Fairy Tale RoundUp For SDCC (San Diego Comic-Con) 2013!

My favorite of J. Scott Campbell's new Fairytale Fantasies illustrations - being released at San Diego ComicCon 2013

I haven't had much time this week to stay up to date on all the San Diego ComicCon fairy tale related goodness but I wanted to at least list it for you so that you can investigate more for yourself if you're interested (or already going) and to make it clear that fairy tales are big business right now - whether main stream, indie or in the Geek universe.

Here's a run down, in no particular order. All the links take you to pages with more information about when during SDCC they will be appearing, the times, booths & rooms and any extra preview info (note: if you can't see the show you clicked on at the top of the page they will be further down in the line-up list):

• Once Upon A Time, ABC series (going into season 3)
• Once Upon A Time In Wonderland, ABC limited spin-off series (premiere)
• Grimm, NBC series (going into season 3, including sneak peek of Dracula - new series)
• Beauty & the Beast, CW series (going into season 2)
• J. Scott Campbell Fairytale Fantasies 2014 (comics, calendars and illustration)
• *Grimm Fairy Tales Comics and Animated Pilot Premiere, Zenescope (comics and new animated pilot/possible series)
• Ever After High - Mattel (new toy line with animated webisodes, debut appearance)
• Spotlight on Ruth Sanderson, fairy tale illustrator and storyteller (presentation/interview & panel)
• Lost Girl , Syfy (going into season 4) (Why have I put this on the fairy tale list? Because it makes excellent use of folklore and fairy tale creatures in a witty and gritty "Olde Worlde meets Nu". Not for kids though.)
• Fine art poster company, Mondo, will be having a limited release of new designs for Miyazaki films Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke among others.
• There will be a limited release of Guillermo del Toro's character El Fauno from Pan's Labyrinth this year as well (last year, 2012, it was The Pale Man. 2013 is for the Faun). You can pre-order at the link and they will ship after SDCC.

*The animated pilot is getting a lot of buzz and interest. Zenescope's Grimm Fairy Tales use fairly tales and set them in a largely horror genre. They've had many, many issues and been popular for many years but the animated series is a first. More on that in a bit.

Other Fairy Tale Friends at SDCC 2013:

The Faun: Limited release at SDCC 2013

• Acclaimed indie filmmaker, Lisa Stock of InByTheEye will also be there from July 17 to 19th, promoting her new film Hell and other projects. A true mythmaker, Lisa creates myth and fairy tale films and other works (including a stage adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Snow, Glass Apples) and has much more fairy tale related goodness underway that I hope to be sharing very soon.
• Speaking of Neil Gaiman, he will also there on the 19th and, as usual, in great demand over everything from his comics to his books. He will be speaking on panels and presentations, including talking about his new "fairy tale for adults" book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
• Joss Whedon will be there for Dark Horse comics talking about what's next for him (including the Buffy movie rumors).
• Other topics and shows that may be of interest to fairy tale people: Game of Thrones, The Hobbit II, Seventh Son, Sherlock (apparently this is a very popular among fairy tale fans!), Doctor Who (don't you think the Doctor makes for a very different sort of Beast? ;) and The Walking Dead (yes - this is also popular among fairy tale people. I may have to post on why one of these days...), Hannibal, True Blood, Supernatural, Arrow, the pilot of Sleepy Hollow (Ichabod Crane gets thrown into the future) and Dexter.

In case you are wondering Bill Willingham (Fables) will NOT be attending SDCC this year so we're unlikely to get any further scoops on the Fables film in development at this time.

Hollywood giant, Disney, is also (largely) MIA at the San Diego ComicCon this year with only having a presence via their newly acquired Marvel properties and the ABC series OUAT & OUATinWonderland. Frozen and Saving Mr. Banks will be spotlit at Disney's own expo D23 in the following week or so.

If you have any other tip off for fairy tale folks attending, please put them in the comments and I'll send out a FB and Tweet to let people know as well.

