Yogurt-Ghost Fairy Tales by Natalie Eve Garrett

The Juniper Tree (Yogurt-Ghost Fairy Tale) by Natalie Eve Garrett

Yes. Fairy tale art in yogurt. Some artists, visionaries, oracles, call them what you will,  work in tea leaves, others in eggs, some in entrails but this one sees visions in yogurt.

Red Riding Hood by Natalie Eve Garrett
Heh - she's in a hot sauce cloak! Great pun. And more of a challenge for the Wolf methinks. ;)

Apparently fine artist Natalie Eve Garrett not only works in regular paint media but also (it appears) in soy sauce, molasses and Sriracha (hot sauce) with a pinch of this and a pinch of that for details...  but primarily it all begins with yogurt. You could say these are kitchen-inspired fairy tales, edible tales, consumable tales, transient tales and interestingly also you could say they're corruptible tales... because these are, quite literally ALIVE!

Goldilocks by Natalie Eve Garrett

Swirling her condiments into wonderful little tales, she regularly posts her edible art on one of my new favorite online places to visit, The Hairpin, and has (happily for us) created a two-part series (so far) of fairy tale yogurt surprises that she shared.

The Willful Child by Natalie Eve Garrett

The ephemeral nature of these little pieces makes us want to consider these tales in a different, more direct manner than usual, way. And this is especially so considering the ones she's chosen to create: Goldilocks, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, The Juniper Tree, The Willful Child, The Little Mermaid.

The Little Mermaid by Natalie Eve Garrett

The visceral nature of the tales becomes self-evident when you see them portrayed in a medium that spoils so quickly and is, in truth, breaking down to it's elements before your (very) eyes.

Juniper Tree (detail) by Natalie Eve Garrett

Whatever the case, this art definitely has an expiration date so we're very grateful for cameras to capture the awesome so we can share.

Rapunzel by Natalie Eve Garrett

I highly recommend clicking on the links - HERE for Part I & HERE for Part II - to see the detail photos (it's really quite amazing). A different perspective (and serendipitous reflection) on a close-up on Rapunzel gives you a whole new insight to the story:

Rapunzel detail by Natalie Eve Garrett

There's another very cool thing about this medium I wanted to share. Like sand animation (but more messy and less forgiving) certain stories can be illustrated with a vibrancy a static painting just doesn't hold.

Like this, in The Siamese Hair-Twin Ghosts (read the captions for the story):

Once upon a time there were two ghosts connected only by their hair. They got along well, and mostly didn't mind being bound together. 

But sometimes one wanted braids and the other wanted to wear her hair down, and they'd silently shriek and pull their hair...

... until they were all tangled up in knots.  

About herself and her work Natalie says:

I'm interested in making work that conveys a sense of humor and magic, with a disarming twist. 
I grew up outside Washington, D.C., and was influenced by tangles of woods, The Brother's Grimm, the Blue Ridge Mountains and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. After studying art at Yale, I went on to receive my MFA from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Design. Currently I live and work in a little town outside D.C. along the Potomac River. My art can be seen regularly on TheHairpin.com and in private collections.

I highly recommend browsing her posts on The Hairpin for other yogurt-surprises. She has a sharp yet whimsical sense of humor and it's just delightful to see.

Snow White by Natalie Eve Garrett

And I want more. ("MORE??!?") Yes! Please?

(I will also NEVER look at my condiments the same way again...)

Natalie's website is HERE, her Etsy shop is HERE and The Hairpin, where she can often be found, is HERE.

PS Aw- snap! I see Neatorama JUST postsed these today. (At this writing.) Never mind - the more people see Ms. Garrett's condiment creativity, the more she'll be inspired to do (we hope!). If you like her work, be sure to let her know.

One Man "Bluebeard" Show Leaves Us Curious... (& With Eyes Wide Open)

Gallivant's Bluebeard
Bluebeard invites you into his chamber, into his heart and into his darkest desires.  Will he excite you?  Will he seduce you?  Will he love you to death...

Note: This is an interesting addition to the Bluebeard conversations that happened recently/are happening now, which is why I'm giving this a full post instead of just sending you to check it out. Though I initially intended just to make you aware of the one-man show, the connective tissue between the play, current social issues and other popular fairy tales became quickly apparent, so there's more here than just a review. It's very much like peeling an onion: there are layers revealed one after the other, they might even bring tears but ultimately we are healthier for it.

