Photography: 'Grimm Compact' by Laura Zalenga

 We've been wanting to share German photographer, Laura Zalenga's fairy tale series, titled Grimm Compact. Created as an homage to tales printed by the Grimms, the photos show a key or iconic active moment from a fairy tale, frozen in the frame and, usually, zoomed in. It's a unique a wonderful way to distill a fairy tale down to a recognizable moment, without words and without much context, and it's one of the best series - whether illustrative or photographic - that we've seen, do this.

(Laura) is convinced that photography is a type of therapy that gives you the ability to heal yourself and others.
"Till today that big Old Brothers Grimm fairy-tale book stands next to my bed. And quite obviously it inspired me. For this specific series I wanted to create an homage.. but there were already so many interpretations out there. I was thinking about what makes these stories unique and one big point is that they are rather simple but still - or because of that work so well, that Disney turned some of them into movies. Whenever we see a girl with a red coat we think of Little Red Riding Hood, whenever we see a single show some point out that it must be Cinderella. So I focused on these one or two elements in every one of these fairy-tales, that one scene that everyone remembers from the story. Actually that is a thought that I like for my photography in genera;l. We see one frame of a story and the rest is up to our minds." (Source)

Do we need to list the fairy tales for you? These are mostly canonical tales so we shouldn't... Enjoy!

You can learn more about Laura's process HERE and see more of her photography HERE.

Political Cartoons & Fairy Tales 2017: 'The President Who Cried Wolf'

Artist unknown - Source HERE

Using fairy tales in political commentary, and especially political cartoons is something of a tradition. The current state of US politics and national division being what it is, it's no surprise to see certain fairy tales making regular appearances again. Always popular for referencing politics are Pinocchio, The Emperor's New Clothes and Jack and the Beanstalk, all making regular appearances in tense times and The Boy Who Cried Wolf, though usually less used, is a regular 'go to' for 2017, accompanying cries of fake news and 'alternative facts'.

Above is a political cartoon by Tom Toles, from The Washington Post, focusing on distractions - the other, related, theme of Cry Wolf.

Charleston City Paper has regular cartoons, drawn and written by Stegelin, and uses fairy tales regularly for social commentary as well. The latest makes use of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, with the emphasis on 'alternative facts'.

We'll just leave it here for you to critique. (Click to view full size.)

#RRR

'Where The Water Tastes Like Wine' - An American Folklore Game About Traveling, Telling & Collecting Stories

Listed as one of the best Indie games of 2017 by GDC (Game Developer's Conference) and Gameinformer magazine, Where The Water Tastes Like Wine sounds like no other offering we've heard of. I mean the all-governing currency is stories that you collect during your travels and tell around the campfires. What a fantastic mechanism!

And if you like Bluegrass, Blues, 'roots' and Woodie Guthrie inspired music, you'll probably want the game, just for the OST (official soundtrack).

You play a traveler wandering through the United States - and through a century of history and the Great Depression era - to meet a variety of people, each with their own stories to tell. Presented as a "bleak American folktale", the currency is stories you collect on your travels, and that you tell around the campfires. A fantastical undercurrent runs through the game, with anamorphic people and surreal encounters being a common occurrence. The map is a gorgeous illustrative overlay filled with trees, highways, and campfires that glow in the night. (We've included some development art in this post.)

          

Envisioned as "a bleak American folktale," Where The Water Tastes Like Wine is a gripping and morbid adventure game that lets players explore the landscape of the country, using stories they find along the way as currency. The brief snippet we played showcased gorgeous visuals, a lovely soundtrack, and fantastic short stories that were both moving and macabre. – (Javy Gwaltney, Gameinformer)

Sounds pretty interesting, right? Well it gets better. Turns out there are multiple characters to be found all over this America, both with folktales and personal stories to tell, and the developers employed a wide variety of excellent writers to be the 'voices' for each one. (You can read their impressive bios HERE.) This means the telling is done differently by each character and the flavor of the stories and the person change, just like they do when collecting stories in life.

