A Touch Of Reality To Classic Scenes Makes People Think Twice About Fairy Tales

 

Photographer Matt Hoyle uses a mix of computer graphics and photography for his art with memorable results.

Under his hand, adding a realistic touch to classic fairy tale scenes highlights the creep factor in many of these. Are we really OK with Snow White falling unconscious in the hands of seven men? They may be little but they're obviously very much men. (You can see his full gallery HERE which also shows other examples of his work.)

At a time when the dark side of fairy tales in very much in vogue, images like these are making parents think twice about reading fairy tales to their kids. (You may remember this New York Times article from 2009 HERE which cited a list of tales parents no longer read to kids. There's also a new one, prompted by art book publisher Taschen who released a fairy tale collection in October this year of stories and beautiful illustrations, HERE.) While I don't advocate showing creepy images to children, I think the stories and the dark possibilities make it doubly important for these tales to be told to little ones.

 

I learned a lot from Snow White as a child (especially what NOT to do) and the story remains one of my favorites as I age and begin to better understand how women age. Rapunzel, who once showed me there are worlds beyond your tower now reminds me not to be overprotective as a parent. Donkeyskin showed me (and still shows me) I can change my expected destiny if I'm pro active about it. Beauty and the Beast showed me the importance of courtesy and manners as a child and now reminds me to be patient (and remain courteous) in relationships. Red Riding Hood showed me I could be smart as a child when the odds were against me, if I kept my head and now reminds me to be more understanding and protective of precocious young girl-women, among other things.

There are many more lessons I've taken over the years from the tales quoted above, not all of them necessarily related to the ones cited here. Suffice it to say, no matter what age or where I am in life, the tales never stop speaking to me. My most resonant lesson remains the same though: there is a path through the woods, no matter what the woods look like and no matter the manner of creatures who step into your path. I'm so grateful for fairy tales and how real they can be. :)

Krampus Show at Curly Tail Fine Art

It would seem that people are exploring the darker side of many things these days - not just fairy tales but folktales too. Santa's dark partner, who is all but forgotten these days, is creeping back onto the scene.

In the last couple of years art shows revolving around Krampus, short story collections including Krampus characters and Krampus art dolls have become more and more prolific.

As you can imagine, from the subject matter, there are quite a few disturbing images but I guess that's the point.  While I think it's good to remember a dark side (especially to anything so "glitzed" and commercialized as the Christmas/Yule season) I'm not convinced going straight to horrific visuals for the most "demonic aspect" (and I'm not just talking about the Krampus-creature's appearance) is the way to go.

Chris Buzelli

I say "demonic aspect" because the darker side of Christmas to me is shown in plenty of sobering light by the light Dicken's Christmas ghosts and in The Little Match Girl's dying sparks. In real life, Christmas darkness is in the lines of homeless people waiting patiently to receive their charity-handout Christmas dinners and in the candles shining alone in curtained windows for all those family members lost too soon or fighting overseas during the season. But the stories and real-life scenes have a hope in them despite their darkness and that's something I see missing from a lot of the Krampus representations.

Dan Crowley

If you're familiar with the mythology and folklore you know that Krampus isn't specifically evil but instead performs  a necessary function - one that can be negotiated with to some extent if you understand his rules. (One region's form of him leaves coal in the stockings of naughty children, for example, a tradition that remains, though simplified, in our Christmas mythology today.) There's even a "Krampus Day" that's still celebrated in Alpine countries on December 5th. It's sort of like  Christmas version of Halloween but without the cute kids dressing up and OD-ing on candy.

Mark Garro

I must admit, even for someone who loves all things urban fantasy and adores Halloween above all other times of the year, all that dark without the light is just a bit TOO dark for me. I guess we have yet to find a balance.. (And so the pendulum swings!)

Here's another interesting piece from a showing earlier in the year:

 

You can see the details of the current show in the image at the head and, if you're interested, you can check out the variety of Krampus art on the website HERE. If you want to see it in person, the show runs in Chicago till January 15, 2012.

Advertising: A Wusthof Knife For Snow White

 

I have no idea if they made this "art apple" in real life (I would love to see some 'making of' footage for that!) or if someone was very clever with Photoshop (it looks convincingly real with all that cutting detail at the bottom of the removed apple piece). Either way, it's very effective.

The article on Trendhunter summarized the campaign so well I have to add an excerpt:

Taking the symbol of the protagonist’s downfall, the Jung von Matt advertising agency exploited the juicy red fruit as an appropriate canvas for this campaign. Divulging the finesse of the kitchen blade and the painstaking incisions it can make, the peeled picture of the young girl in an elaborate gown, surrounded in dainty blossoming branches, is enough to demonstrate such precision.

