The Odd Life of Timothy Green

With all the emphasis on fairy tale film retellings like Mirror, Mirror, Snow White and the Huntsman, Jack the Giant Killer, Maleficent etc there's one fairy tale inspired movie that may have slipped past your radar.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green definitely has echoes of Tom Thumb, the main difference being that Timothy/Tom grows to normal boy proportions so the focus of the story becomes different (ie not all about a miniature person in a world of giants), though his appearance is just as magical.

The official synopsis is as follows:

Cindy Green and Jim Green, a childless couple, become frustrated with their inability to conceive, so one night they dream up their ideal offspring and write the child's characteristics and life events on pieces of paper, including "scoring the winning goal." The couple places the notes in a box and buries them in their backyard. After a stormy night in Stanleyville, a 10-year-old arrives at their doorstep, claiming the Greens as his own. Soon they realize that the child, named Timothy, is far more special than they originally thought.

Sounds a little yawn-worthy but I'd be very surprised if there wasn't more to this movie than first meets the eye (just like Timothy Green). The movie was originally the idea of Ahmet Zappa (who is the multi-talented son of Frank Zappa and has a long association with Disney in various capacities) and the script was written by Peter Hedges (About A Boy, Dan In Real Life, What's Eating Gilbert Grape?).

Here's the trailer:


This is a Disney movie and was in production well before the edgy side of fairy tales became vogue again but it's clear that this film's theme focuses on things that aren't as they appear to be (and is PG) , so we may be surprised beyond the normal family fare one might expect. Overall the images released for the film so far are almost all of idyllic family photo ops but clearly that wouldn't sustain an entire movie so I'm wondering what we're not seeing. The additional colorful images I've found below (also shown in the trailer) certainly hint at more other-worldliness to come.

There hasn't been a lot of buzz about it to date, at least not since the poster was first released, and I'm curious to see how it will be marketed for a summer release now the tide of public interest has shifted toward fairy tales that show their shadows.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green is due for release on August 15, 2012.

Rapunzel Themed Wedding Photography

This lovely and unusual wedding photo shoot was a creative project to showcase the talents of the team at Connection Photography.

The wood setting is lovely and their custom built tree house adds that extra whimsy that makes this "wedding photography" unique and fun.

There are many (many!) more photos from this shoot which you can see HERE and a lot more beautiful and lovely themed shoots to see on the Connection Photography blog HERE. Just be aware that the blog is very image heavy and can take quite a while to load. It also has auto-play music but at least the player is easily visible at the head so you can turn it off straight away. Other than these little things there is a lot to enjoy there, especially if you like vintage-style photography.

Article: We Want More From Snow White

By Denis Zilber for a German anti-alcohol campaign

Now this is the sort of article I've been expecting to surface ever since ABC's Once Upon A Time became a hit. It starts like this:

The Little Mermaid is problematic. The girl who hates what she is, the misguided infatuation, the boy who likes a girl who knows how to keep her mouth shut . . .

Beauty and the Beast is probably worse. Kidnapping. Stockholm Syndrome. Interspecies angst.

Sleeping Beauty? Arrested development. Rapunzel? Desperation. Cinderella? One-night stand.

But none of these demented fairy tales have anything on Snow White.

In a fairy-tale cage match for the title of "most deranged, most horrific, most berserk classic children's story," Snow White lays waste to the competition. (And then devours the competition's internal organs.)

It's the kind of story you'd create if you were trying to mess kids up.

While this isn't exactly my view of Snow White (nor of the other tales - at least not as simply), the writer, does have some good points, especially as they echo concerns parents are currently having in reading kids fairy non-Disney versions of fairy tales.  My argument would be that's exactly why they should be read (but I digress and that's another paper altogether... ;)

Little Snow White by David T. Wenzel

She also goes on to talk about the Snow White movies in production, Once Upon A Time and puts forth theories as to why Snow White has gotten (and is getting) so many adaptations. I like what she finishes with (which explains also why the rest of the article is still very much worth a read):

I think we want more for Snow White — and more from her — than her story ever gives us. So we just keep coming up with new ways to tell it.

