Today is the 100th Anniversary of the Gumnut Babies!

Today, 5th December, is the 100th anniversary of the publication of Gumnut Babies by May Gibbs! 

This teeny little book was the first in a huge and much beloved series in Australia, which included the popular Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, The Adventures of Ragged Blossom, and Little Obelia, introduced the concept of fairies in the Australian bush and landscape. 

May Gibbs, who adored Australian fauna and flora, saw the Australian bush as a magical place and these tiny creatures, and the supporting cast of talking animals and scary Banksia men, were characters she felt were constantly present but just beyond our vision. Her artistic depiction of Australian flora, in particular, was  - and remains - stunning and, with the aid of these Australia faerie characters, helped generations grow up with a special appreciation of the beauty in the harsh landscape of Australia and its potential for magic. She grew to be Australia's best-know and most enduring children's author. Though she didn't publish her first volume, Gumnut Babies, until she was 38, the popularity of her work meant that, unlike many other artists and writers of that era, she was able to make a living from her illustrations and writing.

Souriante (self portrait, smiling)
by May Gibbs, c.1923

First published on 5 December 1916, and retailing at one shilling and sixpence. the first print run of 3,000 books sold out before Christmas. The characters, cute, innocent anthropomorphised gumnuts and gum-blossoms were extremely popular with the war weary public in Australia. (source)

2016 marks the centenary of the publication of May Gibbs' Gumnut Babies. This much-loved book introduced Australian children to the Gumnut Babies, small imaginary inhabitants of the Australian bush. The Gumnut Babies resemble human babies but wear little gumnut hats and gumleaf girdles. The girls, called Gum Blossom Babies, wear frilly skirts made of eucalyptus blossom and have little blossom caps. These tiny fairies of the bush live among the gum trees with other bush babies, such as the Boronia Babies, Wattle Babies and Flannel Flower Babies.

The bushlands and wonderful wildflowers of the region gave May a deep and abiding love of Australian flora and fauna. After studying art in England, in 1913 she returned to Australia and wrote and illustrated Gumnut Babies, the first of her 18 books on a bush theme. May Gibbs' stories, illustrated with her watercolour and pen-and-ink drawings, are now regarded as classics of Australian children's literature.  (source)

When May Gibbs died in 1969, she left her estate to the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and all her artworks, papers and copyright to the NSW Society for Crippled Children (now The Northcott Society) and the Spastic Centre of NSW (now the Cerebral Palsy Alliance). In 1970 the two charities presented the May Gibbs archive to the State Library of NSW.
                           
To celebrate this anniversary, the State Library of New South Wales is hosting a free display featuring the original illustrations and beautiful reproductions from May Gibbs' much loved children’s books. 

May Gibbs: Celebrating 100 years is on display until 26 February 2017. (source)

You can read more about May Gibbs and her publishing HERE.

There are also, as you might expect, celebratory stamps, and a special envelope with coin and stamp collectible. (See above.) You can go collectible hunting HERE and HERE.

And, because our FTNH is particularly fond of May Gibbs (being her great-great aunt possibly has something to do with that), we are including some additional images specially selected for nostalgia.

Breaking News: EW Puts 'Beauty and the Beast' on the Cover & Shares 9 New Stills

All aboard the roller coaster ride to the release of Disney's live action Beauty and the Beast!

About an hour ago, Entertainment Weekly shared the cover for their upcoming cover, which has exclusive photos and cast interviews on the movie. Already going viral, the EW website has shared nine stills from the movie, giving fans the best taste to-date of what the film will be like.

From EW:

 For this week’s cover story, EW visited the film’s U.K. set and spoke with [the cast], as well as director Bill Condon and costume designer Jacqueline Durran, who talked about creating the new version of the iconic yellow dress Belle wears in the original film’s ballroom scene. In addition, we chatted with Ewan McGregor, who voices the enchanted, “Be Our Guest”-performing candelabra Lumière, and Sir Ian McKellen, who plays the clock Cogsworth and was apparently desperate to get his own big production number. “I kept singing what I thought would be a rather good addition to the score,” says the X-Men franchise star. “‘My name is Cogsworth!/ And I’m a clock!/Ticktock!’ But I didn’t get my own song.” 

Readers can also find out about the film’s new songs — penned by Alan Menken and Tim Rice — and feast their eyes on an array of exclusive photos featuring all of the aforementioned characters as well as Belle’s father, Maurice (Kevin Kline), Mrs Potts. (Emma Thompson), and Plumette (Gugu Mbatha-Raw).