The Germans really know how to use their fairy tales and I kind of want one of their Wusthof Knives now too.

With little alteration I can see this as an awesome art print for a kitchen...

Advertising: Gandhi Bookstore Ogilvy Ads Use Classic Tales

 

Mexican bookstore chain Ghandi Bookstores has fairy tale characters reading classic childrens books. The illustrations are so beautifully done, it's as if the characters have come to life, straight out of childrens books themselves.

The first two are easy to recognize but the third may not be as familiar as it's not strictly a fairy tale. It's the character of Samsa from Kafka's story Metamorphosis.

 

The Ogilvy advertising agency sure knows how to produce beautiful illustrations!

Sources: HERE & HERE.

Article: How "Lost" Influenced the Creators of "Once Upon A Time"

Source

Just in time for tonight's next episodic installment of Once Upon A Time, TV Guide has released an interview with the creators, who also wrote for Lost.

Once Upon a Time Bosses on How Lost Influenced Their Fairytale World:

The duo began the groundwork for Once eight years ago, but it took working on Lost to really hone their idea. "We were really young and we didn't understand how to execute the idea we had. We called it our eight-year writer's block," Kitsis says with a laugh.

...Though the series is ripe with mythos springing from the original fairytales and what the Once writers have also created, the producers believe the real strength and appeal of the series lies elsewhere. "We never thought about Lost or Once really as mythology shows, even though mythology obviously is a part of [both]," Horowitz says. "They are character shows to us. That was the greatest lesson on Lost: Really learning how to approach the story through character."

Prince Charming & Snow White in Fairy Tale Land (ABC's Once Upon A Time)

 ...Horowitz and Kitsis have also pieced together their own "bible" to keep track of the Once timelines and character histories, not unlike the one used by the Lost writers. "It's just to keep ourselves straight as to what we're doing," Horowitz says. "But we're allowing ourselves freedom. It's not like we said, 'Here's what all three seasons would be, or five seasons.' We've got some goal posts, but we're allowing ourselves to create a freedom to change our minds."

 I don't know if fairy tale enthusiasts were/are fans of Lost in general but it definitely has a Lost (show) feel to it. I'm hoping having writers and experienced producers like Jane Espenson* of successful myth-based shows on board will keep that mythology strong and, as a result, use the best aspects of Lost and combine them with something truly fantastic.

Not having a solid myth-base was one of the things about Lost that, well, lost me. During the first season it seemed to me that the writers weren't solid on the rules of the world, it's mythology or where the stories were ultimately going (something that the writers have apparently now admitted was the case, since the series finished). As a result it just felt like a prime time soap set in an unusual location (at least to me and others I know). I have much higher hopes for Once Upon A Time and hope it will ultimately resonate with more people than those just wanting character drama (ie. soap) without losing that audience either.

One fun thing to expect for fans of Lost are inside references and jokes in the set and script of Once (I hear there have already been a couple) and for Lost cast members to appear in very difference roles. Eg one very buzzed about appearance is that of Emilie de Ravin as Belle in episode 12. (Yes - it's Disney's Beauty that's being referenced here).

 Details of her role are scarce, but we hear Once's Belle will have a connection to Rumplestiltskin. No word on whether the titular Beast will appear, but Gaston is slated to pop up as well. Source.

I just have to mention a separate little niggle here (yes another one): I really don't like how they're casting and dressing the actors for their various dual life roles. (I could write a whole post on this but it feels too early in the series to do more than mention right now.) Despite trying to echo the "Disney look" the results don't 'feel' like the characters to me but more like a trip to Disneyland gone sideways. For example, I think this look HERE for Emilie de Ravin looks far more like the character of Belle from the fairy tale (albeit a little too sexily dressed) than the above production photo. Then again, her fair hair and skin, although completely gorgeous, don't say "Beauty" (of Beauty and the Beast) to me at all. If I was matching her to a fairy tale I'd go with Sleeping Beauty. But maybe that's just me. :D

 
You can read the whole article with executive producers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis HERE (it includes hints on what they know they have to achieve over the series and what areas are open to "evolving storylines") .

*Ms. Espenson dealt wonderfully with the many complicated worlds and mythologies created by Joss Whedon. She also wrote the Jiminy Cricket episode "Still Small Voice", which aired last week. To my mind, despite still having criticisms, it seemed more solid than the past fairy tale character-focused episodes.

Tam Lin - Wallpaper by Stephanie Pui Mun Law

© Stephanie Pui Mun Law

 I love* the story of Tam Lin (Child Ballad 39A - a.k.a. The Fairy Tale Ballad) so am always on the lookout for new art and media based on it.