For some people this may be true and it may very well inspire new takes. Personally I think there is far more to Little Snow White (Grimm's version) than meets the eye, which is why I keep going back to it, but ultimately it doesn't matter. The best thing is that people are thinking - really thinking - about fairy tales and why these stories keep coming back to us again and again.

You can read the whole article HERE. 

"Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters" Release Postponed Till 2013

Were you wondering whatever happened to the promised Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters trailer, supposed to appear the week after the first (and only) official image hit the web? Don't worry. You didn't miss anything (except for perhaps the colon that's officially no longer in the title). Not only has the trailer NOT been publicly* released but the movie release has now been postponed for almost a whole year... 

Cue "music of doom".

Yes, you're not the only one thinking this doesn't bode well for the quality of the movie but the studio people are insisting the date change is for valid reasons, not because there's anything wrong with the movie. They even cited three "valid reasons":

The move comes on the heels of the successful opening of Paramount's micro-budgeted horror pic The Devil Inside and Christmas tentpole Mission: Impossible--Ghost Protocol, which has already earned $458.1 million worldwide. The two films almost guarantee that the studio will have a good fiscal quarter (and Devil Inside--scoring the best opening ever for early January--proves the corridor can be lucrative).  

There are two other reasons for the move, according to an insider. The 3D materials for Hansel and Gretel are only now coming in, and Paramount wants time to market the 3D aspect, particularly overseas.

Third, Renner -- who stars opposite Tom Cruise in Ghost Protocol -- has two other 2012 films, The Avengers, which comes out in early May, and The Bourne Legacy, which hits theaters in early August. The insider said pushing back Hansel and Gretel also allows the movie to benefit from the exposure Renner earns from those two films.

Are your fears allayed? Mine neither.  The only good thing about this is that ten months is long enough to fix a movie already well into production (that is, if you work hard, have a decent budget and know what you're doing).

It's really not fair to make any sort of judgement on the film without seeing a single second of footage but the fact we haven't even been allowed that yet, especially so close to the original release date, says a lot all by itself. I'm just glad someone had the guts to do something about it before putting anything out there. Fairy tale zeitgeist or not, it's still going to be tough to win over mainstream audiences with such "an inherently pulpy design" (as one source describes the premise and approach) unless they've really nailed it. I wish the team every success as they put on the finishing touches, however many hammers they have to use. 

Sources: HERE, HERE & HERE

*Publicly released no, but some people have seen it, with reportedly guarded to outright negative responses. (See 2nd source for a more detailed summary).

"Hans My Hedgehog" Story Poster by Yael Albert

I found this recently and loved, not only seeing some new artwork for a fairy tale I love but that the poster takes you through the whole story as well. I wish there were more tales illustrated this way. They'd make wonderful teaching and reference tools as well as fantastic additions to a playroom.

The artist, Yael Albert is an Israeli-born illustrator who, although she seems fairly new on the scene (within the last few years) has hit the ground running going from high profile awards to publishing contracts in New York, including The New York Times (click to see his illustration).

Unfortunately I can't seem to find any details on why this poster was made or what inspired her. I also sincerely wish there was a high resolution image of this poster available so I could see all the details in context but we'll have to settle for a few enlarged images instead.

I wanted to mention her lovely little postcard sketches from her blog too (like this one HERE). Apparently she found some old postcards and doodled in some imaginary aspects for each one - what a great idea! I love them. They're completely fairy tale-like in their atmosphere and remind me of when I was a child and thinking of tales in different situations. 

Her website is HERE, her blog HERE and this beautiful Hans My Hedgehog poster was originally found HERE.

