"The Grimm Project" by Trish Lavar - 2 Tales

I found the beautiful projects below by Trish Lavar fairly recently (first one or two then tracked down the sequences) and just adore the sketchy imagination drawn into the scenes!

It's not animation and it's not a live-action with animation crossover. It's beautiful photography with a little extra to make it something unique (and extremely fairy tale like). The impression we have is that we get a glimpse of what the character herself is really looking at, but that, even so, it remains a little hazy to us.

I completely relate to this...

First up: Little Red & the Wolf

See the next tale after the jump.
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When You Wish Upon A Character... (How Design in Disney Movies Affects the Way Fairy Tales Are Perceived & Why We Should Care)

Tangled Concept Art with earlier versions of Mother Gothel & Rapunzel

Note: This post is very image heavy and I've had a devil of a time trying to get the images to stick where I put them. As I'm now out of time, I want to apologize in advance if there are any weird formatting issues through the post!

For me, I know I just have to catch a glimpse of certain H.J. Ford drawings and I'm in love with that tale all over again. The same goes for Rackham and many other illustrator's fairy tale work.

Disney images, however, aren't as subtle as sitting in a book waiting for us to open it again. They tend to work their way into our everyday lives via toys, marketing, spreading through pop culture and social media, and, as a result, tend to be a little more insidious in making their impressions on people (especially people who have no basis for comparison because they don't read/were never read many tales). Because of this, it's a good idea to take a hard look at the difference between the characters we love in fairy tales and how Disney (and other popular entertainment - movies & TV in particular) portray them to see just how big the gap is between.

What is the pop culture impression and what's missing? Because for a lot of people that "is" the tale. Though that is never the real intent of the creators of these films, the effect can be to (almost) erase any lingering non-Disney ideas and associations, rather than the effect illustrated books used to have, which was open the world of imagination further than ever beyond the text (ie. the complete opposite).

Can you tell who these characters are from their early concept drawings?
Click HERE to take the quiz...

It's one of the reasons I think it's important for concept art to get out there - to show people what could have been and, if the information is available, why these alternate/early designs were created in the first place and why they were ultimately replaced with something else.

Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty) 1

Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty) 2
The fairy aspect is a lot clearer here with the antennae

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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.)

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*** 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!