Take a look at the trailer:

We get more insight into the game and the folktale aspect via a few different interviews. Excerpts are below with the source credited after each extract:

"The art suggests that there's more going on in the world than what we necessarily see," Nordhagen told IGN. "Every once in a while we see through the cracks in the world and get a peek at other realities. It's recognizably America, though - poker and trains, the Southwestern desert mesas, and something that suggests the colorful and idyllic farm produce labels of the beginning of the 20th century. It's the sort of America that might live in tall tales, in blues, folk, and bluegrass songs, and travelers' stories." (IGN)

"The title comes from a folk song, or, more accurately, lots of different folk songs," Nordhagen explained. "American folk culture is one of collaboration, sharing songs and stories but giving them your personal twist. It comes from many different cultures - the European settlers, the slaves that were forced to live here, the workers who have traveled here in search of opportunity, and of course the people actually native to this land." 

                 

"Many of the songs, stories, and poems deal with hardship, especially in the blues genre, and many are about traveling the country," he added, citing such influences as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Grapes of Wrath and On the Road. "There are many stories of other American wanderers that rarely get told - the spread of African Americans from the south, the movement of migratory farm workers, or the forced marches of native people. Where the Water Tastes Like Wine wants to capture the feeling of those songs, poems, stories, and wanderings in a game." (eurogamer)

Heroic travelers aren't the only people featured in the game. "Most of the romantic road stories out there are white males traveling and having adventures," he said. "That is a freedom only available to those people, but a lot of travelers don't have that freedom and I want to tell stories of people who have been displaced." (polygon)

Here are some screen shots:

Sounds ambitious - and wonderful! Right now the release date is yet to be set but this will be available for Steam, PC/Mac later in the year, and other platforms XBoxOne and PS4 sometime later after that. We're thinking of preordering!

To finish, here's an interview with the creator (known for his critically acclaimed previous game Gone Home) at the convention SXSW 2017 (South By South West) in which you can hear a little more about how this game came to be, and see some more of the art in motion and a little gameplay. It begins with a typical upbeat 'gamer' intro, but quickly gets into the meat of the interview. Totally worth watching we promise. Enjoy!

New 'Labyrinth' Movie Officially in the Works [without The Goblin King we know & love]

Brian Froud - concept for Labyrinth

Yes - you read it correctly. There is a new Labyrinth movie in the works  - and it's a sequel, that is, a 'continuation' of the first movie.

Not a remake.

We repeat: This is NOT a remake!

(Phew!)

We can't quite imagine how it's going to work quite as much wonder without our favorite Goblin King (the late, great David Bowie), but we're willing to wait and hope.

Don't Breathe director, Fede Alvarez will co-write the script and be directing. Best of all, Lisa Henson will be producing. (Yay!)

Insiders stress that the new project is not a remake nor a reboot but rather a continuation of the story set in the rich Henson universe. The goblin king will not be represented in the film. (THR)

Did you read that last line properly? The goblin king will not be represented in the film. So... how this will be a sequel, exactly, is yet to be discovered. Lisa Henson being on board means we should be spending a good chunk of time in the Labyrinth - or the Goblin City - at least. (We hope.)

While we can imagine a myriad of interesting stories with this teensy bit of information, none of the ideas come close to matching to The Goblin King in our minds, but what we really want to know is: will Toby Froud be involved again? (Technically, with the Goblin King's passing - doesn't Toby become the Goblin King?) He's become a masterful artist, sculptor and puppeteer in his own right and his touch would be perfect for the film. Not to mention he and his wife Sarah (we know!) have a little Toby, er, #cabbageprince, of their own, though he's older now than Toby was when they made Labyrinth. Ah, possibilities!

Screenwriter, Nicole Perlman, who is not involved in the sequel, but instead wrote some story ideas between 2014 (when the idea for a second movie became a possibility) and January 2016 took to Twitter to clear up some rumors about this in January of LAST year, so this has been in the works for quite some time.

Oh - and a bit of trivia that, considering the director, might be pertinent background for the upcoming movie, did you know that...

The original film was scripted by Monty Python's Terry Jones. Its story was inspired by the Maurice Sendak children's book Outside Over There, which was itself inspired by the real-life kidnapping of aviator Charles Lindbergh's infant son. (Telegraph)

There is currently no release timeline for the movie but filming is scheduled to commence in Fall 2017.

