Since #FolkloreThursday is due to talk about wild men, wild women and wild places on August 22, 2019, we thought it was high time we posted this animated short, telling the fairy tale of Iron Hans.
It was created by animation student Xun Wang (aka Bunnyisgood) for her MFA thesis project, with posts on her process still able to be seen on a dedicated blog HERE. Finished in 2013, it was beautifully designed in collaboration with illustrator Eleanor Davis, and the narrator (Jon Avner) did a wonderful job, with his rough, mature voice.
The short film animates approximately half of the fairy tale, up to when the prince joins the wild man and runs into the dangerous woods, but make sure to continue to watch, as still scenes decorating the credits tell the rest of the story through to the end.
Enjoy!
About:
Iron Hans (2013) by Xun Wang adapts traditional animation techniques to retell a classic Grimm Brothers fairy tale of the same name. In collaboration with the illustrator Eleanor Davis, Wang’s poetic animation of flowing 2D drawings transports the viewer to the comfortable dream-like ritual of the nightly bedtime story.
We were not surprised to learn the film did well critically, becoming an Official Selection for The Melbourne International Animation Festival, and garnering another Official Selection for the Golden Orchid International Animation Festival, a semi-finalist for an Adobe Design Achievement Award, and two international student animation wins. All were well deserved!
Some scenes from this animated film have also been used in a short contemporary video, with lots of other clips, discussing Robert Bly's book Iron John - A Book About Men. It includes the reading of some extracts, explaining how Bly sees the fairy tale as a mirror for the maturation boys must undergo to become balanced men - a key part of which is accepting and becoming comfortable with his inner 'wild man'. It's an interesting video, worth the watch and the book is recommended.
We've included the video, "Iron John by Robert Bly - What's Missing in Modern Man", below. It's entertaining yet clear and full of contemporary references, and a quick 8-ish minutes worth your time (there are some other fairy tale references in there too):
We have to mention one very important pop culture tie in that we couldn't help but be reminded of while rewatching the animated short, and that is of the character of Finn in the long-running, fantastic cartoon series Adventure Time.
Adventure Time touches on many myths and fairy tales over the course of the series, sometimes very obviously, sometimes obliquely, but it's clearly telling fables for a purpose, and part of that purpose is the "hero-boy named Finn" a.k.a. "Finn the Human" finding his way in the world and growing into a man.
Clearly, there is no coincidence that Finn has the name he does (think Fionn mac Cumhaill, also known as Finn McCool), and it does require that he succeed at extraordinary and heroic feats for him and his friends to survive. While there are many episodes of AdventureTime that could be paralleled to the Prince's journey in Iron Hans, and it could be extrapolated that, instead of a golden ball, Finn has his golden (yellow) magical dog, (we checked, the parallel holds up!), there is one aspect of Finn that almost broadcasts his journey to manhood and that is of Finn's long golden hair.
Like the prince in Iron Hans, whose hair becomes golden when he accidentally lets it dip into the Wild Man's special spring water (a "no-no", with the results just as telling as the bloody key in Bluebeard, though the punishment is almost the opposite... another subject for another time!) Finn hides his hair under a white eared-cap for much of the series, revealing his long golden locks only at specific moments. Though there are times when it's used like the princess does in the Goose Girl - for distraction - Finn's hair is usually a symbol of taking responsibility or successfully overcoming (yet another) rite of passage. The importance of a moment isn't ever in doubt when Finn's hair appears. Just as in fairy tales, it's clear that hair is a very important symbol in the storytelling. The first glimpse of Finn's hair, doesn't happen until the second season, thirty-six episodes in, and it's a very dramatic reveal:
During the course of the series, there is even a "wild extension" of Finn that eventually splits off from him into a separate person, then-called Fern, that's nature-like, wild and acts like an alternate Finn with a more instinctively destructive nature. Fern struggles with identity issues once he appears and is separated from the original Finn, but clearly remains an external aspect of him. It's a pretty interesting exploration of growing up.
After ten+ seasons over eight and a half years, the widely-loved AdventureTime recently had its series finale (September 2018), something of a challenge with the "winding path (that) led us from small-scale whimsy to intergalactic adventure, building up dense layers of mythology, making for hours worth of wiki-reading", to quote Forbes, but it wrapped up the main thrust of the show well; that of a boy searching the wilds of the world, and himself, to figure out who he was and where his place was to be, as he grew from boy to man. The final episode even delivered a symbolic resolution for Fern, Finn's doppleganger, by using him to bookend the beginning of the series in an unexpected, unique and very satisfying way. Even more interesting, the finale didn't 'finish', exactly, except to imply that they (as the character BMO says) "lived their lives" and the adventure continues - a very fairy tale ending indeed.
For a contemporary equivalent of the Iron Hans tale, Adventure Time - and the character of Finn in particular - makes for a fascinating case study.
A chapter illustration by Melssa Castrillon for the book 'The golden ages of folk & fairy tales' by Jack Zipes. Published in 2013 by Hackett Publishing.
