Hansel & Gretel Foundation

Here's a sobering set of posters from the German Hansel & Gretel Foundation for the prevention of child abuse.From the website HERE (the site is in German. I suggest using babelfish.yahoo.com to approximately translate the page):

"Not every child is looking forward to coming home.

In Germany every 5th child gets sexually abused.

In 80% of the cases it happens in their home.

Get more information at: www.haensel-gretel.de

Help prevent child abuse"

The scariest thing about the Hansel and Gretel story - for me at least - is not the witch. Had both children been a little less faint from hunger I doubt they would have gotten in such trouble, though I have to wonder if their role models had a hand in setting them up for such a terrible thing. Whatever the case, eventually their smarts helped them escape the situation (this was particularly due to Gretel but Hansel should be credited for taking his sister's advice on the letting the witch test a stick instead of his finger for meal-readiness). It's the abandonment (at the very least) of the children that always got me. That the kids continue to return home despite the clearly malicious behavior of both parents always baffled me as a child, especially when everything seems to be a happy ending - the witch is dead, they escape, they have treasure, they find their way out of the woods... only to go back to the place where they received the most harm. I always felt my breath catch in my throat at the point in the story when they run - they RUN! - back to their father. Why? I know why now. It doesn't make me any less sad or distraught.This problem is as old as the ages but at least it's not considered 'normal' anymore. I applaud, thank and support all who work tirelessly to end this problem, the resulting abuse cycle and child pornography. Thank god for foundations like this that tackle these issues daily and rescue children from these crimes.

Hansel & Gretel Production Design Assignment by Varga Petra

In putting together yesterday's blog post I realized I have enough Hansel and Gretel material to make a whole "Hansel & Gretel Week" - so that's what I'm going to do. :) (Don't worry - there will be other things popping up now and then too.)

Today I want to bring an animation student from Budapest to your attention.When people study animation in a formal setting they're often given assignments that force them to think about the creation of different elements of production beyond character drawings. These elements include background design, overall style, choosing a color palette (one for day, one for night and any other key atmospheric settings for the story - eg, rain, mist, snow, sunset/sunrise etc).What does this have to do with fairy tales? Fairy tales are an oft-used vehicle for students to explore these concepts. A common assignment is for the students to choose a fairy tale (sometimes they're given a more obscure one, to force a little more research and development) and to build the elements of a film, as if it were going to go into production.

The images you see here are by Varga Petra and show how she had to consider the story in creating the other elements for a potential production (see her titles below each piece to see which element was the focus). You can see other pieces from her assignment HERE.Although I admit I would love to see a less popular tale tackled, no matter how many students do a single fairy tale, the results are always different. I find that fascinating.You can see the rest of Varga Petra's lovely art blog "Anillusion" HERE (or click on the Anillusion header below). Included are a Red Riding Hood piece, a Rapunzel piece and lots of Alice in Wonderland work, not to mention other interesting characters that seem ripe fodder for fairy tales.

Nibble Nibble Little Mouse - Hansel & Gretel and Halloween

Hansel & Gretel
by Scott Gustafson

Halloween is approaching and this year I have a whole different perspective on it. It's always been one of my favorite holidays for many reasons. From the serious remembrance of our ancestors and consideration of the supernatural through to whimsical decorating and dressing up by adults and children alike, there's lots to celebrate for many different people. This year, as I try to figure out what costume my 2 year old is going to wear, the thought of gingerbread houses and strangers with candy is giving me nightmares!Hansel and Gretel in the Woods
(Artist Unknown)

There's no doubt Hansel and Gretel is one of the scariest popular fairy tales out there - parents that go beyond neglectful and purposely leave their children to die in the wood, a cannibalistic witch... it's the stuff of nightmares. And at Halloween candy and nightmare houses suddenly abound, turning our suburban streets into very different places. I fully understand the paranoia of parents only accepting wrapped candy and chocolate and the sensibility of those who will accompany their children door too door (I will be one of them). While there's no question of doing both of these while my child is so young I know I will have to come to terms with sending my son out into the wilds of suburbia and using his judgment on whether or not to accept the treats offered to him (and this extends beyond Halloween too, of course).

Gingerbread house at the Festival in Qormi, Malta

In the meantime, here's a house made of sweet breads and candy, inspired by Hansel and Gretel that I wish we COULD have visited. On Saturday (October 17, 2009), in Qormi, Malta a local cultural and folkloric festival was held called Ljel f'Casal Fornaro. Qormi is known as 'la casa del fornaio' - 'the house of the baker' - and baking of all sorts is a huge part of this event. One local pastry chef was inspired by Hansel and Gretel and made/created/constructed a complete gingerbread house.