Clark Collis, Senior Editor for Entertainment Weekly, gave a brief and entertaining interview, talking about writing the cover story for the upcoming issue, which you can see (along with sneak peeks) below:

G-nome. Heh.

Okay then.

Are you ready for the images? 

Here they are:

We have no doubt there are fans out there in happy tears right now, while others are still scratching their heads over those enchanted objects. Overall, it doesn't appear to be a great departure from the animated classic at all. Our one query is that it seems a bit dark with lots of browns and dark, moody lighting, but then, these are production stills, and they can often look quite different in tone from the movie. Either way, everyone in the office here has announced they'd happily cough up for silver screen tickets.

Bustle grabbed this preview from the video shared above, a cropped shot of one of the spreads from the upcoming EW issue, specifically discussing costuming and design. If you look closely you can see comments about that famous yellow dress.

The one we like best is:

“For Emma, it was important that the dress was light and that it had a lot of movement… In Emma’s reinterpretation, Belle is an active princess. She did not want a dress that was corseted or that would impede her in any way.”

To see more you'll need to pick up a copy of Entertainment Weekly, which will be on stands this Friday, and/or subscribe for the exclusive access features.

The current Twitter header for Entertainment Weekly. You can see a larger version, showing all the nuances in expressions, HERE.

Update at 1:16pm, same day: We have just learned that Emma Watson has been participating in the Books in the Underground movement, leaving copies of books they love, all around the London Tube. The BBC reported:

“The star left the novels as part of the Books On The Underground movement which sees ‘book fairies’ leave their favourite reads for people to enjoy. Watson left about 100 books with some including a hand-written note….Books on the Underground started in 2012 and leave about 150 books in stations across London each week.”

Emma Watson is a book fairy! Can we like this woman any more?

Fairy Tale Bonus of the Day:

Ever wonder who was Linda Woolverton's inspiration for writing Belle as she did? (Woolverton was screenwriter of Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast.)

EW and Bustle shared some behind the scenes on this earlier in May this year, which we're now sharing some of below:

Entertainment Weekly... interviewed the legendary screenwriter behind the movie, Linda Woolverton, to ask her about Belle's development as a character — and, in turn, to uncover one big thing about Beauty and the Beast that even hardcore fans don't know... Probably the most unexpected part of the interview centers on how Hollywood back then was dominated by "the whole idea of the heroine-victim" — something hard to imagine post tough-Disney heroines like Princess Jasmine, Mulan, and Merida. Woolverton discovered her own background in the feminist movement in the '60s and '70s meant she "definitely couldn’t buy that this smart, attractive young girl, Belle, would be sitting around and waiting for her prince to come."

"That she was someone who suffers in silence and only wants a pure rose? That she takes all this abuse but is still good at heart? I had a hard time with that," she told EW.

And then she revealed her inspiration: Katherine Hepburn in 1933's Little Women (playing Jo).

When EW asked Woolverton about her having said she modeled the character after Katharine Hepburn in Little Women, the screenwriter responded:

Yes. That was a real depiction of womanhood. I think you can take on current issues of today through fairy tales or the mythic. And so that was my fight, always saying, 'The audience is just not gonna buy this anymore.'

It's not difficult to see some parallels between Belle and Hepburn/Jo, like the wandering, book reading and love of outdoors, is it? We think she made a good choice.

Decemberists' 'The Crane Wife' 10th Anniversary Special Re-release

Can you believe it's been ten years since The Decemberists released their album, based on Japanese fairy tale The Crane Wife? There's a whole new special re-issue box-set for enthusiasts being released on December 9th, 2016, and for Decemberist fans, sounds like it's more than worth adding to your collection.

For those wondering what The Crane Wife album, and upcoming box set, has to do with the fairy tale, here's a couple of excerpts from a long interview with Pitchfork, explaining the influence of the story, the importance of stories and narrative and how it was the central thread for this definitive album, which many critics hail as being The Decemberists best work:

Pitchfork: Can you amplify the symbolism of the crane wife? Not the album, but the actual story. 

CM: It's a story about a peasant living in, I assume, rural Japan, it being a Japanese folk tale. He finds a wounded crane on the road as he's walking one night. It has an arrow in its wing, and he pulls out the arrow and revives the crane. A couple of days later this mysterious woman shows up at his door and he brings her in. Eventually, they fall in love and are married. Although they're poor-- she's a seamstress, a weaver-- she suggests that she can make this cloth that he could sell and make money. But the one condition is that when she's weaving he can't look into the room at her weaving. This goes on for awhile, until eventually the peasant's curiosity gets the best of him and he looks in. It turns out that the woman is a crane, and she's pulling feathers from her wings and putting them into the cloth, which is what makes it so beautiful and soft. Apparently, having looked in at her breaks the spell and she turns permanently back into a crane and flies away. 