Busy trying to do too many things at once and completely envious of people who were able to rest and rejuvenate this summer in the US! Maybe I'll aim to hibernate in Winter for a bit instead (except I adore Winter and don't want to miss a chilly moment!), but this week, despite it all I have to figure out how to get kiddo ready for back-to-school...
Speaking of 'going underground', above is my son's favorite picture from Jack Zipes' The Golden Age of Folk & Fairy Tales. We both keep coming back to it, so much so that he often talks about what might be hidden from sight when we're out in nature.
We were reminded to look at it again just yesterday when he/we were playing the newly released, rebooted fantasy/fairy tale-ish video game King's Quest. Along with surprises underground, the bridge trolls are just awesome, there are dragons in caves full of weird old beds (Why not?) , archery skills to learn, and many, many puns an eight year old can laugh at. With Christopher Lloyd playing the aging knight-king narrating his adventure to his granddaughter and the surprisingly awesome addition of Princess Bride alum Wallace Shawn ("Inconceivable!") it's a fun adventure which is more true to heart than expected. (The illustration below, also by Melissa Castrillon, is right on theme for all these stories, and an especially good one for young boys to hear too, particularly in the context of making choices, which is what King's Quest is all about.) It's a pretty good way to wrap up some parent-kind end-of-summer playtime because these stories beget stories and I love that.
You can dig and dig and there are always more tales to discover. Perhaps instead of turtles all the way down, it's tales... ;)
'An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too." The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?" The old Cherokee simply replies, "The one you feed."
I was completely taken with this when I first saw this, and it's currently my son's favorite 'magical creature'. This ad, which is part of a promotional campaign forWonderlijk Wild aka, Miraculously Wild, is an effort to encourage home gardening in Belgium. It was created by Emma & Marc to show the feeling of wonder a child can have exploring the outdoors, even in such an area as your own backyard.
You're probably wondering what on earth (heh) it has to do with fairy tales. Before you accuse me of seeing and relating everything, everywhere to fairy tales (which, I do - and I don't see that to be a problem), when I saw the little boy staring out the window at the ape, I immediately thought of Iron Hans, and of the importance of getting in touch with your 'wild' side. (It also sort of reminds me of a domovoi , if it ever found it's way outside...)
Once I made the connection the ape really looked more like a Wild Man than an ape to me and I have seen it that way ever since.
Now Jack (my son) imagines he sees the ape everywhere in our garden (you'd think only very little kids would respond this way but seven and eight year olds adore this too - which is the perfect age to encourage a little more of the wild-side of exploring) and is even more keen to spend time among the green outside. I only wish we lived in a more lush place (we're currently in the middle of a drought here on the edge of a desert) so he could have more of a 'wild adventure' but we're working on making that happen this summer for him.
The ape is made of felted wool and is completely shot with live-action puppeteering (no CG).
Here's the booklet with tips from The Garden Ape on getting your wild side going. You can download a PDF version HERE (do 'save link as' on the link.) It's in Dutch but it's very visual so if you have kids, this will be great for your family if you'd like to encourage some gardening:
Grimm has been doing some interesting things with fairy tales this season. While I haven't been entirely on board with the occasional defaulting to the "wesen of the week" formula, and it was all I could do not to throw something at the screen when we took a left-nose dive into soap-land with -yet another- baby (seriously - if there must be a baby - can't we have the one that we're already attached to?), BUT they've been doing some very interesting explorations of the fairy tale referenced for the episode. It isn't just in the 'mystery of the week/wesen of the week' aspect (which have been variable) but with regard to the main characters' evolutions and challenges - that's where the use of fairy tales in the show has gotten quite noteworthy.
This week (aired April 24th, 2015) it was Iron Hans - which was also the title of the episode. We started, however, with a quote by Jack London from Call of the Wild:
The main story line was a little predictable, but if you tuned into the theme and watched what was going on with the other characters, things got a WHOLE lot more interesting.
For those of you not familiar with Iron Hans, it's one of those stories I feel is truly important if you are working with little boys*, or boys in general, or men. This isn't "no girls allowed" territory so much as addressing the importance of boys and men learning to deal with their wild sides (aka testosterone etc) and all that comes with it. Women have their stories (which men can learn from of course, but they're still primarily women's stories) and this is a man's story. And it's an important one.
Why? Because it's a story that emphasizes what's needed to become the best man you can be - by understanding and embracing 'both' sides of a male's nature and a man having mastery over himself - his whole self. In case you're not familiar with the fairy tale, here's a quick synopsis of Grimms' Iron Hans:
Iron Hans is a tale type listed under "Wild man as helper" (AT-type 502) and sort of has two parts: One is about the Wild Man himself, with skin as hard and dark as iron, who makes the forest a very dangerous place at the beginning of the story, with many great hunters disappearing never to be seen again. Eventually, though, the Wild Man is captured, caged and put on display as a curiosity.
That's the first part of the first story - the rest is revealed as part of the second.
