"Adventure Time" Meets the 3 Bears

By Graham Annable

While Adventure Time episodes (on Cartoon Network) do not, as a rule, base their story lines on fairy tales, though they do have this mythic sense which pervades the series and make it fairy-tale-enthusiast-friendly, it's not unusual to see fan art of the series pop up that takes on plot elements of other popular and myth-based works (eg Star Wars, Game of Thrones etc). This is an official cover illustration by Graham Annable for an Adventure Time comic (release date unknown) so I'm very curious about the issue itself. 


It's fun to see the characters get a fairy tale makeover and while this illustration isn't very different from the Goldilocks tale (Finn is blonde underneath the ear-cap by the way) it meshes very well with his character from the series (he starts out with good intentions then tends to get sucked into Trouble - with a capital "T', usually by his mischievous magical dog). We don't have any sense of the end of this story here (ie. we're meant to buy the comic) but Finn's sense of chivalry means he goes to ridiculous lengths to make thing right again. Of course, things usually get worse (far worse!) before they get better and Finn and Jake have some rather crazy adventuring doing it all. Very fun!

What I'd dearly love to see is these characters, and their world, tackle a few fairy tale plots and see where they end up. The sensibility of the series is such that there's a good chance they'll keep a lot of the fairy tales' "essence" despite the whimsical and wacky framework it's presented in. (Hint, hint Frederator Studios!)

The picture above is of Fionna the Human (who is Finn the Human's alternate reality persona) with Marshall the Vampire (Marceline the Vampire's alternate reality persona) as envisioned by an unidentified fan (although I do see "baby churros" signed). Interestingly, although I couldn't find any reference to an episode in which Fionna acts as LRRH and is pursued/tempted by Marshall, there are many fan art pics on this subject. I guess vampire to wolf isn't such a stretch but why does it make me think of Twilight..? (I mean the book/series phenomenon even before the movie-crazy.)

Oh no.

Is THIS why Twilight* struck such a chord with teenage (and older) girls? Because Stephenie Meyer was influenced/inspired by LRRH**?? Interesting if it is, because Catherine Hardwicke flipping the Twilight elements back into an recognizable Red Riding Hood tale got kind of lost in the woods...

Hmm. I feel as if I have thought-gristle in my teeth.

* Having not made it through the Twilight series, despite trying to for the sake of keeping up with pop culture, I can't do a proper comparison beyond using synopsis  and Wikipedia - *grinds teeth* - but the idea is sticking, even after a quick research-binge. As for comparison of Twilight to the LRRH fairy tale (leaving the movie well out of the equation) the internetz are rife with the obsessive idea that Harwicke "Twilight-ed" the LRRH story, rather than any hint that Ms. Meyer may have unconsciously been using LRRH elements in her books.
** Ms. Meyer does not cite fairy tales as being any part of her inspiration for the Twilight series, as far as I can find  but rather Jane Austen and Shakespeare. I find this odd since there's definitely a hint of Beauty and the Beast at least, as well as Red Riding Hood. Perhaps it's one of those "taken as a given" things but I don't see it having been discussed anywhere.

Chinese Goldilocks'

"Ingvard the Terrible"

There's an artist I recently discovered whose style I just love. He is "Ingvard the Terrible! (Illustrator-Warrior-Dude)", also known as Sean Ashby.

 He's interested in creating different-and usually-funny takes on the familiar, which I love and appreciate greatly. Among them is this Chinese Goldilocks-using-pandas idea. Although it LOOKS like a book, don't get your hopes up just yet. He'd love to illustrate the story in this vein but needs a writer savvy in Chinese history who also knows how to sell it to a publisher first. This image is actually a composited version of his illustration in a live background - just for fun. I really hope someone gets him the gig!

His wonderful blog is HERE and includes this awesome link list of books for boys.

This also recently appeared on my illustration radar and as it's the same concept, done entirely differently, I thought I'd include it here.

Billy Nuñez

I gather the artist, Billy Nuñez, is a student and this was done for an assignment. While I'm definitely drawn to it, it sort of feels like the first draft of a great idea. Personally I'd like to see a little more tension in the scene so it tells more of a story (including the "what if" factor), even if it were only to add some "waft" from steaming rice or special pancakes and a slightly more dynamic pose for the girl (that is, a stronger pose suggestive of thought and possible action). I like where it's going though and I'd love to see a reworked version. Mr. Nuñez's gallery is HERE.