From a TIMES OF MALTA on the festival:

Man does not live on bread alone... A staggering 250kg of chocolate, 1,200 lollipops, 40kg of assorted sweets, 50 bags of marshmallows and 250 pieces of chocolate make up this Hansel and Gretel-inspired house of sweets. The brainchild of pastry chef Ronnie Caruana, this suite of sweets is more than one month in the making. It will go on display during Lejl f'Casal Fornaro in Qormi on Saturday (October 17th, 2009).

Staggering indeed.

I was always curious as a child how such a thing could possibly be constructed in the middle of the wood, surviving the elements, without very strong magic. And why, if that were the case, could the witch not conjure up something she herself would find palatable. But perhaps that's the point.

Image from Project Gutenberg - Artist unknown

At least Hansel and Gretel survive the experience (or so the story says anyway). Did you ever wonder how such an experience would affect the siblings? Well, we're apparently we're about to find out.

From geektyrant.com:

Norwegian co-writer and director of the horror comedy ‘Dead Snow’ Tommy Wirkola is putting a little twist on the whole dark children’s tale of Hansel and Gretel. This new idea explores what happened to Hansel and Gretel 15 years after the gingerbread house incident. They have become bounty hunters that specialize in tracking down and killing witches.

Hansel and Gretel

by Cattish (deviantART)

Adam McKay (one of the Producers) said this about the movie:

“The idea is, they’ve grown up and they hunt witches. It’s a hybrid sort of “old-timey” feeling, yet there’s pump-action shotguns. Modern technology but in an old style...

Sounds promising. Unfortunately this next comment has me cringing and thinking the producers (McKay and Will Ferrell) are thinking marketability, not story:

"We heard it and we were just like, ‘That’s a freakin’ franchise! You could make three of those!’ “

Yikes. Unless by that they mean making Red Riding Hood a werewolf hunter...

Hansel and Gretel

by Laura Palmer (lpspalmer on deviantART)

Then Tommy Wirkola added these comments about the film a couple of months later:

“It’s an action-adventure horror movie that finds Hansel and Gretel fifteen years [after their first witch incident] and they’ve grown up to become merciless witch hunters. Blood and gore and action, all the stuff that I love. I’m working on the first draft now so it’s a little ways off, but it’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s definitely an R-rated movie, the first draft has a lot of blood and guts. First and foremost, it’s an action movie, I think, with horror elements. And of course some dark humor as well. But the action and horror are the most import feelings I want.”

From the twenty or so announcements about the film I've read, people (generally) really like the idea. Reviews on the Director's previous movie "Dead Snow" are very positive with people finding a good balance of comedy against the horror.

Hansel & Gretel
(Artist Unknown)

The film will be live-action and heavy on the effects. No casting has been announced yet but Will Ferrell is confirmed as staying off-camera and sticking to his Producer's chair on this one. The budget is reportedly on the tiny side for any kind of film so I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing considering the effects load. Let's hope the film has some substance and doesn't end up as a B-Grade slasher instead.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters is currently due for release in 2011.

Hänsel und Gretel by Cory Godbey
(You can see more of Cory's work in this previous post HERE)

*Sources for quotes about the film are HERE and HERE.

Wedding with Fire Breathing Snail Carriage

I'm rarely envious of what other people do for their weddings (we were married at the LA Zoo between the giraffes and the chimps - it was a hoot!) but Justin & Jordana, who were married in Oakland on October 11th, have tweaked my "I-wish-I-had-done-that" meter.

A fairy tale setting in a redwood forest and a steampunk fantasy carriage (shaped like a snail and breathing fire) = AWESOME!As a complete girly aside - did you notice her dress? Gorgeous!

You can see even more lovely pics HERE.

This must be the only street legal snail in the world - let alone the only fire-breathing street legal snail. The unique vehicle is called The Golden Mean and you can find out more information about it HERE.

Here's a night picture of The Golden Mean at the Fire Arts Festival so you can see the flaming antennae in all their glory.Makes you want one of your own, doesn't it? Well, for those motivated souls, here's an 'Instructables' tutorial so you can construct your own:

Snail Art Car The Golden Mean - More cool how to projects

You can hire the The Golden Mean and other fiery accessories 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!

Baba Yaga Meets Tamagotchi

I just found this darling Russian animation that puts Baba Yaga in an unusual situation (don't worry - no Russian language skills required to enjoy this piece!).

