Gaiman's "The Sleeper and the Spindle" Gets A Holiday Radio Play Adaptation (Broadcasting Dec 26, 2020)

Where:  BBC Radio 4 is the station you'll want to tune in to - available anywhere in the world with internet access! (check the link)

When: December 26, 2020 from 3-4pm GMT for the permiere (Boxing Day, for all those that celebrate it), though it does appear it will be available to listen to after as well - BBC Radio 4 to confirm.

Who: Here's all the info on everyone involved from BBC Radio 4, as well as their brief synopsis in case you haven't read The Sleeper and the Spindle yet. (If you haven't, you may want to get on that... it's won a whole slew of awards for good reason. Plus Chris Riddle's GORGEOUS illustrative work is just *chef's kiss*!):

Neil Gaiman’s perfect Christmas-time fairy tale, brought to life by award-winning dramatist Katie Hims. Starring Penelope Wilton, Gwendoline Christie and Ralph Ineson as well as Neil Gaiman himself.

The Sleeper and the Spindle is a new tale drawing on traditional folk stories, interweaving Snow White and Sleeping Beauty in an enchanting drama that puts the women firmly centre stage.

In her mountain kingdom, a soldier-Queen prepares for her wedding day. Three dwarves, guardians from her childhood, race towards her. They were coming for the celebration, but they also bring news of a sleeping sickness sweeping the land. As a girl she survived her own long, magical sleep, so she throws on her armour, straps on her sword and rides into the heart of this new plague to try to find its source and save her people. The magical sleep is spreading from a castle deep in the forest. There, our heroine discovers a beautiful sleeping girl, and a very, very old woman, forever awake…. But when the Queen wakes the princess in the traditional way, she discovers that all is not as it seems. Ultimately, she comes to understand that she really can make her own choices, and follow the path to her own happy ending.

 

Written by Neil Gaiman
Adapted by Katie Hims
Directed and Produced by Allegra McIlroy

Recorded remotely by Sharon Hughes and John Benton
Sound Design by Sharon Hughes

The Sleeper and the Spindle was a BBC Audio North Production

Cast
Dame Penelope Wilton ….. The Narrator/The Old Woman
Gwendoline Christie ….. The Queen
Neil Gaiman ….. The Home Secretary
Ralph Ineson ….. The First Dwarf
Stefan Adegbola ….. The Second Dwarf
Ian Dunnett Jnr ….. The Third Dwarf/The Prince/ The Tinker/The Woodcutter
Cecilia Appiah ….. The Pot Girl/ The Young Girl/ The Mother
Emma Handy ….. The Maid/The Other Woman/ The Stepmother
Roger Ringrose ….. The Father/The Innkeeper/ The Bandit
Milton Dighton ….. The Child

As a little bonus, here's a behind-the-scenes video of Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddle talking about how the book began and their collaboration on The Sleeper and the Spindle. You're in for a treat. Enjoy! 

Graphic Adaptation of "Snow, Glass, Apples" Has A Feral Magic (Preview!)

Lies and half-truths fall like snow, covering the things that I remember, the things I saw. A landscape, unrecognizable after a snowfall; that is what she has made of my life. - Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman

A graphic novel adaptation of Snow, Glass, Apples is nearing release, and the more we see, the more of artist Colleen Doran's work on this project, the more excited we are. But note - this is not your mother's Snow White...

Readers will know our Editor has a soft spot for Snow White, and may also know Neil Gaiman's Snow, Glass, Apples is one of her favorite retellings, (the audio recording is particularly memorable) so has had this pre-ordered since it was announced. If you're not familiar with Gaiman's retelling you might want to know 'blood' is key in this version.

Synopsis: Terrified of her monstrous stepdaughter and determined to repel the creature and save her kingdom, a not-so-evil queen desperately tries to stop a happily ever after that was never supposed to be. Stopping ever after, however, is no small task…

'Dark beginnings'

Here's what you need to know about the new graphic novel:

Colleen Doran took inspiration from (Neil Gaiman would say 'channeled') Irish Arts & Crafts genius Harry Clarke, famous for both his illustrations and his stained glass, to style her adaptation. Harry Clarke's work is both very 'fairy tale' (beautiful!) and at the same time feral. (A quick google search for Harry Clarke images will show you what we mean.) Doran's images do more than provide visuals for Gaiman's story and true to Clarke's style, we get an additional subtext layering the story - one that doesn't shy away from the darker themes Gaiman explores.