Tim Burton's "Pinocchio", Guillermo del Toro's Stop-Motion "Pinocchio" & a "Pinocchio Prequel" All In The Works

How did I miss this Burton announcement this week? The fairy tale movie list just keeps growing and growing... and that's the truth. ;)

Burton, who put his bizarrely charming stamp on "Alice in Wonderland" in 2010, is in talks to direct a Warner Bros.-produced big screen, live action adaptation of "Pinocchio." Circling the role of Geppetto, the puppet-maker and creator of the marionette boy, is none other than Robert Downey Jr. This version of the fairytale originally written by Carlo Collodi would see Geppetto seeking out his lost puppet son; past iterations, including the classic Disney cartoon, have focused more on the twists, turns and lessons learned during Pinocchio's quest to become a real boy and reunite with the puppet-maker. 

Neither director nor actor has signed on the dotted line, and scheduling still has to be worked out, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, they are both keen to sign on. Source: HERE

Once somebody puts ink on a contract somewhere and makes this more than a conversation we should get quite a few more details on this Gepetto-centric adaptation since Burton doesn't take long to jump into his projects when he has all his strings in hand. (The media are going to have a field day with the puns on this one! And someone is going to have to say something about Robert Downey Jr going from Iron Man to wooden boy...)

Speaking of Pinocchio adaptations, whatever happened to the Guillermo del Toro, Henson & Gris Grimley 3D stop-motion animation project? I snapped up the Gris Grimley illustrated book that was the inspiration for this adaptation, back when it appeared years ago. Even though it's "Gris Grimley dark", it also has an interesting humor to the illustrations and suits Collodi's original story (technically "stories") very well. Add in the other creative heavy weights (del Toro and Henson Co) and the potential for a film like this is amazing.

Guillermo del Toro's Stop Motion Pinocchio

Here's the info from earlier last year:

Guillermo del Toro, The Jim Henson Company and Pathe are moving forward with a stop-motion animated 3D Pinocchio. It is a feature adaptation of the Carlo Collodi fairy tale and will reportedly be edgier than the 1940 animated Disney classic. Gris Grimly is set to co-direct with Mark Gustafson, and production will begin later this year. The basis of this project was Grimly's 2002 illustrated book of of Collodi’s tale. Del Toro and Matthew Robbins crafted the story based on a script from Robbins, who has collaborated with del Toro on scripts for Mimic, the Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark remake, and the upcoming At the Mountains of Madness. The director is producing the feature along with Jim Henson Company’s Lisa Henson and Jason Lust, and Allison Abbate. Gary Ungar is exec producer along with Pathe’s Francois Ivernel and Cameron McCracken. This version will be for audiences 10 years and up, and will be scarier than the Disney film. Australian musician and film composer Nick Cave will serve as the music consultant for the project. The puppets and 3D elements will be developed with the UK's MacKinnon and Saunders, that did The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, and the upcoming Frankenweenie.

Guillermo de Toro's Pinocchio - key frame

And, in case you haven't read them before, here are some excerpts from an interview with Guillermo del Toro regarding Pinocchio, Collodi's characters and fairy tale recorders and adaptors (including Disney) from HERE:

“There has to be darkness in any fairy tale or children’s narrative work, something the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson and Walt Disney understood. We tend to call something Disney-fied, but a lot of people forget how powerfully disturbing the best animated Disney movies are, including those kids being turned into donkeys in Pinocchio. What we’re trying to do is present a Pinocchio that is more faithful to the take that Collodi wrote. That is more surreal and slightly darker than what we’ve seen before.”

“the Blue Fairy is really a dead girl’s spirit. Pinocchio has strange moments of lucid dreaming bordering on hallucinations, with black rabbits. The sperm whale that swallows Pinocchio was actually a giant dogfish, which allows for more classical scale and design. The many mishaps Pinocchio goes through include several near-death close calls, a lot more harrowing moments. The key with this is not making any of it feel gratuitous, because the story is integrated with moments of comedy and beauty. He’s one of the great characters, whose purity and innocence allows him to survive in this bleak landscape of robbers and thugs, emerging from the darkness with his soul intact.”

So the current status on this project is unknown apart from being "in production". Apparently it went into production toward the end of 2011 as planned and things have been very quiet from the team (I'm guessing they're very busy!) since.