Somehow, this film blends Russian and Japanese cultures beautifully, without detracting at all from the Baba Yaga myth.There are a lot of echoes from original Baba Yaga tales in the objects and animals around her but I particularly like the homage to Baba Yaga's 'fire-skull fence' by using the street lights. I won't say any more - you'll just have to watch to see what I mean. :)

Enjoy!

Baba Yaga -The Russian Witch (article) & Various Baba Yaga Illustrations

Baba Yaga by Leonid Bloommer

I love the character of Baba Yaga. While she certainly is terrifying in many ways, to me she's more enigmatic than anything else. To some extent, if you can figure out the rules you can not only survive and encounter with her, she may actually help you.

There's definitely more to this traditional Russian fairy tale villain than meets the eye. I've read stories where Baba Yaga has sisters, a lover or a child (and in the story I read, yes, she loves her kid - you don't want to come between this Mama and her baby!), all of which seem at odds with the character as she's normally portrayed.

Baba Yaga
by Ravenari

I found an article posted in the first week of October which discusses Baba Yaga as a 'force of nature' and how this would have had an impact on those listening to the story years ago. The focus was different from the usual a) she's mostly evil or b) she the crone in the maid-mother-crone triad.

Here's a couple of excerpts:

When visitors arrive, Baba Yaga asks them if they came of their own accord or were sent. Smart visitors say they were sent. Coming of their own accord puts them in the witch's power; they are consenting to their own doom, so nothing can save them. They must also actively seek entrance by telling the house to turn its door to them. This concept is similar to the idea that a vampire (also an Eastern European legend) can't come into a home unless invited. The danger is one you bring on yourself. Another way ofl ooking at it, though, is that if you want to get something from nature, you have to take chances...

Baba Yaga
by Himmapaan

...These stories may have roots in Indo-European tales that passed into both eastern and western folklore. A trinity of Hindu goddesses consists of the Virgin, the Mother, and the Hag, and Baba Yaga is sometimes considered a Slavic version of the Hag. (Sometimes Baba Yaga even has two sisters). The versions about Vasilisa and the boy and girl are similar to the western “Hansel and Gretel,” in that wicked stepmothers send children off to be eaten by witches. And when Baba Yaga detects a victim, she often says, “Foo! Foo! I smell a Russian spirit!” This sounds like “Fee fi fo fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman!” in “Jack and the Beanstalk."

Hunchback Fairy
by Endling
(additional website HERE)

But some aspects of Baba Yaga tales are uniquely Russian. Siberians placed log cabins on uprooted tree stumps to keep animals away from their food supplies. To remote and imaginative people, tree stumps can easily become chicken legs, and from there Baba Yaga’s horrible home. The doll in the tale of Vasilisa is similar to small household idols that Russians had in pre-Christian times. And a recurring theme is that virtue will protect one, no matter what the danger, whereas, in Western fairy tales, craft prevails. This trust in virtue must have been comforting to people scratching out a marginal existence in a forbidding climate.

The rest of the fascinating article is HERE. The author, Kathleen Murphy (a community college writing tutor) has a writing focused website HERE.

Baba Yaga
by Waldemar von Kazak

(additional website HERE)

You can find more information about each artist by clicking on the image or on their names. The deviantART artists have some interesting things to say about Baba Yaga too, so make sure you check their comments below the artwork.

And isn't that steampunk Baba Yaga fun? Methinks it won't be long before a steampunk Baba Yaga makes her way into a story... ;)

While we're on the subject, I should mention a book released at the beginning of September titled "Dreaming Anastasia" by Joy Preble. It features Baba Yaga quite prominently and I'm curious to read it (despite the cover which would normally make me ignore it).

Here's the part of the blurb that pertains to Baba Yaga:

In 1918, in a Russian cellar, Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov was murdered with the rest of her family. Or so history tells us. Thanks to old magics, Anastasia was rescued by the witch Baba Yaga and now spends her days confined in a tiny hut perched on chicken legs. With only the witch and a doll for company, Anastasia writes letters to her family, and waits.

HERE author Joy Preble discusses how she uses Baba Yaga alongside the prominent maternal themes in the book and has her character be much more than the dangerous child-eating witch she's often portrayed as. She also makes use of a matroyshka (Russian nesting doll or Babushka doll, also known as the 'little mother doll'*) as a 'special object' and as a model for the novel's structure, so I'm doubly curious about this one.

Available at amazon.com HERE.

