Disney's "Descendants" Trailer

It's coming and this made-for-TV-movie is premiering on Disney Channel in July. Looks like the advertising is about to get intense.

There is a prequel book, a whole toy line (already, yes - I think that's why they're making this movie actually), and accessories popping up all over the place.

Here's the main trailer (there are also character trailers which you can watch HERE):

I'm... not quite on board with this whole thing.

Ever After High already does it better. Way better.

My biggest problem with it, is that any substance in any of these stories, fairy tale, mythic or otherwise, really appears to have been watered down very significantly and left without much of a leg to stand on, Instead of being a fun fantasy with substantial roots, it's turned into dismissible fantasy fluff (with what-the-heck costumes). The character promos at least talk about the 'origin stories' of their 'parents', and it does look like the cast had fun at least, but these villain-kids don't hold a candle to what the Ever After High characters (who are also descendants of fairy tale characters) have to deal with and make decisions about.

If you'd like to read up on it though, here's a little about the book, available for pre-order:

Description:

Evil tree. Bad Apple?

Twenty years ago, all the evil villains were banished from the kingdom of Auradon to the Isle of the Lost--a dark and dreary place protected by a force field that makes it impossible for them to leave. Stripped of their magical powers, the villains now live in total isolation, forgotten by the world.

Mal learns from her mother, Maleficent, that the key to true darkness, the Dragon's Eye, is located inside her scepter in the forbidden fortress on the far side of the island. The eye is cursed, and whoever retrieves it will be knocked into a deep sleep for a thousand years. But Mal has a plan to capture it. She'll just need a little help from her "friends." In their quest for the Dragon's Eye, these four kids begin to realize that just because you come from an evil family tree, being good ain't so bad.

"Once Upon A Time" Returns This Sunday

Here's the official poster.

The concept (and the costumes, which look like none-too-imaginative cosplay to me) just seem to continue the trend of an hour-long ad for Disney products, rather than be a unique spin on fairy tales or adding to the overall mythology of fairy tale villains.

Please don't misunderstand me: I would LOVE to be proven wrong and see brilliant and creative storytelling using fairy tale principles, and perhaps even drawing from actual fairy tales (even if they're put to use via the vehicle of these Disney-created characters). After all, I was pleasantly surprised to see the depiction of the Snow Queen in the "Frozen" half of this season. Her character and arc nuances (and Elizabeth Mitchell's acting - credit corrected 2-28-15) made the show worth watching, even though I cringed every time Anna and Elsa appeared in their straight-from-the-movie costumes like some weird sort of fan-fiction-slash-Disney-ad. (Note: I thought the actresses both did wonderfully in their given parts. They had the characterizations down extremely well, but there was just nothing subtle about the way they were written or shown. Instead it became like an hour long promo to grab the attention of Frozen fans when they were on screen. Not cool sorry!)

Once Upon A Time continues with the second half of season 4 on Sunday, March 1st.

Cody's Fairy Tale Cocktails

Cody Winfrey - creator of the (Disney inspired) Fairy Tale Cocktails - pictured with his 'Glass Slipper'

The importance of food and drink in fairy tales is a topic that comes up fairly often and for good reason. There's something about internalizing a symbol of one's decision, commitment, choice (even if an unaware one) that makes it more real - makes it a part of you.

Cody Winfrey is a "mixologist" who specializes in creating unique drink "recipes" with cocktails. Although he's created cocktails on a variety of themes, it's the Disney-inspired ones that have gone viral and people can't get enough of. He's created over forty to date and is still creating.

"Cinderella is whipped cream vodka, blueberry vodka and cream. Maleficent is black vodka, grape schnapps and apple pucker. Tinkerbell is honey vodka, triple sec and sparkling cider, topped with a dusting of edible glitter. 

"I always try to match the character to the look of the drink and the taste as much as possible," says Cody Winfrey, whose cocktails inspired by Disney movie characters have found an insatiable audience of fans online.