I say curious because of the many, continuing questions the reviewer, Megan Stodel from the feminist blog "The F Word", continues to explore and prod, even after posting the initial review. Once she started asking her questions I found I had some too...

There's a new one-man show playing in Bristol (UK) titled Bluebeard that presents the story from the POV of Bluebeard himself, except in this case the (very modern) Bluebeard's name is Jim. It's most definitely exploring the issue of violence against women - including within that "grey" area that the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey has left a lot of people floundering in -  but where the play stands on it seems to be confusing and a little disturbing. But perhaps that's the whole point.

(More after the jump)
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LX Magazine's Tribute to 200th Anniversary of Grimms Household Tales - Sneewittchen (Tale 2 of 5)

"Snow White" Photography Joshua Wilcoxon for Wilcoxon photography Makeup/Hair Angelique Verver for Platinum Imagination

Tale two from the 200th Anniversary Grimm's Household Tales Tribute by Lx Magazine: Illuminating Luxury. Enjoy.

- FTNH aka Fairy Tale News Hound aka Gypsy

Sneewittchen - Little Snow-White 

“And thus Snow-White lay for a long, long time, and still only looked as though she were asleep; for she was even now as white as snow, and as red as blood, and as black as ebony. At last a prince came and called at the dwarfs’ house; and he saw Snow-White and read what was written in golden letters. Then he offered the dwarfs money, and earnestly prayed them to let him take her away; but they said, ‘We will not part with her for all the gold in the world.’ At last, however, they had pity on him, and gave him the coffin; but the moment he lifted it up to carry it home with him, the piece of apple fell from between her lips, and Snow-White awoke, and exclaimed, ‘Where am I!’ And the prince answered, ‘Thou art safe with me.’ Then he told her all that had happened, and said, ‘I love you better than all the world; come with me to my father’s palace, and you shall be my wife.’  Snow-White consented, and went home with the prince; and everything was prepared with great pomp and splendor for their wedding.To the feast was invited, among the rest, Snow-White’s old enemy, the queen; and as she was dressing herself in fine, rich clothes, she looked in the glass and said, ‘Tell me, glass, tell me true! Of all the ladies in the land, Who is fairest? tell me who?’ And the glass answered, ‘Thou, lady, art the loveliest here, I ween; But lovelier far is the new-made queen.’ ”

You can read the full tale as published in Grimms Household Tales HERE (translated to English) and learn much more about Snow White's history HERE.

Tale three text and accompanying photo will be posted next week.

(Links to future posts will be updated as posts go live.)

                                                                              ♚

*** TALE 1 *** TALE 2 *** TALE 3 *** TALE 4 *** TALE 5 *** 

Into the Script Of "Into the Woods"

I just found someone online who says* he got the chance to read a recent version of the Into The Woods movie script (from February) and posted the changes/differences to the Broadway play.

I know a lot of people feel that Into the Woods is holy ground (almost) and are going to have problems with ANY changes that happen but please remember these things:

1) A live show/stage musical/Broadway production is a COMPLETELY different medium to a movie. Changes must be made in order to change mediums and not kill the property (ie story).

This, which looks fantastic on the stage from the audience perspective...

...will look mighty tacky on screen if they film it as is.

2) Remember that the script is being carefully reworked by the original writer for the Broadway play, James Lapine - meaning that you know he's going to fight to keep his work - and story - looking the best it possibly can as it transitions to a movie.

3) Lapine has written multiple award winning musicals AND books (so he understands the difference in writing as a playwright and writing as an author and knows he will have to approach a screenplay differently again) and he's interested in telling the best story he can, via whatever medium he's working in.

3) There are movie musical greats working with him - they know what works on screen for a musical and what doesn't.

4) Sondheim, who composed Into the Woods, is also composing for the movie - and altering and layering and scoring - all with the same mentality as the writer: he wants his work to look/sound better than ever.

*This is from a blog of a guy named "Phil" who works (worked?) in primetime TV and is somewhat "insider connected". I don't know him personally but a quick little bit of research would say that what he claims is likely true. :)

Here's the intro from Phil's post a couple of weeks ago:

So I’ve read it.
I’ve read the Into the Woods film script (well, at least a draft from February)... Suffice to say I’m immensely happy with the direction they are going in and the casting so far has been great.

If you do not want to know anything about the movie before it hits the screen HERE THERE BE SPOILERS.

