Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Prince and the Raven

In honor of Celtic stories and general good luck, here are some lovely designs illustrating traditional Welsh, Irish and Scottish fairy tales by Alison from Illuminations.

The Cloth of the Land

Liam and the Wolfhounds

The Stolen Child

May the Luck o' the Irish (and the Luck o' the Zombies - if you're a gamer) be with you today!

Advertising: J.M. Weston's 'Le Beau Dormant' Flips the Script & Mashes Sleeping Beauty & Cinderella

Omar Sy & Alexia Giordano 'Le Beau Dormant' for J.M. Weston

We have to say, using the motif of fairy tale shoes linked to a Sleeping Beauty tale, isn't something we've seen used in commercials before, but this shoe brand has made it work for them. They've made an effort to play with fairy tale tropes, too, making for a different perspective to consider. Released this week, here's the new fairy tale based ad from J.M. Weston (French luxury shoes company for men).

Take a look:

The pink shoes were an unexpected twist and we like that the detail can be interpreted a number of different ways.

Nice to see a male in the role of the sleeper*, as well as the POC aspect, and it does add an interesting note to the ongoing conversation of agency, along with the use of magical items, or talismans. For some reason it feels very male-centric, despite all this though. We know it's a men's shoe company, so perhaps that's the intent, but...

What do you think?

*Sleepers... that brings a whole different situation to the table!

Christopher Kane's 'Beauty and the Beast' Sophisticated Eco-Conscious Fashion Collection

With a lot of Beauty and the Beast themed and inspired fashion hitting stores this month, it's not surprise to see an sophisticated designer releasing something as well. The nice surprise about this collection is that there has been a sincere effort to make it both upmarket and eco-conscious, mirroring Emma Watson's perspective on fashion (she's made a conscious choice for all the clothes she wears on the red carpet, at least, to be eco-conscious, sustainable fashion).

There's an interesting approach to the fashion shoot - a largely Chiaroscuro approach, possibly as an ode to Cocteau's classic. We haven't seen a proper presentation/ book of these, though, which you would expect with this heavily stylized shoot, but perhaps that will appear on March 16, when the collection is officially released.

It's also nice to hear a little about the designer's approach to both the fairy tale and Disney's movie.

From Vogue:

Avoiding a literal interpretation of the source material, Kane’s collection focuses on the film’s motifs rather than attempting to replicate the character’s wardrobe. Drawn to Belle’s every-girl charm, the collection focuses on clothes with real-world appeal—biker jackets and transparent blouses as opposed to oversize ball gowns. “I liked that she wasn’t a princess,” said Kane. “I know that now everyone now considers her a princess, but to me she was just a normal girl who went off and had an adventure. She dreamed of more for herself and had aspirations.” 

Though the movie’s motifs make their way onto multiple pieces, don’t expect any dresses akin to the one Belle wears for her famous dance scene. “I didn’t want to do the yellow dress. I think people were expecting that and to me it just seems too obvious,” said Kane. “I don’t think it’s necessarily something that should be taken out of the world of the film.”

Kane’s signatures also make an appearance with colorful lace skirts and unorthodox florals providing visual interest. Reworking the magical rose that signals the time left before the Beast’s transformation becomes permanent, Kane added a spooky twist befitting the dark side of fairy tales. “It’s one of the great symbols of the film and we wanted to play with it,” says Kane. “I like making flowers a little scary, so we have the oversize creeping rose.” Wound across lacy tops or covered in Swarovski crystals on sweatshirts, the emblem is feminine and foreboding. Even the humorous side of the film gets a tribute with necklaces and brooches covered in miniature teapots and saucers. “There’s just something very whimsical about the idea of wearing a tiny tea set as jewelry.” 

Even with all attention to detail, the collection’s defining feature may be its commitment to the environment. A collaboration with sustainable brand consultancy Eco-Age to use ethical sourcing, sustainable materials, and local artisans on two looks the final product represents luxury at its most conscious.

With a few more details about the sustainability aspect from UK FashionNetwork:

This marks the first time that Disney and Christopher Kane have collaborated with Eco-Age, a consulting firm specialised in business sustainability. The goal: to prove that ethics and aesthetics can go hand in hand, and that brands can create narratives by highlighting their choice of materials and manufacturing techniques. 

The collection was also created to respect the GCC Principles of Sustainable Excellence, meaning it was ethically sourced and manufactured.

