Article: "Why Haven't We Outgrown Fairy Tales?" (with Maria Tatar)

After having had so many fairy tales invade our theaters and TVs in such a short period of time (the last couple of years),

WHY are they continuing to invade our screens?

From The Washington Post, comes an article on a topic more than a few people have been speculating about recently with fairy tale films, series and spin-offs still being big business, despite having had a slew of them the last couple of years.

Maria Tatar

Seeing Maria Tatar* was weighing in, I thought people would be interested to see what she has to say. It's quite a brief article and seems a little haphazard and sparse but, as always, Ms. Tatar says things well, even in a short space.

The article discusses why fairy tales continue to be popular, what fairy tale characters does Ms. Tatar think are most relevant to us as a society right now and what's the reason for the trend of retelling tales from a darker point of view, sometimes, like Disney's movie-in-production Maleficent will, using the villains POV.

Interestingly, the answer to the question posed at the top of this post isn't really answered. it's discussed why fairy tales continue to be popular but Ms. Tatar doesn't put forth any theories on why there's a fairy tale zeitgeist right now.

(Note: retelling tales in a darker, more gritty form isn't limited to fairy tales - it's everywhere: look at the new, very successful Batman franchise, Man of Steel and any other "reboot" of long-loved heroes. They're all showing their dark side, their struggles and people are can't get enough right now.)

Fan made poster - Disney has now confirmed the release date for Maleficent will be JULY 2, 2014

While the questions are fascinating (and I'd love to see more people giving their two cents on them), there was one question in particular I wanted to highlight, especially as there's a strong resistance to the subject being called a fairy tale at all.

Toney: “Once Upon a Time” has spin-off coming this fall, “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland,” why “Alice and Wonderland”? 

It’s our story about disorientation, being in a world that feels like nonsense. How do you manage, cope and survive? I think of my fourth-grade teacher sternly telling me that it’s not a story for children. Alice faces a deep existential crisis. She’s assaulted verbally. She’s constantly losing control and having to regain control. 

Tatar: That we’re taking up that story seems really important. Everyone thinks they’re in a world of crisis, especially with new technology. There’s a divide between digital natives and the rest of us. We use tales like “Alice and Wonderland” to teach us how to move forward. They take us to other worlds but also propel us forward to think about who we are and how we think about things in our own time and place and crisis situations.

(Emphasis is mine.)

Fan made OUAT-Wonderland poster

I agree that there's something about Alice that's changed in the last, perhaps, twenty years or so. There's definitely something happening with Alice and Wonderland - not as was written by Lewis Carroll but in the way certain characters and motifs have taken on a life of their own in society and pop-culture. And not just in England, where you would expect, or the US where you would think perhaps Disney had a big hand in making it popular (which he did but not in the way it has become so), but all over the world. Asian countries in particular adore Alice and her Wonderland.

I wrote something briefly about Alice during the Goodreads chat with fairy tale lecturer and author Kate Wolford and am adding it because it's essentially talking about the same phenomena:

On Alice: the book(s) totally creeps me out BUT (and I mean to write an essay on this sometime soon) I think Alice is a prime example of society turning an "idea" (because not that many people have actually read the books) into a cultural/societal fairy tale (I added societal because although the English sensibilities remain in many ways, Americans love the (Wonderland) world, so do Asians etc etc). The images and motifs have been given a life of their own beyond the book and because of such, have become a fairy tale in the true definition which is continually mutable according to the world and people telling it retaining it's motifs and speaking beyond culture and time...

It was written rather hurriedly, stream-of-consciousness style and may not make as much sense as I wanted to, but hopefully you get the idea. The main thing is, we, as fairy tale people, can't afford to ignore Alice, or her Wonderland any longer. Saying "that** isn't a true fairy tale" isn't going to fly any more. Which begs the question: what do we do about Alice?


I recommend a read of the Washington Post article. It's a quick read and only begins to touch on the topics (I wish it had been a meatier interview!) but it should get you thinking and hopefully all of us talking to each other. Everyone else is. Just take a look through the comments below the article - these are people who are seriously interested in the question and for the first time in a while, they're interested in what fairy tale people have to say.

I'm also curious to think what tales you believe will be focused on next. Tatar says "giants" and more male figure stories. What do you think?

