I never know what to expect will turn up in fairy tale news and today is one of those days. This is one of the about-to-go-viral stories of the day: Cinderonce - Cinderella Reimagined Via Beyonce Hits by Todrick Hall
Todrick Hall (YouTube sensation and American Idol finalist) is making a habit of retelling fairy tales and the just-released Cinderonce is no exception.
Tracking the rag-to-riches storyline through Sasha Fierce (ie Beyonce) hits like "Diva," "Countdown," and "Single Ladies," this brilliant reappropriation of a timeless Disney fairytale will have you gagging for more...
Featuring Shangela as Cinderella's own personal fairy drag-mother, Tiffany Daniels as Cinderella and Todrick (who apparently adds his pipes to Beyonce tracks) as the Prince, this is actually a lot of fun! Take a look:
The other Disney based "reimaginings" to date are Beauty & the Beat and Cinderfella. Check them out below:
Beauty & the Beat (think Belle in the Hood). This is hilarious and very much in line with "Somewhere Over the Ghetto":
CinderFella (a musical montage and gay take on Cinderella):
One more side note: Todrick made a "trailer" for the Cinderonce music video before it came out and really hit the suspense notes. It's worth seeing just to take a look at how he condensed the set-up for the Cinderella tale into a buzz-building 20 second suspense marketing piece (note: it may auto-play the next video so hit pause if you've had your Toddy-fill for the day):
Especially for fairy tale MOOC participants, this music video concentrates on the problems of princesses (and other fairy tale heroines) attempting to find their modern happily-ever-afters.
Fairytale is by Sara Bareilles from late 2010 and amusingly takes us through onstage transitions (transformations?) from one fairy tale to another while the artist sings about the problems each of the heroines have.
Megan Reichelt of The Dark Forest mirrored my own reaction perfectly on writing this back in 2012 (which I just discovered - I'm so behind on entries!):
The theatre person in me enjoyed the cardboard cut outs and low-tech special effects. The fairy tale scholar in me loved how theater and fairy tales combined to present a woman who was being pushed into various situations where she had no real autonomy. She may not have wanted to be there, but that is where she was expected to be by others. Theater had her being directed, and lead by stage hands from one scenario to the next. The fairy tale aspect presented the idea that fairy tales are how life is "supposed to be," and Sara has to break free from those constructs to become her own person.
I recommend going and catching up on Megan's blog, The Dark Forest. She's a smart (and funny) lady who manages to fit a lot of insight into fairy tales and related news into far fewer words than I can. She's also recently expanded the blog to include myth as well as fairy tale. While she's not able to post every day, her articles are always worth the few days break waiting for the next installment. Go enjoy the awesome. :)
I have a guest post over at SurLaLune today, discussing the Evanescence music video for "Call Me When You're Sober" (using Red Riding Hood imagery) and the fairy tale connections and use by fans of the hit song "Bring Me To Life".
You can find the post, Music Videos: "Call Me When You're Sober" & "Bring Me To Life" by EvanescenceHERE.
Here's a video I recently saw for the first time that I thought would appeal to fans of myth and fairy tale. It's by Icelandic band Of Monsters and Men and their music definitely has folk roots while this particular video delves into myth and folklore and has a lot of fun doing so. The song is titled "Little Talks".
What's it about? Opinions vary. You can see the lyrics HERE and draw your own conclusions or scroll down below the lyrics and see people's interpretations...
Today I have a guest post over at the SurLaLune blog. It's about how the new NBC show, Smash*, made good and fun use of Red Riding Hood in a recent "heading for Broadway" number.
One thing I didn't mention is how apropos the show header (above) is with regard to the concept. All those peeks of red in the garments against wolf-gray say a lot about the show and the characters. I'm sure it wasn't intentional. It was simply meant to be eye-catching but it also suggests to me how deeply the ideas in Red Riding Hood run in our culture. You'll see what I mean more clearly when you read the lyrics to the song too.
You can read my post Little Red Riding Hood Gets "Smash"edHERE.