Why the emphasis on sustainable fashion? Here's what the designer and partner had to say (from

Fashionista.com):

The designer partnered with Eco-Age and Disney on a capsule collection that he describes as "don't mess with me" pretty. 

Speaking to Firth and Kane, it's clear that they believe this is just the beginning of making sustainability in fashion the norm. "The red carpet is the most powerful communication arm that exists," says Firth. "It's not about, 'What are you wearing?' It's 'Who are you wearing?' What are the hands behind your clothes? What stories [do you want to tell]?" On a larger scale, it's about making your voice heard and standing up for what you care about. "We all need to be more vocal and radical these days and be creative in how we think, as well as how we design." To that, we say: Be our guest.

We also found this interview with Kane which asked some great and fun questions, both about movie inspired fashion and his thoughts on Belle and Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Here are some excerpts from Elle.com:

Disney does tons of fashion collaborations...
I think they've earned it. Where would we be, as fashion people, without fantasy? We fuel our whole industry on it. And for most of us—definitely for me—Disney was one of the first places to give us images of fantasy. They run on dreams, and daydreams, don't they? So do we. 

If you lived in the Beast's castle, what household item would you be?
I would be a bed. Actually, I would be a duvet. I would be a nice cashmere blanket. I could be cozy and in bed all the time. And it could be cashmere from our collection so everyone would know it was me. 

You haven't done a cashmere blanket for this collection, but you did make a skirt out of blue rubber bows.
Because when you think of every Disney heroine—Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine—they're all wearing blue! It's a thing. "Disney Blue." So I wanted to capture that element, but then also, that's a piece from my archive. And I like that it looks like armor, even though it's made of bows, which I think is really quite sweet, because obviously, Belle is very guarded. She's got her walls up. 

She's all about roses, too, and those have thorns.
Exactly! And also, in Beauty and the Beast, the rose is kind of a symbol of judging people before you should, isn't it? The falling petals are kind of the countdown on his curse, and I always think it's so sad in the film because when you see the rose, you're reminded of how sad people can be with their judgments. It's a good reminder to give things a chance.

Nice to read some insightful thoughts! You can see more pieces, especially the casual items, from the collection HERE.

       

Tomm Moore's Next Irish Folklore Film, 'Wolfwalkers' Pitch Trailer Released

In a time of superstition and magic, when wolves are seen as demonic and nature an evil to be tamed, a young apprentice hunter, ROBYN, comes to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last pack. But when Robyn saves a wild native girl, MEBH, their friendship leads her to discover the world of the WOLFWALKERS and transform her into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy.

The third animated feature film from director Tomm Moore and Cartoon Saloon, (Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea) Wolfwalkers has had fans eager to know more ever since the first pieces of concept art and a synopsis were teased, back in 2015. (Click on images for a closer look.)

This week, Tomm Moore (yes, we're spelling his name correctly), and his co-director Ross Stewart pitched Wolfwalkers at the Cartoon Movie Festival - and that meant a 'pitch trailer' with test animation, (different from a regular trailer, since all art was made to pitch the movie, instead of pulled fro the movie to entice you to see it), along with additional concept art.

At Cartoon Movie festival : Wolfwalkers movie by Tomm Moore & Ross Stewart / Cartoon Saloon

You can see the trademark Tomm Moore design sensibility (aka simply beautiful and mythic), along with some possible hints at other aspects in the title text.

Here is the pitch trailer:

Wolfwalkers teaser at Cartoon Movie festival March 9th

From Den of Geek, (Nov 2015):

Cartoon Saloon’s next feature (FTNH Ed: after 'The Breadwinner') is expected to be Tomm Moore’s third, and another piece of Irish folklore. As you can see... Moore is dabbling with lycanthropy, though with a definite twist. According to Moore... the film draws on Oliver Cromwell’s decision to ‘tame Ireland’ by slaughtering their wolves. 

The inclusion of a character called Mebh (pronounced like Maeve) might be an allusion to Táin Bó Cúailnge, the episode of the Ulster cycle that deals with the driving off of the cows of Cooley.