Goldie Blox Construction Toys For "Not Just A Princess" Girls

Engineer Debra Sterling & her first Goldie Blox construction story

(Short on time but I wanted this out there ASAP, so please excuse the larger size of the excerpt - although there is much more to read at the link - and lack of additional sources and backstory!)

Started by a female engineer, frustrated by the increasing rows upon rows of only pink and magenta options for girls, this woman sunk her life savings into building a new toy line for girls: building toys! (I think Brenda Chapman would be so proud!)

With help from Kickstarter and a very enthusiastic response (which got her twice her asked for amount for development funds) the new line "Goldie Blox" is already hitting ToysRUs shelves as you read...

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

Frenzy For Hello Kitty "The Singing Bone" Fairy Tale Plush in Singapore... (Wait. The What Now?)

McDonalds "Popular Fairy Tales Hello Kitty series" plush of The Singing Bone, sold out

This story has me so excited, I can't tell you. OK I will try. But first, the news:

Fan made - I just had to include this

From WorldNews:

Tempers have flared and police had to be called in as anxious Singaporeans rushed to McDonald's outlets to buy Hello Kitty plush toys being sold by the fastfood chain as a promotion. 

Hundreds had begun queuing from Wednesday night to get their hands on a kitten in a skeleton outfit, depicting a character from the German fairy tale The Singing Bone.
It was the last of a series of six limited-edition Hello Kitty characters dressed in different outfits from popular fairy tales which were being sold by McDonald's this month.
In some outlets, chaos broke out amid rampant queue jumping as supplies of the toys ran out soon after the stores opened for business on Thursday.

So it's a toy collector crazy crowd, so what? I'll tell you what. It's not because I like Hello Kitty. Hello Kitty is great but get this:

Point 1: McDonald's has released a line of Hello Kitty plushes of popular fairy tales (yay!)
Point 2: One of those popular tales is (the German fairy tale) The Singing Bone. (Not kidding. Check the McDonald's official website to see the title.)
Point 3: I LOVE The Singing Bone! (Yay!)
Point 4: There is an actual FRENZY involving this tale. (Pop-culture alert!)

What this means is that:

A) Having The Singing Bone be included as a popular tale by McDonalds says a LOT more people around the world love this story than I realized (You have no idea how difficult it is to try and find art, essays or writing inspired by this tale. Clearly I need to figure out how to Google in Chinese and Malay!)
B) Because of the crazy, LOTS MORE people are going to find out there is this "popular tale" called The Singing Bone (which they know must at least include a skeleton as this particular Hello Kitty plush is showing her bones). There's a good chance curiosity about the fairy tale will surface, people will try to find out what (the heck?) it is and it will slide away from obscurity and back into the collective conscious (always a good thing for a fairy tale).

But I can almost hear many of you scratching your heads saying "Wut? The Singing Bone? Never heard of it."

And THAT'S what I'm so excited about. I can count on one hand the number of people I've met (who aren't folklorists or fairy tale scholars) who are familiar with this fairy tale.

The (Grimm's) Singing Bone is about two brothers: the younger bravely accomplishes a feat (killing a wild boar) but the older kills his sibling to keep the prize for himself (which, of course, includes a girl/princess). A bone is found later and incorporated into a musical instrument which then sings on its own, telling the tale of the murder and outing the dark deed. The King is told, the skeleton dug up and justice is served, The End.

My favorite version of this is The Twa Sisters - a "fairy tale murder ballad" in which, one sister kills the other out of jealousy, throwing her body into the river to dispose of her, and gets the man. Unknown to her, the sister's bones wash up, are crafted into a harp and the remaining hair twisted into strings. The haunted instrument then sings by itself (sometimes at the wedding...) and you can guess the rest.

(As a total aside: It's beyond bizarre inserting Hello Kitty images in between paragraphs discussing murders... And did you see the McDonalds logo for the heart? That kinda creeps me out more than the tale.)