If you adore the Broadway play and know you're going to be upset by any changes (remember seeing the points on a page will be very different to watching it as a movie) HERE THERE BE SPOILERS!

For this reason I will post the rest after the jump...
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The Facebook Fairy Tale News Extras You (May Have) Missed (So Far...)

Treasure Hunt

by `Foxfires (Aimee Stewart)

No, this is not what it looks like when I'm writing, researching and archiving fairy tale news in the middle of the night (-sigh-) but I wish it did!

In case you haven't had a chance to check out Facebook or Twitter for the fairy tale news extras and bonus bits, here's a roundup of what you've missed so far.

Please note: YOU DO NOT NEED A FACEBOOK ACCOUNT (or a Twitter one either) to view these! They are both public pages and you can go check on them anytime you wish.

NOTE: This is going to read like a huge long list of headlines with extra stuff in between. I'm including the blog headlines to give you a sense of how it all reads on FB & Twitter.

I'm also just going to link you twice, once HERE and once at the end, to the Facebook account which has all the links and videos and articles etc etc (since it's already very-late-o'clock, we are not all quite at 100% health here yet and you are all very smart cookies and don't need link-hand-holding, right? ie just click on the FB link, scroll to the date where the story is and voila!)

All shall be revealed (and there's a lot of it!) after the jump... (and yes, it is my first time inserting a "jump" so let me know if it's not working like it should please!)

Finally! A "Fables" Film! (& What That Might Be Like) + A Fables-Prequel Game This Summer

Fan made movie poster by DigitalRich

When a savage creature known only as the Adversary conquered the fabled lands of legends and fairy tales, all of the infamous inhabitants of folklore were forced into exile. Disguised among the normal citizens of modern-day New York, these magical characters have created their own peaceful and secret society within an exclusive luxury apartment building called Fabletown. But when Snow White's party-girl sister, Rose Red, is apparently murdered, it is up to Fabletown's sheriff, a reformed and pardoned Big Bad Wolf, to determine if the killer is Bluebeard, Rose's ex-lover and notorious wife killer, or Jack, her current live-in boyfriend and former beanstalk-climber. (GeekTyrant)

Snow White – Audrey Tautou

I just missed this gigantic news as I started blogging again and didn't "re-announce" it, figuring anyone vaguely interested would have already gotten the news, done their happy dances to the embarrassment of the neighbors, yelled enthusiastic "Hell Yeah!" (and other expletives) along with iO9, pulled out all their Fables comic covers and started drooling over their own movie "look books" without any prompting from me.

BUT.

You know I couldn't ignore this completely...
(Note: None of these casting suggestions are mine. I wouldn't know where to begin!)

Fan made movie poster by DigitalRich

In case you're thinking "What is all this Fables business? What is it and why should I care?", here's a quick summary from toplessrobot:

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the comic, Fables focuses on a group of childhood fantasy book characters, from Snow White to Blackbeard, who have been exiled out of their Homelands centuries ago after a fierce battle with a foe known as the Adversary. Now the remaining fairy-tale creatures hide in present day New York City as they try to stay out of reach from said Adversary and live quiet, normal lives. Well, not completely normal.

Jack Horner – Matthew McConaughey

... So I'm just going to fuel the fire a teensy bit, having noted that one of the Fables writers (for the comic - not cited as being connected with the movie.. yet), Mark Buckingham, is going to ComicCon on behalf of DCEntertainment and will no doubt be plied with a billion questions about the movie (even if that's not what he's supposed to be there for exactly). 

Fan made movie poster by DigitalRich

I'm also (finally) posting these (amazingly good) fan made posters made back in 2011, just to give you a sense that this is something a lot of people have been wanting (very badly) for a very long time.

From YouBentMyWookie: 

An obvious fan of the series, DeviantArt user DigitalRich has created seven very awesome fan-made movie posters giving us a tease at what a “Fables” movie or cable series might look like. 

The posters are fairly well cast too and features Elisha Cuthbert, Peter Dinklage, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Henry Cavill, and Zooey Deschanel.

Note: I'm not going to go into the Fables vs Once Upon A Time thing here. Something tells me that's going to come up again really soon...

