Showing posts with label creatures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label creatures. Show all posts

Friday, October 18, 2019

Maleficent As A Modern Day Mélusine

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[Art: ‘Melusine’, from “Les grandes Sataniques de l'histoire de la Légende” by Roland Brévannes, Select Bibliothèque, 1907]
Maleficent (Disney 2014)
Note: This theory/exploration was put together for #MythologyMonday back in August on Twitter*, by our Editor Gypsy Thorton, using the character limited format. We have expanded and reworded some of her tweets for easier reading (starting below our intro and the dragon flanked with stars).

This is a set of linked tweets (known as a 'thread') exploring the possibility of Maleficent (being a dragon-shape-shifter) as a modern variant of Melusine. (When Gypsy contributes fresh content, she will inevitably find a way to reference fairy tales, no matter what the theme is.) We, too, believe there is a fairy tale link to every topic and situation under the sun...

With Maleficent: Mistress of Evil opening in theaters today, we thought it might be fun to expand the thread for a blog post, even though it has no real bearing on the Disney's live-action Maleficent movies... or does it?
Melusine and Raymon by Troy Howell
Who was Melusine? (A Quick Refresher)
(Description via Storytelling Toronto):
Melusine is both a mythic and historical character in French legend. She is best known for her secret: that every Saturday, she had to disappear into the bath, where the lower part of her body took on the form of a serpent. 
Melusine was a great queen and benefactress. Her mother was a “maiden of the wells,” a fairy from the “Lost Isles” of Avalon. Her father was a mortal king, the king of Albany, now Scotland. Melusine became entangled in mortal life, married, and had ten sons who were powerfully gifted and cursed. She was said to have built many cities and abbeys, some of which still exist in France. This mythic queen left her imprint on the physical landscape of France and Scotland, and her baffling story draws us back to early Christianity and the demonization of the enchantress.^
Melusine escaping: Cover of
'The Legend of Melusine' (French)
by
Michèle Perret (artist unknown)
As she was finishing her story-thread on Twitter, Gypsy found a recently-published scholarly compilation for which one of the contributors apparently had similar thoughts, including a discussion of the link in their paper. She included mention of the book at the end of her tweets (see end of the post for the title plus a description and relevant excerpts we were able to hunt down) but we had hoped to obtain a copy to read before sharing it all here. Unfortunately, this is one of those uber-expensive volumes (upwards of $100!) so, apart from some interesting sneak-peeks via previews (which we will also share excerpts of below) we're just going to have to keep it on a watchlist.

In the meantime, we remain thrilled that some medieval literature and legend experts had also found a connection to Maleficent, taken their scholarly skills, time and effort to do comprehensive research, then published an exploration of the concept as part of their work. Their discussion of Maleficent's story having included some of the Melusine narrative in a modern form, though, is only a portion of one of the included papers in the book. From the excerpts we've been able to glimpse in previews, all other aspects are just as interesting. We are looking forward to the time we can read it in full. (Details and links at the end of post.)
Enjoy!

* * * Dragon on LG G5 * * *
Today's theme for #MythologyMonday (August 29, 2019) is #MythologicalCreatures, so let's talk shapeshifting dragons, female ones; especially one in particular: Maleficent, but not as she's usually considered.

Imagine Maleficent as a 'modern' day Melusine, as some versions of the legend say Melusine was. (Not a mermaid, or typical fairy, but perhaps a type of fairy-wyvern hybrid, which fits with the text).
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[Art: The Marriage of Le Belle Melusine, Jessie Bayes, 1914]
Now imagine Melusine/Maleficent as a younger, more innocent creature. One day, when she was happily wandering in the woods, she met -some versions say rescued- a young French lord, Raymond of Poitou, and they fell in love.