If you're wondering, "Just how dark could it be, really?" Gaiman's retelling is one of the most memorable "revisionings" of Snow White to date, complete with flipping the script on who should be terrified of whom, and combines it with a hard-left into Anne Rice territory. (And yes, "V is for Vampire". Did we mention this is not for kids?)

'Passion'

The graphic novel includes an afterword by artist Doran, in which she provides a few in-progress sketches and gives some information on how she created the artwork. We are intrigued - it looks especially time-consuming - not just from a decorative point-of-view but also the work of including different design motifs and "visual subtext" that adds it's own layer of the story.

'A lonely soul'

Here are some excerpts from a very interesting and poetic advanced-preview review by Arpad Okay for DoomRocket:

If Snow, Glass, Apples was once a children’s tale, the art is its connection to those storybook roots. The look is the close of the fairy tale age, as suited for temple walls or stained glass as it is for a golden-bound board book. The story is suitable for neither, full of sex, suffering, and psychedelics. When the forests were wild and old things still dwelled there. 

Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran have turned Snow White inside out, adding other folk tale traditions, the European Christian fetish for suffering idols, and a splash of V for Vendetta self-reliance. It’s a raunchy, debauched, Grand Guignol take on a Grimm story. 

...Doran’s adaptation has unearthed something within Gaiman’s short story that has elevated it to more than it was before. Snow, Glass, Apples is a mixture of comics tradition—showing what was written—and the picturebook tradition of framing what was written in the iconography it inspires. Doran has pulled an illustrated encyclopedia out of the cultural roots of Gaiman’s dreams and Grimm’s world.

'Hunger'

We recommend reading the whole review HERE. The review definitely reads as being written by someone who is still emerging from the dream haze one can get caught in when immersed in Snow, Glass, Apples.

While you enjoy the previews and "sneaky-peeks", as Colleen herself called them, here's a final note about the work that she posted on ADistantSoil, back in January:

Doran's first work (highschool!) "Holy Grail"
in style of Harry Clarke (click to enlarge)

I’m working in a style I’ve adapted from long study of the work of Irish Arts and Crafts Movement illustrator and stained glass creator Harry Clarke. I’ve admired his work since discovering it as a teenager. I mistook his drawings for those of Aubrey Beardsley, whom I also admire, though Clarke is far more macabre and had a longer career. Like Beardsley, he died young. Clarke passed away at age 41 after an amazingly prolific career. 

I’ve referenced a few of his drawings in the images for Neil’s book. 

Please be advised, this is a dark, mature fantasy: not for children at all. 

This highly decorative style and romantic approach suits me, and I enjoy everything about doing this book and this look. All of the drawings are by hand, and the colors are digital. I think I’d like to have a go at another work in this style.

'Taking the apple'

You can view a "live-draw video" by Colleen HERE, made while she works on Snow, Glass, Apples, in which she discusses cartoonist Rosie O'Neill, creator of the Kewpies. It's about 50 minutes long but very worth it if you're interested in Colleens' work or the importance of forgotten female cartoonist pioneers like O'Neill.

More sneaky peeks below (some of the work is in-progress):

One last note on ore-orders (which are an immense help to both Colleen and Neil): if you have access to a local comic book store you can pre-order for the earlier Comic Book store release date of August 7th, 2019 (you lucky ducks!), otherwise you can pre-order through Amazon, who is releasing it on August 20th, 2019 (and if you don't hear from us that day, you can assume its because we are caught up n the Doran-Gaiman world of Snow, Glass, Apples.

SOURCES REFERENCED:

• Breathtakingly ornate ‘Snow, Glass, Apples’ a debauched, Grand Guignol take on Grimm by Arpad Okay for DoomRocket
• Dark Horse Comics Announces ‘Snow, Glass, Apples’ Graphic Novel by GraveDecay
• Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran Reinvent Snow White in Snow, Glass, Apples Preview by Matthew Aguilar for ComicBook.com
• Colleen Doran's "Sneaky peeks" of her upcoming work on Twitter - posted by Colleen Doran for sharing
• Neil Gaiman's Snow, Glass, Apples by Colleen Doran for A Distant Soil
• All art is by Colleen Doran for Neil Gaiman's Snow, Glass, Apples for Dark Horse Books

Henson's 'The Storyteller' Is Getting A Gaiman-Assisted Reboot & Reimagining (O Happy Day!)