A nice summary of the initial news from CelluloidandCigarettes:

Director Nikolaj Arcel

THR reports that Warner Bros. is back to making a live-action film based on the DC Comics/Vertigo comic Fables. They have a script from Jeremy Slater who was tasked to write Fox's Fantastic Four reboot and have hired Danish director Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair - shown at left). No word on when production is expected to begin but it sounds a little more promising than other DC based projects that are stuck in limbo (The Flash, Wonder Woman, Lobo, Sgt. Rock, Suicide Squad). Harry Potter producers David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford of Heyday Films are also involved.

Bigby Wolf – Russell Crowe

From APP.com:

Fortunately, “Fables”’ time in the spotlight has finally come, and newcomers will get a fresh chance to get in on the story from the beginning with a forthcoming film. Heyday Films, the studio behind the “Harry Potter” movies, announced recently that they are going into pre-production on a “Fables” movie. Given the scale of “Fables,” and the fact that Heyday built their reputation on an eight-part epic, it’s clear the hope is to turn “Fables” into a thriving franchise. If the adaptation is handled as well as Heyday’s last venture, that’s practically a foregone conclusion, because the strength of the source material is undeniable.

Fan made movie poster by DigitalRich

Toplessrobot also gave us a good "top 10" list of what we really should be seeing in the first film. (Because, really - you think they're going to make just ONE? How could they??) Here's a brief, excerpted recap:

10. Flycatcher And Boy Blue - These two characters turn from silly little sidekicks within the first couple of stories into a couple of the biggest heroes in the big battle that takes place later on. All I'm saying is that it would be nice if we get to see them at least once... 

9. Prince Charming's Snarky Attitude - The Prince Charming that you know and love from the fairy tales is non-existent in the Fables universe... He's a rather despicable character throughout the first few volumes, but he grows on you. Like an infection. 

Geppetto – Bryan Cranston

8. Drama on the Farms - All I really want to see is the homicidal Goldilocks and some of the other animals on the Farms try to hunt down Snow White. Without spoiling too much of the story, the revolt that happens on he Farms has a lot to do with rebuilding the relationship between the sisters Snow White and Rose Red; it's a cool little story and it shows how different and dangerous their worlds are compared to what we're used to in the children's books. Actually, all I really want to see is some of those animals, like one of the Three Bears, with a rifle in its hands. Because I've always been in favor of the right to arm bears.

Fan made movie poster by DigitalRich

7. The World Of Our Fairy Tale Exiles - The brilliant thing about the overall look for whatever sets will be made for Fables is that they can be done practically without too much effort, with the only real kind of CG we'll have to see coming from some of the animals and more mystical creatures...The comic contains very lush, detailed-yet-simple backdrops so it'll be a delight to see how those assigned to the film elaborate on the wonderful illustrations. Let me emphasize: elaborate on the wonderful illustrations! Ignore them at your peril, people. 

6. The Creatures - Since we're dealing with a flurry of mystical creatures, ranging from Shere Khan to the Three Pigs, we will have to see them at some point running around with the rest of the Fabletown folk...

Old King Cole – Robert Duvall

 To read the points in full, see examples from the graphic novels and for numbers 5 through 1 go HERE to toplessrobot and read the rest.

Myself? I want to see some of that amazing artwork, particularly by James Jean, translated well onto the big screen (I have a collection of it HERE). The covers keep drawing you back, no matter what you think of the adventures going on throughout the series, and those alone are enough to set your imagination flying with fairy tales of the edgy kind.

There's one thing that's clear, when you start to look at how a movie of Fables might look: this is no princess movie! If Once Upon A Time has soured guys on fairy tales at all (and Grimm isn't doing the trick for them) then this will help - a lot. This is definitely a not-for-kids or pixie-dust crowd project. (Gotta love how fairy tales are so versatile!)

Fan made movie poster by DigitalRich

Fan made movie poster by DigitalRich

One thing I haven't read anywhere yet is a statement from Fables creator Bill Willingham himself. I'm really curious to know what he thinks, now that it will be clear that anything Fables movie related will be worlds away from Storybrooke and the Enchanted Forest of OUAT.

Rose Red – Keira Knightley

If you're enjoying imagining the cast possibilities and rediscovering the wealth of characters available to "play" with in Willingham's world, there are a couple more line-ups HERE & HERE for you to consider (with character descriptions).

In the meantime, if you're a gamer, you have a Fables game "The Wolf Among Us" to look forward to (a Willingham-approved-prequel to the comics series that may just give us some clues to the movie - maybe - see below) and, of course, anything Fables movie related that leaks from ComicCon, we'll be sure to share ASAP.