Although what this mixologist is doing is mainly for fun (and profit), creating drinks on the theme of fairy tale characters inspired by Disney has had an interesting side effect. Although it started as a whim and a fun thing to do one boring evening, the more requests he got about characters, the more he started studying these characters - not just their looks but their story lines, character traits, motifs and tendencies in an effort to figure out how to create a unique drink. In the end, he's realized that he's actually attempting to capture the essence of these characters and creatures in an 'ingestible formula", ie. a drink.

It makes for fascinating reading of the ingredients list for each one and in seeing how each are put together. It's almost like recipes for types of fairy tale people, or... a potion! Makes me think of The Evil Queen making her hag transformation spell...

I've included some 'archetypal' characters (that Disney used and gave their own name too) here as well, because, if you substitute them for other fairy tale villains - like the Cat & the Fox or the evil uncle in Aladdin etc the 'recipe' actually works really well. I included some others too: the character who is exceptionally in tune with nature, the Deathless/Underworld character, the somewhat mad advisor.. you get the idea.

Here's a few excerpts from an interview with Mr. Winfrey by inlander:

"The great thing about Disney is that everyone has an almost spiritual connection with some character," he says. "Everyone has a favorite movie, everyone has a favorite character, everyone has a favorite world. So I knew that it would resonate with people in some way." 

Realizing his drinks might also attract the attention of Disney lawyers, Winfrey gave himself a crash course on the legal aspects and makes sure to always say he owns the drink recipes, not the characters. The e-book he's finishing with Wells titles the recipes as "fairy tale" cocktails to avoid unnecessary trouble. 

To date, he's done about 40 Disney-inspired drinks, requiring an increasingly crowded personal collection of liquor bottles to have just the right ingredients on hand. Some movies have proved to be more challenging — The Lion King and Pocahontas, for example — so he'll watch clips to see what he can pull from the color palette or characters' personalities. 

"Alice in Wonderland was also tough, because it's such an abstract, out-there kind of movie that I wasn't sure how to do the film justice with drinks," he says.

As far as we're concerned, he's like a fairy tale bartender who creates characters in the form of a drink. The only question is: does the drink cause that particular character to manifest in the drinker? It makes for an interesting storyline for a modern day warlock. ;)

I definitely recommend going to Cody's Facebook page or Tumblr for more recipes. Apart from the curious character ruminations, some of them just sound delicious! I'm going to call it 'research'. Happy Weekend all!

"Evil Is Complicated" (Maleficent Update)

Fan made poster by Silviya Stoyanova Carrier

I found all these random little things regarding Maleficent this past week and decided I might as well just put them together in one post.

The first is a Twitter comment, not at all related to Maleficent but I thought illustrated the direction this movie has taken really well. They say when you write for an evil character the best way to make them genuine is for them to believe they are really the (unsung/misunderstood) hero.

Then there's the most recent trailer, released last Thursday, which dovetails well with this sentiment. It's titled "Evil Is Complicated":

The day immediately after, these gifs (that I still can't find the source for) surfaced:

I found an alternate set of gifs that show the context better, though they're not as pretty:

That cottage... definitely channeling the Disney the fairies hidden cottage, though Maleficent clearly didn't take sixteen years to find this one.

And yes, I'll keep hunting for actual footage, with sound, of this scene.. (though if you have better google-fu than I today and find it first, please do share the link with us all in the comments below!)

In an interesting turn of my brain, the baby smiling at Maleficent's words (whatever they happened to be), reminded me of Godfather Death and how the godson was never afraid of his unusual godparent, despite that he was the ultimate fear of most of the world.

It makes for an interesting set of questions, regarding how much the people who watched over you when you were small, ultimately ended up influencing you, especially as you didn't realize who - or what - they were. This is a theme you find quite a bit in fairy tales. The godchild either turns out to be truly special because of they way they see a situation (and act in it) OR they reveal a warped psyche no one could have predicted and turn out to be some kind of monster. More than that, their 'monster' is a truly scary one since they believe themselves to be the only one who sees things the way they really are and does "what needs to be done".