Before long they were to be married. He didn't know she was Other and, in love, promised to give her the privacy of a private bath on Saturdays - with no peeking - ever!
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[Art: Nataša Ilincic]
Melusine was a prize for the Nobleman; not only was she beautiful, she made him 'lucky'. In reality, she used her dragon-hoarding abilities to attract wealth & built castles for him. She was very fertile, giving him ten children, with not a single hybrid among them to give her away, though they did have unusually large teeth and brilliant eyes...**
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[Art: Julius Hübner 'Die schöne Melusine' 1844]
But Melusine's husband (Raymond) had a jealous brother who 'bedeviled' Ray with doubts about Melusine's faithfulness. Eventually (after at least ten children had been born) Ray gave in to his brother's decade-plus of mind-poisoning, and he finally broke his promise to Melusine, spying on her. He discovered her in her marble bath in partial-dragon form and, his mind already set against her, recoiled in horror.
Melusine / Illumination, Flemish, c. 1410–1420, attributed to Guillebert de Mets.
“Melusine s’enfuit transformée en vouivre” (Melusine flees disguised as a dragon).
Betrayed and heartbroken, Melusine spread her dragon wings as she backed away to the nearest window then, with a cry, fled the castle forever.
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[Art: The figure of Melusine, at the 16th century sculpture garden of Bomarzo, Italy.]
Though poor Melusine had fled for her life, she was heartbroken and missed her family. It was said she could sometimes be spotted, high above the castle, weeping. (Legend says you can still see her on moonless nights.)

Some say Melusine was a fairy, or mermaid or a serpent but don't believe it - she was a dragoness.
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[Art: by coucyi on Tumblr]
Did Melusine end up taking residence in a castle that crumbled to ruin over time and failing fortunes?

Did she become bitter and cynical about true love, vowing to thwart foolish young noble women, cursing them to sleep before they could have their freedom -and their love- betrayed?
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[Art: Eyvind Earle concept painting of "Maleficent" as the Dragon from Sleeping Beauty. (Walt Disney, 1959) ]
And did she finally give in completely to her true draconic nature when a young princess, hailed the Dawn of the New Age+, was about to make the same mistake she once had in the woods, only to tragically become a trophy once again, only this time on a Prince's wall?

We'll never truly know. All we can say in certainty is that loving a dragoness is not for the faint of heart.
#MythologyMonday #Maleficent

[To trace more scholarly musings on Melusine, this book may be of interest: "Melusine’s Footprint: Tracing the Legacy of a Medieval Myth"]
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Description:
Melusine's Footprint: Tracing the Legacy of a Medieval Myth
Editors: Misty Urban, Deva Kemmis, and Melissa Ridley Elmes
In Melusine’s Footprint: Tracing the Legacy of a Medieval Myth, editors Misty Urban, Deva Kemmis, and Melissa Ridley Elmes offer an invigorating international and interdisciplinary examination of the legendary fairy Melusine. Along with fresh insights into the popular French and German traditions, these essays investigate Melusine’s English, Dutch, Spanish, and Chinese counterparts and explore her roots in philosophy, folklore, and classical myth. 
Combining approaches from art history, history, alchemy, literature, cultural studies, and medievalism, applying rigorous critical lenses ranging from feminism and comparative literature to film and monster theory, this volume brings Melusine scholarship into the twenty-first century with twenty lively and evocative essays that reassess this powerful figure’s multiple meanings and illuminate her dynamic resonances across cultures and time. 
Contributors are Anna Casas Aguilar, Jennifer Alberghini, Frederika Bain, Anna-Lisa Baumeister, Albrecht Classen, Chera A. Cole, Tania M. Colwell, Zoë Enstone, Stacey L. Hahn, Deva F. Kemmis, Ana Pairet, Pit Péporté, Simone Peger, Caroline Prud’Homme, Melissa Ridley Elmes, Renata Schellenberg, Misty Urban, Angela Jane Weisl, Lydia Zeldenrust, and Zifeng Zhao.
* * * Dragon on LG G5 * * *
Almost a month after Gypsy's story thread, one of the editors, Dr. Melissa Ridley Elmes, added this tweet for the #FolkloreThursday theme of the week: Mythological Creatures
Since first finding Melusine's Footprint, we have tracked down some previews and excerpts that include discussion of Maleficent. Here's a small taste:

[From Misty Urban's paper: How the Dragon Ate the Woman: The Fate of Melusine in English:]
... in what might so far be the closest reunion of the dragon and the woman on the screen of a blockbuster film: Disney's 2014 live-action Maleficent, which re-envisions the supernatural fairy enchantress of the Sleeping Beauty legend into a figure much like Melusine. With horns on her head highly reminiscent of the headdress Melusine wears in late medieval and early modern woodcuts, the fairy Maleficent otherwise appears human in form save for a pair of wings, of which she is deprived in the course of the movie by a false lover. The Maleficent of this film harbors strongly protective maternal instincts and is a powerful enchantress with unlimited resources who can physically transform her kingdom at will and who is its recognized ruler. While male betrayal is a prevalent motif, the emotional charge of the narrative rests on the way that the two central female characters lift the curse on each other: Maleficent herself breaks the curse of the death-like sleep she laid on Aurora, and an awakened Aurora consequently restores her wings to Maleficent, who, in a film moment highly evocative of Melusine's final exit transforms into  winged creature, exits the castle that entraps her by shattering a stained-glass window, and then flies about the parapets, screaming, as she sends the malicious King Stefan to his death. [Urban pp. 386]
Melusine - Illumination, French, 15th century.
"Melusine escapes Raymond in Dragon form / Melusine appears to breastfeed her sons". Illustration to the "Roman de Melusine" of the troubadour Couldrette (1401). Ms français 383, fol. 30, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale.
And, an excerpt from the final paper, commenting on what this anthology volume adds to the already extensive scholarship published on Melusine:
Urban's contribution reveals that the decades following second wave feminism have witnessed the return of a polymorphic Melusine in innovative new interpretations. Constrating with premodern tendencies to soften Melusine's hybridity, young adult fiction has endowed the fully serpentine character with an apotropaic role, while the metamorphic, aerial Maleficent, who sits at the heart of a Hollywood fantasy film exploring women's protective and destructive qualities, strikingly revels in her alterity. [Colwell, pp. 398]
You can purchase the book HERE at the publisher's website. This includes a list of the papers included. Each 'locked link' still gives you a limited preview (after clicking on the chapter title), and is great food for thought, even just having a glimpse. Alternately you can find a copy (often cheaper) HERE on Amazon.

And if you go see Melusine, er Maleficent: Mistress of Evil in theaters this weekend, drop us a line, a comment or tag @inkgypsy on Twitter, and let us know your impressions.
^ You can read a more detailed story-like summary of Melusine, including why she had to bathe every Saturday in semi-dragon form, HERE. (Note: the website is in French - Google translate gives you the gist but knowing some French helps!) Otherwise, Wikipedia's Melusine entry has a lot to offer and link you to, if you want to begin a "deep dive".

‘Melusine’, from “Les grandes Sataniques
de l'histoire de la Légende” by Roland Brévannes,
In case you are interested in joining in on social media and saying 'hi', Gypsy does her best to visit three different Twitter weekly events (even if only briefly, or toward the end of the time frame). They are:
#MythologyMonday
#FairyTaleTuesday
#FolkloreThursday
Just put the hashtag in the search box to find all the tweets. Everyone is welcome to observe, tweet and contribute and each week usually has a theme, though off-topic mythology, folklore or fairy tale information, art, and questions are OK too. You can just search the hashtag and read without posting, or reply and have a discussion, or add a new tweet to the content - whatever you'd like. Just be sure to add that day's hashtag so people can see your comments. Each group has a lot of overlap and all of them are very friendly folks.

** Wondering what happened to those large-toothed, brilliant-eyed children?  Here you go (via Castles, Celtics & Chimeras):
The Ten Children of MélusineMélusine gave Raymond ten sons. But the count, though very proud of having so many children, was not always very comfortable looking at them.
1st: Urian - who became king of Cyprus - was "in every way well-formed, except that he had a short and full face, a red eye and the other person [blue and green], and the largest ears that have never been seen to a child;
2nd: Eudes , had an unquestionably larger ear than the other ";
3rd: Guion , had "one eye higher than the other";
4th: Antoine, handsome and well made like his brothers, except that he wore "a lion's paw on the cheek, and before he was eight, he became hairy, with sharp claws"
5th: Renaud , had only one eye, but remarkably piercing;
6th: Geoffroy , had a 3 cm canine that came out of his mouth;
7th: Fromont , who became a monk at Maillezais, had a hairy spot on his nose;
8th: Horrible , incredibly tall, had three eyes, and he was so ferocious that before 4 years old he had killed 2 of his nannies ".
9th: Thierry , was normal;
10th: Raymonnet , was normal too.
+ Aurora (Disney's chosen "princess name" for Sleeping Beauty, who, in the animated classic, which Maleficent references, grows up being called 'Briar Rose', or just 'Rose' by the three fairies, Fauna, Flora and Merryweather.)