Yes, it's true. The Storyteller - that inspired and beloved anthology series that fairy tale folk recommend at every turn - is coming back to the small screen (ie. whatever device you currently watch TV or stream on). It's going to get a little updating and "reimagining", thanks to Neil Gaiman and a new generation of Henson Creature Shop folks, and to cater to the new (lucrative) world order of binge-watching/streaming viewers but we are being promised that it will still recognizably be Jim Henson's original vision.

Deadline had the exclusive when the news broke on February 19, 2019.

In the new incarnation, written and executive produced by Gaiman, The Storyteller will create a mystical world combining various fairy tales and folklore. It will be updated to work “for the binging kind” of viewer of today, Gaiman said.

We might be getting more of a backstory on the Storyteller himself too...

“Part of what fascinates me about The Storyteller is the stuff that we don’t know.,” he said. “Who was the Storyteller, why was he telling these stories, was he a goblin, what kind of creature? What I’d love to do is an inside story that’s as long as the outside story. We’re going to find out a lot about who the storyteller is, we’re going to find out things we don’t even know that we don’t know. We’re going to begin in a Northern kingdom where stories are forbidden and where the act of telling a story is liable and can get you imprisoned or executed. If you put a storyteller into that situation, things would need to start getting interactive.”

But never fear. This won't "devolve" into a drawn-out character story and ignore the tales it originally meant to highlight. We're going to be treated to brand new "old tales" from around the world. 

“The original Storyteller was a brilliantly written, directed and told set of stories. It’s a terrifying and inspiring task to reinvent what Jim Henson did for the golden age of television we are in right now, and I’m honored that The Jim Henson Company would entrust me with the task of bringing back the storyteller and his magical stories, and sending him out into the world for a whole new round of tales,” Gaiman said. 

Gaiman and Henson would not say which fairytales they are planning to tackle. “We have our eye on lots of them and one of the things that was brilliant (about The Storyteller) was, they would take little known versions of well-known fairytales because every story comes in various different versions, and I think that’s definitely something that I would love to keep going,” Gaiman said.

That makes us heave a huge sigh of relief! The unique and memorable retelling of lesser-known tales is the whole reason we adore The Storyteller and it would seem that both Lisa Henson and Neil Gaiman intend to keep this core intact. (Yay!)

Within that frame, the aim is to create new and innovative directorial methods for blending puppetry, tales and live action with a variety of unique directors - a risky, but needed move to breathe life back into the series and reach a whole new generation in the making. 

Lisa Henson whose studies in folklore and Greek mythology at Harvard university inspired her father, Jim Henson, to create The Storyteller series, is well qualified to develop a folklore-related project.  Folklore, myth and old fairy and folktales are an interest she and Gaiman not only have in common but have bonded over since they met in 1991, so this project is personally important to both of them with regard to using integrity in bringing old tales to life again. Regarding how they would approach this for an audience that has a very different view of the world to the original Storyteller audience and consumes entertainment very differently, Lisa elaborated a little on their new approach:

“I think that we’re looking to do the same thing here, (Ed: a.k.a. use non-linear shooting with impactful imagery like music video directors do) work with the directors who can do the most innovative work with puppetry technologies to marry it up in that truly innovative modern way with word crafting.”

We are SO EXCITED!

What tales - and cultural variants - would you like to see be brought to life in the new Storyteller series?

If you would like to read more of the production details currently available, you can read the whole exclusive article at Deadline HERE.

Highly Anticipated 'American Gods' Series Debuts April 30

We have been excited about Neil Gaiman's amazing novel, American Gods, coming to the small screen in serial form (how could a movie ever explore this world thoroughly enough), and the tailer certainly has a lot of people excited.