Fan made poster by Peter Gilbert

I have to say, we're being shown an awful lot of this movie. I do hope there are some real surprises left for us (and that they're GOOD surprises). How are you feeling about all the reveals?

"Wicked and Loving It": The Maleficent-Meets-EW Interview

Courtesy of Team Jolie, those of us without access to this issue of Entertainment Weekly (#1302, dated March 14, 2014 - on stands March 7, 2014), can view and read the interview and bonus bits for ourselves. Although this is (obviously) not a dense discussion on fairy tales, fairy tale villains or Sleeping Beauty in general, Ms. Jolie does have a lot of insightful things to say and despite her ranging over a few subjects apart from the film, the themes and her emphasis for each of them clearly work together and, at the time, affected each other.

In fact, one of the reasons I think this interview is worth reading is because it shows how the issues raised by fairy tales are directly applicable to life, learning and raising better people (whether that's our children or ourselves).

Please find the pages below. As I mentioned in the previous post, I will be hunting down and purchasing a proper copy for myself, just in case this movie turns out to have significant impact on society's view of , not only the Disney movie but also (unavoidably) the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale.

Just click on the images to view them full size so you can read the text a little easier.

Note: I'm a little vague on whether or not EW is OK with this being published elsewhere on the web at the moment, especially seeing as it's been up in other places for a short while already, but if it comes to my attention that EW want it taken down, I will do so immediately. Should that happen you should still have enough information from this post and the cover image if you need to hunt it all down at a future date.

Enjoy!

Maleficent: New Poster, New Pics (& More Coming)

Marketing for Maleficent is heating up and we're starting to get some very interesting glimpses behind the horns. And if you had any doubt about Maleficent actually being evil at some point, this poster should "dispell" (ha!) that notion. She looks downright vampiric here. I'm rather relieved by this. Although I know it's a family film kids have no trouble understanding how someone, who was good, can get hurt and make bad decisions. In fact, I'll bet you it'll be kids that have the least amount of trouble with Maleficent turning bad and that they will be the ones saying it straight, as in: "Why would you go do that? You KNOW that's a bad thing to do!" Kids will get this - just like they do in fairy tales. It will be the adults who will be uncomfortable, wondering, "shouldn't we be offering therapy?.."

I'm extra looking forward to this now.

So, first up in Maleficent news is the new poster. Well, posterS. The one with Aurora in her cursed sleep, superimposed over the bottom half of Maleficent's form is really just a spiffier version of the plain one, but it's gorgeous nonetheless. Here's a closer look at the added image/s.

Sidenote: how many of the above flowers are pretty-but-poisonous?

In fact, that's one thing that seems guaranteed about this film: no matter what concerns we might have about the script or Disney' s treatment of a classic villain, the only hiccup in the visuals presented to date has really been the good fairies. Even the often-displayed-as-campy Maleficent, looks amazing (thanks not only to Angelina Jolie's movie star looks but her input on the character design). But we're getting a better look at these guys too and the most recently released image isn't too terrible...

These fairies "Knotgrass", "Flittle", and "Thistletwit" are markedly smaller and cuter than the dark and imposing Maleficent. But they are crucial to the story. (Source)

A look at the fairy on the right shows similarities to the early Maleficent look we've seen in the trailers. I'm glad to see they'e made an effort to show Maleficent is actually a fairy (or was before she went bad). I find myself hoping that these good fairies decisions are juxtaposed against Maleficent's decisions, showing their potential to become dark as well, (though that doesn't explain the odd size difference to me).

The other thing is that Ms. Jolie is starting to give significant interviews about this film and her first role as a villain (can you believe this is her first villainous role? I have to go check the facts on that...) and with those interviews is more information into the iconic character and what the movie is really about. in fact, this quote here from Screenrant, just about sums it up (I made the important part large and bold):

She also confirmed that the Sleepy Beauty re-imagining has a similar philosophical outlook as Wicked, as illustrated nicely by the following quote: “The exercise wasn’t how can we have fun with a villain? It was: What turns people evil and vile and aggressive and cruel? What could have possibly happened to her?”