So does the tale ring any bells yet? If you've seen The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962), which included a dramatization of it (with an animated skeleton), it might. Or perhaps if you're a Loreena McKennitt fan the story will sound familiar, as she sang a version of the tale called The Bonny Swans (from the album The Mask & the Mirror). And if you're an American McGee fan you may have seen a version of this too.


Despite the tale having fallen out of popularity in the Western world, it it would seem in both Hong Kong (where this promotion happened earlier in the year) and now in Singapore, The Singing Bone has been included alongside The Frog Prince, Little Red Riding Hood, The Ugly Duckling, The Wizard of Oz (Cowardly Lion suit) and an unnamed, bonus "Mc-Delivery Only Witch".

Eater.com says "The six plush Hello Kitty dolls released were all inspired by different international fairy tales."
So let's see:

• The Wizard of Oz is from the US
• The Ugly Duckling is Danish
• The Frog Prince was popularized by the Grimms but there are many enchanted frog tales in China, Sri Lanka and Korea among other Asian countries (so perhaps Korea?)
• Little Red Riding Hood I'm guessing they went with Perrault's version, so that'd be French.
• and The Singing Bone is Grimm, that is, German.

I have had a Pinterest board dedicated to The Singing Bone for a while and am always so pleased when I find new images and retellings to add. I never dreamed I would be adding a Hello Kitty plush to it though!

Fairy tale bonus of the day: There is a new web comic in development for The Singing Bone! You can find the comic, the progress sketches, the Grimm version of the tale, some history and a brief discussion of The Twa Sisters HERE.

Is Mattel's New "Ever After High" Just Another Princess Line? Or Is It Even Scarier Than "Monster High"?

Are you a royal or a rebel? Is Apple White's destiny at risk? Will Raven Queen flip the script? Let the page turning tale begin...

No. I did not write the above. (!) These are the teaser quotes for Mattel's soon-to-be-released Monster High spin-off line, Ever After High.

Fantasy writer Seanan McGuire (no stranger to fairy tales) summarized the premise for the new toys this way:

"Ever After High, where the children of famous fairy tale figures go to school as they prepare to take the Legacy Pledge and relive the stories of their parents. Hundreds of generations of Wicked Queens and whiteout girls* passing poison apples back and forth between them like Valentines..."

The story, er, collection begins with two characters**, er, dolls: Apple White (Snow White's daughter) and Raven Queen (the Evil Queen's Daughter), playing out their dueling destinies while attending the same classes. (Dum dum daaaaah!)

They even have "Mirror Blogs" we can follow them on as they comment on events, rumors and more from their (opposite) POVs.

(From the official Ever After High website:)

Raven Queen: "Just found out I'm not rooming with Maddie. My new roomie is Apple White???"

Apple White: "Spellbinding morning - the perfect day for starting a charmed new school year. Consulted my magic mirror, and I'm..." (to be revealed) 

 

OK I'll admit it. I've been rolling my eyes for much of this blog post but the "twisted teens fighting crappy destinies"/"stereotypical fairy tale characters get giant doses of reality" concept is actually beginning to make a bizarre sort of sense to me, especially if the characters are referencing the grimmer details of their parents tales and follow basic logic through. If any of those aspects are allowed to play out I can actually see this being quite "high concept" (*wince* sorry) and catching on... In fact it took me all of two minutes to find other people (mainly teens and therefore the target purchase group) thinking along the same lines and already quite excited about the whole idea.

Take a look at an excerpt from one of the (many) comments in a dedicated Tumblr blog:

"...like how is this premise somehow creepier than the one with monsters
I’m getting over my initial aversion but this is giving me some serious NO REALLY THIS IS F***ING DISTURBING feelings regarding fate and free will and the fact that some of these kids are expected to have no choice beyond ultimately dying in unbelievably gruesome ways (go look up what originally happened to Snow White’s stepmom*. Or Cinderella’s stepsisters. I’ll wait here) is a lot scarier than the franchise is admitting so far.
_____
*You know, on reflection, a woman who’d make her former tormentor dance to death in red-hot iron shoes as wedding entertainment probably is a woman who’d name her daughter after that which almost killed her herself and will eventually almost do the same to said daughter."