We would be counting down the days ourselves, if it weren't for the #bucketsofblood, because, wow. There are many - gratuitously many - buckets! So take that as a heads-up for watching the trailer, by the way. Nevertheless, there will be lots of mythic and folkloric content for those willing to dive in, albeit being wrapped up very contemporary clothes and language, along with heavy doses of 'weird' (that is, in fact, one of the marketing tools for the show: 'expect 'weird sh*t!').

Here's the show's premise:

American Gods, the show follows Shadow Moon, who is thrown into a war between the gods of the old world versus the new. 

When Shadow Moon is released from prison, he meets the mysterious Mr. Wednesday and a storm begins to brew. Little does Shadow know, this storm will change the course of his entire life. Left adrift by the recent, tragic death of his wife, and suddenly hired as Mr. Wednesday’s bodyguard, Shadow finds himself in the center of a world that he struggles to understand. It’s a hidden world where magic is real, where the Old Gods fear both irrelevance and the growing power of the New Gods, like Technology and Media. Mr. Wednesday seeks to build a coalition of Old Gods to defend their existence in this new America, and reclaim some of the influence that they’ve lost. As Shadow travels across the country with Mr. Wednesday, he struggles to accept this new reality, and his place in it.

Here's the trailer (viewer discretion advised):

That should be no surprise to people familiar with the book and most people, including Gaiman himself, are super-excited. Along with perhaps turning down the 'red' on our screens a tad as we decide to put up with the #bucketsofblood for the inevitable good stuff, we will be watching closely for the public response to the series.

This featurette, including an appearance with Neil Gaiman, who Executive Produces the show, makes the series look very intriguing. If you're not up for the trailer, this is a good overview for you (no #bucketsofblood in this one):

One excellent thing to look forward to, is that Gaiman, who always intended to write more of the world than he did for his novel, is seriously looking at creating new stories specifically for the series as well, and he has a specific angle in mind - one we're keen to see explored.
           
From io9:

There’s plenty of material for more stories set in the world of American Gods. Both the book and the show contain a main, present-day story, but are also peppered with “Coming to America” shorts that explore how gods from other countries immigrated to the United States along with people. At the panel for the show at San Diego Comic-Con last year, Gaiman mentioned that he’d originally intended to do a vignette about Japanese internment during World War II in American Gods. 

“It wasn’t even that it got cut,” explained Gaiman about the story. “It just never got written because I was already at 200,000 words and I was being told by my publisher that the novel couldn’t be more than 150,000 words. So now I was already cutting and the internment story was one I was looking forward to.”The show might act as an impetus for Gaiman writing not only that story, but other ones he has in his mind. 

..The show’s tackling of (Essie Tregowan's) story—which expanded it to fill much of an episode,—has inspired Gaiman to write more stories in the American Gods universe and give them to the show to reinterpret for the small screen. “So Bryan is now going we could do more of these big ones,” continued Gaiman. “And I went, well I wanted to do the internment camp one and that would have been a big story. That would have been a 20-30 page short story. And possibly a little longer, it would have been a novelette in my head. And it would have been a kitsune story and I’m happy to write that story now and I’m happy for Bryan to adapt it.”

Gaiman has a lot to say on 'America's hypocritical relationship with immigrants and diversity' and as such, the series is not only highly anticipated, but suddenly become more relevant in this social climate, than it ever has since being published. The fact that it looks like Gaiman will get to focus on this theme is one of the big draws of the show for us, making it very likely to be put on our list of Recommended Resistance Reads and Viewings. #RRR

America has a very contradictory relationship with immigration. The stories we like to tell are about people coming here with nothing but ambition and becoming important or rich. But America is also obsessed with talking about whether or not immigrants have assimilated, and saying that some groups can’t, so they shouldn’t be allowed in. It’s a specific American truth that Gaiman captured in the book and that the show has run with. 

“You have come from an old country, now stop being that thing,” is how Gaiman summed it up. “I love the fact that Canada has the concept of the mosaic. You have come to Canada from your country, we are a mosaic made up of lots of different countries... The American idea seems much more...melting pot. Become one. We are all one, we are like this. No, we’re not! No one is.”

It’s not being American that Gaiman thinks let him write the book.  