*If you're just tuning in to the blog and are unfamiliar with Maria Tatar you'll see she's one of the people who we regularly pay attention to, having written many wonderful resources for fairy tale study and being  a Harvard University folklore and mythology professor. 

** By "THAT" I mean - NOT the book by Carroll/Dodgson but the Alice stories, the motifs, the idea of Wonderland and the character of Alice herself.

Cress's 1st Chapter Released + Win an ARC (So You can Keep Reading!)

From Marissa Meyer's Facebook page today:

"IT'S HERE, CRESS'S FIRST CHAPTER IS HERE."

(That would be HERE.)

And she's also released the  "cover copy" (aka the back-of-the-book blurb):

Ready?

**BUT WAIT! IF YOU HAVEN'T YET READ "CINDER" & "SCARLET", HERE THERE BE SPOILERS!!**

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth.  

Rapunzel On the Tower by mairimart

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker – unfortunately, she’s being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she’s just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.
 When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she’d ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

Marissa Meyers also announced THIS:

"Once you've had your fill of Cress's first chapter, be sure to head over to my blog for your FIRST CHANCE to win an advance copy of CRESS!" 

(And that would be HERE.)

But how on earth (Ha! Punny*) do we wait until next February 4th 2014 for the rest??

(Answer: Go try to win an advanced reader copy!)

"Into The Woods" Movie - Revised Cast List (so far...)

Fan made poster for Disney's live action "Into The Woods" movie

Screenplay read from late 2012

OK - this was a toughie to pin down! Information is flying fast and furiously around the net about this right now and things are in flux with a whole lot of TBCs (To Be Confirmed) among the names.

I kept finding conflicting information in supposedly reliable news sources so have done my best to sort all the inconsistencies out and make a list of exactly(ish) where things stand - as of writing this post, that is. This is as accurate a list as I can construct without additional secret insider info to help me out. (It is more than possible there will be news between the time I post this and the time you read it right now!)

I used an old screenplay reading list from the end of last year and have updated a bunch of changes (scribbling with a very uncooperative mouse! - not a real mouse! - though that would be cool if I could find a mouse who could hold a pen and wanted to help...).

Checks [√] mean the name is confirmed. Dots [•] mean they're TBC (to be confirmed) and are "in talks" (in biz-speak, this means they're almost sure these actors will do it but need to iron out the fine print of the contract before they're confirmed as "in"). Question marks [?] mean we have no idea (yet!) who the character will be played by at this time.

I left the names of the original screenplay readers there, just in case they're also "in talks" but haven't announced it publicly yet.

Revised cast list as of June 24, 2013 incl. TBC

In case you didn't notice, I've added in a couple of extra bits of information on the songs, the script and the Director of Photography (DP). You should be able to click on the image to see it larger (or do "view original image" and that should give you the bigger size), in case the mouse-scribble is too difficult to decipher.

Rob Marshall directing Disney's live action "Into The Woods"

Since that's a ton of info to take in for one post, and things are still very jello like with how a group cast photo will eventually look, (so VERY curious as to whom Red will be!) I'm going to leave you with just this for now.

Oh - and in case you didn't know - Bernadette Peters has been vocal in her approval of all the confirmed and TBC cast so far! In lieu of actually having her on board, I'd say that's the next, best thing. :)

Disney has announced the release date for the movie as Christmas Day (December 25) 2014.

"It won't cost much... just your voice!" (aka The Fairy Tale Fortunes of a Voice Actress)

Samantha Morton loses her "voice" (image via The Film Experience)

From a little story I came across yesterday, which reminded me of another little story you may have heard of, in which a desperate mermaid bargains away her voice for something she wanted even more...

(Via Slashfilm):

Most of us don’t spend a lot of time considering the nuances of disembodied robot voices like Siri’s or the GPS navigator’s. But then most of us aren’t directing movies in which an operating system is one of the romantic leads.
Scarlett Johansson has replaced Samantha Morton as the computerized love interest of Spike Jonze‘s Her, which stars Joaquin Phoenix as a writer who falls for his operating system. The change came about at the last minute — initial shooting had already wrapped when Jonze decided to recast the part.