Pitchfork: Wow. That's almost identical to the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, isn't it? Where he's leading her out of Hades and he's not allowed to look back, and finally his doubt and curiosity get the best of him, and he looks, and she fades away forever. It's the same narrative arc unfurling in a different culture. 

CM: Yeah, and having read the crane wife story, it's tough to pull a lesson out of it. It has something to do with greed, or curiosity, but why his looking in at her breaks the spell is a little ambiguous. The thing that I could tie it to was the Greek myth. It's interesting how they can be divided by centuries and continents, and these stories still manage to say these same things. It just shows you the universality of certain stories. 

Pitchfork: You seem as interested in the basic forms of storytelling, the way narrative elements play out toward an inevitable denouement, as you are the stories and characters themselves. Do you think the two constructs-- stories and how they're told-- can even be bifurcated that way, or are they inextricable?
CM: As important as it is, in novels or short stories, to have well-developed characters, it's just as important to abide by a strong narrative arc, where you have development and crisis and conflict and resolution. I think it's just another universality, that people like to have their stories given to them that way. So yes, the way the story is told is really important, because I think the story then dictates the lives of the characters. 

Pitchfork: Are you interested in classical tale cycles as well, the tales-within-tales thing? I'm thinking of things like Boccaccio's Decameron and the 1001 Arabian Nights. It seems to have a lot of utility for records like The Crane Wife, being filled with trapdoors that plunge you deeper and deeper into the story.
CM: Yeah, I read that stuff in school; I don't know if I've gone back to it. But I think it's a nice literary concept. 

Pitchfork: The Crane Wife also features a reappearance of what seems to be one of your favorite themes-- the doomed, star-crossed lovers divided by class and fate, who wind up horribly. What is it you find so resonant about this very Shakespearean concept? 

CM: I don't know, it's just a universal idea that's lasted over time. It's an archetypal storyline, so it means a lot; it carries a lot of baggage. You can draw a line through it to a hundred other stories. I've always been attracted to that sort of tragedy. 

Pitchfork: It seems that this is really where your interest lies-- these archetypes that are timeless and cut across cultures, occurring in different formats with the same narrative arc. 

CM: And hopefully that's what makes it something people can relate to. Because it's programmed into our heads to relate to these stories in certain ways.

Music folk will be interested in the whole article, which you can find HERE.

Here are the special 10th anniversary box-set details:

The Decemberists will reissue their fourth album, and major label debut, The Crane Wife, as a five-disc vinyl set packed with B-sides and demos, and featuring essays from Hamilton mastermind Lin-Manuel Miranda and Rolling Stone's David Fricke....The set will collect the original 2006 album on two LPs, while the other three discs will feature B-sides, bonus tracks, unreleased outtakes, alternative versions and frontman Colin Meloy's solo acoustic demos. Among 
those demos is a version of the three-part "The Crane Wife" together as a single song in its original sequence.An accompanying 20-page booklet will feature Miranda's essay alongside new liner notes from Fricke. The collection will also include a Blu-ray featuring the Decemberists' 2006 concert at Washington D.C.'s 9:30 Club, which was filmed for NPR's second-ever webcast and had previously not been given an official release. 

The Crane Wife 10th anniversary box set is available to pre-order now via the Decemberists' website. The band is also offering a special version pressed on marbled red vinyl, limited to 500 copies. 

You can read the extensive track list for the five albums HERE.

There's also a short trailer showcasing the new package and some of the artwork. Enjoy:

10th Anniversary of Pan's Labyrinth - It's Lasting Appeal - & the Coming (Loaded!) Blu-ray & 'Making Of' Book

Blu-ray Criterion art

On October 11th, 2006, Pan's Labyrinth debuted in Spain. Widely critically acclaimed at the time and now hailed as a modern classic, the movie went on to receive 97 awards, including 3 Oscars. While awards can be impressive, what's even more so, is that the film constantly tops 'best of' lists to this day, including ours.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary, and the soon-to-be-released Blu-ray from Criterion, and the 'making of' book, Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth: Inside the Creation of a Modern Fairy Tale, both being released on October 18th (!), we're including some of our newsroom team's favorite alternate posters, some officially commissioned for movie promotion, some fan made. The variety of styles illustrates just how widely appealing this movie is, as each of them represents the movie well.

