Teaser Trailer Released for "The Tale of Princess Kaguya"

A few days late on this sorry but we now have a teaser trailer for Studio Ghibli's latest fairy tale! The style is really nice blend of modern animation with a calligraphic feel. Looks lovely so far.

The Tale of Princess Kaguya (OT: Kaguya-hime no Monogatari) tells the story of a bamboo cutter who finds a thumb-sized baby inside a piece stalk of bamboo. What he doesn’t know, is that he hasn’t just found any tiny baby: she’s a princess!

Please note: it is a teaser only - not a full trailer - and it was released to a Japanese program so includes the "live audience reactions" window in the top corner. (Ugh.)

So charming!

I'll let you know when more appears.

Snow White (& More) by Miss Mindy (Filmic Light)

A preview of a lovely fairy tale doll post over at the wonderful Snow White blog &Archive, Filmic Light:

Filmic Light - Snow White Archive: Snow White by Miss Mindy
Miss Mindy is an artist living and creating in the Los Angeles area. On December 15, 2012, her work appeared in the "Good vs. Evil" exhibit at the WonderGround Gallery, Downtown Disney, Anaheim. Among the limited edition, one-of-a-kind MM pieces was her stylistic Snow White sculpture.

Click on the link to see more!

Breaking News: Lots of Beauty in Stills Just Released From Gans' "Beauty and the Beast"

If we had any doubts, these new stills from Christophe Gans' Beauty and the Beast make it clear that this is going to be one very beautiful movie. It's also quite an ambitious (big!) film. (No wonder the Director has said this is his biggest challenge yet.)

One interesting thing to note is that the film is said to echo more of Hayao Miazaki's approach and style than either Cocteau or Disney. Given there are a lot of fantasy elements in the story, this no doubt provides a lot of opportunities to break with the norm in terms of effects and the way the narrative is delivered, so this is sounding more promising than ever.

Here's some more Beauty for you:
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Scottish Ballet Create A New "Hansel & Gretel", Leaving Breadcrumbs of Inspiration Along the Way

The Scottish Ballet have a reputation for not only beautiful ballets but a creative approach to their productions, often producing truly lush images - and imagery - as well.

I haven't seen a family friendly but adult/professional production of Hansel & Gretel before so I'm curious as to how this is staged. And, although I appreciate opera, I can't handle much unless it's the chorus pieces BUT I tend to love almost all opera music so am also wondering if they will use Humperdinck's score without songs. (One of my favorite classical albums is Opera without Words - the music just transports me.)

One of the most unique things about this particular ballet, however, is how the company has gone about creating it, taking special care to leave "breadcrumbs of inspiration" along the way, but I'll show you that in a bit. Right now, take a look at their brief but lovely trailer:

From the website:

Unwrap a tasty new Christmas treat with the world premiere of Christopher Hampson's fantastical Hansel & Gretel. 

A 1950's town, all the children have disappeared. Plucky Hansel and Gretel embark on an exciting adventure venturing deep into the enchanted forest to find their friends. 

This delightfully inventive brand new Hansel & Gretel takes creative twists and turns inspired by the Grimm Brother's famous fairy tale - and the stories and imagination of the people of Scotland. 

(More on the production and the creative process after the jump.)
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If the Shoe Fit, Why Did It Slip?

It's the Cinderella question you perhaps-not-so-secretly wondered about. 

While we ponder this (with some help from Tabled Fables and The Guardian) I thought I'd showcase the GORGEOUS illustrations by Errol le Cain (that I could find) for Cinderella or The Little Glass Slipper. I've never seen them all in one place or in sequence so I thought it might be nice to simulate that somewhat. Enjoy! And now to the (sticky?) question:

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Local News: Fairy Tale Ending For Reckless Cinderella Driver

23:59 by Sergio Otero on Flickr

Yes - this is a real story and has so many Cinderella parallels it's almost a "stranger than fiction" case (and kind of hilarious).

Earlier in July, in Seattle WA, a Cinderella story unfolds as police sight a reckless driver in a speeding car...

"A real-life Cinderella story played out early this morning (July 2, 2013) in a north Seattle cemetery as officers searched for a reckless driver. 