Samantha Morton as Agatha in The Minority Report

The Film Experience put it this way:

I realize it's only* voicework but I'm bit sad that Samantha Morton's voice has been removed from the upcoming Spike Jonze picture Her. She was to voice the operating system that Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with in lieu of, one supposes, flesh and blood options. I thought Samantha was brilliant in insert anything from her filmography here, and even though it was only* voicework, I was anxious to "see" her again.
Morton has the most terrible ratio of talent-to-role opportunities. I don't quite get what's happened to her career as she's one of the best screen actors alive. Still, since the world has a very short memory I didn't notice much mourning online about her replacement when the news broke.

Samantha Morton

It should be noted that Spike Jonze has released a statement saying he has the utmost respect for Ms. Morton, that she's a longtime friend and remains so.

The parallels with Andersen's The Little Mermaid are fascinating as it's an aspect of the story not concentrated on as much - that of losing your "voice", or position, or "say" when someone else comes along and (through no fault of their own) takes your place. It's the biz. It's actually most "biz" and it kinda sucks. But this is one of the reasons we love the tales. Because they're very good at showing the consequences of various scenarios and we have a better chance of making an informed decision when it comes to our own lives.

Unlike Disney's version, Andersen's Little Mermaid doesn't have a happy ending in that she doesn't get the "role" she had her heart set on, of being the prince's True Love. Even though Samantha Morton earned her "legs" (or as IMDB puts it "is known as one of the finest actors of her generation") she still got bumped by the star du jour (who, to be fair, is not without "legs" herself).

It should be noted, though, that Andersen's unnamed Mermaid did end up with a soul by behaving like the true princess she'd wanted to be (soulless to soul-having = not too shabby) so there's always hope that this unfortunate setback of Ms. Morton's will (somehow) free her up to move onto bigger and better things - especially with the support of so many critics shaking fingers at this odd last-minute change by Spike Jonez this week.

I do think it's pretty neat that in the middle of this (apparent) crisis, the general response from those looking on is that, no matter what, they still want Samantha Morton to be "part of that world"... ♫

Samantha Morton

Note: This message is brought to you by the DCA: Dinglehopper Colllectors Anonymous. ;)

*Please note that "only voicework" was not meant to be derogatory in any way. The writer even made his own little annotated note on the subject in The Film Experience's article.

Enchanted Conversations with Kate Wolford on Goodreads: Highlights

Last week we were privileged to have two days (June 19 & 20) of real-time "enchanted conversation" during a Goodreads author-chat with Kate Wolford, editor and writer of Beyond the Glass Slipper and creator of Enchanted Conversation, A Fairy Tale Magazine, the online and free-to-read resource that's fostering some truly wonderful fairy tale writing.

I (by some miracle) managed to join in from time to time and was so encouraged to see great dialogue on fairy tales and writing and in members of the fairy tale community coming together! (And I also had the wonderful surprise of my very own copy of Beyond the Glass Slipper arrive during that time! I can't wait to get into it.)

There were eight topics being discussed simultaneously, not always in real time but they were all active during the whole two days. I grabbed a screencap for you:

 

Look at all the goodies! And all with a focus on writing new fairy tales and retellings. Don't you wish you had joined in now? (Bad news: we have no idea when Kate will be available to chat with us again. Good news: you can still read everything that was said.)

The experience reminded me of the SurLaLune fairy tale and folklore discussion forums which, although no longer as active as it once was*, is still (wonderfully!) available for reading, research and discussion (THANK YOU Heidi). I miss those conversations! Kate's Goodreads discussion brought all that excitement back. I will be the first to admit that though I was (literally) running in and out the door to appointments during the whole two days, I would pause if I possibly could for a few seconds as I rushed by the computer, refresh the Goodreads page while still standing, and do my best to speed read (and sometimes speed-write!) through the comments (and my apologies for glaring syntax and typos that occurred to participants... *red-face*)

Enough gushing - let me show you some of the highlights:

On "Indispensable books and resources?" the discussion opened was opened by S.g. with:

I've been serializing some fantasy work based off fairytales for a while. One of the things that I felt a little uncomfortable about is that when it comes to fairy tales there tends to be one or two predominant versions that everyone seems to stick to... part of my own research prior to jumping into a new one is trying to make sure I've read a lot of the different versions so I have a sense of what might be essential facets of a specific tales before I decide what "core things" to retain in a fantasy reenvisioning.
While I have to say I really am glad to have the SurLaLune BLog (http://surlalunefairytales.blogspot.com/) to consult, 
What are some good academic papers, journals, or books that I can consult? 