Friday, November 25, 2016

Fantastic Beasts Are Given A Chinese Makeover


We so dearly wish to do a proper write-up of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them but are aware that many haven't had the chance to see the film yet. However, we did want to mention that whatever people think of the movie, we are thrilled - thrilled! - with the expanding creature folklore of the Rowling Wizarding World as it overlaps wonderfully with existing lore and legends from around the globe.

Spoiler-free review preview: all here loved it and are itching for a second viewing. Despite some flaws, we all agree that in the end, "fantastic" is still the overall best word to describe it and that our realization of such flaws hasn't dented our enjoyment of it at all.

We will go more in depth when we've had time to put together all the notes accruing on the news board, but for now, please enjoy these lovely Chinese-styled takes of the creatures for Fantastic Beasts posters, creatied for promoting the movie in Beijing during the cast's promotional tour there last week. (The movie opens on the Chinese mainland on November 25th.)

The Director of this newest Rowling movie franchise, David Yates, has revealed that there will be "a mythical creature from Chinese legend" in the next movie (sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), which has had fans predicting "dragon". Rowling, however, has denied this, which leaves open a lot of possibilities.

Here's a little more info from China Daily:
A Chinese artist inspired by traditional painting methods has created posters to promote 3D film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. 
The magical animals appear in a traditional Chinese circular fan pattern, and are painted using techniques similar to the meticulous brushwork style of traditional gongbi (FTNH: a refined, realist Chinese painting technique that includes careful layering and meticulous detail; considered high art and affordable only by the wealthy). 
The posters were created by Chinese artist Zhang Chun, and given as gifts to the cast, as well as the director and producer, during their promotional tour last week in Beijing. 
The Chinese-style posters portray six magical animals created by author J.K. Rowling, including occamy, demiguise, swooping evil, niffler, thunderbird and bowtruckle, who travel in Chinese landscape, resembling the rare animals from China's mythological collections Shan Hai Jing (Classics of the Mountains and Seas).

What is the Shan Hai Jing*? It's described as a classic Chinese text of mythical geography and myth - a Chinese mythical bestiary, in many ways.

From Wikipedia:
The book is not a narrative, as the "plot" involves detailed descriptions of locations in the cardinal directions of the Mountains, Regions Beyond Seas, Regions Within Seas, and Wilderness. The descriptions are usually of medicines, animals, and geological features. Many descriptions are very mundane, and an equal number are fanciful or strange. Each chapter follows roughly the same formula, and the whole book is repetitious in this way. 
It contains many short myths, and most rarely exceed a paragraph. 
So we're talking nine-headed phoenix, the nine-tailed fox, the Chinese form of Naga (a snake with a man's head), monsters of land and sea, dragons (of course), odd man-beast combinations and many, many more - all of which seem they would be equally at home in Rowling's world - or Newt's magical case. That these posters recall creatures from ancient myth is good incentive to go learn more about Chinese mythological beasts, and, once you have an idea of how popular the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts world is in China, (immensely so!) how much people around the world can have in common.

In the meantime, aren't these just gorgeous and amazingly made?
Director David Yates, producer David Heyman and actors Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler and Alison Sudol receive gifts of paintings of Chinese magical beasts created by Chinese artists at the premiere

*University of California Press released a book in 2003 titled A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways Through Mountains and Seas which sounds fascinating.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Jack's Castle: No Giants Allowed

by Skrufor
It's my little guy's birthday today and as a surprise, I built him a castle.