The other part - considered the main part - is about a young prince, who, years after the Wild Man, also known as Iron Hans (or Iron John) is captured, sets him free. The Prince, destined for punishment for this deed, is then pitied by the Wild Man and kindly taken into the forest.
It turns out Iron John is powerful and guards secrets he trains the boy to also look after. But the boy, playing one day, does what he shouldn't, his hair turns to gold as a result (making his misstep obvious) and the Prince is sent away, though Iron Hans tells the boy he can call on him should he ever really need it.
The Prince, covering his hair, masquerades as a gardner for a king then in a time of war, sees an opportunity, calls on Iron Hans to be provided with armor & other warrior requirements, goes into battle and is successful. The Prince then returns all he borrowed to Iron Hans before going back to his former post, by which time the king is looking for the valiant knight so he can give his daughter's hand in marriage as a reward. (Don't worry - the princess isn't as passive in this whole thing as this summary would lead you to believe.) Eventually the Prince is found out, returned to his station, married and reunited with his parents. As for the Wild Man, he attends the wedding as well, but as his newly revealed, real self - a man who was under enchantment until someone worthy and pure of heart set him free.
(You can find the full text at the trusty SurLaLune site HERE and a nice audio retelling of the Grimm's tale (via YouTube) HERE.)
Now that you have an overview, it should come as no surprise that the 'wesen of the week' side of things dealt with wesen boys being initiated into manifesting their 'true' (wesen) natures - and going on a hunt. Not a hugely new concept - I've known of adventure treks and survival camps that "make men out of boys" my whole life, but this had the wesen twist, of course. The point of this being that these little modern wesens are required to "disconnect" from their devices, go camping without too many comforts and, ultimately hunt. But unlike their ancestors it was rabbits - not people. And therein lies the conflict because someone IS hunting people... yadda yadda.
So you get the idea - wild natures, having to come to terms with that, accept not reject, yet mastery of instincts not slaves of ones urges etc etc
On the main character's arcs, though, the theme is far more interesting. You have Monroe, a reformed Blutbad (think Big Bad Wolf) who has to face his past in which he gave into his nature and hunted - for real, and how far he's come and how that's all come together to be a good thing now - and he gets to explain this to these young boys, in the wild.
Considering the role of prey versus predator and the roles in the show of hunting predators (that Monroe is now part of), it mixes it all up quite nicely.
Meanwhile...
SPOILERS AHEAD:
... Nick's girlfriend, Juliette, is not only accepting her new 'state' as a Hexenbiest, she's loving it and she's loving the power and being bad. And that's a whole bunch of bad news. When we see Juliette last, it's via the light of the flames of Aunt Marie's trailer as it - and the most precious Grimm resources and history on the planet - go up in smoke. As far as mythology for the show goes, that's about as unforgivable as you can get. Even being unfaithful to Nick doesn't come close to that betrayal - and she's putting much of humanity in danger as a result too. It's seriously bad stuff. Because she's completely giving in to her 'wild' side, she's losing her humanity as a result.
SPOILERS OVER.
It's the exact opposite of what the Prince learns with the Wild Man with the iron skin.
There's more but I'm not intending to go into the show in detail, just to point out a very interesting use of the fairy tale - from both a male point of view and a female one.
And if you're connecting parts of Iron Hans with other fairy tales you know (and there are a few!) then you can see reflections of other themes at play in this episode and this story arc as well. (If you do a mind map and take the various motifs you can see the connections very clearly.) I could also totally segue into a discussion on the Green Man similarities as well as Cernunnos and other forest man but that's a different discussion that would take more coffee than I've had today, but once your mind starts wandering in those directions, you find yourself coming back around to the importance of man being connected to nature as well as 'men's nature'.
If you're following Grimm, there's a fun review and recap of the episode HERE which I recommend, and it talks about some of the other aspects of the episode in detail too, which, now that you know the fairy tale a little better, you can consider in the light of the Iron Hans theme.
And a little trivia: this isn't the first time Iron Hans has been referenced in NBCs Grimm. In the first season, the opening quote from an episode called Cat and Mouse, was also from the fairy tale. (The part at the beginning where all the great hunters were disappearing into the forest never to be seen again, perplexing, and frightening everyone.)
* Having a son of my own, that I am trying to guide to become the best man he can be, it's a great touchstone story to help me in parenting decisions. [There's a great book I need to pull out and read again, now my son is a little older, calledIron John: A Book About Men by Robert Bly. Although some of the issues discussed might be dated (eg the impact of Vietnam etc) overall I remember it being an excellent consideration of true manhood.] From the preface of Bly's Iron John:
"We are living at an important and fruitful moment now, for it is clear to men that the images of adult manhood given by the popular culture are worn out; a man can no longer depend on them. By the time a man is thirty-five he knows that the images of the right man, the tough man, the true man which he received in high school do not work in life. Such a man is open to new visions of what a man is or could be... In this book I am talking about male initiation... this book does not seek to turn men against women, nor to return men to the domineering mode that has led to repression of women and their values for centuries. The thought in this book does not represent a challenge to the women's movement. The two movements are related to each other, but each moves on a separate timetable."
