths, so much so that when her friend tried to surprise her with one, Kristen started to bawl because she was so happy.
6. To get their animal characters just right, the research team visited Kenya in Africa to see animals on the savannah and check out an IRL animal society in the wild.
7. The team did heaps of homework - they spent than 15 months studying animal movement, fur and behaviour. They even examined fur on a microscopic level!
8. During his studies of animals, one guy on the team got attacked so many times he ended up with the nickname Nate the Bait.
9. The world of Zootopia has only mammals and some flies – it lacks reptiles, birds, fish, or amphibians.
10. Trees in this movie have about 30,000 leaves on them and software was used to make sure even the plants never stayed still.
11. The movie went crazy on animal-themed takes on real-world things, so keep an eye for Urban Snoutfitters (Urban Outfitters, a fashion store), Zuber (Uber, the ride sharing service), Targoat (like Target) and many more.
12. The flower shop is called Flora and Fauna, really just a fancy way of saying ‘plants and animals’ but also the names of two of the fairies in Sleeping Beauty.

If you lived in Zootopia, what kind of animal would you be? Tell me in the comments!

Claire xo 

 

Ever dreamt of running away to join the circus? Hey, me too. There are so many sparkles and cool costumes and everyone is talented at doing cool, daring stunts. But I’ve def realised I’m no stuntwoman and really, it’s best to leave the death-defying tricks to the professionals. LOL.

Anyway – all this leads me to my recent evening at Kooza, which is the Cirque du Soleil’s most recent show. It’s incredibly spectacular and crazy and you sometimes feel like you’ve been transported to a different time or place. Like suddenly it’s the Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico. Or maybe it’s Carnivale in Rio. Or maybe a bunch of old-time storybook characters have come to life.

I loved this act with lots of tumbling, gymnastic-type stunts that started with people getting propelled off these see-saw things. Imagine if Simone Biles the Olympic gymnast was getting heaps of extra height in her tumbles because she was being fired up into the air! Like that! Cool!

I also enjoyed these two daredevils running around on the OUTSIDE of this enormous rotating structure. It was kind of insane. Like gravity? What gravity? And I was juuuuuust a little freaked out by the contortionists (like are their bones actually made of plasticine?) OMTG!

I feel it’s worth mentioning that if you don’t like clowns for any reason, for example, if you find them scary, this might not be the show for you. There is a LOT of clowning throughout the show and it’s also very intense and in-your-face – especially for those in the front few rows.

Do you like the circus too? Tell me in the comments!

XO Claire

Hey TGs!

I LOVE ANIMALS. Literally, like all of them. Every time I encounter any dog or cat I basically melt into a puddle. They are my fave, especially Pomeranians (have you SEEN a Pomeranian? It's a fluffy teddy bear dog with a smiling face). So when I learnt the Sydney premiere of The Secret Life of Pets would include a pet cuddle station, I was beside myself. I mean really. Also, The Secret Life of Pets has a Pomeranian character - Gidget, a white-haired girl pomy who is friends with the terrier hero Max. What I'm saying is, this was the exact right event for me. 

Check out the Secret Life Of Pets trailer HERE!

I should say the pet cuddle station was done well and we didn't overhandle or scare the pets, which is incredibly important, don't you think? I was tempted to run across the room screaming, "OMG YOU ARE THE CUTEST THING EVER" at the sight of the creatures, but restrained myself to a polite pat. All animals were there with their owners so they were A-OK. 

Here I am with my new friend Jackson.
 
This is a cat called Ember, who is a Highlander. Look at her amazing curly ears. 


 This Ruby. Don't you love her adorbs posing? 

This guy is Red the standard poodle. His fur was so soft, curly and beautiful. Red won my heart for sure. 



But what about the movie, I hear you say. I really do think you guys will LOVE IT. It's so much fun and terribly, terribly cute (like when I saw the puppy versions of Max and Duke the cuteness was almost TOO MUCH). Also, did I mention there's a Pomeranian? I think every single film should include them. Don't you? 

But where would this goss blog be without some goss? Here you go:

1. If Duke's voice sounds familiar, it's because it's the voice of Eric Stonestreet, who plays Cam on Modern Family - one of Lily's super funny, loveable dads. 

2. Keep an eye out for the gnome from the short film Mower Minions, which screens before The Secret Life of Pets. This gnome pops up near the end. 

3. The opening scene features a song by one of your fave singers EVER, guess who? 

Are you going to see The Secret Life of Pets? It's out September 8.
xoxo Claire

Hey TGs!

Do you love live theatre as much as I do? NGL, I love the movies, but when you’re at the theatre, the magic is right there, physically in front of you. The actors are there FOR YOU. You can clap for them in particular. The orchestra is real. Best. 

I had the great privilege of getting to see opening night of Disney’s Aladdin. Remember how I wrote about it ages ago when they first announced it was coming to Sydney? I was waaaay excited to get to finally check it out.

 Dazzling would be an understatement. It was very exciting and also just plain clever how they were able to transform the stage into Agrabah, a palace, a market place and a blinging cave of wonders. Wait ‘til you see Princess Jasmine’s costume – it’s legit so sparkly I bet they can see it from space. And the whole cast was so talented with the most beautiful voices and epic tap dancing skills! The genie, a super-cray larger-than-life dude, was of course one of my faves but I also enjoyed the baddies who hammed it up like crazy. Lol Iago and Jafar! 

I thought the musical numbers were amazing (srsly, I can't stop singing all the songs). In particular, the Prince Ali song cracks me up. I mean he's boasting about having 95 white Persian monkeys! Haha! That's maybe too many monkeys.

