Article: What Does NBC's Grimm Look For When Choosing Fairy Tales To Adapt For The Series?

 

I really like that the Grimm producers and writers are talking about how they use fairy tales right now. No matter who is being interviewed - actors, producers, writers or effects and production people - or with regard to which aspect of the series everyone points the way back to the old fairy tales of Grimm and many others.

What would be particularly fun would be to be a fly on the wall as they're sorting through and choosing which fairy tale to tackle next. The Executive Producers of Grimm recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter on the  basic aspects they look for with regard to any tale.

NBC’s new drama series, Grimm, combines the myth of fairy tales rehashed into a police procedural. On every episode, Brothers Grimm descendant, homicide detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli), is charged with protecting others from real life fairy tale creatures, along with his partner, Hank Griffin (Russell Hornsby). There are hundreds of tales to pick from, but the show’s producers and writers have definite needs when it comes to which ones can be adapted for the series.

...The EPs say there are specific characteristics that they look for in the myths that ultimately make it on to the series. Here are four things that make a fairy tale ripe for adaptation.

I'll give you the summary (these are all excerpts - please read full article for complete text and series goodies):

1. Fairy tales that include a crime.“We look for something where there could be a crime and that we can really twist it,” says Greenwalt.  Being a procedural, each episode needs some foul play as its basic story line...  (see article for full text) But not all tales have one, though that doesn’t mean a fairy tale can’t be used. (Emphasis by InkGypsy.)That brings us to characteristic No. 2.

2. The tale lends itself to modernization. ...“There’s something fantastic [there - for example in The Pied Piper episode -] that can translate to our world today, like how would somebody get wronged and want to seek revenge using rats? How would you modernize that story?” says Greenwalt.

3. There’s a character or detail that stands out.“Not all the stories have crimes. But sometimes there’s a character that is interesting enough and other times it’s a setting,” Kouf tells THR...

4. A story can be retold from a different point of view.Many times, the series looks to myths, including popular ones, and tries to re-imagine them from a different perspective. “The Three Little Pigs,” which appears on Friday’s episode, is one example.... (see article for full text) So, it’s the fun of turning a well-known fairy tale on its head.”

I like that we got a sneak peek into one of their scripts-in-progress too. They've chosen the tale and are clearly fascinated by some aspects but are still nutting through the details of how to craft an updating and make it fit the series:

“One story has a bunch of suitors caught in a hedge of thorns,” Greenwaltsays. “And they die and they’re caught in this hedge. And we love the idea of doing the hedge that surrounds the castle that catches all the people that try to get through it. It’s a little tough to figure out how to move that into a modern context without getting too fantastical or too magical, but we’re working on it.”

Of course, if I personally had to choose, it would be hard for me to pick a tale that DOESN'T fit these requirements as explained by the "EPs". ;D But that's possibly just my fairy tale soaked brain. I've spent a lifetime finding the contemporary parallel stories and lessons in almost every tale I've read. LOL

Read the full article with all the insights into how the Grimm team are viewing fairy tales HERE.

NBC's Grimm Gets Goldfever

Golden Eagle by Sue Warner

After Once's addition of King Midas, and his gold-creating fingers, Grimm has let leak their own gold-focused episode in the works.

TVLine got the exclusive on the news that (Lost's Titus) Welliver... will be playing Farley Holt in NBC’s supernatural procedural Grimm. Mr. Holt is described as a creature with the ability to morph into a steinadler, which according to google, is a golden eagle. Whether or not he’s a bad guy remains to be seen. We know from the reformed big-bad-wolf Monroe that not all of the creatures frequently hunted by Nick and the other Grimms are living an evil lifestyle.

Gold doesn’t just refer to the bird, either. TVLine says Welliver’s character will explain to Nick “the history behind a cache of gold coins that seem to exert an uncanny hold over whoever takes possession of them.” (The precious!)  

You can read the full article with extra info HERE.

Which fairy tale will this be based on? Any guesses*?

One idea is below - but it's a total guess. I'd be surprised if it is Snow White and Rose Red. Happily surprised, of course, but still surprised. :)

by Felicia Cano

* Other than Rumpelstiltskin, which doesn't have a gold eagle The Two Brothers springs to mind but that's such a long and complex tale. Another option - and it does have an eagle - is Snow White and Rose Red (with the ungrateful dwarf and his jewel and coin hoards.

Two New Episodes of NBCs Grimm Airing This Week

While both Once and Grimm took a break over Thanksgiving, Once has been back with a vengeance and we've already had six episodes and much drama and speculation grabbing people's imaginations over the town of Storybrooke and the parallel world of Fairy Tale (and ratings). To top that off, another episode less than a week away.