Guillermo de Toro's Pinocchio - key frame

There's one more Pinocchio project in the works too: a prequel called The Three Misfortunes of Gepetto with Shawn Levyy (Real Steel) attached to direct as of October 2011 (see HERE for a couple more details). It's being touted as “a fresh way into the Pinocchio story.” 

Deadline report the studio bought Michael Vukadinovich's screenplay for The Three Misfortunes of Geppetto, and aim to produce a film in the vein of "Big Fish or The Princess Bride." In the story, Geppetto "endures a life of misfortune, war and adventure all to be with Julia Moon, his true love." (Source: HERE)

Not much else on this project right now either but I'm sure it will get more than a few mentions and perhaps nudge out any further news (if there is any) with the Burton & Robert Downey Jr. announcement this week.

Russian Animation Classic "The Snow Queen" on Special Exhibit

In case you didn't know, there was an animated film made in Russia 55 years ago of Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen. It won awards from all over the world and still has animators and layout artists discussing it today.

 From Haute Living:

Currently on exhibit until Feb. 5 at the Na Solyanke Gallery in Moscow is the “Cold and Beauty: The Snow Queen is 55.”  The exhibit features the work of modern world-renowned artists and animators, the airing of “The Snow Queen” and the original sketches by Alexander Vinokurov to the 1957 Russian award-winning animated film.

The exhibit honors the 1957 Soviet animated film “The Snow Queen” directed by Lev Atamanov -the film is based off of the story with the same name by Hans Christian Andersen- after its release, the film won numerous awards around the world.  It was incredibly popular in the Soviet Union and kids to this day still watch the “Snow Queen.”

To mark the success and impact of Atamanov’s animated rendition of the “Snow Queen,” Na Soyanke Gallery featured works from many artists who created pieces themed after the dreamlike tale.  Some of the pieces include David Birkin’s frozen video portraits of famous Russian athletes and celebrities.  Other artists involved in the exhibit were Andrei Bartenev, Khaik Simonyan and Katya Bochavar.

Although there was no way the curator of the exhibit could have known Disney would revive it's Snow Queen project yet again just recently, the timing for such an exhibit is excellent. If this was showing after Disney's Snow Queen (titled Frozen) started releasing teasers and marketing, I don't think as many people would be as interested. At the very beginning of Frozen is a completely different matter, so I hope it gets the attention it deserves.

 Interested in seeing more stills? Go HERE and enjoy. (Note: there are actually 2 more posts "Snow Queen 2" and "Snow Queen 3" of stills and layouts from the same film at this blog.)

Speaking of Frozen in case there was any question whether or not Disney's revived fairy tale project was to be hand drawn or CG it's definitely CG. And 3D. Sigh. (Note: I did have confirmation of this in my announcement post HERE but a lot of people must have skimmed that little tidbit in the excitement of seeing Snow Queen thawing at Disney once again - not that I blame them!) The current release date for Frozen is a 2013 Winter release on November 23.

First Behind-the-Scenes Photos of "Mirror Mirror"

Lily Collins stands alone in the woods set of Mirror Mirror.

Here is a "first look" at Mirror Mirror, the Snow White film with Julia Roberts and Lily Collins.

It's really more of a "on the set of" set of photos as most of the photos include crew and peeks at the rigging holding the scenery. I love seeing all this, of course, but these particular shots don't give you any more of an idea of the movie than the original trailer did. One thing is for certain though: no matter what's going on with the plot (or the jokes) the visuals promise to be stunning. The design work and cinematography all show a strong and cohesive stylistic signature (as was expected of director Tarsem Singh) and I actually want to see the "making of" featurettes more than the movie itself.

Camera trainee Camille Baduraux crouches next to a fancy snow sled in which Nathan Lane is preparing to act.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Tarsem Singh (Immortals) hopped into the director's chair for the 14-week shoot when Ratner stepped aside, turning the movie into an "all stage" production. Singh crafted the movie's many environments exclusively on soundstages with the help of digital effects and elaborate costumes from Oscar winner Eiko Ishioka (Bram Stoker's Dracula). The result, producers hope, is a whimsical family film with modern sensibility.