On the subject of Goldilocks and pandas, there is also a fairly new ebook called The Three Pandas by Valerie Mih: an "interactive animated tickle book for the iPad".

Here's the blurb:

A modern take on "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" features a charming style of animation and a lovable family of pandas.  

The Panda Family takes a break from its breakfast of bamboo leaf porridge to take a walk in the bamboo forest. While they're gone, a young girl named Mei Mei walks through the familiar home-intrusion routine that most children will recognize. She finds Baby Panda's porridge to her liking, deems his chair most comfortable (but not before breaking it) and ends up in his cozy bed. What could have been a lazy retread with pandas and a distinct Chinese influence is instead made fresh with the app's animations, which combine photo collages, a live-action actress portraying Mei Mei (in a red dress and black Mary Janes) and movement for the pandas when the reader "tickles" each of them, as the app advises. The app can be experienced in English and Chinese (in both the text and optional narration), and a portion of the proceeds from each app sale goes to Pandas International, which has partnered with the publisher. Except for two letters that are exchanged at the end bringing the pandas and Mei Mei back together for a happy ending, the story is not much different from what readers expect from a "Goldilocks" story. 

But the design is clever, and the visuals (along with the unfailingly adorable pandas themselves) make it worth a look. (iPad storybook app. 2-7)

It looks cute and nicely done overall, though I haven't seen it in person. Appears perfect for little kids to enjoy and learn from.


Here's one more illustration by Cathy Pavia, this time with Goldilocks having "goldy" locks. It's not my favorite of her work - I like her The Zen of Oz illustrations a lot (check for a blog post showing those soon) - but I thought I'd include it since we're on the topic and it's sort of surprising there aren't many more panda variations on Goldilocks.

Cathy Pavia

Article/Advertising: Gifts For Fairy Tale Characters

Inspired by the recent public fascination with fairy tales a couple of clever writers at the Los Angeles Times put together an article (which is really a cleverly disguised set of advertisements) on fairy tale gifts, with a difference. Instead of fairy tale themed things for people who like fairy tales (though those are awesome too!), these gifts are all about what you might consider giving the characters of well known tales for a present.

Hansel and GretelTwo adorable young children get lost in the woods and outsmart an evil witch in a candy cottage. For a sweet tooth: Vosges Haut Chocolat Ensemble du Chocolat, $135 at Vosges Haut Chocolat boutique, Beverly Hills.
Survival tool: Victorinox Tomo in apple green, $24 at Victorinox Swiss Army boutique, Beverly Center.
Cottage warmth: Semiologie quilt by APC, $548 at Anthropologie stores.
Angelic dressing: Lanvin ivory taffeta coat with grosgrain bow, $1,050 at Lanvin, Beverly Hills.

Although these gifts are obviously high-end and really just a cleverly disguised set of advertisements for Hollywood-end types, I really like the idea because it requires considering the tales themselves and the situations and challenges being faced. My favorite suggestions are the truly practical things like foot-rub lotions for a Dancing Princess' sore feet, or a Swiss Army Knife for Hansel.

Red Riding HoodTaking a basket of goodies to Grandma's house, the girl in the red cape (briefly) becomes lunch for the trickster wolf. Pack it up: A Bottega Veneta Plaster Cioccolato Nero Canvas Basket print Vachette tote, $1,550 at Bottega Veneta, Beverly Hills.
Off you go: Ralph Lauren Blue Label cabled hat and scarf, $200 at http://www.ralphlauren.com.
A pop of red: YBF Royalty Collectable Pewter lipstick in Royal Red, $28.80 at http://www.ybfgirlfriends.com.

You can see the whole fairy tale gift guide HERE. There are also photos of the suggestions items HERE.



I would really like to see a list of potential gifts that is more in the price range of regular folks. I think that would be a fantastic read and maybe spark some ideas on how we could be of more practical help to people who are undergoing similar challenges to fairy tale heros and heroines.

In the meantime, consider your favorite fairy tale people in the middle of their tales. What would you gift them with? [And let's say you get extra points if you can enhance their tale life without making spoilers. ;) ] How about a a beautiful cook book for Snow White or a decorative boot scraper or a discreet peep-hole for the front door? What about a diary for Rapunzel instead of just hair products, or equipment to facilitate time lapse photography?