So - basically: 

Is a Labyrinth sequel needed?

No.

Will we watch it?

Yes.

And we will be here as it unfolds...

should you need us.

'Fairy Tale Roundup' Newsletter to Launch (& OUABlog & TT are involved - sign up now for 1st issue debut!)

Swans Rescue by Rebecca Solow (from 'The Witch' & a series based on Russian folktales)

There is an exciting new fairy tale resource about to launch and wing its way directly to your inboxes! It's for fairy tale news, fairy tale submission announcements, fairy tale writing tips, fairy tale tidbits... you get the idea: all things fairy tale! 

A smorgasbord of all-fairy-tale-goodness, heaped temptingly into one delicious monthly newsletter for all fairy tale folk, the newsletter is being coordinated by sister-blog, Enchanted Conversation and, oh yes - we're part of it!

Both Once Upon A Blog and Timeless Tales are involved, along with a few other folks. Our hope is that over time the list of fairy tale site contributors will grow, as we bring you more of what you love. Just like in fairy tales, we believe that when we work together we can be stronger, together, and help support our readers and fellow fairy tale sites even better.

All you have to do to enjoy this new co-op is to subscribe.. for FREE.

Here's a modified excerpt from the new newsletter announcement at the host site, Enchanted Conversation:

 

Announcing our *new* FAIRY TALE ROUNDUP! 

Fairy Tale Roundup is a  brand new, monthly co-op newsletter, filled with information about writing and reading opportunities for fairy tale fans! 

Our monthly report will include

- Fairy tale news

- Submission opportunities

- Exclusive writing tips,

- And all things fairy tale from popular fairy tale, fantasy, and folklore sites! 

We will be including news from Enchanted Conversation, of course, but not just EC: World Weaver Press (publisher of Kate Wolford's anthologies, along with other fantasy, paranormal and sci-fi) will include news of forthcoming publications and submission opportunities. Once Upon a Blog, a site jam-packed with fairy tale news, will contribute, along with partner, Timeless Tales, who publish new short stories based on classic fairy tales and myths. As a bonus, Tales of Faerie will also be in the mix now and then! 

We hope, in time, more sites will join in, making Fairy Tale Roundup your favorite source for fairy tale news and opportunities on the web. 

Subscribe now at Enchanted Conversation's sign-up page HERE!

__________________________________________________________________

From the Seasonal Archives - Household Tales: Easter, Baba Yaga & The Monster Chicken

Bunny Beware by Michael Sowa

A little treat from my household to yours.

You've probably heard of Baba Yaga and her hut on chicken legs. But did you know the hut has its own story? 

The chicken-legged house spends all year long soaking up the magic leaking out of Baba Yaga's kitchen, and one day each new Spring (a day we call Easter), there's finally enough in its bones that a wondrous thing happens. The hut shakes its walls and shingles into feathers, breaking enough of the spell keeping it chained to Baba Yaga's bidding, to transform into the strangest half-house, half-chicken monster anyone has ever seen. 

Having picked up a few tricks living with its Master, the hut always manages to escape, forcing Baba Yaga to give chase. For a whole day, the Monster Chicken plays a mischievous game of hide-and-seek, dodging the Yaga's flying mortar and pestle by hiding in the yards of good-hearted children. Wherever it sits and makes a hurried nest, it leaves monster eggs as thank you's for the household's hospitality.  

Hut on chicken legs during the spring nesting season
Divo-Ostrov", Saint-Petersburg

At the end of one whole day and one whole night, however, the hut is tired and has enough of running. Baba Yaga catches up with it and drags her little house back to their home in the woods. There it gives one great shake before turning its body back into a hut and settling into a good long sleep, dreaming of the next year when it can run on its own again.  

But even though the hut is sleeping, sometimes the dreams are so strong, it gets up on its legs, stretches them out, turns around and settles down again, without even waking up...

Update April 2017: My son, now 10, still adores this tale of ours (and if any of you have had visits from the Monster Chicken  my son would LOVE to hear about it!). With the fairly recent news confirming many dinosaurs as having feathers, in addition to being related to chickens, this story no longer seems quite as fanciful... ;) He looks forward to visits from the Monster Chicken even more than the Easter Bunny. Frankly, I think the Easter Bunny is tickled to have the magical company in our yard every year. 

