"Re-enchantment: Ways To Interpret Fairy Tales" Now An iBook

If you're not familiar with Re-enchantment, it's a wonderful multimedia exploration of fairy tales, what they mean and how we use them. Inspiring for students, writers, artists and fairy tale enthusiasts in general, this is a wonderful and different fairy tale tool to have in your fairy tale library and research arsenal.

It's one of those presentations you can't quite believe has been created until you see it, and then you wonder why it has't been done before, because it makes so much sense. And it will excite you about the importance and power of fairy tales, more than ever.

I previously posted information about Re-enchantment: The Hidden Meanings Of Fairy Tales DVD HERE (and I thoroughly recommend the DVD!).

Re-enchantment is an immersive journey into the hidden meanings of fairy tales. Presented as an interactive multi-platform documentary project, it explores why fairy stories continue to enchant, entertain, fascinate and horrify contemporary adult audiences. From Rapunzel to Cinderella, and Bluebeard to Snow White, Re-enchantment challenges us to think about the hold these stories have on us and the way they are reinterpreted throughout our life and culture.

Recent good news to add to this, is that Film Art Media and Inside Out productions have also just released it in iBook form, available through iTunes.

Take a look at the intriguing trailer:

Here's more information to give you a better idea of what this project is, in case this is your first time hearing of it (emphasis in bold is mine):

Fairy tales are incredibly popular and well suited to an interactive landscape. The stories shape-shift over time and throughout cultures. They are mysterious. They can be entered from many angles and in different media. They are full of motifs and symbols. They can be interpreted in a multitude of ways that lend themselves to a multi-platform approach. 

Traditional fairy tales have a powerful hold on our cultural imagination. Adapted, revised and bowdlerised, they greet us in print and popular fiction, as a reality TV show to find an Australian princess, at the movies as Pan’s Labyrinth, Fur, Sex and the City and in advertisements for everything from Chanel to Moccona Coffee. They have been reworked by visual artists and photographers from Cindy Sherman and Corinna Sargood to Paula Rego and Rosemary Valadon. 

Rather than stripping away the mystery and enchantment, Re-enchantment shows how threading together various interpretations and versions of a story from the perspectives of psychology, social history and popular culture, deepens our connection to and fascination with the richness of fairy tales. 

Re-enchantment has been four years in the making and is groundbreaking in its originality and its scope. It is a poetic and provocative act of creative interpretation of fairy tales, bringing together digital video, documentary footage, feature film sequences, advertising, cartooning, photography, 
animation, artwork, still images and sound. 

Re-enchantment iBook Description:

Why do fairy tales continue to stir our adult imaginations? Fairy tale narratives and motifs are everywhere: in cinema, advertising, theatre, fiction and the visual arts. Why do they still enchant and entertain?  What are their hidden meanings? RE-ENCHANTMENT : WAYS TO INTERPRET FAIRY TALES, proposes new approaches to fairy tale interpretation: unlocking their archetypal motifs, symbols and psychological wisdom. 

Written by filmmaker and Jungian analyst Sarah Gibson and designed by Rose Draper, this visually stimulating eBook features video, audio, animation and stunning graphic design. It showcases re-imaginings by over thirty contemporary artists. Be curious. Be surprised. Be inspired. 

Here are the specs:

$4.99 - Available on iPad and Mac.Requirements: To view this book, you must have an iPad with iBooks 3 or later and iOS 5.1 or later, or a Mac with iBooks 1.0 or later and OS X 10.9 or later.

There's also a multimedia "multi-touch" study guide for Re-enchantment available HERE. The description is below:

Re-enchantment Study Guide by Sue Maslin & Sarah Gibson 

Re-enchantment is an immersive journey into the hidden meanings of fairy tales. Presented as an interactive iBook, it explores why fairy tales enchant, fascinate and horrify contemporary adult audiences. 

Re-enchantment provides users with an experience that is both immersive and interactive. As a creative interpretation of fairy tales, it brings together text, digital video, documentary footage, feature film sequences, cartooning, photography, artwork, still images and sound.  

$1.99 - Available on iPad and Mac.
Requirements: To view this book, you must have an iPad with iBooks 2 or later and iOS 5.0 or later, or a Mac with iBooks 1.0 or later and OS X 10.9 or later.

This book is available for download with iBooks on your Mac or iPad, and with iTunes on your computer. Multi-touch books can be read with iBooks on your Mac or iPad. Books with interactive features may work best on an iPad.

You can find and follow Re-enchantment on Facebook HERE.

by Jazmina Cininas

Courage In Fairy Tales

 Below is a random comment I found on searching for recent web posts mentioning Baba Yaga. I loved it so much I had to share (warning: coarse language ahead so I inserted stars where necessary):

My current Russian fairytale reading is starting to significantly piss me off, largely because of heroines and their descriptions. The reason these girls are ‘likeable’ (i.e. why their evil stepmothers/sisters hate them) is because they’re prettier and more skilful and kinder and more obedient etc. etc. etc. And… no. Because the best and most likeable things about these girls (who do some pretty awesome sh*t) is that they are brave, determined and loyal to a f***ing fault.

There’s a reason that East of the Sun is my favourite, because however stockholm syndrome-y, however much it blames her lack of obedience and however much she wins by… cleaning, I will never not love the recurring motif. “Are you afraid?” “No.” Of course she afraid, she’s being taken to the castle of a polar bear in the arctic or is about to ride the North wind, but she’s not about to tell anyone that or let it stop her. Courage is what I took away from Baba Yaga, East of the Sun, Jack Frost and The Little Scarlet Flower, not being submissive (though that was definitely an aspect).

Which is why fairytales are better when you look at what their characters do and not what we’re told about them. (Emphasis by InkGypsy)

 See why I had to share?

Having been largely absent online the past year I'm out of the loop with regard to how Tumblr accounts really work so the best I can do with credit is to send you to the page I found HERE. Clicking on atticus-finches sends you to an eclectic blog in which, if you like art and art history, you should find some fun little posts

The beautiful art dolls and sculpture are by the amazing Forest Rogers whose blog and gallery have me in complete awe. Find yourself a few free minutes to go browse HERE - you can thank me later after you pick your jaw up off the ground. :)