Your turn. :)

News: Bear Visits Goldilocks

European brown bear by Claire Scully*

From AllVoices Local to Global News online:

Date: December 15, 2011

Headline: Bear Visits Goldilocks

The bear, who had been seen in the neighbourhood, made his way into the man’s basement and was sleeping when the cable repairman found the 500 pound ursine in his Hopatcong home Wednesday afternoon. 

State Conservation officer Michael Madoni arrived at the home and ensured the bear would not awake by shooting him with a tranquilizer. The bear was then relocated to the Berkshire Valley Wildlilfe Management Area and a return to its wilderness home.

Read the full article, with bonus cute baby seal home invasion story, HERE.

Gotta love it - if we could confirm the man was blonde this would be a doubly awesome story. :D Very glad no one - and no bear - was hurt and a merry Christmas snooze could then be had by all (after bear-proofing the house anyway!)

Why does this story seriously make me want to go write a fairy tale short story now? :D

Silverlocks by Ali Shaw

And for your bonus material, may I suggest having a read of Ali Shaw's great post about Goldilocks, bears and Scrapefoot HERE. 

Ali Shaw is the author of The Girl With Glass Feet (you can see my review HERE) who has a clear love and understanding of fairy tales, along with a talent for sketching fantastic and unusual things. I always wish there were more to look at!

His next book, The Main Who Rained, is about to be released on January 1st 2012. Although I haven't read it (and it has nothing to do with Goldilocks, Silverlocks or Scrapefoot that I can tell) I do recommend Mr. Shaw's writing and tale spinning.

And for a "beautiful things bonus" go visit Claire Scully's portfolio. The "Bejewelled" section is full of beautiful artistic tributes to animals and nature like the one at the head of the post, and fits the idea of respect that "Bear Visits Goldilocks" is telling us, at least in between the lines, we should have.

Advertising: InterfaceFLOR's Once Upon A Tile

Cinderella

"Our latest collections are right on trend so it seemed only natural to promote and showcase them in a way that is equally of the moment.  Modern takes on fables and fairy tales are a major theme this year in movies, social events and design, so we decided to explore this mysterious world and delve into the darker side of some of the best-known children’s fairy tales. The result is a visually stunning, dramatic and edgy backdrop which shows off our new collections to spectacular effect.

Michele Iacovitti, Vice President of Marketing & Branding, InterfaceFLOR EMEAI"

Without doubt, the most intriguing thing about the floors would have to be this ad campaign using well known fairy tales (and their characters) to highlight the floor. 

 

Goldilocks

 

Beauty & the Beast

 The interesting thing is only one of these fairy tales is usually associated with floors (ie. Cinderella) but I thought they did a very nice job of integrating the idea of Goldilocks ending up on the floor and using Hansel & Gretel's forest path.

 

Rapunzel

 

Hansel & Gretel

And it actually works. You do find yourself looking at the floor!

Here's a videos from the campaign - also very nicely done.

Source: HERE.

Fairy Tale Art by Pat Brennan

Goldilocks and the Bears

For your viewing pleasure I'm posting just a few of the fairy tale themed work by digital artist/illustrator Pat Brennan (on deviantArt as moonmomma). The Goldilocks one at the head of the post remains one of my favorites, since seeing it a few years ago.

The Piper

Cinders in the Limelight

The Princess and the Pea

Yuki Onna

Undine

She has a LOT of gorgeous work in her deviantArt gallery, mostly fantasy based (lots of fairies and mermaids) so be sure to visit, take a look and leave a nice comment (and maybe hint how great it would be to see even more fairy tale pieces.. hint, hint). You can also visit her website HERE and her Flickr account HERE.

The talent must run in the family. Her daughter, Rebecca Parker, is just breaking into the book cover illustration biz too.

I'd love to see Pat work on a specific fairy tale project for a book herself though. She has such a lovely touch. While she does do commissions I gather she's very busy, so if you want to work with her be persistent in trying to contact her and let me know if you work together.