There's a write-up and first look of the Fables game HERE.

It's due out THIS SUMMER on Xbox 360, PC, Mac and PS3 (so, any minute now...).

Trailer: Laika's "The Boxtrolls" (I'm In Love!)

 I'm a little reserved when it comes to seeing new trailers these days but oh-golly-glory I adore this one!

The Boxtrolls is based on the book "Here Be Monsters" and while it's not a fairy tale per say it does have magic, trolls and a child brought up by a non-human family (aka The Graveyard Book, aka The Jungle Book) so I have no doubt this will up the magical alley of many fairy tale folks.

I like to think of these stories as "changelings of another kind" in that the orphan can be brought up by wolves, fairies, monsters or ghosts but at the heart of it they still have family - albeit a weird one - they still need to grow into their independence, just like regular children do, and there's usually a change in perspective from that which we'd normally take for granted.

Before I say any more, just watch the beautifully done gem-of-awesome here and then I'll tell you a bit more about the film (And see? I like adorable if it's done well!):

Here's where I should point out the one thing that will be in the news, since this is the lens through which a lot of the media will be presenting this. The trailer, as you just saw, opens with a presentation of a variety of family types, something the press has jumped on, as, as the narrator says: "Sometimes there is a mother, sometimes there is a father, sometimes there are two fathers..." The press reaction has been along the lines of: OMG LAIKA IS PRO-GAY! 

It helps, of course, that this issue is very present in the minds of Americans in particular, with one of the most eventful weeks in gay rights history - and in the ongoing fight for equality - as both DOMA and Prop 8 were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

But Travis Knight (President & CEO of Laika) has downplayed this, saying:

"We’re not in any way trying to be activists. We’re just trying to be who we are," Knight tells The Hollywood Reporter not 24 hours after he and his wife welcomed their third child, a boy, into the world. "All art and all artists have a point of view, a way of looking at the world. We want to make films that are bold and distinctive and enduring and actually have something meaningful to say." 

In other words, they're simply acknowledging there are many kinds of family units - that is all. As the narrator says:  "Families come in all shapes and sizes. Even rectangles." 

The Laika chief, son of Nike founder Phil Knight, acknowledges that the movies he wants to make -- hugely time-consuming projects that marry stop-motion and CG techniques -- carry with them the risk of alienating wide swaths of the moviegoing public. 

"There are going to be people who simply don’t agree with that and we understand, but we also won’t flinch from the consequences of that," he says.

For Travis Knight... finding stories that send kids the right kinds of messages -- and not necessarily the safest ones -- is a top priority. 

"The kinds of films we make have to be consistent with our values and how we look at the world and sometimes that means putting yourselves out there a little bit."

He added, "The Boxtrolls are a very loving community that have been marginalized by the lies and distortions of others... It doesn’t take someone who's got a PhD to recognize that of course there are metaphoric elements to the message in our movie."

And let me just add, there are MANY reasons kids - and families - are marginalized - in MANY different ways. This movie is for all of them - us - AS WELL. (I like this movie even more now!)

And now the sensational part is out of the way, let's get to the good stuff, which will speak for itself, in many different ways, to different people: the story!

From the official Laika website:

The Boxtrolls is a 3D stop-motion and CG hybrid animated feature based on Alan Snow’s bestselling fantasy adventure novel Here Be Monsters. 

(It's) a comedic fable that unfolds in Cheesebridge, a posh Victorian-era town obsessed with wealth, class, and the stinkiest of fine cheeses. Beneath its charming cobblestone streets dwell the Boxtrolls, foul monsters who crawl out of the sewers at night and steal what the townspeople hold most dear: their children and their cheeses. At least, that’s the legend residents have always believed. In truth, the Boxtrolls are an underground cavern-dwelling community of quirky and lovable oddballs who wear recycled cardboard boxes the way turtles wear their shells. The Boxtrolls have raised an orphaned human boy, Eggs (voiced by Mr. Hempstead-Wright), since infancy as one of their dumpster-diving and mechanical junk-collecting own. When the Boxtrolls are targeted by villainous pest exterminator Archibald Snatcher (Mr. Kingsley), who is bent on eradicating them as his ticket to Cheesebridge society, the kindhearted band of tinkerers must turn to their adopted charge and adventurous rich girl Winnie (Ms. Fanning) to bridge two worlds amidst the winds of change – and cheese. 