Among the many suggestions, Kate added this gem:

You know, my library of fairy tale books has grown almost entirely from looking at the bibliographies of the backs of books.
It's like secret book treasure.  

Yes! I agree completely. :)

On "The "Popular" Tales", discussion opened with a topic that is directly addressed by Kate Wolford's book, Beyond the Glass Slipper. Siareen commented:

I think if anyone saw a game, a book or a movie that integrated a number of tales "Into the Woods" style, it wouldn't be difficult to come up with most the tales without actually looking.
For instance most the princesses would be there, such as "Snow White", "Cinderella", "Rapunzel", "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast" and "Sleeping Beauty", there might also be some "Little Red Riding Hood", "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Rumpelstiltskin" and "Hansel and Gretel", and if we're really lucky, they might go for some of the "less well known" tales such as "Twelve Dancing Princesses", "Thumbelina and "The Frog Prince".
The list of options, sadly never gets much bigger than that. There seem to be a number of tales which everyone knows [not all Disney], which are used and reused again and again and again. Most the rest lay mostly forgotten by the public until they pick up say an original Grimm fairy tale collection and realize they don't recognize half the tales.
Why do you think some tales are popular while others are not?
Are these the better tales? The ones that appeal more to our day and age? Perhaps they are the ones which are easiest to retell or write about? Or are there just certain elements that make these stories the ones everyone thinks about when they hear the words "fairy tale"? 

Naturally we talked a little about Kate's book and then we refocused things a little:

Maybe we can focus the topic more on writing fairy tale inspired stories. It's these same tales that seem to be the inspiration for most the literary interpretations. Do you think there are the tales that are easier to turn into a story? Or is it only familiarity that plays the important role in fairy tale retelling choices? 

We discussed illustrations, nostalgia, pop-culture, Disney (of course - such a huge influence though the company can't take credit for keeping Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and others in popular circulation), and cultural influences and traditions (eg Germany's and Russia's canons of popular tales might surprise many).

The most popular topic by far was: "What Do You Dislike In New Fairy Tale Telling Trends?" and although we all had our various niggles we did put forward some positive options and ideas as well (this was a very fun back and forth).

Kate added this quotable set of comments in the middle of it all:

Fairy tales are made by society. They are shaped by society at LEAST as much as they shape it.
What we don't like our fairy tales anymore, we change them. Heck, when we DO like them, we change them.
The cultural heritage aspect of them is one of the reasons we return to fairy tales. Just looking at the discussions here today, you can see how fairy tales grab people. We'll never quit them. The discussion here today show how far into the cultural DNA they are.

I have to add Alyne's lovely opening comment on the "Why do you love Fairy Tale re-tellings?" topic, which was the next most active discussion:

This book by Tanith Lee (Red As Blood, or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer) made me want to write fiction, as did Angela Carter's book, The Bloody Chamber. These are some pretty old books and so its been a long time I've had this dream.
I had to live in Europe to find my plots. Always the fairy tale element is there. Why? Because I am haunted by Grimm. 
Childhood is indelible.Those fairies and witches and enchantments, including the dark forest and castles and strange chapels, were incredibly romantic to me. 
Fairy tales are the stories of our ancestors. They are also cover stories for forbidden mysteries. Finding the root of these mysteries is a quest for some artists. Removing the veil. From this simple intrigue can spring many stories. That's what drives me as a writer. What about you as writer or reader? Why do you seek fairy tales?

(By the way - I am SO interested to know what any reader out there is thinking in response to these right now! If you have comments you want to share, please feel free to add them below. The more we discuss, the better equipped we will be as writers, artists and filmmakers in using fairy tales.)

A fascinating and tricky subject, which I wish we'd had more time to discuss was: "Re-writing "problem" tales", that is, tales that have something disturbing about them, including those that seem unfair and/or have an unhappy ending (Kate includes a few of these in her book by the way). This one is a little weightier and more difficult to grab an excerpt from that's self-explanatory so I will just suggest that you go read through the discussion. If you write or work with fairy tales, you're going to bump up against this problem sooner or later.