The lead for this film was changed, fairly early on, from a little boy (like the previous two films main protagonists were) to a girl, which means we'll be looking at a 'girl friendship' film - something which is still unusual in animation (and not just there, either). Here's some concept art, the pencil drawings by Moore:

From Tomm Moore (via Animation for Adults):

It's set during the English Civil War in the mid 1600s but Oliver Cromwell decided he was going to symbolically tame Ireland by killing all the Wolves. So he sent all these hunters over, and if they killed a certain amount of wolves they got a bit of land. So the main protagonist is this little boy from England who comes over with his Dad, and he arrives actually near where I live in Killkenny. And he runs up against that around here wolves weren't seen as baddies, they were actually seen as people. The belief was that wolves were people that St Patrick had put a curse on when they wouldn't convert from paganism. So a lot of people believed that wolves.. especially around the Killkenny area.. were people. So that's the kind of premise! I won't tell you any more than that...

And on that note, here's a little something Tomm tweeted a couple of days ago...

The projected release date for Wolfwalkers is 2018 but that's not firm and without much to go on, it's difficult to know what stage of the production the film is currently in. Whenever that will be, it won't feel soon enough!

Advertising From the (Unpublished) Vault: Sky Broadband Fairy Tale Commercials & Fairy Tale Times

We don't think we ever posted these from 2010, a few (!) years ago, but they're worth a repeat viewing either way. We like that the theme of change (linked to transformation in fairy tales) is used so inventively. We do remember posting The Boy Who Cried Wolf ad from 2011 though. (You can find that HERE.)

The Princess and the Pea

The Frog Prince

 Little Red Riding Hood

Aladdin

Pretty fun take on fairy tales we think!

We also recently found these Fairy Tale Times pages for Sky Broadband, which we hadn't seen before. Looks like the advertising team had a lot of fun with these! We've included full sizes of each page where available, as the text really is an enjoyable read.

               

           

 We love the variety of tales included here! Kind of makes us wish we could subscribe to a fairy tale newspaper.

'Tangled: Before Ever After' Series Kicks Off with Original Movie (& Life Gets Hairier)

The world, universe and adventures of Tangled have been begging for exploration ever since its theatrical success and the follow-up short, Tangled: Ever After, wasn't quite what fans were looking for. The fan market has remained strong, almost a decade later, but apart from a wedding only being good for so many laughs for kids, once the 'hairy adventures'  aspect was over, with Rapunzel's hair being bobbed and not quite as potentially weaponized, what was there to watch that could be quite as magical and exciting?

Slight trivia aside: the first thing Rapunzel paints in her new room is the (fairy) tale of what happened in the 2010 movie. Neat huh?

The creators were stumped for a while until they decided to look at the themes of Tangled and, essentially, reboot them in series form. The trick was, to do that without redoing the movie's story and all that mythos and hard-earned happy ending, and they found an interesting way to do just that: turns out, in some ways, Rapunzel traded one prison for another. OK. Maybe that's a bit strong, since nothing quite adds up to being stuck in a doorless tower for most of your life, but it turns out Rapunzel is indeed chafing under the weight and stifling responsibility of her new position, not to mention the duties and the expectations everyone has of her.

Rapunzel sets out to fight that stifling...

[Here's a clip in which Eugene discovers she's slipped out of the castle, defying her father's orders. It illustrates the sense of fun we can expect to see in the coming series as well.]

... and is magically 'helped' along the way by getting back the means by which she was able to explore her freedom before: her magically long hair. (It's not her choice, to get back her 70 feet of blonde-ness, but it's one she embraces pretty quickly.)

Here's the scene in which Eugene tries desperately not to freak out when he discovers The Hair is back:

The series was introduced this weekend, with a special Disney Channel Original Movie, which fills in the gap between the end of Tangled, the movie, and Tangled Before Ever After (which is the new series showing what happens between Tangled and the Tangled Ever After short aka the wedding, got it?)

Confusing, yes. Here it is in story-chronological order:

1. Tangled - feature film 2010
2. Tangled Before Ever After Disney Channel Original Movie - just aired this weekend
3. Tangled Before Ever After series - first episode to air March 24, 2017
4. Tangled Ever After - short (2012)

The movie’s official description reads:

“It’s just the beginning of happily ever after for Rapunzel and Eugene. As Rapunzel reacquaints herself with her parents, her kingdom and the people of Corona, she comes to realize that there is so much more she needs to learn about the world and herself before she becomes Princess of Corona. With the help of her handmaiden and friend, Cassandra, and Eugene, she begins to find the adventure she desires right outside her door. Life is about to get a little hairier!” 