Sincere thanks to Heidi for both giving me the opportunity to post on her blog and for fixing the initial formatting issues that cropped up in the sending of the material. We're wishing her every success and all the resources she needs for her new fairy tale database project. The SurLaLune Fairy Tales website is without doubt the best, most user-friendly fairy tale resource and student/enthusiast aid online and gets better and better with every tale and resource added. I can't wait to see how Heidi's new database works!
*Smash is on NBC on Monday nights and all the full episodes are currently available for viewing online HERE (click on the "Video" tab on the site).
(This was originally part of the above posting but in the end I thought each person should each have their own. :)
I don't think I've ever seen an animation of the story of Tam Lin (oh how sad the project Neil Gaiman and Wendy & Brian Froud were attached to a few years ago tanked!) but someone has been working very hard at home with a medieval Sims program to create the characters and world so they could.
Screen capture from Sims animation by BonnieLaurel
As you can see from the screen capture above, this type of animation isn't the professional movie studio animation we're now taking for granted on our screens but more like gaming animation. That's, in fact, where it came from (kind of like build your own characters, put them in an environment you 'dress' and play the game). Unlike where Sims started current Sims can be very sophisticated and is a far cry from where Sims began. The medieval world and costuming here is quite impressive, as is the range of movement and animation possibilities now available gamers (and others) at home.
This is the result and I thought it worth posting for anyone who loves Tam Lin as much as I do:
If you liked this, do go let creator BonnieLaurel know. She must have lost weeks and weeks of sleep putting this together!
The music is by Coyote Run who make wonderful contemporary Celtic music, retelling Celtic legends and other literature in song. If you love Celtic music you must check these guys out.
I only heard this cover of Little Red Riding Hood for the first time recently and am so disappointed there isn't a full version of this song! All that was arranged and recorded is heard in the ad. (Argh!)
Note: The 7Up commercial itself (from 2000 I think) is suggestive, as you would expect in any modern update of LRRH, and Red herself is, er, rather assertive. Considering she's being stalked by a wolf, I'm OK with it but not everyone may feel the same way.
From the comments:
Rosnick Mackinnon was the music house that did the arrangment and used session musicians to record. Vocals by an actress, but not the one in the spot.
In case you didn't know Amanda Seyfried (star of the recent Red Riding Hood movie and playing the daughter in the movie musical version of Mama Mia) also covered this song recently. You can hear that HERE.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - original soundtrack by Mychael & Jeff Danna - CD review . Excerpt: "...they’ve wrapped it into a seemingly traditional fairytale score sound of tinkerbells, lilting violins, soaring symphonies and Eastern European instruments. Except musically here it’s a sexy, LSD-influenced Grimm’s fable, preying on adult precepts of what “fairy tale” music is supposed to sound like..."
Asian Folk and Fairy Tales Told by Christine Price (1973 LP) (Album cover pics + download link for the audio: three stories from the album - 1. The Valiant Chattee Maker 2. The Boy Who Drew Cats 3. The Great Stone Fire Eater)
Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" is finally opening Friday (December 11th, 2009) and the 'pre-buzz' (from all those who are managing to get into the exclusive previews) is excellent from many different quarters.Here's a little treat, especially if you love New Orleans-type jazz and zydeco (albeit rather Disney-fied). Disney has released the soundtrack to listen to online (for free).
A heads up: it opens a Windows Media Player so don't be alarmed when it pops up. And a warning: the music clip opens with the contemporary song Disney seems to feel compelled to include for their end credits (and contemporary tie-in). I couldn't fast forward past it to the actual screen tracks but hang in there. If you enjoy jazz you should find some pieces you'll enjoy, especially if you like Randy Newman's music. You can see a track listing with some other details HERE.
I found this great little article today title "Spooktakular Sonic Surprises" by the Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and, not only did it have a number of pieces I thought extremely appropriate for fairy tale enthusiasts, readers, listeners and writers, but it made me think of a few of my own.