Like many kids his age, he loves Minecraft, that he can create worlds (literally - OK, "virtually") and the bizarre and crazy-fantastic "mythology" of the various creatures (Creepers, Endermen, Ghasts, Mooshrooms etc) as well as seemingly endless magical possibilities.

So, I built him a castle. In Minecraft. (He'll discover it later today when he explores his world with his friend who is coming over for gaming and cake - hopefully!)

OK, so really it's just a very large stone box with some turrets... (this Mama is kind of new to Minecraft), so it's more like this, but without the clouds and beanstalk):

... but there are a few surprises in there, some better-than-basic fortifications and a lot of signs saying "Keep out! (until January 20th, that is)".

One sign will stay, though: "No Giants Allowed" because every Jack should eventually have his own castle, (and stop invading the neighbors) don't you think? ;)

Here's a little Minecraft-built adventure featuring Jack and the Beanstalk, or should I say "Steve" and the Beanstalk. (Steve is Minecraft's everyman character.) It was made a few years ago for a Minecraft "sky limit project contest" (a few people ended up creating Jack and the Beanstalk-based builds), and this builder even made a little teaser-trailer for their created world. It's pretty neat to see someone created the fairy tale, then "played" it as an adventure.

It begins at Jack's little house, where he discovers a beanstalk has grown overnight. He then climbs it into a cloud-land where he finds the Giant's house. (Note: it's a bit dim there because everything is so very, very large compared to "Steve", that regular lights sources don't reach very far, making for many dark corners.

Cue the dramatic adventure music!
Because in Minecraft, there really ARE castles in the sky to explore...

Edit FTNH 1/21/15:
This posted late because of time and birthday-related things, though I've kept the date as it was originally scheduled. You'll be glad to know Jack (my Jack) was completely delighted with his castle and has moved in, making it his new base. He's even made himself a personal crest. Oh and yes: he kept all the signs. ;)
While we're on the subject of Minecraft and fairy tales I wanted to mention that this would be a worthy study subject for those interested in pop culture that uses myth and fairy tales. Part of why I think Minecraft is so popular is because it has a unique component of creatures (both hostile and not) that can change and affect your world. As you create your own living story, these creatures become part of it too, though you can't control them the way an author can in a book. You have to work around their intrinsic natures (programming), which no one knows the complete extent of to date, since it's constantly changing and adapting, the more people play and create. The more you know about them and adapt defenses or uses for them, the more creative potential is unlocked and the more interesting your story gets. (Note: if anyone knows of a fairy tale student or scholar writing a thesis or treatise on this, please let me know. Minecraft has become such a useful tool for education and art - including in schools - I think it might be important that we don't ignore the storytelling and ongoing live tales happening here as well.)
Have a look at this Minecraft fairy tale-type world creation below. It's far more cinematic looking than the Jack build featured above and was made using a special animation program in combination with Minecraft called Mine-imation, which is why there is controlled camerawork and nice lighting, and it gives you an idea of the sorts of things people are doing in their spare time (most of them amateurs). Oh, and this was created a couple of years ago. Since there have been a HUGE number of "mods" and texture packs created for Minecraft since, one can only imagine what's possible. Bring on the fairy tales!


Note: Minecraft Jack and the Beanstalk pics posted were all apparently created for the Sky Limit Project Contest a few years ago. It just wasn't clear who had created which ones.

Friday, March 28, 2014

New 'Maleficent' TV Spot Emphasizes Fantasy Creatures (Dobby, Is That You?)

I always worry about fantasy films, especially big budget ones in which the creators/directors seem to feel the need to show you  every bit of magic (which, ironically, usually lessens the wonder*). As gorgeous as certain recent large fantasy films have been (are) the storytelling/translation to big screen of the importance and "solid necessity" of 'other'-like creatures tends to get lost. Either it becomes all about the amazing effects and the writing suffers, or the writing is ok but the visuals are cringe-worthy.