Grimm, on the other hand, is still in limbo back at episode four and has lost a lot of ratings ground with so much time off. In fact, with all the media buzz about Once's twists and turns and interviews with Producers and casting sneak peeks, Grimm has quietly slipped out of the spotlight with barely a new post to keep it in our minds.

However: :)

NBC is going to try and make up for that by airing two brand new episodes on consecutive nights - this Thursday and Friday.

The epiosdes are:
Thursday: Danse Macabre (loosely based on The Pied Piper)
Friday: The Three Bad Wolves (loosely based on The Three Little Pigs)

Here's a two episode teaser clip advertising the special two night event:



There are more clips and interviews HERE, including discussion of the production and effects (The Pied Piper episode is DEFINITELY NOT for kids with all the gruesome visuals) and Grimm's reformed Blutbad musing on music, history and his relationship with Detective Nick Burkhardt.

Yay for lots of new fairy tale  content this week! We'll see if a double dose of Grimm is enough to put them back on people's must-watch lists.

Is ABC's "Once Upon A Time" Going To Run Out Of Fairy Tales?

Oof! I just realized all the content up today was rather dark and serious so I'm throwing this one post in as a bonus. :)

 This might seem like an absurd title for a blog entry here but this is what many fans of ABC's Once Upon A Time appear to be worrying about.

Considering Once Upon A Time is planning to stick around for a long time (think multiple seasons - the producers have ideas for at least three right now) are there enough fairy tales and fairy tale creatures to keep the series going?

We know Red Riding Hood will need to tell her story soon and there's been a lot of leaks about Beauty and her Beast/Gaston appearing soon (note: slight spoiler at the link). In Mr. Gold's pawn shop on Sunday night's airing we saw Aladdin's lamp and a tea set that looked rather Alice-like. There are calls on fan boards for appearances by Aladdin and Mulan but after that, what??! (Not my punctuation. :D )

E! Online grilled Jane Espenson (a producer and writer on the show) for details:

There will be fairy tales that branch out of the central European folklore: "I wouldn't be surprised to see fairy tales from other traditions coming in as well," consulting producer Jane Espenson teases. "So keep your eye out for some stuff that's maybe not quite so Swiss looking." 

 In addition to Hansel and Gretel, this certainly opens the doors for Greek mythology, Middle Eastern folktales, perhaps enough material for 50 seasons and two movies? We can only hope.

Regulars of this fairy tale blog and others are already very aware that this is one aspect fans should not worry about. For starters there are over 200 tales in the Grimm collections alone. That doesn't even exhaust the European options. This is one aspect of NBCs Grimm that is really solid - Grimm's producers are well educated in worldwide fairy tales (as are the actors, as it's mentioned in a lot of their interviews) and have planned to explore different tales and various folkloric creatures from all over the world since the beginning.

 

 

 To Once's credit they have already gone beyond the Disney vault and included Rumpelstiltskin, Red Riding Hood and King Midas so there are plenty of indications that they're already looking around.

Of course there are still quite a few of the Disney canon characters yet to appear (don't forget Disney's live action films too!) and there's a good chance they throw in some characters Disney has had gathering dust in their ideas box too (Snow Queen anyone?). It still makes me want to anonymously gift the Once producers with all the Andrew Lang color fairy books though.

Source for graphics HERE. It's a fantastic almost-daily Tumblr blog dedicated to all things Once Upon A Time but I can't quite bring myself to type the blogs title. :/ I DO recommend you visit though. Some truly gorgeous stuff here.

Grimm Confessions by Fans of the Series

It's no surprise there are fan websites and blogs popping up for NBC's Grimm, just like they have for ABC's Once Upon A Time.

This blog, which can be contributed to by anyone, is titled Grimm Confessions and not only highlights the thoughts - pros and cons - about the series by various fans but their wishes for where it might go too. The day after an episode airing is a good time to check the blog for new entries though they appear more often than that.

Here are some examples:

There are many gif captures and multiple gif "arrangements" (sees to be the new trend!) so you can check those out too. One of the most creative "gif groupings" adds lines from the song "Sweet Dreams" by Eurythmics (used throughout the pilot episode) and pairs the lyrics with key scenes to underline their gravity. You can see that on this page HERE (I've linked to the posters own page so it's easier to find). I wonder who thought up the connection of that song with Red Riding Hood? It works chillingly well.

Grimm Reality in Portland

We all know the evil things done in fairy tales have their counterparts in the real world and although awful it doesn't seem quite as chilling as when it's paralleled with the present day.