*This doll was the key to Vasilissa (also spelled Vasilisa) surviving an encounter with Baba Yaga in one of my favorite fairy tales. It was, appropriately, given to Vasilissa by her mother before passing away and is symbolic of her mother's spirit remaining with her and giving her the strength (and the wits) to do the Baba Yaga's impossible tasks set for her. The real villains of this story, though, are Vasilissa's stepmother and stepsisters - not Baba Yaga. The witch keeps her agreement and gives Vasilissa the fire she needs.. Of course, that's only part of the story. You can read more about it HERE. Which reminds me I should do a post on Vasilisa in her role as the Russian Frog Princess... ;)

A Look Inside "The Art of the Disney Princess"

I mentioned in a previous post HERE about an unusual art book coming from Disney, titled "The Art of the Disney Princess". It features different artist's interpretations (in their medium of choice) of different Disney princesses. From illustration to photography the pictures range from playing with realism to metaphoric interpretations and more.

It's just been released in the last week (or so) and some artists have shared their artistic contributions on their blogs.

From the official blurb:

Every little girl has a favorite Disney Princess--and for that matter, every grown-up girl, too! In The Art of the Disney Princess, Disney artists, designers, illustrators, and animators from around the world have re-imagined their favorite princesses and portrayed them in a variety of mediums. Ariel, Aurora, Belle, Jasmine, Snow White, and Cinderella are newly incarnated in water color, pastel, oil paint, colored pencil, mixed media, and computer graphics pieces that range from the traditional to the unconventional. This artwork has been created especially for this museum-quality book, which is sure to delight art lovers, Disney collectors, and any prince or princess who ever believed that fairytales do come true.

Photographic interpretation of Disney Princesses Snow White & Jasmine
by Ryan Astamendi
(click for a larger view - recommended)

Pictured above (along with the front of the book) is a photographic interpretation by Ryan Astamendi (whose blog you can find HERE).

Jasmine & the Magic Lamp
(I love this one too)
by Stacey Aoyama

Belle
by Stacey Aoyama
(you can see Stacey's blog HERE)

Here's a number of signed prints I found for sale on EBay during the Disney Expo (close-ups are available to see HERE):
Nice to see Tiger Lily there! Here's a close-up, simply because I rarely see art with her as the subject, plus, it's lovely:

Princess of Never Land
by Cathy Clark

The Little Mermaid 'Movie Poster'
by Eric Tan.

I particularly like his Sleeping Beauty interpretation below.
Sleeping Beauty 'Movie Poster'
by Eric Tan

From Eric Tan's BLOG about the project:

Ever since I started designing posters, I've always had this goal of creating my very own versions for all the animated Disney films. Those classics have had such an impact on my art and my career, that I wanted to do it almost as a tribute to the importance they had on me as a kid. Disney Consumer Products had a cool idea going when they decided to ask a bunch of internal artists to put their artistic spin on the Princesses for a book that was just released, The Art of Disney Princess. You can almost guess immediately what I wanted to do with my pieces. Yup, MOVIE POSTERS!!!

There was an event held, also called "The Art of the Disney Princess", to support the book launch and NERDLIKE.COM had a representative there to report on the show and take some photos to post. From the blog:

The Art of the Disney Princess is exactly what it sounds like, a celebration of the animated empire’s fair ladies. Disney commissioned 10 artists from Disney Global Consumer Products to re-imagine the Disney princesses. The results were dope to say the least. The event, hosted at the Zune LA house/building, was set up like an art gallery. The front room housed a collection of art pieces accompanied by its Disney Couture clothing counterpart. Each piece represented a different princess in the artists own unique styling....

...The second room upstairs was more like an art museum with pieces on the wall. From the abstract to a little weird, each piece retained the essence of the original princess, but somehow set it apart in a way that they felt authentic and real. Gone were the traditional aesthetics of the Disney cookie cutter princess. These artists had introduced the princesses to a whole new world (no pun intended). In addition to the transformation of the princesses, you could see each artists individual style and inspiration. Several pieces even escaped the realm of Disney and looked like pieces anyone would hang on their wall.

You can read the rest of the news about the show and see many more pictures HERE.

It's a real shame the event was limited to a select group and isn't on display for the public. The Disney Couture princess collection from the show will be on display at Kitson LA in February 2010 but this doesn't include all the pieces, of course. Even those who aren't fans of Disney (or who cringe when they hear the word 'princess' like I do) could enjoy a gallery showing like this! At least some of it has been put into a book for us.

You can find the book on Amazon.com - currently at 34% off - and see a lot of page samples HERE.