Syfy's Swan Song "Face Off" Finale

It's not surprising that fairy tales, or some version of them, crop up on a special effects make-up show but last night's finale on Syfy's Face Off was extra special.

The remaining three contestants had to design and create two characters from Swan Lake for two principal dancers of the Los Angeles Ballet: one was the maiden as she's being transformed into a swan and the other the evil sorcerer who made it happen (aka Von Rothbart for all the ballet people).

Excuse me a minute while I whoop and cheer here. I come from a ballet background and so all the ballet fairy tales are near and dear to my heart - especially when they include transformation. The iconic fairy tale ballet is, of course, Swan Lake. Indeed it's iconic for all ballet and for good reason. The light vs dark aspects and transformation of one being or creature to another is reflected in so much of life and, as the movie Black Swan showed, works as an excellent metaphor for a career in dance (and any lifestyle requiring intense commitment) as well.

For the Face Off contestants though, they were given an extra twist. Each of the contestants had to pick a different time period to incorporate into the design of their characters as well.

This meant, not only did they have two days to create two complete make-ups - one female and one male, have them be obviously different characters while from the same - unique - world, but also that they had to be performance-worthy for a live, theatrical show (ie those feathers had to stay on!) AND camera ready.

Tate chose the Industrial era,

 

 

... Roy chose the Ming Dynasty...

 

 

... and Laura chose Italian Renaissance.

 
The results from everyone - as you can see - were stunning!

Here's a teaser preview:

(Note: though I've done the research, heard the critiques, seen some behind-the-scenes and know the spoilery result, I have yet to see more than a fleeting glimpse here and there of the performances because I'm using every ounce of patience to wait to share it with my family tonight!)

SPOILERS AHEAD!!

✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ (click the "Read more" link below this line) ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ 

Cinderella Scullion (& Other Vegetable Verselets)

The things you can find these days...

I must admit I am tickled by the scullion/scallion play on words and the illustrations are ridiculously charming.

This was recently republished "in as close to original condition/format as possible" being a "very important historical document". (Did they typo hysterical, perhaps?)

And, yes, you can find it on Amazon if you'd like your own copy.

You can also preview the whole little book HERE (illustrations et all) too.

Mila's Daydreams - One Baby's Imagination Brought to Life

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman's Baby

Beware the Super Cute!

Adele Enerson is one creative mama on maternity leave - she's imagining her super-sleepy baby's dreams and bringing them to life long enough to snap a photo. (Magically without disturbing her sleep - how does she DO that? My son was/is totally anti-sleep and has been since day one...)

The awesome (and seriously cute) blog is HERE with the lovely tag line of: "I'd love to see into your dreams, my little one."

Anyway, Adele has kindly allowed people to blog about her project and to post a couple of photos of hers. But that means I had to choose! Ack! there's such a huge variety so I chose a couple of urban legends/mythic heroes (plus the nesting dolls were a must) but you really need to go look at them all - Mila is a little mermaid, Mary with her lamb, bookworm, sitting on Alice's mushroom and much, much more! You'll want to bookmark it too - there's more being added every few days or so.

Her Super Pinkiness

Adele has also put together an FAQ for all the curious (and all the worried) people out there too. A fun and humorous read.

And here's a lovely video, complete with pretty music by Mila's Daddy, Lasse Enersen (oh my goodness could the sweet get any sweeter?):


There's also a recent ABC World News interview on YouTube from August 5th with Adele and Mila (who fell asleep) HERE.

Looks like a book in the making doesn't it? Bring it on - but, don't grow up too fast Mila! Sleep is good!

Grimmer Tales: A Wicked Collection of Happily Never After Stories

There's a new book out (released December 9, 2009) of fairy tale retellings in which the stories are told in comics with a rather grim version of a funny bone.

The author/illustrator is Erik Bergstrom and the reviews are using phrases like "homicidal whimsy" and "joyfully morbid masterpiece" so this won't be everyone's cup of tea.
From Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing:

The book consists of a series of extremely nasty comic-strips telling the aftermath of the classic folkloric fairy tales. For example, one running gag has Pinnocchio telling polite social lies in panel 1, while panel 2 depicts his sprouted nose gouging out the eye of some innocent (i.e., "Cute baby! -- stab").

These running gags are pretty funny, but the really standout moments are the longer strips, especially the "What a Witch" strip, in which two witches standing over a cauldron extol the virtues of Kiddee Flakes, which are much more convenient for kidnapped-child-fattening than candy-houses. This is good, wicked humor at its finest -- if you loved Fractured Fairy Tales...

The link for more information is HERE.

Fairy Tale Ad: Bakers Biscuits

I have a few fairy tale ads in my archives so thought I'd share...

Today's product is "Bakers Biscuits" but what I really want to know is where that enchanted wood is the children are skipping through..!

There's a ton of fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters in this one. I grabbed a couple of screen caps as examples but there are many, many more.