We also described fairy tales as "cultural dynamite"and "peanut butter" (as in, they go with everything/every genre). I'll leave you to look up the context HERE if you're interested... ;)

Kate's book is not only a good individual resource but is, as you can see a good prompt for conversations in the fairy tale community. I'm going to include the blurb from the back of the book as it summarizes very clearly, not only what the book is about but the spirit of the work that Kate Wolford is doing and just how inspiring it was to have her discussing fairy tales with the community at large:

Oh and please note: if you are an e-reader, Beyond the Glass Slipper has special e-reader friendly annotations and functions (explained HERE) to make the book more fun to read and a great fingertip resource.

I dearly wish there was a way to make fairy tale community discussions a regular feature but it's not as easy to make happen as you'd think. Kudos to Kate and the Enchanted Conversation readers and writers in particular for making it fantastic. I had a blast. I highly recommend joining in (or at least lurking and occasionally waving hi) if anything like this happens again.

*Older discussions were very active indeed, with members signing in daily and sometimes multiple times a day to contribute. They're a gold mine of information and inspiration. It would be wonderful to see this happen again!

Once Upon A Time In Wonderland: New Promo

Once Upon A Time In Wonderland is very busy trying to get our attention.

Would you like the new & just released shorter promo version on the Love Conquers All theme...?

...Or the (much!) longer one with the mini-story "Nothing Is Impossible In Wonderland"?
(3:36 mins)

 

News keeps appearing about various characters, Tumblr blogs dedicated to the show are already appearing and there's even a forum already well into discussion and speculation about what's going to happen and how...

I am actually more intrigued than I thought I'd be with the shorter promo as it did grab my attention more than the longer one (although OMG the cheesy FX does kill scenes from time to time!). I'm hoping the editor who worked on the short promo gets to have input on the editing of the show. 

Fairy tale bonus of the day (sort of): As we all know (but easily forget), editors can make or break a movie or show. I will be forever grateful for the editor who revealed the true nature of Mary Poppins in the "Scary Mary Recut Trailer" She did always creep me out as a kid... If you're interested, but worried about the visuals, don't be - you've seen it all before - it's just presented very differently to how Disney does.

The Mad Hatter character in OUAT is one of the more solid and well thought out characters for me (and the actor really knows how to make the best of his lines!) so I'm very curious to see if the established "Once Wonderland" characters will be integrated, or if this is pretty much a separate envisioning. As far as I'm concerned, Hatter can join the party any time!

Phew! I guess Fall is approaching more swiftly than we realized...

Marissa Meyer's 3rd Sci-Fi Fairy Tale "Cress" Ramping Up To Feb 2014 Release

Marissa Meyer, author of the best-selling cyborg Cinderella retelling Cinder and the Red Riding Hood inspired sequel Scarlet, leaked some exciting news on her Facebook page yesterday regarding the impatiently-awaited next installment in the series, Cress.

From Marissa Meyer's FB yesterday:

Okay guys, here's the current scoop! 1. CRESS's release date is 2/4/2014. 2. We'll be sharing the FIRST CHAPTER next week. Like, early next week. Like, SOON. 3. Cover art will be revealed in a few weeks. 4. I'll be kicking off some ARC giveaways as early as JULY, so stay tuned!!

OK. That's it: I need a fairy tale calendar of awesome upcoming events!

In case you weren't yet aware, from the ARC cover pic shown you can see Cress is inspired by Rapunzel. The included text also gives us some clues about how this sci-fi fairy tale will begin. (I'm SO looking forward to this!)

It's only relatively recent that I was able to catch up on The Lunar Chronicles. Although I'd heard nothing but great things it's fair to say, although I definitely expected excellent writing (which there was), I was fairly neutral about the series, seeing as it started off with a Cinderella interpretation*, as unusual as the premise was, but I LOVED it all.