In addition to Moore and Levi, the cast includes Ashley Judd, who plays Rapunzel’s mother Queen Arianna, and Broadway actress Eden Espinosa as Rapunzel’s handmaiden and close friend Cassandra.

As you can see from the promotional artwork and clips, the movie and series are no longer CG but very stylized traditional animation, returning to more of a storybook quality. Turns out fans are really happy about this, feeling like they'll be getting fairy tales again. (Nice to know!) In fact, the response has been so positive, the series has been confirmed as renewed for a second season, even before the first has aired. That's fairly unusual, so you know what that means: people want their fairy tales!

Here's a little more behind-the-scenes info, giving you an idea of how this developed and what they'll be doing with the series.

It's clearly adorable, has a very fun sense of humor and is wonderfully artistic. Though we'll have to see how the individual episodes pan out story-wise, the series looks very promising and is delighting fans of Disney fairy tales everywhere already. Looks like something we should be checking in with regularly when it gets rolling.

Note: The Tangled Before Ever After Original Movie will be available on DVD April 11th, 2017.
It will include four 'Tangled Short Cuts': 
Checkmate
Prison Bake
Make Me Smile
Hare Peace

'Sleeping Beauty' Puppet Opera Brought to Life (Size) by 'King Kong' s Joe Blanck

Victorian Opera stages Respighi's Sleeping Beauty with full size puppets designed & built by Joe Blanck

When I look at what's happening in the world right now, it just seems to me that there is no better time to have a kind of narrative that says 'things are awful, but they will get better'.

[Director, Nancy Black]

We first saw mention of this new version of Ottorino Respighi's Opera some time ago but the poster (pictured at bottom of post) just didn't grab our attention. It wasn't until we realized there was a unique and new puppetry element to this opera that we became intrigued.

When we found out Joe Blanck (of the impressive King Kong musical and the award winning Walking with Dinosaurs stage show) was involved, and that these puppets (originally marionettes) were now larger than life, we took a closer look. What ultimately sold us on the production was hearing and reading what Director Nancy Black had to say about the themes of the tale she intended to bring out, and what she felt Sleeping Beauty had to offer us in this current social climate. That her approach was also intriguing, being inspired by Kay Neilsen's work and incorporating newly designed larger-than-life puppets by Blanck, became a bonus. 

Blanck himself also shed an interesting light on their interpretation of the tale: 

“Sleeping Beauty is not your typical love story,” Blanck says. “It’s more about the tragedy, and how people deal with that. Those are the things we’re trying to bring to the surface of the story.” 

Director Nancy Black has conceived a production which sees a group of people joining together to tell a story after some kind of traumatic event. They conjure up the tale of Sleeping Beauty out of thin air.“ 

We’ve kind of left it open to interpretation, creating a community of people come together — whether they’re poor or refugees or something else, it’s not really said,” Blanck says.“ 

That happens at so many events, whether it be at a funeral, or in the aftermath of something else entirely — people come together and tell stories.” (Daily Review)

Nancy Black goes into a little more detail in the video below (it gives a wonderful overview and sneak peeks at the visuals in motion). 

The educational materials Victorian Opera are making available online for free, lead on well from her introduction. (Link at the end so you can download the whole package for yourself.)

(The whole Education Resource is available to download HERE.)

An interview Victorian Opera posted with Director Nancy Black explains further why she's so passionate about this version of Sleeping Beauty. Here are some excerpts:

In 2017, you’ll be returning to Victorian Opera to direct another forgotten gem of the early 20th century with Respighi’s The Sleeping Beauty. What have you enjoyed about discovering this opera? 

Oh my goodness.  So much.  First of all the music is beautiful, very lyrical, and also funny. The opera is filled with interesting characters- from the lovers to animals to satirical representatives of capitalism. It is romantic but also lightly nuanced with philosophical and even political references.  At the beginning Respighi seems to be taking us through a traditional rendition of a well known fairy tale, but then his narrative leaps forward in time to what he imagined would be 1940, and he incorporates mid- 20th Century dance rhythms. Our vision for the work needs to incorporate all of those elements!  What an exciting challenge! 

 

You’ve worked extensively with puppetry in the past and will be working alongside production designer Joe Blanck to create this fascinating blend of opera and puppetry. How are you planning to approach the production? 