Then I (re)realized this is actually about selling (yet another) set of princess dolls and not primarily a story, or a show. Nor is it about providing a tool to deal with grim(m) teen issues (although it would be SO cool if that were the case). Unlike the Monster High dolls and accessories (beloved by many fairy tale afficionados) Ever After High has no cool teen zombie designs with bonus frankenfish or adorable voodoo puppy pet accessories to hook you into the sell. Despite that these princesses have the potential to be pretty dark in nature (Twisted Princesses anyone?) it's not like they'll be at home on the shelves next to Gris Grimley and The Walking Dead swag. They're just too... princessy-looking.

And then this appears on the Ever After High Facebook page:

So... yeah. We'll see. The seeds are there but will they bloom into the greatness of their true destiny or will they wither and die like so many forgotten...?

Ack. Never mind.

The line was officially announced at the end of May and is releasing in July this year.

*aka Snow Whites.

** Characters so far are: THE ROYALS - Apple White (daughter of Snow White), Briar Beauty (daughter of Sleeping Beauty), Ashlynn Ella (daughter of Cinderella), Blondielocks (daughter of Goldilocks, also a royal, kind of - not too 'this' and not too 'that'). THE REBELS - Raven Queen (daughter of the Evil Queen), Cedar Wood (daughter of Pinocchio), Cerise Hood (daughter of Little Red Riding Hood, who's hiding a big bad secret), Madeline Hatter (daughter of the Mad Hatter, roommate Kitty Cheshire, she can also hear the narrators) And there are Prince Charmings everywhere, there's a giant named Tiny and the headmaster (Mr. Grimm) has a brother who is locked in a secret library underneath the school... and arguing male and female narrators.

The Hobbit Trailer & More

It's here...



And it's making people very excited.

There's more news for Tolkien fans too:

Apart from fun looking sets, what's exciting about Legos tackling Lord of the Rings is that there will be even more unique fantasy pieces and building options. The Harry Potter line opened up a huge range of possibilities and we've seen some nice fairy tale Lego creations since. I'm hoping that the combination of a new LOTR Lego line and all the fairy tale zeitgeist in the air will inspire people to get really creative with their bricks and delve into the world of fantasy and fairy tales.

Oh and the other cool thing about a hugely popular fantasy movie? Merchandise - lots of it! Makes for fantastic props for fairy tale cosplay, parties and general fairy tale feel around the house, especially if they produce versatile pieces that aren't all "branded" with the movie logo. I have a feeling Folk & Fairy will be very busy finding a LOT of fairy tale-ish awesomeness next year... ;)

Rapunzel in Legos

For Lego enthusiasts, please note the concentric rings used in this construction (wow!). Seriously awesome brick building and tale telling all in one go.

From The Brothers Brick:

Jordan Schwartz (Sir Nadroj) built a very bright interpretation of Rapunzel’s tower. The technique of stacking concentric rings to create a conical tower is very clever, and the effect is one of a kind. The creation looks deceptively smaller than its actual size, which is actually 3 feet tall.

The top level of the tower is modeled after the Peles Castle in Romania while the round part of the tower was based on a Lego design by Deborah Higden (you can see the Rapunzel tower designer's initial questions about the ring construction in the comments).

This 'MOC' (standing for 'My Own [Lego ] Creation') also got a write-up in Issue 10 of the official BrickJournal magazine, meaning the creator (and the fairy tale creation) were both recognized for the feat of 'brick engineering' it is.

You can see more detailed images HERE and see more creations by 17 year old 'Brick Master' Jordan Schwartz (pictured above) HERE.