At about 1:45 AM, a patrol officer spotted a blue Ford Explorer speeding down the center turn lane near 125th St and Aurora Avenue N and tried to pull the car over. Instead of stopping for the officer, the suspect turned into a motel parking lot, (Edit FTNH: Not a pumpkin?? Oh wait, they mean turned the corner and entered a parking lot... Heh.), struck a parked car and crashed into the wall of the motel, (Edit FTNH: Wow - when your magic runs out these days it can get really dramatic!), causing at least $2,500 in damage. 

The driver jumped out of the car, took off running, and hopped a fence into a cemetery. (Edit FTNH: I'm guessing from all the athleticism no ball dress was involved at this point.. The cemetery aspect is a nice touch - harks back to Grimm's version.) Patrol officers surrounded the cemetery and called in K9 police dog, Ziva, to help track the suspect. (Edit FTNH: From Slavic mythology meaning living, alive/ Hebrew form is brilliance, brightness)

While searching the cemetery, Ziva came across a stray shoe, and later found the suspect hiding in a patch of ivy. (Edit FTNH: Bright dog indeed!) He was missing a shoe just like the one Ziva had found earlier. (Edit: FTNH: And whaddayaknow? It fit!) 

Officers reunited the man with his lost shoe (Edit FTNH: Aw.) then booked him into the King County Jail for reckless driving, hit and run and other traffic crimes." (Edit FTNH: And they lived with a record, for ever and ever after, The End.)

No additions or liberties taken with this story. The only changes have been in punctuation and spelling correction for readability. (And I couldn't help but add a little commentary along the way... all clearly noted.)

Apparently, there's more than one way to have a fairy tale life. ;)

Source

LX Magazine's Tribute to 200th Anniversary of Grimms Household Tales - Rotkäppchen (Tale 3 of 5)

"Little RedRiding Hood"photography Viona lelegems Model Jolien Rosanna Post-production Chester Can Bommel

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

- FTNH aka Fairy Tale News Hound aka Gypsy

Rotkäppchen - Little Red-Cap

“Many years ago there lived a dear little girl who was beloved by every one who knew her; but her grand-mother was so very fond of her that she never felt she could think and do enough to please this dear grand-daughter, and she presented the little girl with a red silk cap, which suited her so well, that she would never wear anything else, and so was called Little Red-Cap.
One day Red-Cap’s mother said to her, ‘Come, Red-Cap, here is a nice piece of meat, and a bottle of wine: take these to your grandmother; she is weak and ailing, and they will do her good. Be there before she gets up; go quietly and carefully.’

The grandmother lived far away in the wood, a long walk from the village, and as Little Red-Cap came among the trees she met a Wolf; but she did not know what a wicked animal it was, and so she was not at all frightened. ‘Good morning, Little Red-Cap,’ he said.”

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

The fourth tale text and (amazing!) photo will be posted next week. :)

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

                                                                                              ♚

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

Hannibal the Huntsman

I found this today and just had to share. It's a fan art graphic retelling combining the grimmer rendition of Snow White with the new (and popular) TV series, Hannibal.

You may (or may not) be aware of the breakout NBC thriller Hannibal (which just ended it's first season - warning - graphic visuals if you scroll down the NBC site page!). It's based on the Hannibal character from Silence of the Lambs - a disturbed serial killer with cannibalistic tendencies (meaning this serial killer is more disturbing than average - *shudder*).

The TV series is the story of this scary guy before he's caught by the FBI, while he's still busy as a practicing therapist and while he's enjoying his role as gourmet cook, serving unsuspecting guests delicacies of other kinds (*double shudder*). It's an incredibly well done show - well written, well acted (everyone is amazing and scary-smart), artistically shot, extremely well layered and critically acclaimed for good reason.

It's also EXTREMELY gory and I'm actually surprised it's as widely followed as it is (most people I know don't have enough stomach to handle the visuals).

Perhaps it's due to the "artistry" in which everything is told and shot (I'm talking classical oil painting-like set-ups - amazing stuff) but I think it's also that sense of "other" woven in (an FBI consultant with a disorder sees visions, of sorts), which helps remove it from real life, giving it this sense of a (extremely) macabre fairy tale.

He took out his hunting knife and was about to stab it into her innocent heart when she began to cry, saying, “Oh, dear huntsman, let me live. I will run into the wild woods and never come back."Because she was so beautiful the huntsman took pity on her, and he said, “Run away, you poor child."He thought, “The wild animals will soon devour you anyway," but still it was as if a stone had fallen from his heart, for he would not have to kill her.