From ComicBookMovie:

The movie will not only tell the story of Sleeping Beauty, but it will look at the origins of the captivating evil fairy queen. In this telling, Maleficent is so cruelly betrayed as she attempts to protect the forest she lives in from an invading army, that her heart turns to stone. Her curse on Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) is part of her struggle against the invading king's successor.

Ms. Jolie has also talked a little about the debut acting role of her daughter Vivian Jolie-Pitt as the young Princess Aurora (seen in the poster/promo image released below) which was apparently at least as practical a decision as taking advantage of an opportunity (possibly more so).

“The other 3- and 4-year-old [performers] wouldn’t come near me,” she told the site. “It had to be a child that liked me and wasn’t afraid of my horns and my eyes and my claws. So it had to be Viv.” She even freaked out her ten-year-old son Pax. “When Pax saw me for the first time, he ran away and got upset — and I thought he was kidding, so I was pretending to chase him until I actually found him crying. I had to take off pieces [of the makeup] in front of him to show him it was all fake and not freak out so much.” Incidentally, Pax and sister Zahara were extras in the christening scene in which Maleficent curses a baby Sleeping Beauty. (Source)

In fact, Jolie talked a lot, with EW, about how important her kids were in helping her realize this role, and in speaking to them about the importance of them understanding how decisions can adversely affect them (the interview of which I'll be posting on next).

Why am I bothering adding this behind-the-scenes Hollywood-style trivia to the blog? Because the consideration of darkness in fairy tales is prominent, as is the consideration of the classic Disney fairy tale villain, and when society at large starts thinking about all that differently, they're thinking about fairy tales differently, and that's worth noting.

Meanwhile, Disney World's new Festival of Fantasy has debuted and we've been treated to new characters (and costumes) from the world of Maleficent, along with the highly anticipated giant steampunk dragon. It's the prominence o the additional characters that's interesting - again, adding to this fairy tale's Disney canon in the long run. I'm fairly sure that these aspects will be mirrored in the movie, at the very least as well, and when minor characters get their stories told, other stories unfold and intertwine and suddenly you fins Sleeping Beauty related to tales like the Six Ravens and the popular fairy legend of Titania and Oberon. If the movie does well, the possibilities of opening this "world" are almost unlimited. I'm excited about the potential, but we'll just have to wait and see what's the movie is actually like and how it's received.

A fire-breathing Maleficent in dragon form glides through Magic Kingdom in Disney's Festival of Fantasy parade. 

The Raven is part of the 'Sleeping Beauty' unit, where the heroic Prince Phillips battles a Steampunk-inspired Dragon as the wicked Maleficent.

Disney debuts some of its 'most elaborate' costumes in Disney Parks history, including this Thorn stilt-walker from the 'Sleeping Beauty' unit

I will have another post for you shortly, which will show you the EW interview Ms. Jolie did. It's worth reading the whole thing for some extra insight and the interesting consideration of this fairy tale. in fact, I might hunt down a physical copy of this issue to keep. If things keep going the way they're trending, this movie could play quite a significant role in how filmmakers view and remake/retell fairy tales in the future.

Here's one more look at Angie in full villain mode.
"Like!"

Fairy tale bonus of the day:

In the images from the new Festival of Fantasy parade, I noticed an interesting addition. There's a whole "category" (for want of a better word) called The Princess Garden. Along with the expected princess appearances was this:

Faux-feathered members of the Swan Court are in the very first unit called 'The Princess Garden,' which is a pageantry of princesses celebrating Disney royalty.

The "Swan Court"? What? Exactly which Disney property did these emerge from? Are they a shout out to Swan Lake? Disney didn't make - and doesn't own - The Swan Princess so... ?? I guess it's a mystery for another day...