12 Days: Cardboard Castle Kits

These lovely building playsets are affordable, recyclable and sturdy. And you can customize them because the painting part is up to you (or the clever little one you 'gift' it to). I love things like this because they're great for playing in general for girls and boys of many ages, for adding to storytime but they're also great for grownups who are involved in theater and writing as a creative tool.
The buildings, which include a number of different castles, a tree house, a farm, a windmill, a dollhouse and a fort are by Calafant and come in two sizes. The smaller, less complicated buildings (like the one below) come with non-toxic markers. You can get small toys too which can be used on their own or as accessories, such as this carriage.Creative Toy Shop (which factors recycling toys into the products it carries) is also having a special 25% off sale on these Calafant buildings when you use code CMP25 at the checkout (for orders over $20).
You can buy these buildings and the smaller toys HERE (don't forget to use the sale code!).

NOTE: As usual, please note I am not affiliated with any of these stores or products. I do not receive any commission from any visit to the site or any purchase. These are just items I thought may interest people as fairy tale themed gifts for the Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Yuletide/Holiday Season. :)

Don't forget the "Pursuit of Happiness" Giveaway!

Entries close IN LESS THAN A WEEK on December 20th, so be sure to email me before then.
(Watch for a preview of the prize in the next few posts..!)

Details for the giveaway are HERE and the wonderful London Particulars (who are making this giveaway possible through their generosity) can be found HERE.

12 Days: Rapunzel Skateboard

A Rapunzel skateboard - how can you not want one?

The art is by by Jasmine Becket-Griffith (a.k.a. Strangeling), whose art is becoming known everywhere and licensed with different stores too and she's selling products with her art through Zazzle (like this skateboard) and through her Etsy store HERE (you can even get her original acrylics through her Etsy store direct from her).

About this gorgeous painting:

"Rapunzel in Rococo" - Rapunzel is shown in a tall tower with a muted French country landscape behind her. The window is impossibly ornate in proper Rococo style, and her hair cascades impossibly long down the length of the painting.

Strangeling has carefully chosen, and in some cases adjusted, her designs for the skateboard shape (and her shoes too!) so these look really nice from all angles. You can order different types of boards according to your needs/preferences and they're less expensive than I expected ($63.50) too. Have a look HERE. The only thing is, I think I'd want another print to just look at... (You can see a close up of details at Strangeling's website HERE.)Strangeling has a whole series of fairy tale paintings (Red Riding Hood, Kitsune, Alice, Nutcracker Suite, Snow White, Beauty & the Beast, Miss Muffet and some other less specific) and various products they're printed on. You can see those HERE (eg. check out the gorgeous 'photo sculpture' of Snow White and Her Animal Friends, shown below, HERE). She also has an official website with even more exclusives HERE.
NOTE: As usual, please note I am not affiliated with any of these stores or products. I do not receive any commission from any visit to the site or any purchase. These are just items I thought may interest people as fairy tale themed gifts for the Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Yuletide/Holiday Season. :)

Don't forget the "Pursuit of Happiness" Giveaway!

Entries close IN LESS THAN A WEEK on December 20th, so be sure to email me before then.
(Watch for a preview of the prize in the next few posts..!)

Details for the giveaway are HERE and the wonderful London Particulars (who are making this giveaway possible through their generosity) can be found HERE.

Baba Yaga & Her Baby Chicken Leg Shacks

I adore these!

Not only has Melissa Sue Stanley been creating Chicken Leg Shacks (see my previous post on these adorable plush chicken legged houses HERE) but she's created a Baba Yaga and story to go with them... AND, if you live close by, you can go see them in person at the Stuff This! - the 3rd Annual Plush Show in Columbus, Ohio. It opens today (December 5th) and runs till the 30th. You can also get a chicken leg shack - or a strawberry monster - of your own from the exhibition through HERE (other fibre/plush artist's work available here too). If you're interested in buying, be quick. They're selling out fast!I should probably have saved this for my "12 Days of [Gifts Before] Christmas" series which starts tomorrow (with giveaway!) but I just couldn't wait... consider it an early bonus!