Mystic Chicken by Ekaterina/Philieria

 Do you have a personal 'Household Tale' of your own you'd like to share? Write to fairytalenews AT gmail DOT com. We'd love to share your personal traditions and stories.

'Beauty and the Beast' 2017: MORE 'Best Thought Provoking Articles' About the Movie on the Internet (Pt II)

This is likely the last post focused on Disney's current billion dollar (!) hit, the live action Beauty and the Beast. These are the remainder of the articles and summaries not included in the first list (you can find Pt I HERE), as well as a few new ones that have been written since then. The focus is a little different too. We dig into history as well as looks at parallels with the present day political and social climate, and look at the timelessness of the tale and the resonant issues that have been implied in every version (along with why they're still relevant).

From "5 Bo-Po, Feminist Things We'd Like to See in Beauty and the Beast"
(article written before movie release by social justice advocate,
who promotes awareness & education on issues of
mental health, and on violence against women)

We really like how many of these articles are using the opportunity to expand on the most-tired-&-talked about subjects - it makes for a nice brain stretch and something fresh to discuss!

We've included the link, the origin (either online magazine/newspaper, website or blog & writer), and a brief summary and/or excerpt to give you a taste of why we think it's worth a look.

Enjoy!

Note: All art images (bar the cartoon at right & a couple of instagram captures below) are from the Gallery Nucleus Show "BE OUR GUEST: AN ART TRIBUTE TO DISNEY'S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST" (of which we shared  preview HERE), showing from March 11, 2017 - April 2, 2017. 

You can see the rest of the art at Gallery Nucleus HERE.

INTO THE FOREST
Ha Gyung Lee

SMACKDOWN: Jordan Peale’s GET OUT vs. Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST - Maria Tatar's blog Breezes From Wonderland

"It’s rare to have a moment when two high-wattage cultural events collide to bring back a story–in this case Beauty and the Beast. One of those blockbuster films, Disney’s live-action version of that story, “smashed records,”...
Then there was Jordan Peele’s Get Out, a Beauty and the Beast story that pulls out all the stops and gives us what horror movies do best, exaggerating and amplifying our cultural anxieties, and putting what Frank Bruni of the NYT called a “fantastical, grotesque spin” on things. Get Out (budget of $4.5 million) as a Beauty and the Beast story? Yes, it’s that and Bluebeard too. Only in this case, the monster is Rose..."

BEAUTY IN THE FOREST
Justin Gerard

'Beauty and the Beast' Comes From a Long Line of Stories About Women Hooking Up With Animals - Jezebel
"...the confluence of modern fan culture and the big business of viral content have conspired to cram every possible remix of the Disney princesses onto your newsfeed. Every new blockbuster and every new article picturing Ariel, Belle, and Aurora as hipsters or breastfeeding moms or activists binds the fairy tale even tighter to Disney, obscuring the source material that little bit more. It behooves us to pause and look at one particular tale’s long history of retellings and consider what we lose by letting Disney dominate.
... The tale we know today is likely descended from the story of Cupid and Psyche. 
The tale is part of a broader, deeper tradition of stories about women and men disguised as beasts..."

GASTON AND LEFOU'S ARRIVAL (FRAMED)
Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Belle’s costumes don’t fit the live-action Beauty and the Beast, but they fit her brand - vox.com
"Belle is the jewel in Disney's crown, and her success is so important that not even the costume design around her is going to stand in her way, even if it doesn’t make sense for the setting or the character. Belle's iconic costumes — in particular her simple blue day dress and her voluminous golden ballgown — are great for the brand; they’re more awkward for the story.

But Belle doesn't look the part, and she was arguably never really meant to. She was designed top-down as a princess, dressed as a brand rather than a character — which makes her a living glimpse into Disney's nostalgia machine.

It's possible (costume designer Jaqueline) Durran has been clear about where credit's due because the dress disappoints on film; it's more an Emma Watson dress than a Disney wonder. ...The major thing this gown tells us about Belle is that Emma Watson plays her."