That said, it shouldn't be too surprising that the images have been used to retell a fairy tale - and boy does this send Snow White back to it's Grimm and cannibalistic roots! Wonderfully done and so very apt.

It should come as no surprise, though, that this retelling has no happy ending. Though the huntsman (in this version) does let her go at first she is very tempting prey... *wants to yell "RUN Abigail-Snow!" at the screen*

No doubt we could infer even more fairy tales from the series (eg the main protagonist is trying to shake a Sleeping Beauty-like stupor before it's too late) but I think I'll handle one macabre consideration at a time. (And now I need to go find some fluffy, sparkly unicorns dancing on rainbows to watch for a while...)

The artist/fan, known only as anenglishlane on Tumblr, who created this graphic "Hannibal au Snow White" series, describes herself as:

English undergraduate and (hopefully) a learned gentlewoman in the making.  Likes fairytales, court poetry, dark queens and power couples, gothic metaphors for Victorian sexuality, and alleged dark lords in cuddly jumpers.

We appreciate the way you think girl!

Breaking (but expected) Casting News: Johnny Depp to Return in Alice 2

 Johnny Depp is returning as the Mad Hatter for Alice 2. Yay.

We're very... unsurprised (don't worry, you can use "un-anything" when talking about Wonderland).

 BUT we also have to be honest. We would have been a little... discombobulated if someone else had worn his hat as well.

He pulled some very different (acting) rabbits out of his... "bonnet" on that role (sorry - the puns are endless and difficult to avoid when you're late for an important date with your writing desk..). Sensitive, sympathetic, entirely mad and a little-much (yes, little-much) disturbing, yet you can almost see Alice falling for him. Even with those weridlio contact lenses. (Looking into those would be a challenge, even with Depp's eyes behind them!) So, yes, quite a feat. We doff our... caps on that account.

Whether you liked the movie or not, if you're planing on checking out the sequel, not having Mr. Depp on board would be... well, possibly mad.

So, it's OK to cheer. Rah.

On what Alice 2 - Through the Looking Glass will be like content-wise. here's an excerpt from whatculture, summarizing the details so far:

Depp’s production company Infinitum Nihil... are now putting the wheels in motion on Through The Looking Glass that would see Depp reprise his role as the Mad Hatter from Tim Burton’s 2010 live-action/CGI adaptation, with original screenwriter Linda Woolverton again on writing duties. 

Although the planned movie shares the same name as Lewis Carroll’s own follow-up to his classic tale about Alice and that fabled rabbit hole… it likely won’t resemble too much of the novel as Burton’s 2010 film was already a sequel of sorts to both Alice In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass. 

(No word on the other original cast members joining) ...though it seems likely offers will be put out to them. 

There’s (also) no word yet on whether Tim Burton would direct... (Edit FTNH: or if James Bobin (The Muppets) would step into Burton's shoes. He's been in talks with Disney since late May about that possibility.)

Burton's Alice without Burton? Depp in a fantasy without Burton?? And what if Alice isn't herself? (I mean, if she's not Mia Wasikowska, because Alice is never herself, which is sort of the point...)

This is way weirder news than Depp returning as Hatter.

Curiouser and curiouser.

"Saving Mr. Banks" - More Than A Spoonful Of Sugar (& Why I Report What I Do Here On OUABlog)

This hasn't been on my radar at all since I don't go looking for Mary Poppins related things but I stumbled across this, was intrigued and I think you will be too.

(And yes - this DOES relate to why I post the articles and stories I do here on Once Upon A Blog. My intent is to do far more than entertain you and put up pretty pictures, as fun and valid a reason as that is, but I'll get to that in a bit...)

Yes, Mary Poppins isn't a fairy tale but there is a lot about that character - and the story of how she saves the family - that is weirdly folkloric. The more you look at her no-nonsense way of going about things, the more it seems like she might be a cross between a domovoi and a fairy godmother (the ones you shouldn't mess with) with a good dollop of Nanny McPhee - whose fairy roots are more apparent - thrown in. Ultimately, she's more like a guardian over the family than anything else (including, but not limited to, the children) which is very fairy tale like (or maybe she's a Time Lord, but that's a whole other topic!).

Of course, that's not what this movie is about. It's about P.L. Travers resistance to allowing Walt to make her very dear character into a cartoon, a sparkle-loaded fantasy and dismiss her creation's importance. In some ways you could say this movie is about two very different views of magic, they way they (initially) clashed and how they found common ground.

Take a look:



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