I simply have to share Melissa Sue's Baba Yaga story (per her various blogs):

Baba Yaga and her chicken shacks:
Where did you think chicken shacks come from?She raises them in her garden.They frolic around the blue roses and valerian, and eat healthy amounts of bug legs and children's fingers.In the morning she puts on that old dusty coat and big black boots, and stomps into the chilly yard where they greet her, chirping, and chomping the tiny sharp teeth in their keyholes.The world needs more Baba Yaga.

Isn't that the most adorable bit of creepy ever?

Here's a sketch of her ideas for this great piece - you can see her attention to detail and story very clearly in her notes. I really appreciate that she's been able to handle detail and story without over-complicating the design. Very nice!You can see her blogs HERE and HERE which showcase a lot more of her work and her process and visit her website HERE. She also has an Etsy shop HERE though her chicken shacks aren't listed here yet.

Three Little Pigs Chase in Lego

I don't search for these I swear!

I present to you a chase from (a new version of) The Three Little Pigs. In Lego. With a nod to steampunk style (though there are no goggles - shock!).

This is what's called a MOC (My Own Creation) so, no we can't buy the set, but apparently, if we're very clever (and have access to lots of different Lego and Duplo pieces) we can make a set ourselves!From the creator:

Includes Big Bad Wolf minifig and three piglets!

Help the piglet on his tractor rescue his two brothers!

Tractor measures 8 cm and Big Bad Wolf Chopper Supertrike measures 10cm long!

Lowlug - the Dutch Lego club - had a contest called 'Show them how it should be done' in reaction to the general disappointment about Lego set 8967. So the challenge was to make a better chase scene in order to show Lego how it should be done.

All entries can be seen here. My entry is, of course, the Big Bad Wolf going off with two of the three pigs, with nr. 3, the practical pig, going behind them in order to rescue his brothers.

Pigs and wolf may come back in a fairy tale MOC later without chopper trikes or tractors...

Found HERE and created by talented Dutch Lego MOC artist ".eti" (aka Erik Eti Smit). He has many other unique Lego creations on his Flickr site HERE.

Baba Yaga Told With Legos & Other Storytelling Toys

My son (2 1/2 yrs) has recently discovered - and become obsessed with - Lego. He loves watching the stop-motion animation scenarios people have filmed in their homes so, naturally, I set out to see if I could find some non-violent Lego fairy tales for him to enjoy.

The best one I found was Baba Yaga and Vasilisa, which, seeing as it's turning into Baba Yaga day at Once Upon A Blog, is very appropriate. :) I particularly like how the Chicken Legged Hut was constructed.


And since we're on the subject of Baba Yaga toys, I thought I'd share these plushes I found a while back. The plush chicken leg huts at the head and tail of this post are by Melissa Sue and is available through her Etsy shop HERE. The Baba Yaga plush-with-hut comes from the Here Be Monsters line of plush toys by Toy Vaults HERE.

I also couldn't resist adding this Lego-type creation: The Baba Yaga 2050. It's a futuristic Chicken Leg Cottage (found HERE) and has the following description:

The Baba Yaga 2050 Cottage solves many of the problems humanity will face in the future:

- Scarce resources: your cottage will simply get up and walk (or run!) somewhere better.

- Peak oil: that may look like a huge diesel engine on the back, but I assure you that it's hydrogen powered, and those are hydrogen tanks on the side. Ability to deploy windmill hampered by GW's militaristic attitude to spare parts.

- Overcrowding: stacking is possible, aka the Mimas Hopper-parking solution.

- Zombie Apocalypse: see problem #1

I think you'll agree that it also satisfies the first requirement of the future: awesomeness.

Aaaand now we have the 2nd installment of steampunk Baba Yaga story ideas!