TALE AS OLD AS TIME
Cécile Carre

Beauty and the Bestiality - The New Yorker
Not as lewd a discussion as you might be led to believe from the sensational-making headline. It largely talks about the issues of falling in love with one form (the beast) that is then transformed into something else entirely (a man). It centers on the differences between Cocteau's underlying themes and commentary (including the "give me back my beast!" finish), versus Disney's, and also discusses Maria Tartar's new book on Beauty and the Beast, along with a number of 'beastly-bride' fairy tales - most of which regular fairy tale readers will be familiar with, even if they're not well known otherwise. We like that they finish with The Crane Wife.

"In Anthony Lane’s review of “Beauty and the Beast” for the magazine, he noted the glint and tug of sex in Jean Cocteau’s 1946 “La Belle et la Bête,” in which the Beast, after becoming a man again, says to Belle, “It’s as though you missed my ugliness.” Lane writes, “The lady preferred the animal. Such thoughts are out of bounds, needless to say, in the Disney garden.” And still, at the end of the remake, as Belle is dancing with her prince, who wears powder-blue pants and a hair ribbon, she asks him, flirtatiously, if he’d consider growing a beard. He looks back at her knowingly, and gives a short, beastly roar.
The “Beauty and the Beast” story may originally have held appeal because of its relatability. “Many an arranged marriage must have felt like being tethered to a monster,” Tatar writes. 
The animating question behind these tales of beastly alliances, however, remains: Which desires are quashed, and which are awakened? What is the heroine robbed of, and what is she given—both in the manner in which her story is told and within the story itself?"

SOMETHING THERE
Heather Theurer

Would The ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Characters Have Died In The French Revolution? - uproxx
This is both a fun article and good food for thought, focusing on the faux-period the movie is sort of set in. The writer is fully aware of both how absurd this 'fictional investigating' is, as well as bringing up some great points about what war Gaston and LeFou have returned from, general forms of dying at the time (which, has become a more common question with both Belle's mother and the Prince's mother given 'death' stories in the new film), The Sun King and where he might fit into the aristocratic picture, as well as whether or not Belle and the Beast would have survived the French Revolution or not.

REMEMBER ME
Jonathan Lau

The Fairy Tale That Won't Die: Beauty and the Beast - Disney Revives the Fantasy of Captivity and Monsters for Young Girls - bitchmedia.org
Written by someone who isn't a fan of the Disney princess machine, this article comments on the current political climate and parallels between it and the French aristocracy of the 1700's. Not as balanced in its argument as it could have been, this nevertheless highlights some different issues some people see as problematic in the film.

PURSUIT
Sophie Li

Beauty and the Beast: feminist or fraud? - The Guardian
Looking at the film with a critical eye - how feminist is this really? - the article delves into a few different areas, prodding at whether the 'feminist updates' are on point or if they're really just ineffective tokens. 1) incomplete subversion of the genre, 2) glorification of male domination, 3) surrendered filial relationship, 4) the great lacuna where Belle's character should be and 5) Palpable fear of ugliness. We would have liked this article better if they had paid better attention in the remake as some of the protests (eg make Belle's father less useless) were actually addressed, and addressed well, but it does bring up some excellent points we haven't seen discussed elsewhere.

'TIL CHAPTER THREE...
Phillip Light

*How feminist was Disney's original Beauty and the Beast? A critique with hindsight. - Glosswitch at NewStatesman

This article is one of our favorites. It outlines what feminism really is and how the contemporary view/idea of feminism is actually working against the principle - many examples of which can be seen in the new Beauty and the Beast if you look closer than the surface.

TIME TO GROW
Amei Zhao

The Beauty of Jean Cocteau’s ‘La Belle et la Bête’  - FilmSchoolRejects
"Forget Disney’s recent reiteration of the classic fairy tale and instead look back at where the tale’s magic began on film, with Jean Cocteau." This essentially explains why Disney's classic BatB as well as the new one still don't eclipse Cocteau's film - and why people will continue to return to it. Comparisons to the 2017 film are used but not dwelt on, for good reason, as you will read in the article.