The NBC series Grimm is filming on location in Portland, Oregon - by all accounts a perfect locale for the subject matter of dark fairy tales with its terrain, forests and moody-weather atmosphere. As it turns out there's a much darker reason it works too.

This article, written by a local, shows both the excitement of having Grimm being filmed there but also how close to home the subject matter has already been for the town.

From the article, after a brief description of the crimes in the pilot episodes:

Kyron Horma

Why is this chilling?  This is where reality intersects with the TV show.  In the spring of 2010, a young boy named Kyron Horman went missing from our city of Portland.  The school he vanished from? Skyline Elementary. He has never been found and the mystery surrounding his disappearance still has the Portland police bureau following tips and leads.

I see Grimm has been picked up for another season on NBC. The Brothers Grimm wrote 209 dark tales back in the early 19th Century.  It seems we are in for a lot of these modern age fairy tales, too dark for children but just right for grown humans that like a little suspense. And I for one, will be looking for a little reality in each show.

 You can read the full article with its real life parallels with the series, HERE.

The Buzz on SyFy's Neverland Continues But Will It Truly Be Family Friendly?

 

The HEA (Happily Ever After) vs Horror aspects in the newly launched Fairy Tale TV series Once Upon A Time and Grimm are definitely provoking thought amongst the viewing public on what fairy tales really are, as are the battling SnowWhite movies in production. With new shows, miniseries (eg SyFy's Neverland) and movies are winging our way and because it's now clear the use of "fairy tale" as source material is not a G-rating guarantee, one of the pressing questions has become what shows/movies are Family Friendly?

This is initially a bit tricky to navigate. Once Upon A Time is clearly more family friendly with its fantasy sequences and glitter but it also has very dark moments that are quite unapologetic (I'm including the "battle of the better mother" and twisted alliances aspect in this too). Grimm, on the other hand, is a procedural, complete with crimes, more-than-moderate crime scene visuals and brought-to-life monsters that I don't think little kids should see but the approach is often comedic and it's clearly a "catch the bad guys-save the good guys" show that kids have an easier time understanding.

Snow White and the Huntsman? Clearly teen+ with a largely dark overtone. Mirror Mirror on the other end of the spectrum is going for highly stylized comedic family fun.*

But in our immediate future we have SyFy's Neverland, airing December 4th & 5th for a two-night special event - apparently a 'prequel' to the Peter Pan and Neverland stories we're familiar with. Is this family fodder? After all SyFy isn't Hallmark or ABC/Disney and have a better reputation for the dark rather than the light.

 

The source material and website would suggest yes but perhaps not in a "Disneyesque" manner. One of the things Disney and ABC have proudly branded themselves with is making it clear when things are family and/or kid friendly (yes, they're different things). Generally when you see the Disney brand you know it's safe to walk out of the room to reheat your cocoa, leaving your kids glued to the screen by themselves for a few minutes. The Hallmark Channel has a different feel-good guarantee - happy endings are 99% likely with a minimum of direct gore or violence. SyFy is still a bit of a gamble.

 

Originally, the SciFi Channel was predictably dark, akin to B-movies and inevitably gory but since the re-branding to SyFy (as much as I'm not partial to their new spelling) the channel's original properties have had smarter writing, better acting, less gore and more critical acclaim. The website and marketing for Neverland are certainly aimed toward family but, as fairy tale enthusiasts who know what fairy tales are capable of exploring, it's important not to assume.

Neverland has attracted a stellar cast and has some seriously nice production and effects work. This alone says how much SyFy has developed in their programming. With Neverland looking to be a good viewing pick for the average family it's still worth preparing oneself ahead of time, just in case there are little people about - humans in your family, that is. ;) [If that ginormous and scary-looking crocodile does take Hook's hand off on-screen or Tink does get viciously-murderous I want to be there to cover my kid's eyes or make a dive for the remote - whatever seems most prudent.] There are a number of trailers out already which give a different emphasis on the story's aspects. The one below is my favorite:



This article HERE has made an attempt to summarize things for people wanting to know. Unfortunately their rating system is a little misleading at a glance. Using apples instead of stars makes it seem like the series are being rated overall as opposed to the compatibility with family viewing time but nevertheless it's worth a read.

Note: The following is a tangent but one I feel is appropriate for this topic. You may want to grab your thinking cap...

On the subject of "family friendly" I recently read an interesting on the Told This Time fairy tale community website, discussing an interview with Jack Zipes on the topic "Are Dark Fairy Tales More Authentic?". A few comments down the discussion begins to focus on whether or not we should expose children to 'dark' things and how appropriate many of the ideas in fairy tales really are.