Here's a little fairy tale bonus of the day:

On Pinterest I call them "Imag-ine-àges" - magical story image collages. They're commonly known as Picspams - collections of screencaps or photos assembled as a tribute to a story, character or idea, and I found one someone put together in honor of Marissa Meyer's first Lunar chronicles heroine, Cinder:

 I'm not going to post a review of either Cinder or Scarlet (there are hundreds of those you can check out!) BUT I will say that if you love fairy tales, are studying them and/or believe in their timeless power you need to read this series.

Note: Scarlet recently hit The New York Times Bestseller list as well! Congrats Marissa!!

*Which apart from having been done so very, many times, Cinderella stories tend to be romance-focused (and this was YA romance) - nothing wrong with that, it just isn't my genre of choice, but even with my low tolerance I wasn't bored for an instant!

Dark and Primal Snow Queen Illustrations by ~a-hour

SNOWQUEEN by ~a-hour

Here's something I've been wanting to share ever since I first saw it. Now that Disney's direction for Frozen is a little clearer I thought those who were disappointed would be glad to know that HCA's The Snow Queen is still inspiring some of the most amazing illustration out there.

This is from deviantArt-ist ~a-hour who has been working on a personal Snow Queen project since early in 2013. The collection (of three so far) is darker than most illustrations you see based on the fairy tale but these definitely capture that spirit and maintain that fairy tale feel. I wasn't surprised to discover the artist is Russian (?*)  as the sensibilities are very much in keeping with other Russian artists work, including a very down-to-earth sense of the gravity of Winter and how perilous it can be.

Lauren Davis from iO9 made a great note on how ~a-hour chose to present various aspects of the story:

(The artist's) anthropomorphic approach gives the illustrations an ancient, mythical feel, and the mixture of the primal with the modern lend her "Snow Queen" images an otherworldliness often missing from recent interpretations of fairy tales.

Dtatil from SNOWQUEEN by ~a-hour

 I completely agree.

Although I would have to add a side note to mention that many modern interpretations DO possess that quality - they just don't always make it into the mainstream, aren't noticed and "memed" by pop-culture and so slip under the radar, aging alongside the garish and shallow work of their contemporaries but believe me - there are many artists and writers and, yes, even filmmakers, who  are able to capture some of that elusive "olde worlde fairy tale essence" in their work.

Interestingly, if you had been following the early concept art from Frozen, these images - as concept art - would have fit fairly well! Unfortunately I haven't seen anything that would indicate Disney has tapped into any of this. *goes and cries in a corner for a couple of minutes before continuing*

But back to the beautiful. (And I'm making this next one as huge as possible so you can take a good look - a really good look...)

Detail from SNOWQUEEN by ~a-hour

Check the details!

Take the Snow Queen character image (which is apparently still a work in progress, although it looks just fine to me!): the reindeer skull (Death) propping up the Queen's face, antlers that look almost like tortured hands reaching upward as they froze over, the North (& South?) Winds as tamed lions peeking out from her fur wrap, the shard-like and brittle-looking hands in opposite ices of frozen white and deathly black, the frosted ice crown that looks like mirror shards, the crescent moon scepter which might just double as a scythe, her cold and soulless eyes, the fading/dying wheat of the previous season reflecting the colors of the Aurora Borealis... I should stop. Heh.

(And yes - all this may be completely wrong, since the artist mentions nothing about any of these aspects in her posts, but it's what I see in there.)

"Crows" SNOWQUEEN by ~a-hour

This next piece at right, titled "Crows",  is also for ~a-hour's Snow Queen project and adds a different aspect to the usual tale. She writes:

This is the part of my personal project based on "Snow Queen", same as The Deer, and shows two crows, who helped Gegda to find Kai. They are ghosts of murdered lovers - Karl and Clara; their hearts are connected and they can't fly without each other.

Apparently there is more explanation to come and  I'm completely intrigued. (More please!)

I have to say, though, that this next one is my real favorite: "Deer".

"Deer" SNOWQUEEN - by ~a-hour

This is Gerda's reindeer friend but in a very different form.

The Autumnal section of Andersen's Snow Queen was always my favorite, with the robber girl and the reindeer. A favorite image - and sought-after illustration - from the Andersen tale for many is when Gerda rides the reindeer on the last leg of her journey to find Kai, into the land of Ice and Snow.

In this incarnation, though, we have a very formidable friend indeed, complete with clawed feet and holding... a motorcycle helmet. (It kind of makes me want to cheer!)