Aaron Horkey

Jared Wright

But what is it people like about Pan's Labyrinth? Talk to a number of people and you'll likely get many different answers, from how beautiful it is to the layered meanings, many of which can be interpreted differently by different people. Not surprisingly, that's a large part of the appeal.

This article HERE on Moviepilot, made an effort to distill the factors to a small list and, we think, did an admirable job. Here are the main points Moviepilot writer Roselyn listed:

• Appealing to a wide audience
• Our love of fairy tale
• Open to interpretation
• Exceptionally beautiful

We're including a small excerpt of the explanation for each point but recommend you read the whole article yourself):

Stewart Forrest

Appealing to a wide audience - 

Pan’s Labyrinth straddles the boundaries between many genres and masterfully balances each one so that it truly has something to offer everyone. At once a work of gritty historical fiction and a fantastical fairy tale, the movie is both realistic and magical. Yet, these halves do not merely coexist; events in the fantasy world eerily mirror those in the "real" world, providing important clues as to the deeper meanings of the film.

Beniek

Our love of fairy tale - 

 Pan’s Labyrinth is perhaps most importantly a modern reimagining of a fairy tale that is as dark as Grimm’s original tales.Another possible explanation of Pan’s Labyrinth’s popularity is that the film taps into our love of fairy tales. We love fairy tales because they are, in their simplest form, a battle between good and evil... Real life is never that simple, but fairy tales give us hope that things will work out in the end.While some fairy tale elements, such as the rule of three, are left intact,Pan’s Labyrinth also manipulates classical elements to create something new. Rather than a damsel in distress, Ofelia is a heroine. And it is not an evil stepmother, but an evil stepfather who enters her life. As a result, Pan’s Labyrinth is inherently familiar to us, but also innovative in ways that invite us to watch more closely.

Mike Delmundo

Open to interpretation -

Pan’s Labyrinth is completely open for individual interpretation. The movie never provides any concrete answers and you are left to piece together the plot in a way that makes the most sense to you. Morals and lessons are never overtly revealed and how you interpret the more ambiguous parts of the film can create new meanings.Like any great work of film or literature, Pan’s Labyrinth’s strength lies in the fact that it is not constrained to any time or place, but can be interpreted by anyone. Every viewer can bring something new to the discussion and can relate to the movie in their own way.

Edward Julian Moran II

Exceptionally beautiful -

Or perhaps most simply, Pan’s Labyrinth’s popularity has to do with the film’s exceptionally beautiful design. Highly stylized and carefully constructed, there is not a single element out of place. Each scene bursts with details and everything about the design is linked to the central themes of the film.Pan’s Labyrinth creates a world that is vividly real and a plot that is easy to follow in spite of all it’s complexity. Quite simply, Pan’s Labyrinth is a pleasure to watch.

We recommend reading the whole article HERE.

In the meantime, keep a sharp eye out for the coming Blu-ray and the book. Reports are that the Blu-ray is worth every penny and more - not to be missed, and the book is a treasure. Check out the official list of Blu-ray extras below!

• Director's Introduction - this archival video introduction by director-writer-producer Guillermo del Toro was shot in 2007. In English, not subtitled. (1 min, 1080i).

• Del Toro and Funke - in this brand new video interview, Guillermo del Toro discusses his interest in fairy tales, the manner in which kids and adults approach and decipher them, the impact they had on his films, some of the key conflicts in Pan's Labyrinth and the world in which its protagonists exist, etc. Also participating is novelist Cornelia Funke (Inkheart). The interviews was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2016. In English, not subtitled. (40 min, 1080p).

• Director's Notebook - presented here is an interactive gallery with Guillermo del Toro's notebook of drawings and sketches for Pan's Labyrinth, with short video inserts featuring comments from the director. The notebook was produced by Javier Soto in 2007. In English, not subtitled. (1080i).
  
  1. Del Toro Intro. (1 min).
  2. Gallery - with an interactive interface.

SAE (Real name unknown)

• Documentaries - the four documentaries were produced by Javier Soto in 2007.
  
  1. The Power of Myth - in this featurette, Guillermo del Toro discusses the specific time period that is depicted inPan's Labyrinth, some of the symbolism that is channeled through the main story, and its main protagonists and the dilemmas they face. In English, not subtitled. (15 min, 1080i).
  