Maleficent is looking pretty (damn) great overall to date but I still worry that we're going to be able to watch all these creatures - fairies, sprites, trolls, tree-people and more - without dismissing aspects.
With this latest TV spot, which puts a lot of the magical creatures side-by-side my effects-are-king concerns are rising again. My big concern: does this story REALLY need ALL of that?
I'm really hoping the answer to that is that it does, that all this effort in creating new creatures adds depth and scope to this world of Sleeping Beauty and Maleficent. Unfortunately we really won't know until we see it all in context.
Here's the spot:
 One thing that's been really interesting about the huge - and highly successful - live action Cinderella preview this week is that one thing is clear: though the effects are coming, they are not what will be holding Branagh's Cinderella together. Despite the preview being largely effects-free and not even having final footage for some of the scenes shown, the response has been ecstatic! And yes, I'm a little surprised by that. While a live action version of the animated classic is a shoe-in for a certain built-in fan base, it's not the hard-core Disney fandom-people who are most excited. It's the (usually very jaded) critics.
But I'm rooting for Maleficent. Ms. Jolie has shown some very savvy thinking and is clearly smart about all aspects of filmmaking these days. Gone are the days of signing on to an 'easy film' for her. It's now apparent that she wants all her efforts - whether on screen or off - to be excellent, and to make a positive difference. My thumbs are still up for this one.

Here's the updated and official synopsis:
Crow's Nest Jewelry Maleficent Poster

Maleficent is the untold story of Disney's most iconic villain from the 1959 classic Sleeping Beauty. A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. Maleficent rises to be the land's fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal—an act that begins to turn her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading king's successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom—and perhaps to Maleficent's true happiness as well.
*Although it may lessen the wonder, the merchandising opportunities abound! 

(I admit it: one of my favorite things is a tavern mug from The Prancing Pony.) 

And Maleficent is just getting started. 

There's already a cosmetics line, costumes for kids created by Stella McCartney in collaboration with Angelina Jolie, new Funko Pop! figurines and Halloween costumes in the works. 

Today we also got our first look at these jewelry pieces being released from Crow's Nest Jewelry - starting at the tidy price of $5k a piece and ranging up to $20k...!


Source: HERE 

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

'Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge' Premieres on Syfy March 25 (Squee!)

Labyrinth, The Storyteller and Dark Crystal fans rejoice: coming to your (US) TVs at the end of this month (March 25th) is a new contest reality show, seeking out and challenging the best aspiring fantasy creature-makers out there! Introducing Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge. (Woo hoo!)

While Face Off can be a lot of fun, and I find the creation process fascinating (from pulling together pieces of legend to make a new story, to using unconventional inspiration and materials) I get a little tired of the horror creatures. That 'otherness' that I love in fantasy and in fairy tales is often missing but now we get a show that's likely to be a little closer to our hearts.

Basically, these guys (above) will do their best to pay tribute to one of my all time heroes, Jim Henson and his creature creations, aka this adorable rabble below:
I adore this photo. It has been in an inspiration scrapbook of mine since I was a kid.
Not only will this be a little like Project Runway (with muppets) but the challenge will go beyond design as well. These guys are going to have to manipulate their creations and bring these creatures to life - and to make you feel something when they do.

Ten aspiring creature creators competing to out-imagine one another in a series of challenges where they build everything from mechanical characters to whimsical beasts, bringing high-end creature designs to life. The contestants compete for a prize worth up to $100,000 including the opportunity for the job of a lifetime - a contract working at the world-renowned Jim Henson’s Creature Shop™.
That sounds... huge. I don't know what the time frame for an average challenge is but !!! Take a look at my favorite promo for this show to date:
OMG so cute. (My son wants to adopt the last one...)



And if they need ideas I'd have to say: please create a kelpie. In water. That transforms.

Or Baba Yaga's hut, complete with working legs, flaming skull fence and toothy, hungry door.

Or Ent wives. It's about time someone found them, don't you think?

Or a firebird. That's on fire...

Also: MORE STORYTELLER PLEASE!  (Here's a little visual trot down nostalgia lane to inspire you.)


Ah good times. The Storyteller tales are still some of the best fairy tale presentations to ever to grace our TVs and I still recommend them highly to anyone wondering about fairy tales.

(If you need me, I'll be programming the DVR and staking out the Creature Shop here in LA...)