First I have to show you this beautiful wallpaper. (Click on image above to see fullsize please or go to her website and see the images even larger with detail image options - recommended.) I've been following artist Stephanie Pui Mun Law since before she when to college and have been so pleased and proud to see her develop into a much sought after full-time fine artist today. You can see a lot more of her amazing work on her website HERE (lots of fairy tales!) and on deviantArt HERE. I didn't realize she had been working on a triptych of the story until recently so am over the moon to find it.


*I even have several projects gathering dust based on it at this typing! Whether I will have the opportunity to do with them what I want to is yet to be seen but they're never far from my mind.

Tam Lin - Sims Animation (New)

(This was originally part of the above posting but in the end I thought each person should each have their own. :)

I don't think I've ever seen an animation of the story of Tam Lin (oh how sad the project Neil Gaiman and Wendy & Brian Froud were attached to a few years ago tanked!) but someone has been working very hard at home with a medieval Sims program to create the characters and world so they could.

Screen capture from Sims animation by BonnieLaurel

 As you can see from the screen capture above, this type of animation isn't the professional movie studio animation we're now taking for granted on our screens but more like gaming animation. That's, in fact, where it came from (kind of like build your own characters, put them in an environment you 'dress' and play the game). Unlike where Sims started current Sims can be very sophisticated and is a far cry from where Sims began. The medieval world and costuming here is quite impressive, as is the range of movement and animation possibilities now available gamers (and others) at home.

This is the result and I thought it worth posting for anyone who loves Tam Lin as much as I do:

If you liked this, do go let creator BonnieLaurel know. She must have lost weeks and weeks of sleep putting this together!

The music is by Coyote Run who make wonderful contemporary Celtic music, retelling Celtic legends and other literature in song. If you love Celtic music you must check these guys out.

Once Upon A Blog Is Going Through Some Changes

I thought it was about time I updated the look of the blog so I will be experimenting over the next little while until I settle on something I'm happy with.

Please be patient! I'm not likely to get it right the first time. Or the second time. Or... ya know!

Think of it as Once Upon A Blog going through some transformations. ;)

In the meantime, this is what we've looked like for almost a couple of years...

And I honestly have no idea where I'm going with things this time yet!

PS Expect frogs - at least at first. ;)

Honeycrisp or Red Delicious? Jiminy Cricket or Jiminy Grasshopper?

Disclaimer:

Please know that despite these criticisms I am enjoying Once Upon A Time. Yes, I have issues with the series; of course I do. I care about the material very much. That doesn't mean I throw the baby out with the bathwater. By definition I am a fan and enjoy tuning in. I do, however, think that certain things are worth commenting on, especially considering this is a fairy tale blog. I hope all this is understood by other fans and any of the production that may come across this. It's all fantastic fodder for discussion - and about fairy tales, no less!

I know, I know. It's kinda picky but it's bothering me as now I've seen the second more obviously incorrect visual-vs-script I've seen in ABCs Once Upon A Time. (Please know, I'm not looking for these to be critical - they're jumping out at me.) *

My first "visual frowny" came when Regina-aka-Evil-Queen was picking apples from her personal orchard and offered what she called a Honeycrisp to Emma Swan. Except, it wasn't a Honeycrisp. It was a Red Delicious (the difference is obvious to anyone who buys apples regularly). Turns out I'm not the only one who's noticed either. I've seen a few "creased-forehead-posts" around the internet mentioning it, like this one HERE which fellow fairy tale blog readers may have seen).

Here's a visual for you with the comparison:

Source HERE

 See what I mean?

I'll come back to this one in a minute. For now, let's look at the most recent one that caught my eye.

Last week, we saw Archie Hopper (aka Jiminy Cricket) in fairy tale land, both in human form and transformed to... um... and insect. Being very familiar with Disney's Pinocchio, in which Jiminy does vaguely represent a cricket, I was surprised to see human-Jiminy become, what appears very much to be, a grasshopper.

Here's the design by talented artist  Jared Krichevsky for the ABC's series:

Design for Once Upon A Time's Jiminy Cricket-as-insect

It's a little harder to find a strong visual to give you for grasshopper vs cricket but there are many descriptions - like HERE - which outline the differences, including visual ones, clearly. Here's one, which, although is an illustration, shows you most clearly:

Source HERE.

 According to these, we have a nocturnal grasshopper as our Jiminy Cricket, although he does have large cricket eyes.

But back to the apples...