When they got to the Whole New World song, I knew I’d been promised a flying carpet that really does fly, and I was delighted. It was enchanting – an actual diamond sky, a view of the moon and everything. And the carpet DID fly, with Aladdin and Jasmine on it. I looked for cables and wires and couldn’t see anything. I spent the whole magnificent musical number trying to work out how they made it fly, even though I was swept away by it all. My latest theory is they used a whopping huge magnet of some kind. But, know what? It’s just as easy to believe they really did use magic.

Are you going to see Aladdin? It’s on at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre until November 13! If you’d like to see inside the costumes department, check out the September issue of Total Girl (the one with Ari and Minnie Mouse on the cover!)

Xoxo Claire

Hey TGs!

OK, have you tried Pokemon Go yet? (BTW, this app is best for older TGs who wanna play alongside Mum or Dad). 

The thing about this app is it's maybe THE GREATEST THING EVER. It's waaay more fun than I thought and people are going cray for it all over the world! 

If you're not yet familiar with it, it's a smartphone game (works with Apple or Android) and it's free (but you can buy stuff in the game, but you totally don't have to). Basically, like Ash the Pokemaster, you go and track down Pokemon in the real world! How insane is that?! 

Sure, there are no actual Charmanders on your street (or are there?), but this game uses the camera in your phone to drop Pokemon into your field of vision! So it looks exactly like you just saw a Pikachu down at your local park - adorbs! 

I started playing on the weekend once I started feeling better (I got sick lately, waaaaah) and, know what? I went down to Luna Park at night and found heaps of Pokemon! So here are my fave tips to help you become a Pokemaster!

1. Safety first. If you are playing this game, make sure you are aware of your surroundings. DO NOT walk into anything. Srsly. I mean, you might end up on the Totally Embarrassing page of TG, or you could actually really get injured. That's why I do recommend taking your 'rents along. 

2. When you see a Pokemon, keep your cool (they don't, like, run away from you or anything. UPDATE: OK, they sometimes DO run away, soz about it. This happens later on in the game, when the Pokemon are stronger and you are also a more experienced player. DW if they run away, you WILL catch them all, promise.). Throw Pokeballs at it using a swiping motion. It can be a lil hard to aim so angle your phone to be able to do it comfortably. DW if the Pokemon breaks free - that can just mean it's more powerful. You'll get it in the end. 

3. Get rarer Pokemon who aren't normally around where you live by collecting eggs at Pokestops (landmarks around your neighbourhood, the app will show you these). You hatch the eggs by walking a certain distance. Really rare Pokemon need you to walk a really long way, like up to 10km! But it's worth it!  

4. Head to grassy areas for certain types of Pokemon and to lakes and rivers for water-type Pokemon. Some Pokemon are nocturnal, so you might have to see if Mum or Dad is up for a lil nighttime stroll (don't stay up too late and defs be safe when you do this!).

5. If you see stuff that looks like pink, floating confetti around a Pokestop, that means another player has used a lure to draw in more Pokemon. You can take advantage of the lure too and wait around to see lots of them. 

6. In the bottom right hand corner, it'll show you little icons to demonstrate which Pokemon are nearby. Tap it to see it bigger - three feet mean the creature is a lil further away, one foot means it's quite close. 

7. Another update, now I'm playing at a higher level - I find it easier to throw the Pokeball if I press and hold it for about a second and then the 'halo' around the Pokemon lights up. This seems to result in a much more controlled throw, which is great!
 
Good luck all you Pokemasters. Stay safe (seriously, I am not kidding about this) and let me know if you catch a Snorlax. 

Are you playing? Tell me how you're going in the comments. 

xo TG's Claire

Oh hey guys!

I know it's been a reaaaallly long time since I posted (soz about it) but here I am again coz I wanted to tell you how much I loved Finding Dory. You've probs seen it by now, yeah? If not, get to the cinema stat coz it's just gorgeous. 

I was lucky enough to get to go to the Sydney premiere screening with TG's Jess, of Jess' Entertainment Blog! Jess is an amazing red carpet reporter, exactly like you'd imagine, so by her side I got to mingle with some pretty epic celebs. 

So yeah just casually here we are with Modern Family's Ty Burrell (he plays dorky dad Phil Dunphy) - in Finding Dory, he voices a beluga whale, one with messed up echolocation. He is super, super funny, both IRL and in the movie. "I play an idiot [in Finding Dory]... which is not a stretch for me," he told us.



Disney's sequel to Finding Nemo includes a ridiculously adorable baby Dory (she's so small she's mostly eyes) and it's also worth the price of admission just to see the short film before it, Piper. It's about a little sea bird and maybe it's the cutest thing ever? I mean while I was watching it I started crying a little because the cuteness was nearly too much to take. 

Anyways, here are 5 did-you-know facts about Finding Dory: 
1. The original voice of Nemo, Alexander Gould, voices a grown up in Dory. He lends his voice to one of the truck drivers who pops up at the end. 

2. Ed O'Neill, also from Modern Family, plays Hank the cranky escape-artist octopus who helps Dory. Did you know octopuses really ARE amazing at escaping? Earlier this year, an octopus called Inky freed himself down a pipe from an aquarium in New Zealand. Speaking of Hank, he was legit the hardest animation Disney Pixar had ever done. 

3. Becky, the crazy-eyed but still helpful bird, is named after a Becky who works in production at Pixar. 

4. There are 5,000 stingrays in the stingray migration scene, according to Pixar Post.

Have you seen this fishy tale yet? If so, let me know your thoughts in the comments!

xo TG's Claire