After reading the libretto, I knew I wanted to approach this work as though it was a community of people telling a story.  It is a village. Maybe they have come through hard times.  When Respighi wrote this Italy was still struggling with the aftermath of WWI and the devastation of the Spanish Flu. In setting the celebratory end in 1940, he could not have known what lay ahead. 

I am fascinated by our human need for story. Even before mankind had written language, we have used stories as a tool for bringing order out of chaos, for giving us meaning when reason has failed, for instilling hope. 

In our production, a group gathers around a fire; it’s a lovely night.  An ember leaps into the air. It becomes a nightingale puppet, whose song is picked up by one of the singers.  The story unfolds as a combined effort with some taking the singing parts, others the puppetry. Together they tell a story that initially takes them away from their present into a beautiful fantasy, but then weaves itself back into their reality.  

I don’t want to give away too many details, but our creative team that includes Joe, Ben Cobham, Philip Lethlean and Michelle Heaven are devising a production design that draws inspiration from the exquisite illustrations of Kay Nielsen and organic shapes from our forests.  The puppetry will use several forms, always provoking and teasing the imagination, with circus and dance skills adding to what we hope will be a visual delight.

(FTNH Ed: Puppetry, circus and dance?! We're in!)

Nancy Black, from the Victorian Opera Educational Material

 Phoebe Briggs is the conductor for the show (there is a live orchestra, as well as singers) and shared in a different interview with Limelight Magazine, why she thinks this production is likely to appeal. Respighi apparently composed the opera with a young audience in mind and though it has some darker themes, as fairy tales tend to, it's designed to have family appeal. Here are some excerpts from that interview, the whole of which will particularly appeal to those with music training:

Is this something that a child today could attend? 

Yes, absolutely. Each character is clearly defined musically and children will certainly be able to follow the story very easily, and will be swept along by the storytelling of the puppets and singers.

Many audience members are only really familiar with Respighi through his tone poems. What might surprise them about the composer of this opera? 

I think what will surprise the audience is Respighi’s ability to jump effortlessly from style to style and from mood to mood. He inserts a Cakewalk or Foxtrot in amongst the neoclassical Marches and Minuets to keep the audience on their toes and this really shows Respighi’s sense of humour shining through. The tone poems are large expansive works whereas his writing here is more compact. He uses styles that are familiar but inserts unexpected harmonies and syncopations to give a modern feel to the work. 

Respighi notably had a real sense of humour when composing The Sleeping Beauty. There are plenty of musical allusions and parodic elements in the score – what has it been like discovering them with the orchestra? 

I’ve had a few laugh-out-loud and ‘oooh’ moments when I realised what Respighi was quoting, as well as the slow recognition of more subtle moments that he has borrowed from other works. I feel that rather than being direct parodies they are compliments to other composers and intended to trigger memories and emotions for the audience.

Here's the official trailer, which gives you a very brief preview of the music as well, though it doesn't grasp the range of Respighi's accessible score:

To further pique your interest, here's a list of characters for the story:

Characters & Cast

The Nightingale Zoe Drummond

The Cuckoo Shakira Tsindos

The Frog/The Spindle Kirilie Blythman

The Ambassador Timothy Newton

The Blue Fairy Elizabeth Barrow

The Jester/Mister Dollar Timothy Reynolds

The Green Fairy Juel Riggall

The King Raphael Wong

The Queen/The Cat Sally Wilson

The Old Lady/The Duchess Liane Keegan

The Princess Jacqueline Porter

The Woodcutter Stephen Marsh

The Prince Carlos E. Bárcenas

A Villager Tomas Dalton

Note: For those local to this production, please note there are also Audio Described Performances and Tactile Tours which are kid friendly too.

You can download a copy of the program, detailing the synopsis and each of the performers, along with letters from the Director, Artistic Director and the Conductor HERE.

We've included a lot of detail and behind-the-scenes, since many of our readers won't have the opportunity to visit Melbourne, Victoria (Australia) to see this production, which is a shame, since we think it would be well received wherever it traveled. (We hope a tour is on the cards!) 

If you're fortunate enough to see this opera and would like to write a review for OUABlog, please let us know. We'd love to hear what an audience member thought of this production.

Victorian Opera
An all-new production of Ottorino Respighi's 1922 reimagining of Sleeping Beauty

11 – 18 March

Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse

11, 14, 15, 17 March 7:30pm18 March 1:00pm