Enjoy!

"Fairy Tales and Strange Birds" - New Painting Series by Brenda York

"Rapunzel Lays Bare Her Wanton Waves"

by Brenda York

San Diego artist Brenda York is about to show her new series of paintings titled "Fairy Tales and Strange Birds". She describes her style as 'whimsical/figurative abstract' and will be showing her versions of Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Miss Muffet, Four & Twenty Blackbirds, Snow White (and her Little People') and Rapunzel.

Usually contemporary art renditions of fairy tales tend to the uber-dark or disturbing side as opposed to children's illustrations which tend to the other extreme of simple and graphic (ie. strong design) to detailed and traditionally illustrative. It's refreshing to see someone working with fairy tales in this vein for a change.

The image above is the first preview from the series on her blog and she's posted the series on her website since.

Here's what she says about her new works:

As promised, this week and next I will be posting my new series, "Fairy Tales And Strange Birds"...The opening reception will be on this coming Friday, Oct 9 at Bread & Cie in Hillcrest from 5:30 to 7pm. Please drop by for some wine tasting, treats and twisted fairy tales. There will be five new large paintings and eight individual portraits of Snow White's gang (And yes, I said eight!) ...Hopefully in the next couple of days I will have the whole series up on my website for up close viewing.

Jack And The Magic Bean Faux Pas
by Brenda York

You can see more of her work on her blog HERE and on her website HERE. Her fairy tale series can be viewed all together HERE.

Fairytale Town's 50th Anniversary Celebration on August 29, 2009

Want to help a child love fairy tales for life? Take them to Fairytale Town.

While I didn't grow up in California I was still lucky enough to be taken to a local fairy tale park called FANTASY GLADES as a child and I remember the experience fondly still. In fact the souvenir tea towel my mother bought remains my favorite to this day though it was already threadbare before I left school and likely hasn't survived. Seeing life size cottages and models of fairy tale objects made the stories even clearer to me and somehow more personal. Sadly, this park closed in 2002, though there are rumors of plans to re-open it, with the bought attractions, in a different location. I hope they do.There are a few fairy tale themed parks left around the world (apart from Disneyland) and from what I've seen, most if not all have a very intimate sense of child and story about them. If you have or know a child you can take to such a place, do it. The benefits of the experience last a lifetime.If you're around Sacramento at the end of August this year, be sure to pop into Fairytale Town and join in the 50th Anniversary Celebrations.

This park was built to “...depict classics in children's literature and be among the child's first contacts with life and human relations.” (as was printed in the park's very first brochure in 1959). The 2.5 acre outdoor park consists of miniature scale models and play areas on the themes of classic fairy tales, classic (magical) stories and nursery rhymes.A description from their site:

Over 25 bright and colorful play sets give young children a backdrop to act out their favorite stories, to encourage creative discovery, and to exercise their minds and bodies on child-friendly slides throughout the lush grounds.

Home to a friendly menagerie of animals from the pages of favorite children's stories, children can meet Peter Rabbit at Mr. McGregor's Garden and see the sheep that Mary brought to school one day. Small gardeners can help water seasonal vegetable beds and seek out a sprouting alphabet of exotic plants.

Small adventurers can join Robin Hood's band of Merry Men in Sherwood Forest's extensive new play fort. Children can go down Jack's Beanstalk, ride in Cinderella's carriage, and burn off extra energy walking on The Crooked Mile, a favorite play structure for many of our guests young and old.

King Arthur's Castle has been the place for unforgettable birthday parties for three generations.

The official celebration, complete with concert, takes place on August 29th, from 5 to 9pm. Although they hold an annual fundraiser, this year is special and they'll be decorating the park with 50's style decor for a little retro feel among their all new remodeling and upgrades.You can find more information about the park HERE, and buy tickets for their special celebration. You can see some more photos of the park HERE, along with a quick description of some of the highlights of the park.

I think I'm going to suggest they sell tea towels. :)

Winning Red Riding Hood T

Like your fairy tales dark? You'll like these.

Artist 'shantyshawn' has just won his 2nd design award for this Red Riding Hood t-shirt. His artwork tends toward the gory (think zombies - not the cute kind) and he's showing an interest in getting into the nitty-gritty of the old tales and presenting them for all to wear. No gore here but there's plenty of creepy. That splash of red is just right and in case you can't see it, the zoomed view will show you the wolf, looking delightedly on. (See the website where it's being sold - click the image to go there)
Says shantyshawn:

I think I’m going to be doing a series based on fairy tales. This one’s tame, the rest will be much darker. No more Mr. Nice Shanty.

We hope you do!

It's available HERE through Design By Humans for $25 (though at this writing a special was shown on the website for $18).

Shantyshawn's other winner is shown below. It's titled "Blackbirds Attacking in the Dead of Night" but my instant thought was the four-and-twenty blackbirds got loose for some good old fashioned fairy tale revenge.

I like it.