The Jiminy Cricket design aberration is niggly-annoying, I'll admit, as many people confuse crickets with grasshoppers but it's not nearly as annoying as getting food wrong. Why? Because food in fairy tales is very important. I appreciated THIS ARTICLE HERE, titled "Feeding Snow White", by insightful author Paula Young Lee, which also had issues with the Red Delicious-not-Honeycrips being offered Emma Swan, and have had it in my posting queue since before I decided to try blogging again.

Of course, I’m nitpicking—but with a purpose. The apple-breed mix-up is a handy symbol for a larger pattern: Food has always played a surprisingly important role in the Snow White tale, but the significance of that food has been erased over time—and, with it, much of what this seemingly familiar story once meant. Once upon a time, this tale was, in part, about the restoration of rightful royal authority. And you can see that more clearly if you know something about what people used to eat.

 Go on and read the rest of the article. It explains the apples gaff but goes on to talk about how illuminating the 'original' request of the Queen's is in asking for Snow White's organs. You'll be nodding your head and begin to understand why I just HAD to say something.

Oh, and if you like that, you'll like this too: I've had this article bookmarked for many years now but go back and read it often. Considering the dark side of fairy tales are coming to our screens with a vengeance at the moment, it's definitely time for another read through "Snow White," "Sleeping Beauty," "The Juniper Tree," "The Virgin Mary's Child": The Wicked Cannibal Queen.

Enjoy. :)


*One of the things that's annoying me most about this series is actually the lack of research but that's really a different topic and a different post - if that's worth writing at all, since really I'm just so pleased to be tuning into fairy tales twice a week at this point!

"Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters" Gearing Up For Release

First look image from Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters

I haven't seen much on the web about this film yet, there's not even an official movie poster* (Argh! Lack of official visuals to post!), though it's release date is quite near (March 2, 2012) but all that's about to change.

(You can see my original post about this movie from October 2009 HERE - the details on the film start about halfway down.)

We can expect a trailer on Thursday next week and since yesterday, we're getting our first looks at how Hansel and Gretel have grown up.

As Entertainment Weekly puts it: "What kind of adult does a kid become after surviving a trip to a cannibalistic witch’s gingerbread house?"According to Director Tommy Wirkola, that would be fairy tale meets Quentin Tarantino (think very dark), with a somewhat comic edge. Oh, and shotguns.

The (current) official synopsis:

“Fifteen years after their traumatic gingerbread-house incident, siblings Hansel and Gretel have become a formidable team of bounty hunters who track and kill witches all over the world.”

Gretel by Chris Rahn (thanks Roderick!)

The two lead actors are starting to take interviews on the film, explaining a little of what the film will be like and what drew them to the project:

Excerpts from an interview with Jeremy Renner (playing Hansel):

"It's in a wonderful fairy tale world that's a bit gritty, a bit fun. It should be a good ride... Unlike other films of its ilk, "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters" takes place many years after the fairy tale look place. Let's just say having a witch almost eat them when they were children left the young candy-happy kids a bit emotionally scarred.

"Fairy tale endings. Doesn't it sound like they're supposed to be happy? Well it's not. So it takes Hansel and Gretel, we last left them killing a witch as children after they were left in the forest to die," Renner said, setting up the plot. "It's many years later and they have a grudge against witches so they decide to become bounty hunters and they kill witches for a living. Sounds actually kind of the right thing, I suppose."

 Excerpt from an Entertainment Weekly interview with Gemma Arteron (playing Gretel):

EW: How does this movie incorporate the original Brothers Grimm tale? Is that story kind of a prologue?
Gemma: Yes, it continues it. You see a series of flashbacks with their experience of killing that first witch, which is brilliant. I remember being on set for the final few days of that. The candy house, and the witches are really repulsive and quite frightening. The makeup is out of this world. It’s this bone-chilling scene. Very dark. The girl who plays my character is brilliant, with the horrified expression she has.

“You see a series of flashbacks with their experience of killing that first witch, which is brilliant,” the 25-year-old actress teased. “I remember being on set for the final few days of that. The candy house, and the witches are really repulsive and quite frightening,” she added. “The makeup is out of this world. It’s this bone-chilling scene.” (source for 2nd quote HERE.)

Gemma Arteron & Jeremy Renner on set of Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters

I recommend reading this interview. Ms. Arteron provides quite a bit of insight into her understanding of fairy tales as well as the movie and her character.

So I'm thinking Buffy and her brother Van Helsing go on witch hunts - but on steroids. It won't be everyone's cup of tea but it may just be mine. ;) I'm looking forward to seeing the trailer next week.

*The one movie poster around is actually from a Michael Bay project (see it HERE) about which we haven't seen much of either. It's easy to see how the details get mixed up.