Mr. Knight said, “The Boxtrolls is a visually dazzling mash-up of gripping detective story, absurdist comedy, and steampunk adventure with a surprisingly wholesome heart. It’s Dickens by way of Monty Python. Tony and Graham have crafted a strange and beautiful world replete with fantastical creatures, good-for-nothing reprobates, madcap antics, and rip-roaring feats of derring-do. But at its core, like all LAIKA films, The Boxtrolls is a moving and human story with timelessness and powerful emotional resonance. We’re thrilled to partner with Focus Features and Universal to bring this remarkable story to family audiences around the world.”

And now I want to go find some Boxtrolls and hug them! (The right kind of hug is worth a little stink sometimes, don't you think?)

The Boxtrolls is set to release in September 26, 2014.

Additional sources: Huffington Post, The Hollywood Reporter 

New Red Riding Hood Portrait by Soey Milk for "Fiction" Contemporary Exhibition

  "If you’re an avid reader, you know that the best literary characters seldom stay on the page, but rather climb out and wander around, manifesting themselves in whatever medium they can insinuate themselves into." (Emily Temple for Flavorwire on the new Fiction exhibit)

Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco have a new exhibition by contemporary artists, envisioning famous literary characters in new ways. I was very glad to see Red Riding Hood among them. Even more interesting is the title the artist (Soey Milk) gave the portrait: Night Flow. As far as I can find, Ms. Milk hasn't made any comments on why she chose to portray Red this way or the reason it's titled the way it is, but perhaps that's for the better, so we can bring our own thought and stories to it.

Night Flow by Soey Milk

Other literary portraits that may be of interest to fairy tale people are Marcovaldo (Italo Calvino), Alice (Lewis Carroll), Wendy Darling (J.M. Barrie), Miss Havisham (Dickens), Morgaine (Marion Zimmer Bradley) and Coraline (Neil Gaiman) - all pictured below (click on exhibit link below to see larger) - as well as characters from The Tell Tale Heart, Moby Dick, Brida and Siddhartha.

You can see them in more detail and read a brief artist bio for each painting for a limited time at the Modern Eden Gallery.

  

Breaking News: Guillermo del Toro Is Close To Casting His Beast

This is one busy, busy guy! Director Guillermo del Toro is well known for juggling multiple projects at once but it would appear from today's announcement that his Beauty & the Beast project with Emma Watson has been moved into one of his three "top attention" slots. (Yay!)

From MTV:

The upcoming project of del Toro's that is sure to grab a lot of attention is his retelling of "Beauty and the Beast," which currently has Emma Watson attached to it. The director said that she is, in fact, still involved and that they're close to casting a monstrous co-star for her. " 'Beauty and the Beast,' we're waiting to close on the Beast. We are weeks away from getting who plays the Beast," del Toro said. "We're talking to the makeup effects guys who are going to render the Beast. We're going to do a solid, fantastic makeup job. We're going to fuse digital and makeup in a way that I think is quite cutting edge."

Interview with del Toro at the link so you can hear him talk about it in his own words. You can hear earlier interviews with him on the film at deltorofilms.com.

Andrew Davies -------------------------------------- Guillermo del Toro

With regard to del Toro's approach to the story we know screenwriter Andrew Davies (Bridget Jone's Diary) will be taking a treatment del Toro is writing himself (which we are VERY happy about!*), working off that to construct a script. Initially de Toro announced he intended to keep the period setting of the original story but with all the various version in production there is no word on is that has changed or not. We DO know, however, that Emma Watson has seen del Toro's "look book" for the film and is very much looking forward to starting filming. From late last year & Film School Rejects:

The actress (Emma Watson) said she’s met with director Guillermo del Toro and seen his conceptual look book for the project. “We met a week or two ago, and we started working on the script, and it’s going to go next summer. (Edit FTNH: We now know this has been pushed till early 2014, not Summer 2013.) It’s so funny; obviously I’ve been doing a lot of other work, and I was nervous. I was like, ‘Is this going to go away?’ And Guillermo is so psyched about it, and he’s, like, been thinking about it so much. “He brought the book. I was like, ‘Ah, this is killing me.’ I’m very excited.” As she should be. 

So are we, Emma, so are we!

Additional source: Collider.com

* Guillermo del Toro has a truly excellent sense of story, myth and a deep love of fairy tales. If he's overseeing the story so closely, we're sure to be in good hands with this version.