Rather than repeat telling you about the pieces he lists I'll just list them, add a clip courtesy of YouTube and link you to his fun and very readable article. You'll be able to see the others on the list too - all of which will give you an excellent audio selection, Halloween-style, for your ears. :)
The pieces on his list I thought most appropriate for fairy tale people and stories are:
The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack by Danny Elfman (I couldn't find the music without the vocals but it's fabulous, even without the voices)
Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens
Baba Yaga - The Hut on Fowls' Legs (from "Pictures at an Exhibition") by Modest Mussorkgsky
Funeral March of a Marionette by Charles Gounod (you probably know this piece, even if you don't know the title. I love this one!) I found a darling little stop-motion animation for Funeral March of a Marionette which I thought I'd share:
You can read the short explanations about each, and the rest of the article, HERE.
And here are my additions (off the top of my head - I planned on researching more for you but Halloween duties called sorry!):
In the Hall of the Mountain King (from Peer Gynt) by Edvard Grieg I love Ibsen's Peer Gynt tale (which was actually a play)! It's another suite of music I was exposed to as a young child and I didn't need to be told the story to imagine it. You can hear what's happening just by listening. I wasn't surprised to see Wikipedia mention it being used for Halloween concerts - it was the first piece that came to mind. (I apologize the first notes are cut off - it's the best [straight] played I could find where you could actually hear everything happening. It also goes into the next processional piece which I can't remember the name of sorry.)
L'apprenti sorcier (The Sorcerer's Apprentice) by Paul Dukas I loved this piece and the Goethe story it was based on well before I saw it used in Fantasia. Magical brooms ahead!
The Corpse Bride Theme (combining some pieces from the soundtrack) by Danny Elfman and John August It feels like an air of death or mourning haunts a few of these pieces yet still has a fantastical and hopeful air- especially that lovely piano solo
Midnight from Cinderella(Music for Ballet) by Sergei Prokofiev Ok - I admit I'm a huge Prokofiev fan (His Romeo & Juliet is my favorite) but all those (what I think of as) malevolent notes through the suites and the (what I like too call) "musical resistance" to Cinderella making it away from the ball on time? Delicious for suspense!
Aaaand I have to add another Russian piece: from Stravinsky's Firebird, The Infernal Dance of Kashchei. There are quite a few darker pieces from The Firebird suite but this one definitely fits the fairy-tale-Halloween bill on a number of levels. I found this piece conducted by Stravinsky himself and couldn't resist adding it for you.
That's about all I can think of without pulling out my CDs or doing some research but know I've probably forgotten some obvious ones. If you have fairy tale music favorites that you think would be a great addition to the Halloween playlist here, feel free to chime in!
This is the second episode of five coming your way, of my new short story "CAGES".
Click on the image to go to Supernatural Fairy Tales and listen to the podcast (with me reading and wonderful music by steampunk band Abney Park) and/or read the text (with some related pics).
Enjoy!Thanks again to Dorlana Vann for this opportunity. You can follow her on Twitter and get all the latest Supernatural Fairy Tale updates HERE.
There's a new special short series podcast dropping today - August 1st - at "Supernatural Fairy Tales" - and it's a Steampunk retelling of a Grimm's fairy tale - by me!
Dorlana Vann was kind enough to invite me to write a short story for her site and it's turned into an exciting mini-production, being presented in five weekly parts during the month of August in both text and as a podcast.
The title of the story is:
"Cages: A Steampunk Retelling of Grimm's Jorinde & Joringel in V Parts with Epilogue"
In case you're not familiar with the fairy tale you can read it HERE (and thank you to Heidi at SurLaLune for making this a readily available online reference for me to check when I didn't have my complete Grimm's handy!)
I also managed to secure permission from Steampunk band Abney Park to use some of their music in the podcast, one song in particular being perfect thematically. Many thanks to them for their generosity in sharing their fabulous music. You can check out their website HERE.I'll also be making a PDF of the complete story available for free download and distribution at the end of the series, so watch out for that.
Lots of steampunk fairy tale goodness coming your way!