I'm really looking forward to seeing Gerda (which we've been promised will come next) and whatever comes after. It's just stunning. And chilling. And wonder-full.

 Sadly, Disney's  Frozen doesn't look like it will reflect any of the insight into the fairy tale shown here**, nor tap the earthy quality that makes the original story of Gerda, Kai and the Snow Queen so loved. But if people continue to be inspired the way this artist is there's a good chance The Snow Queen will have another season in which to tell her tale and we will fall in love all over again.

* Not entirely sure of the artist's nationality but they often post in Russian - or some variant - on deviantArt.
** Though almost all animation film marketing has been incredibly misleading the last few years and I almost missed some wonderful filmmaking as a result (!!) so I am holding out hope I will be pleasantly surprised - because I would love to love a Disney fairy tale again!

DEAR BABA YAGA:

“Baba Yaga and Vasilisa Diptych” by Milo Neuman

I've long-wished we (the fairy tale community) had a fairy tale newsroom, with lots of different newshounds, articles and features; one of those being an advice column. I've started to think about this again semi-seriously in the hopes of building up the fairy tale community and have been wondering: if Once Upon A Blog did have an advice column, who would be a good "Dear Abby"?

A fairy godmother seemed a little too genteel for the kinds of things I had in mind. Then I came across this:

"Ask Baba Yaga" by Taisia Kitaiskaia*

Instant love. The advice was published on The Hairpin, a general interest women's blog (see link) and I quickly discovered I wasn't the only one who wished this were a regular feature.

Quick note for new readers or those unfamiliar with Baba Yaga: I suggest giving OldRussia.net a quick look for a great summary (although Wikipedia is good too) but the important thing to know is that she and her chicken legged house (that bites!) is the stuff of nightmares for many Slavic and Russian children, however, unlike other witches in fairy tales, she is not necessarily all bad. Scary - yes, but she has a set of rules and sometimes this means she helps the good of heart. The dual aspects of this character make her fascinating and unpredictable. In general though, she remains quite terrifying.

 Here are some of the comments from readers:

I LOVE THIS. Baba Yaga is the stuff of nightmares, who wants to talk about DEAD SOULS for a minute??

And this exchange:

Amphora - My Russian Lit teacher in undergrad was totally channeling Baba Yaga all the time.
Spaghettius! - @Amphora As a moderately Russian person, let me tell you that this was probably unintentional. Unavoidable, even.

Baba Yaga by Vania Zouravliov

From another reader (who could have been reading my mind):

"Could this be a regular feature? Teach me how to salt my bones with glory, Baba Yaga!"

To which the author replied "I hope so!" then followed up with "email me or leave a question here", resulting in a flood of mail to our favorite hag-to-hate, such as the following:

"Dear Baba Yaga, my mortar and pestle won't start in cold weather. How do I get them to work consistently? P.S. Don't bullshit me, Baba Yaga, or you'll wish you were a hangnail on a plague-ridden rat."

Baba Yaga & Vasilisa by Forest Rogers

"Dear Baba Yaga, I once hid my heart in a needle...that I put in an egg, that was in a duck, that was in a hare, that was in an iron chest, that I buried under a tree on the island Buyan. I recently dug up the chest and, well, it's in pretty bad shape, having been buried so long. How can I restore it so it looks like new again (before I rebury it). P.S. Don't bullshit me, Baba Yaga, or I'll just go Ask A Clean Person. I really should be doing that anyway but I figured we're kinfolk of a sort and so I thought I'd give you a break.
-Koschei"

There's more (a LOT more) about Baba Yaga herself, various childhood experiences in which she was key, comments about her house, her "security system", the chicken legs and, well, you should just go check it out HERE.

And while I noodle on how to make a fairy tale newsroom happen (suggestions welcome - just email me at the address shown in the sidebar!), have a think about what you would ask her. You can even leave a comment below and I'll pass them on.

You never know. She might just reply...

*Taisia Kitaiskaia is a poet, writer, and Michener Center for Writers fellow. Born in Russia and raised in America, she's had her poems and translations published in Narrative Magazine, Poetry International, and others.