Fairy Tale News New Year's Bumper Edition: Fashion

• Wild at Heart (Fall fashion slideshow feature by ZoomZoom) In this fall fashion feature, Erik Almas takes 1930s paintings, taxidermy animals, and the modern woman to create diorama-like images of fashion in the wild. The result is an amalgam of the fairy tale and the mythological muse. The images conjure narratives of the heroine who can talk to animals, live amongst the brown bears, and rule nature itself.

• Ko Ara's Fairy Tale Shoot in Korean Singles Magazine 2008 (Thumbelina, Red Riding Hood, Princess and the Pea, Bremen Town Musicians, Peter Pan, Hansel & Gretel)

• Cinderella's Closet, which provides dresses to under privileged teens for their proms, is calling for gently used prom dresses.

• Fairy tale themed jewelry by LunarraStar (Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Wizard of Oz and more) Etsy find.

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BACK TO: CONTENTS

12 Days: Fairy Tale Quilt

Fairy tales are a popular choice for advanced quilters (many of whom might be considered fiber artists with their innovative use of dying fabrics, applique and embroidery combinations). I have a few unique artworks in my archives to show you sometime, including the original subject I was looking for - a Princess and the Pea quilt - but while I didn't find any P&tP quilts that stood out to me, I did find a simpler, lovely multi-tale quilt for sale on Etsy. It comes with a rod pocket sewn into it so you can choose to use it as a wall hanging if you wish.This one is by MoonGazerQuilts and I'd consider grabbing it myself if it had a more gender-neutral color for the border. It's called "Fairy Tales and Dreams" and you can find the quilt HERE (for under $50!) and also see the details of a lovely Noah's Ark quilt at the shop too.

NOTE: As usual, please note I am not affiliated with any of these stores or products. I do not receive any commission from any visit to the site or any purchase. These are just items I thought may interest people as fairy tale themed gifts for the Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Yuletide/Holiday Season. :)


Don't forget the "Pursuit of Happiness" Giveaway!

Entries close IN LESS THAN A WEEK on December 20th, so be sure to email me before then.
(A preview of the prize is coming soon too.)

Details for the giveaway are HERE and the wonderful London Particulars (who are making this giveaway possible through their generosity) can be found HERE.

Creator Nick Percival Talks About His Dark Steampunk Comic "Legends: The Enchanted"

I posted on this coming-in-2010 comic HERE last week and, seeing as there was quite a bit of interest between comments and Twitter, I thought I'd point you to an excellent interview with the creator Nick Percival.

In the interview with Comic Book Resources, he reveals more about the fairy tale characters he's using and how they've been given a new twist. Here's an excerpt from the long, informative and interesting article:

"The Enchanted are looked upon with fear and distrust by normal everyday folk and despised by their dark counterparts, known as The Wicked," says Percival. "Most of the Enchanted operate as vigilantes, outlaws, bounty hunters and so on - trying to find their place and purpose in a land that is growing increasingly hostile towards them. Armed with a hard attitude, unique abilities and customized weaponry, the Enchanted's world is shattered when they discover that some unknown enemy has found a way to break through their mystic immortality and begins slaughtering them one by one beginning with the killing of the half bionic/half wooden warrior, Pinocchio."

Nick Percival: We've got Red Hood, who lives with her daughter in a very dangerous place known as the Bionic Woodlands - this area is overgrown with spiked bio-mechanical trees and living, organic plant life, populated by mutated wolf creatures. Basically, she just wants to be left alone and raise her child, but the murder of Pinocchio and the kidnapping of her daughter force her to reluctantly seek out help from other Enchanted.

Jack the Giantkiller pretty much just looks out for himself. He's sly, likes to drink and burns around on a beast of motorcycle that uses Giant's blood as fuel. Jack acts as a kind of "creature killer for hire." For the right price, he'll sort out any towns terrorized by Ogre problems, which he usually solves by popping one of his "magic beans" that grant him cool powers for a limited amount of time as he starts cracking heads together.

Filling out the rest of the cast are psychic siblings, Hansel and Gretel (Paranormal Exterminators), Goldilox and Bear, her nine-foot half man/half bear boyfriend. They have a "rob the rich to give to the poor" type quest, which involves them coming up against the crime boss, Humpty Dumpty and the Billy Goats Gruff Biker Gang - it doesn't end quietly.