Here's a quote from one of rave_blue's comments to get you thinking:

Real fairy tales, those traditional tales from Europe and Asia and indeed even America were often very dark to modern readers but then, we live in a world of light. Darkness can be banished with the flip of a switch but our ancestors lived in a very different world. Theirs was a world where darkness closed around them with all the menacing threat of the bogeymen they believed haunted the wilderness. So for them a "dark" fairy tale wasn't really dark at all because it was a perfect mirror for the real world surrounding them.

A child dying startles modern sensibilities but child mortality was so commonplace to our ancestors that it was taken in stride. Sure they mourned the death of a child but that mourning was not mingled with a sense of injustice the way it is today. Children died, it was a fact. People were maimed in surprisingly large numbers losing limbs in simple tasks. Wild animals stalked the forest. Robbers lurked behind trees ready to kill for a little coin. Darkness was not psychological the way so many modern interpreters would have us believe. It was both literal and symbolic because for the people who were listening to them when they were new it was the way of the world.

While most of us are privileged to not live in a society that must deal daily with such realities, we nevertheless have our own "wolves, maimings and darkness" so it's no coincidence that a familiarity with fairy tales is still proving to be one of the best defenses against them. The harder question, as I see it is how much is too much and what contexts are appropriate for different ages/maturities? Once you see something you can't simply 'unsee' it but parental response to the unfortunate and unexpected** is an additional key to children's coping mechanisms too.

I should add a disclaimer: if your family is anything like mine, being very familiar with fairy tales of all kinds and on monster-friendly side, it's very likely you'll take the chance and sit down with your kids just to check out that giant crocodilia and watch them nod wisely at just how devious fairies really are. That said, I'm going to make my pot of cocoa ahead of time and keep it in the living room with me. ;)

*In the same vein of family friendly comparison, Lily Collins (playing Snow White in Mirror Mirror) was interviewed on the two movie versions of Snow White - something she has the inside track on, as she apparently auditioned for both Snow Whites. You can read it HERE.
**eg. Whoever hacked the Sesame Street YouTube channel a few weeks back and uploaded a graphic porn video in place of a Cookie Monster clip deserves punishment by law well beyond a fine.

NBCs Grimm Gets Picked Up For Whole Season

(From the 2011 ComicCon display)

In case you haven't heard the news, we now have TWO very different fairy tale series to watch through the new year and for the rest of the season. ABCs Once Upon A Time already confirmed a full season's worth of episodes and NBCs Grimm has just had the greenlight to film a full 22 episodes (ie. a full season's worth) as well.

Between two newly airing TV series and multiple projects in production for the big screen, fairy tales are being talked about everywhere right now and that is just awesome. :)

It's inevitable that some of the popular conversations being had and columns currently circulating will make you want to roll your eyes but it's wonderful to see people thinking about the power of stories, their origins, what's considered icky/saccharine/surprising/old/other and what fairy tales really are about after all.

No matter where I stand from week to week on what I think of Once Upon A Time's use of fairy tales vs NBC's Grimm's use (and that does differ per episode of each), I am most excited at how a whole lot of people are cluing into just how relevant the classic tales can be - and the many (also relevant) ways in which they can be interpreted. If I had to choose one show over the other at this point I would find it very difficult - so I'm very glad I don't have to.

What's really important is that I'm truly thankful for the fairy tale bounty (x2!) we are about to receive, direct to our living rooms. :)

NBCs "Grimm" Take on Fairy Tales

I hope to write something on NBCs Grimm vs ABCs Once Upon A Time very soon but for now, here are some promo clips I found of how the Grimm detective meets fairy tale subjects in present-day Portland, OR (with a twist, of course).

Considering the spring board for the show is that the lead detective (of the "Grimm bloodline") is able to profile criminals (and other people) with his abilities (fairy tale profiler!) I was glad, but not surprised, to find these sorts of clips.



What I am pleasantly surprised by, though, is that this world is proving to be far more complex than a monster/fairy tale crime-of-the-week show and that good and bad are not so black and white. Just like fairy tales.



NBC is moving forward very cautiously with this show. After much critical raving over episodes 2 and 3, this week the network has ordered two more scripts, so we can now expect to see 15 episodes at minimum.



Just so there's a complete set, I'm including the Red riding Hood based pilot episode promo:

I have yet to see the Bluebeard/Pan-based 4th episode that aired this week as "Lonelyhearts" (see link for the tale and myth connection) but early ratings after last night are high (eg 4 or 5 stars).

We know we have the Frog Prince, Snow White and Cinderella reworkings coming but after last week's "Beeware". based on the more obscure tale of The Queen Bee, I'm looking forward to seeing what tales they tackle next.