Cinderella Gets a Fairly-Odd-Mother

Helena Bonham Carter in an outfit I always thought of as "Cinderella's Fairy Godmother giving the dress a test-run"

And we like it! From Slashfilm late yesterday:

Kenneth Branagh‘s live-action Disney film, Cinderella, has just found its Fairy Godmother. Helena Bonham Carter will play the iconic role helping the title character (Lily James) fall in love with the prince (Richard Madden) in spite of the Wicked Stepmother (Cate Blanchett).
The film has yet to be given a release date, but late 2014, early 2015 seems likely. It was written by Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada) and Chris Weitz (Twilight: New Moon).

This live action fairy godmother will apparently play a much bigger role than the bibbidi-bobbidi-bumbling character in Disney's animated version of Cinderella. Ms. Carter will have screen time masquerading (undercover?) as a beggar woman "who watches over*" Cindy (shades of The Slipper and the Rose?) before she reveals her magical self . Sounds like we're going for a "things are not what they appear to be" theme on this movie. Which could be a lot of fun if they play with that smartly (without going camp).

Looks like an stars-all-round cast with the stepsisters being played by familiar faces too. They are Sophie McShera (Downton Abbey) and Holliday Granger (The Borgias). 

I also found some cool insights from Hero Complex on the film as well as some curious insider quotes, illustrating the way the fairy tale is being considered by the creative team:

Gustav Dore's illustration for Perrault's Cinderella

Though the fairy godmother in the 1950 animated feature was a grandmotherly dumpling, Bonham Carter’s casting would suggest that the updated “Cinderella” might be embracing a darker tone; the actress is known for playing offbeat, exaggerated roles, including the villainous Bellatrix Lestrange in the “Harry Potter” films, the twisted Mrs. Lovett in “Sweeney Todd” and clownish thief Madame Thénardier in “Les Misérables.”

...It’s too early to say whether the film will follow in the whimsical, color-saturated footsteps of “Alice in Wonderland,” or whether it will take a more classic approach, but producers have said they want the film to feel “modern.”

“We were thinking of titles and characters that we hadn’t really seen done in a modern, live-action way, and we were kind of stunned that Cinderella hasn’t really been done that way, as a traditional, loyal telling of the story,” producer Simon Kinberg told Hero Complex.

My Fairy Tale News Hound ears just pricked up: go back and read that underlined part again. Traditional? Loyal? Are we talking being faithful to Perrault's telling then? (He was the writer that added a fairy godmother to the Cinderella tale.) *makes note to hunt for more clues* There are a couple more tidbits:

"Oh my..." (Helena Bonham Carter's Oscar shoes)

Kinberg and McKenna together hatched the plan for a live-action update, hoping that Cinderella’s status as an “iconic character” would help the film.

“It’s a funny thing ’cause her name, a little bit like Sherlock Holmes or Star Wars or these other franchises, it’s one of those names that people all around the world know the name and intrinsically know the story,” said Kinberg. “It’s just an identifiable, very rootable underdog story.”

You know what? I just got interested. One of my favorite interpretations of a fairy godmother was from The Slipper and the Rose in which the fairy godmother had many fairy tale godchildren, a sort of enchanted apothecary kitchen with the all-important fairy tales datebook, was very overworked - especially as her magic backfired if she ever tried to use it for herself, like to make a cup of tea - yet was still smart and able to nudge things toward happily ever afters. Notice I said "nudge". She still squarely put most of the work on the "kids" shoulders; something I really appreciated, even as a kid.

I always liked those dubious mentors who seemed to be an enemy but were really helping heroes toward their destiny (like Snape, or the crotchety old fairy at the well who tested different daughters and only revealed her true nature as they passed - or failed - the test). I have to wonder if Carter's godmother will include shades of these delicious characters. Either way, I'm hoping she'll get to be her chameleon-like character and transform on screen. Although her roles and performances aren't always my flavor of quirk she's so very talented. One of my favorite roles was also under Branagh, in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and I'm curious to see what she does with this time, especially if there's a dual personality... Hmm. A schizophrenic fairy godmother who seemed against (but was for) the hero would be very interesting!

The production is set to start shooting in pumpkin season, aka Autumn, (of course!) in London.

Additional sources: *The Hollywood Reporter , USA Today