"It's an animated movie come to life," says Goldmann. "You can only do that with the greenscreen effect."

Lily Collins stands by as a large clapper board is used to mark the beginning of a scene. (I really like this photo!)

There are 23 behind-the-scenes photos to browse through and you can find them all HERE.

Mirror Mirror now has a release date of March 16th, 2012, instead of June 29th.

Nathan Lane relaxes sans shoes.

Kate Greenaway's "Pied Piper" New eBook with Audio

Disclaimer: I was given free access to this eBook for the purposes of a survey and review. My thanks to Animusia for contacting me with the opportunity.

If you like The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning then you will probably be familiar with Kate Greenaway's lovely illustrations for the poem as well.

New eBook Cover

What's cool is that there's a new, high quality eBook (released December 21, 2011) that not only has beautifully reproduced high quality images that you can enlarge till you can see every detail of Kate Greenaway's lovely illustrations but a very special audio recording that makes the whole poem, and viewing the artwork, fresh again.

While having a high quality copy of the illustrations is worth the price in my opinion, it's the new audio presentation that takes this ebook from good to excellent and will keep you coming back to it. The poem is read beautifully by Stella Arman, a singer and vocal trainer, and it's possibly the best I've ever heard Robert Browning's Pied Piper read and presented. The music, Gordon Jacob’s Pied Piper suite for flute and piccolo, complements it perfectly. 

The combination of the reading, music and illustrations kept both my young son and I turning the pages right till the end. Frankly, I was surprised my son was initially so interested but he said it was really pretty to listen to. When the animation began with the children moving through the streets to the Piper's music he lit up and started asking questions about where they were going.

Unfortunately I don't have an e-reader of my own and was only able to borrow an iTouch to view it on but I imagine the experience would have been even better on iPad. On the iTouch the animation was a little jittery and there were initial download issues but that may just be because we didn't have the latest gadget available, even though we upgraded the software to enable the download in the first place.


We didn't use the text highlighting option but I think it would have been excellent if we'd had an iPad (ie a much larger screen) to view it with, as the audio appealed to my son so much I think it would have encouraged him to try reading along (he's just starting to recognize words and sound out new one).

I only have two issues with the eBook:


1) You have to go through iTunes to get it and I'm not a fan of iTunes for multiple reasons.
2) When you enlarge images, although the detail and quality is, indeed, excellent, the nature of the enlargement, in which you lose your view of the rest of the illustration, takes away from the experience. The one time my son lost interest is when we started enlarging things and he couldn't see the whole picture anymore. 



Children are big fans of details in illustrations - something Kate Greenaway specifically included in her Pied Piper illustrations on Ruskin's advice. When you're looking at details in a book the rest of the "magic" of the picture is still maintained and unfortunately this is lost in most eBooks I've seen, including this one. I know that's the nature of enlarging things in general but I have to wonder if maybe a magnifying bubble or similar enlarging tool that keeps the rest of the illustration visible in the background, might not be a better option, especially when sharing with children. 







Overall I was surprised I enjoyed this eBook as it takes something special for me to recommend one. I'm not won over (at least not yet) by most of the eBook technology available but this new eBook helped me take the reading experience one step beyond a book for my son with the addition of the beautiful audio and I can see us reading it again. For that it has my thumbs up.



If you'd like to add this to your library the current price is $7.99 (I suggest you take into account the excellent recording when you compare prices with other eBooks) and the link is HERE.

The Joy of Books

From Maria Tatar's blog and many other places today...

As soon as I saw this, I simply had to share. (Email subscribers: I don't think the mail service includes embedded videos. You'll want to check out this one out on the blog.)

For all my book-loving friends everywhere and for fans of hand-made animation. Magical stuff!



You can find out more about the creator, Sean Ohlenkamp, in an interview HERE about this project that's gone viral in just one day.

If you want to see other creations of his (not all animation) you can check out his portfolio HERE.