FELT PRESENCE
Eliza Ivanova

'Beauty And The Beast' Follows A Tradition Of Animal-Human Love Stories - NPR with Maria Tatar (audio)
Transcript included. "TATAR: One reason that we relate to this story, we love it so much, we embrace it as our cultural story is that it tells us about the other - about the other who can seem beastly and terrible. And it proposes that we make a move in the direction of empathy and understanding, rather than revulsion and horror and fear."

BELLE VISITS THE WEST WING (FRAMED)
Beauty and the Beast (2017)

'Beauty and the Beast'-Lord Voldemort Mash-up - PistolShrimp comic video. It's said that "Harry Potter fans are guaranteed to hate this", but we disagree. We think, although done for comic effect, it perfectly illustrates some of the issues people are concerned about. And it's funny.

ENCHANTED WINTER
Alina Chau

Why Belle Should Have Chosen Gaston - Observer.com - Belle will definitely have been sent to the guillotine with the beast.

This article comes to a different conclusion about Belle and the Beast during the French Revolution - with good reason. Broken down into easy-to-digest Power Point presentation pages, this one is being circulated by well known scholars. Both hilarious and excellent, it attempts to get the facts straight (and extrapolate about likely story development 'after the movie' for various characters) about the time period, including what choosing the Beast over Gaston would have resulted in. Reading this made us not want Belle to choose Gaston, but find some other way to be truly feminist and make her own destiny, rather than getting embroiled in the likely futures of either Gaston or the Beast as the story currently stands. (Note; we're not saying she couldn't have ended up with the Beast - just that more change is needed there if she/they are to survive the inevitable future of the Revolution.)

A PECULIAR GIRL
Grace Kum

Gaston Arrogant Villain or Misunderstood Hero? -  Gradient.is
A roundtable with men arguing both sides, which although done in humor and a little parody here and there, hits close to home for today's males.

MORNING LIGHT IN THE PALACE (FRAMED)
Beauty and the Beast (2017)

"Beauty and the Beast" is a pretty film disguising the ugly beast of misogyny - qz.com
"Stop calling this a feminist movie." Worth reading for a discussion of what can be called 'half-hearted feminism' in society today, including Hollywoods's current efforts in filmmaking, casting and storytelling, and the disquieting image of Ivanka Trump's supposed feminism as she works in her father's White House/office.

DANCE
Alina Chau

Indian Artisans behind 'Beauty and the Beast' dress revealed - by Manveena Suri, CNN Threadwork of Belle costume has roots in Gujarat. The unreported stories of the Indian influence on designing Belle's wardrobe, as well as a look at the process it took to create an ethical and eco-friendly, sustainable costume. That the workers themselves haven't been reported and credited except by local press is ironic - though this isn't commented on with regard to the messages of the movie. There's an unwritten story in Belle's costumes waiting to be told... this article doesn't delve into that side, but it does raise awareness of some of the "little people" (as Belle would call them) who were involved in the film.

               

Why Is Belle Indecent? - DocInBoots
The animated film was not, needless to say, historically accurate and there’s no reason for the (current) film to be so. However, the film does reproduce the intricacies of eighteenth century fashion, so Belle’s fashion choices do strike me as overtly anachronistic. No wonder the villagers thought she was odd!
... One of the things that struck me in the (2017) film was that Belle was often running about with her underwear showing! How embarrassing! This was, of course, an effort to create a more ‘feminist’ wardrobe for the active heroine, but for a viewer familiar with fashion history, it could be perplexing. There were a flurry of articles about Emma Watson not wearing a corset, ascribing this to her desire for Belle to be unimpeded and active. However, corsets of the time were designed to support women’s activity and… basically… to support their bosoms! There were no bras. Corsets helped prevent painful bouncing situations.

SOME LIGHT READING
Katie Huon

Getting Gaston Right - DocInBoots
Gaston's popularity isn't something we realized until we saw the lines to meet the character at Disneyland. What is it about such an obviously-despicable character that has women (for the most part) dreaming about him? (And what does this say about women today?)