... Gaiman’s outsider perspective mirrors how genre fiction has always managed to present volatile ideas in palatable ways. “That’s what it’s for,” said Gaiman. “It’s the distorting mirror, it’s showing you something at 45 degrees, it’s showing you something that you are familiar with from an angle you have never seen it from, to make you see it for the first time.” 

We couldn't agree with this more.

The network showing the series, Starz, is a 'prime paid' network so a lot of folks aren't going to have the opportunity to jump in at the beginning for the journey, but that won't stop an internet buzz from happening, and we expect the big pop culture websites to be all over the premiere and have lots of interesting things to say.

We love how the latest interview Gaiman has given discussing American Gods finishes:

Even with the distance of talking about gods and supernatural occurrences, people connect with the stories in American Gods in very personal ways. It resonates even more now, somehow. Gaiman knows why.

“Because we’re human and we tell stories and telling our stories and telling stories we were told in our childhood is one of the most important and beautiful things we can do. We have stories, now, that are older than any city. Some of them are older than the countries they are now told in. We can trace the age of stories sometimes by landmarks, by volcanoes, by things mentioned in them. And stories last. And stories matter. And sometimes, at my maddest, I like to think that stories are merely the vehicle that stories use to propagate themselves to make sure they continue.”

What a wonderful (and slightly intimidating) way of putting it! Fairy tales are unique as a 'genre' precisely because they behave specifically like living things in the way they spread and adapt, and are one of the biggest reasons they interest us. Myths aren't quite the same but they can behave similarly, and it makes sense that Gaiman's fairy tale influence in telling and retelling myths brings out this quality.

Can you tell we love this creature?

Summary: we're looking forward to seeing what happens with American Gods, both as a series and with regard to social impact. Here's the opening title sequence to give you a taste (no #bucketsofblood in this one, we promise).

"Stardust" To Air Via BBC Radio (& Gaiman's Many Other Projects!)

One of a number of covers for Vertigo comics by Charles Vess for Neil Gaiman's Stardust

Neil Gaiman is one busy and prolific creator, there is no doubt, but even while he is busy promoting no less than two new books and six re-releases with new artwork, (all of which you can see below and will be of great interest to fairy tale folk), as well as giving his stamp of approval to the upcoming American Gods TV series (airing in 2017 for Starz), he always seems to have other projects bubbling away in the background.

See an amazing preview of the Troll Bridge graphic novel HERE.

We are guessing the hammer will not spin as the book sits on your shelf...

This is a re-release with Chris Riddell's illustrations
(who was critically praised and awarded for his work on Gaiman's The Sleeper and the Spindle)

One of these that we'll be treated to in the Winter/Yule/Christmas Season, is a new, adapted, dramatized, audio performance of his story "Stardust".

The just-released new cover, painted by Robert E McGinnis.
While we're always happy to see more unicorns, Charles Vess' Yvaine and flowing ink lines
will always be iconic for us

Stardust is Gaiman's work du jour it would seem! There is a new release of the novel with a new cover by  - along with new covers for three other books of Gaiman's, (see below) and you did see Lisa Stock's lovely photo story posted a few days ago with Gaiman's blessing, correct?

Also painted by Robert E McGinnis

There's also a contest for those in the UK, to create some artwork to be featured as the front cover.

Charles Vess

The two competition winners will have their work featured as the episode image for the drama, as well as receiving a script signed by the cast. You’ll also get a beautiful print donated by Neil with a personal note. One winner will be selected from each of the following categories: entrants aged 13 - 16; entrants over 17.

Entries will be considered by four judges. They are:

• - Artist Chris Riddell - UK Children’s Laureate, political cartoonist for The Observer and illustrator for a number of Neil Gaiman stories

• - Actor Sophie Rundle - As the female lead Yvaine in Stardust, Sophie is close to the spirit of the Stardust story

• - Artist Sean Phillips - Sean has been a professional illustrator for over twenty-five years, mostly drawing comic books. He was the main artist on Radio 4’s Good Omens and has also worked for DC, Marvel, Vertigo and 2000AD

• Jeremy Howe, commissioning editor for Drama at Radio 4

You can find those details HERE.

Here's the cast list:

We hope BBC will see fit to broadcast this online so BBC - and Stardust - fans around the world will have the opportunity to hear it.

From the 2007 movie adaptation of Stardust, starring Claire Daines