Amongst these, we've got cameos from Rapunzel, a soldier with unbreakable hair that she uses to attack her enemies, Miss Muffet, Rumpelstiltskin, Pied Piper, Jack Nimble and many others all depicted in the same gritty style with attitudes to match in a world filled with goth-type giants, vampire fairies, pissed off trolls, demon street gangs, and all manner of unsavory folk.


Do you have a favorite fairy tale or fable?

I have a lot of versions of the classic tales that the Brothers Grimm collected together, some great old German editions as well. I've also been heavily into Hans Christian Andersen's work, so there are way too many to choose from. But a lot of the ancient Russian folklore is fascinating, and there are some themes in that material that I'm thinking about including in later stories for "Legends: The Enchanted."

You can read the entire article HERE and see LOTS of (very gory) images throughout (which can be viewed larger by clicking).

All the details of the website, when it's available and the preview are in my previous post HERE. A warning again: please keep this away from children. This is dark stuff and definitely in the horror genre. All these new images severely cropped for posting purposes on this blog. If you can deal with the images though (the illustrations are amazing in addition to being ultra-gory), this comic and the developing story sounds like it's worth checking out.

"Legends: The Enchanted" - Dark Steampunk Fairy Tale Comic Coming in 2010

The girl above is Redhood (a.k.a. Red Riding Hood) and she's not the only familiar character getting a dark fantasy/post-apocalyptic/steampunk/horror makeover. Coming in April 2010 is "Issue #0" (yes, that's a zero) of a new comic series titled "Legends: The Enchanted".

Please be warned: despite the title, this comic crosses the line into horror, which is one of the reasons I'm posting on it - so you'll know what you're in for should you ever pick it up. While the feel is dark fantasy, the images are very graphic in both the gallery and on every page in the preview. I'm not even comfortable posting the cover (which has Redhood in a different pose with some scary-looking supernatural creatures flanking her) or the other character images beyond those included in this entry for my blog readers. Please do NOT have children around when viewing the comic website. The official blurb:

From award-winning illustrator and acclaimed comic book artist Nick Percival comes a dark, original fairy tale.

You think you know them. Think again.

Violently ripped from the pages of folklore come the Enchanted. Supernatural immortals living in a dark, steampunk, creature-infested world where nature, technology and foul magic are in constant conflict. When the twisted, burnt remains of the half-wooden, half-mechanical warrior, Pinocchio, are discovered, wolf hunter Red Hood and giant killer Jack realize the fragile rules of their existence have been shattered. With the help of other powerful Enchanted (the mercenary, Goldilocks [edit FTNH: the character illustration in the gallery is tagged Bear/Goldilox, Bear being her hairy, ogre-like companion] and psychic exterminators, Hansel and Gretel), Jack and Red team up on an adventure to stop whatever, or whoever is destroying their powers and murdering their kind.

Poor Red has had so many makeovers, this version isn't surprising enough on it's own, but teaming her up with the other characters in their various bounty-hunter/killer-for-hire personas there might be something interesting there. Steampunk Pinocchio sounds like he never made it past the introduction but Hansel & Gretel as psychic exterminators? Should be enough like "Fables" to draw some fans in for a 'looksee', yet different enough (very, very dark!) to form a new set too. From the preview (available at the website) this is just so violent and gory, as much as I'm curious to see the steampunk variation, I'll likely be giving this one a miss.

If you're still interested you can find out more about the comic HERE and see more pictures in the gallery tab HERE (including possibly the scariest Pinocchio I've ever seen - yikes!).

Goldilocks Bares Her Wild Side

I came across this painting called "Goldilocks Rages Against the Fall" and thought it was an interesting and different way to use the Goldilocks themes and images.

The artist, Van Arno, has an new exhibition called "A Change of Skin" that opened on Saturday at the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City, CA (Los Angeles). This exhibition draws from legends and mythology to explore ideas of transformation and evolution.

From BoingBoing:

...The process of transformation and evolution is no easy task, and Arno skillfully narrates a dynamic collection of Darwinian daydreams in his latest series of oil paintings. Werewolves, centaurs and women shed their original skin, emerging as new breeds of enchanted beings and barbaric beasts.

You can read more about the exhibition and see more of the pieces HERE, and at the gallery HERE. (Goldilocks is the only piece I found drawn from fairy tales but those interested in mythology may find other pieces interesting.)