"It’s difficult to pin down why Gaston is such an attractive figure, despite being completely awful, malicious, and terrifying. I remember speaking to one actor who had played Gaston and he professed to being very confused about the women who gathered at the stage door to see him! Yet, there it is. "

WHAT A GUY, THAT GASTON
Julieta Colas

Beauty and the Beast Time Loop Theory - from Reddit, one for the fans.
Perhaps the village is stuck in their own mid-18th century Groundhog Day... The theory neatly ties up  few odd issues, even while it brings other questions to the fore.

ENCHANTED
Janice Chu

Let's talk about the weird psychosexual energy in Beauty and the Beast - TheWeek

"...the original (Disney movie) was built around distortions of masculinity that are tough to replicate live — from a rakish talking candelabra to a literal sexy beast to a man who ate 48 eggs every morning to help him get large. It takes secondary sex characteristics to a truly troubling extreme, sexualizing feather dusters and repeatedly showcasing the contrast between tiny-waisted Belle and her giant-biceped muscle-suitors. It asks you to regard inter-species love as redemptive while begging you not to think too hard about it, and tricks you into kind of hating that redemption when the poor castle servants recover their former shapes. (I'm sorry, but human Mrs. Potts isn't half as charming without her teapot face...)

But by acknowledging the stranger aspects of the original, Bill Condon's live-action adaptation is an appropriately uncomfortable delight. "

HER JOURNEY
Milsae Kim

Belle's Tax-Funded Fairy Tale Life - FEE Foundations of Economic Education
Another great article looking at practicalities of the setting. Turns out the "little people" in Belle's town are anything but rustic, backward and ignorant. They're actually very successful business folks and specialists in their thriving trades (so much commerce and produce for one little town!) The 'boujee' castle (ie. elite) and court of the Prince/Beast is contrasted with the town and one begins to wonder if the town wasn't better off with a Beast instead of a Prince. But Belle's aptitude for invention may be the way forward... A well researched and entertaining read.

WOLVES IN WINTER
Sara Kipin

In Fairy Tales, Less Is More - The Straits Times Culture Vulture Column
The problem of getting too specific in a classic tale is both the number of details required for it to make sense (and the inevitable issues that don't) but even worse is that the sense of adaptable magic - magic that has its own form for anyone who hears or reads the tale - is in danger of being lost because of the specificity. The magic of the story, and therefore its resonance, is no longer as accessible to as wide an audience.

"Spelling things out for the audience can cause stories to lose their magic.

Not too long ago, I revisited an illustrated book of fairy tales I used to love reading when I was a kid. Leafing through its dog-eared pages, I was struck by how sparse, nondescript, the illustrations were compared to how I'd remembered them.
A sketchy rendering of anything - a rose, a water pump, a library - can expand into something larger than life if it captures a child's imagination.
But do films with such high-definition and sweeping cinematography give children the same scope for imagination that more "primitive" mediums such as books, cartoons or even older films used to offer?"

PROVINCIAL TOWN
Celine Kim

The Feminist Message of the New Beauty and the Beast Has Always Been Part of the Story - Time.com
“... ever since its first publication in 1740, the story has had another, perhaps even deeper takeaway: the importance of a woman's right to choose her own husband.

"... It’s a story written and published by a woman, with a strong female character at its lead, who is very reflective and intelligent and she makes her own choices, which is not something you saw in French literature or in French society at the time,” says Paul Young, associate French professor at Georgetown, who teaches a course on 17th and 18th century French literature."

SOIS NOTRE INVITÉ
Tiffany Le

What 'Beauty And The Beast' Teaches Us About Girls' Education - MoviePilot

"... having the release of Beauty and the Beast at this particular point in history brings the focus back onto the subject, particularly at a time where there are calls to make mainstream feminism more intersectional and address issues that women in minority groups face. It infers to us, the audience, that the disapproving glances Belle receives on her daily trips to the library can manifest in far more aggressive ways for many girls across the world who don't have access to primary or secondary education. This could be through violence or an arranged marriage. But, this can be changed if they are sent to school, and consequently given the opportunity to decide what they want to do with their own future."

THE BEAST
Grace Kum

Found an article worth sharing that we missed? Let us know - either by mail or in the comments - and we'll update this post, with thanks and finders-credit to you. :)