  2. Pan and the Fairies - in this this featurette, Guillermo del Toro discusses the many unique characters that appear in Pan's Labyrinth as well as the special effects/costumes that were used in the film. Also included in the featurette are clips from archival interviews with some of the special effects artists that contributed to the film. In English and Spanish, with optional English subtitles where necessary. (31 min, 1080i).
  
  3. The Color and the Shape - in this featurette, Guillermo del Toro discusses the use of color in Pan's Labyrinthand the film's visual style. In English, not subtitled. (5 min, 1080i).
  
  4. The Melody Echoes the Fairy Tale - in this featurette, Guillermo del Toro discusses his initial interactions with composer Javier Navarrete and the soundtrack he created for Pan's Labyrinth. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080i).

Rhys Cooper

• Doug Jones - in this new video interview, actor Doug Jones, who plays the Faun and Pale Man, discusses his contribution to Pan's Labyrinth and Guillermo del Toro's working methods. Included in the interview is plenty of raw archival footage that shows the preparation work that was needed for his transformations before each shooting session. The interviews was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2016. In English, not subtitled. (26 min, 1080p).

Adam Rabalais

• Ivana Baquero Audion - presented here is archival footage from actress Ivana Baquero's audio for the role of Ofelia in Pan's Labyrinth which was shot on April 10, 2005. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles. (3 min, 1080i).

Jock

• Prequel Comics - presented here four animated comic-style stories with original tales for the unique creatures that are seen in Pan's Labyrinth, which were produced by Javier Soto and illustrated by Jason Shawn Alexander, Guy Davis, and Michael Kaluta in 2007. With sound effects.
  
  1. The Giant Toad. (1 min, 1080i).
  2. The Fairies. ( 1 min, 1080i).
  3. The Faun. (1 min, 1080i).
  4. The Pale Man (2 min, 1080i).

Consider Graphics

• Video Comparisons - presented here are three video pieces that offer before-and-after comparisons that highlight the type of work (from concept work to music) that was done during the pre-prodction process. The three pieces were produced in 2007. 
  
  1. Lullaby. (3 min, 1080i).
  2. The Green Fairy. (2 min, 1080i).
  3. Thumbnails/Storyboards. (1080i).
  
  • Del Toro Intro
  • Ofelia Enters the Labyrinth
  • Ofelia and the Giant Toad
  • Death of the Doctor
  • Ofelia's Death

Daniel Serra

• Trailers and TV Spots - presented here is a large collection of original trailers and TV spots for Pan's Labyrinth.
  
  1. Teaser
  2. Trailer
  3. TV Spot: "Deadly"
  4. TV Spot: "Trap"
  5. TV Spot: "Three Tasks"
  6. TV Spot: "Top Critics"
  7. TV Spot: "Nominations"
  8. TV Spot: "Phenomenon"
  9. TV Spot: "Accolades"

Drew Struzan

Bo Moore

• Commentary - this audio commentary by Guillermo del Toro was recorded in 2007 and initially appeared on New Line Cinema's release of Pan's Labyrinth. The director explains in great detail how the idea for the film emerged, where and how various sequences were shot, the film's unique narrative structure and visual style, etc.
  
  1. An important juxtaposition
  2. References and insects
  3. Camera movement
  4. Stunning single shot
  5. From true accounts
  6. Magical green hues
  7. Frustrating first day
  8. Wipes
  9. Pale Man foreshadowing
  10. Circles and curves
  11. Based on reality
  12. Subtle changes
  13. Noteworthy pattern
  14. Straight out of Goya
  15. The original story
  16. Magical moment
  17. No salaries
  18. Control freak
  19. Hopelessness
  20. Ambiguity of symbols
  21. Willful miscasting
  22. A satisfying scene
  23. "My favorite shot"
  24. Wings of fire
  25. Fairy-tale moment
  26. Immortality
  27. "From the heart"

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by film critic Michael Atkinson.

Kelly McKernan

• Book - a 100-page illustrated hardcover book featuring an introduction by author Neil Gaiman and essays by critics Michael Atkinson, Mark Kermode, and Maitland McDonagh, as well as production notes and original sketches by Guillermo del Toro and illustrators Carlos Giménez and Raúl Monge. (Note: The book is available only with the Trilogía de Guillermo del Toro box set).

Do we need to mention the box set is now on our wish list?

Guillermo Del Toro Collection - Cronos / The Devil's Backbone / Pan's Labyrinth [Blu-ray]