Please note: many of the pictures are NOT SAFE FOR WORK due to 'suggestive' nudity (ie. not classical nudity) and some representations of violence.

You can can see Van Arno's website HERE. His work will be on display until October 24th, 2009.

Goldilocks Goes Into the Woods for 'W'

As promised, today I'm posting the 'W' shoot from 2007 by the same photographers (Mert & Marcus) who shot the September '09 Vogue "Into the Woods" spread (though that one is Red Riding Hood themed).

I don't think I've seen a whole fashion spread that plays with the Goldilocks theme before.

You can see that post HERE.

I'm not sure whether the model is a victim of fashion or of those poor 'de-furred' creatures enacting their revenge. Is it just me, or is there a lot of implied violence and death? (And I don't just mean of those poor animals, even though all that fur is, I understand, sadly not at all faux.) There seems to be less cohesive narrative to this shoot but then that wasn't the point.

(You can click on the pics to see a larger version.)

Um - OK, so maybe it's not just me, thinking this might come off as a tad controversial... it's pretty clear this girl didn't just take a nap in the woods.So did Goldilocks (or the original silver haired old lady*) ever make it back home? In one piece? We may never know...

The model for this shoot was Doutzen Kroes.

NOTE: The fact that this tale originally had an elderly main character and was, at least at one point, specifically changed to a young girl because it was thought there weren't enough tales with young people in them, is fascinating to me. Now days, with tale protagonists being mostly young girls and boys (or young men and women) the opposite would be true. It's quite hard to find tales with older main characters! There is only one volume I know of that's made an effort to collect these and I highly recommend it: "Gray Heroes: Elder Tales from Around the World" by Jane Yolen

Fairy Tale Fights - The Academic Version

The Story of the Three Bears by H.J. Ford from the Green Fairy Book

(Many thanks to Heidi from SurLaLune for finding the artist! I knew that style looked familiar... :D )

Less than a week ago Once Upon A Blog published notice of an anthropological study, said to prove the ancient origin of fairy tales. (You can read that post HERE).

It would seem Dr. Tehrani's announcement and his talk at the British Science Fair last week have stirred up an old, yet apparently still hot, debate in the academic ring of fairy tale studies.

In one corner we have the oral traditionalists; in the other: the literary-origin camp.

Heavy weights from both camps have already weighed in and traded some verbal fisticuffs.

Representing the literary-origin advocates we have the highly respected Ruth Bottigheimer:
(Quotes from The Star)

"Tehrani has bought into the newest wave of biology-based understanding of literature, taking evolutionary genetics as his model. But his views are based on slippery assumptions that can't be verified and that have no legs in the real world.

Of course, all narratives have ancient origins: Aesops's fables date back to the sixth century B.C. But "modern revisionists distinguish between different kinds of traditional tales" – folk stories differ from fairy tales – "and understand that they have histories of different lengths."

Elements of a narrative told here and there over time do not a "fairy tale" make."

! (exclamation punch, er, point added by the Fairy Tale News Hound)

Dark Fairytale - Battle by Ken Wong

Keeping his cool with a smooth 'bob-and-weave' response, we have Donald Haase (also highly respected):

"Yes, there is debate in the field over dating. Fairy tales are in the thick of the culture wars."

The editor of Marvels & Tales, a twice-yearly journal of fairy tale studies, says Tehrani is right to conclude that a form of Red Riding Hood exists in many varied cultures. What's news, however, is that the story may date back further than 2,600 years: "It's intriguing, it's plausible, but tracing the ancestry of fairy tales can be very difficult. I want to see his evidence."

Arguably the most well known and respected fairy tale authority, Jack Zipes, also firmly (and famously) in the oral-traditionalists corner, doesn't hesitate to respond, or to pull his punch:

"All our storytelling originated thousands of years ago, centuries before the print editions of fairy tales," he says. "Anyone who says they arrive only with print is just stupid. People have similar experiences around the world and always have had."

Ouch.

But this is just the warm up. They're all waiting eagerly for the paper to be published before winding up for the knock-out.

If you're interested in getting up to speed you can read the original news post HERE (which links to the original Telegraph UK article) and the one I'm quoting today HERE.

I'm planning on getting a ringside seat for the next round if I can. In the meantime, this is just begging for an editorial cartoon.