Executive Producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz will be featured at a panel titled ‘ABC’s Once Upon A Time: Behind The Fairytale’ on Saturday, August 10 at 1:00 p.m. at Stage 23. Eddy and Adam will talk about exciting developments for season three of their hit series ‘Once Upon A Time’ as well as their new fall series, ‘Once Upon A Time In Wonderland,’ which takes place in the Victorian England of Alice and the strange new land that exists on the other side of the rabbit hole. The Q&A with the executive producers will be moderated by D23’s Jeffrey Epstein.
Guests on the D23 Expo show floor are invited to come aboard the Jolly Roger for a swashbuckling good time with some of your favorite fairytale characters from ABC’s hit series Once Upon A Time. Explore the famous pirate ship and feast your eyes on original props from the set. You will also find Snow White, Prince Charming, the Evil Queen, Captain Hook, and Emma Swan (and Emma’s red leather jacket). Every pirate who boards the ship gets to visit the Evil Queen’s vault. And a surprise awaits when you unlock a box from Regina’s wall of hearts. No pirate will leave empty handed! (Edit FTNH: That means, every one who goes aboard and visits the Queen's vault of hearts will come away with a souvenir.) Don’t let this exciting adventure sail by without you!
They won't be the only "costumes" on display either. The designer princess gowns will be getting window fronts as well:In addition, as previously announced, guests will be able to get an up-close-and-personal look at some of the elaborate costumes from Once Upon A Time inside the Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives exhibit located on the second floor of the Convention Center.
There is an amazing display of exclusive gowns inspired by Disney’s Princesses making their U.S. debut at the D23 Expo inside the Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives exhibit. These designs by top designers will be available for viewing, August 9–11 at the Anaheim Convention Center. These Dresses are inspired by the stories of the Disney Princesses by Ralph & Russo (Tiana), Versace (Cinderella), Elie Saab (Aurora), Marchesa (Ariel), Escada (Jasmine), Missoni (Mulan), Roberto Cavalli (Pocahontas), Jenny Packham (Rapunzel), Valentino (Belle), and Oscar de la Renta (Snow White).
The stunning dresses were first showcased in a set of window displays at Harrods, the luxury store in Knightsbridge, London, during the 2012 holiday season.There's also word of "exclusive screenings" which would, if they got the wording right, means they're going to screen something they didn't already show at Comic-Con but I haven't heard any speculation (or excitement) about what that might be since I think the reveal stage is pretty much done now. Still, we may be surprised.
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| Into the Woods Poster by laurean |
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| The Baker & His Wife by Phillip Light |
From Broadway World:
A source close to the production has confirmed casting for the majority of the roles now that official casting for the highly anticipated big screen tuner is almost complete, with the big budget production set to start shooting in the UK in a few weeks.I made a very quick-and-dirty (and giant!) graphic of all the well known characters with names and pics. (Do not ask how late I was up doing this thing!)
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| The Iron Stove by Warwick Goble |
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| The Iron Stove (which looks suspiciously like a TARDIS here) - Artist unknown |
If you haven't heard much about MOOCs or online learning, here's theTampa Bay Times' in-depth look from earlier this year. They're the latest trend in free, accessible higher education, with schools from Stanford University to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology taking part. USF professors have taught independent MOOCs before, but this is the school's first official offering.I am really excited about this MOOC trend! Let's hope more fairy tale courses become available.
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| The Iron Stove by H.J. Ford - Yellow Fairy Book |
The four-week class, "Fairy Tales: Origins and Evolution of Princess Stories," will be taught by professor Kevin Yee, who holds a Ph.D in German language and literature, and who USF describes as an expert on "comparative literature and German Romanticism and online learning."
So where do you sign up? Right HERE. :)
Course description:
"Princess stories have been popular for centuries and remain so today around the world; we’ll dive into what these fairy tales mean, and trace the history of these narratives back to their source material, examining contexts all along the way. We’ll borrow tools from cultural studies, literature studies, and film studies to help us analyze these phenomena and what they mean to our society.
Many of us may associate princess stories with modern-day products (much of it marketed to small children) or with Disney movies and theme parks. We’ll examine these current versions of fairy tale mythos as well, using our new interpretive tools to uncover not just what’s been changed in the moral and message of the narrative, but what the stories mean as told now."
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| The Iron Stove by H. J. Ford - Yellow Fairy Book |
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| Garri Bardin’s The Ugly Duckling (Russian animation 2010) |
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| Ugly Duckling by Beleleu |
Netizens expressed disbelief over the dark ending of these children’s stories, which the online media Shanghaiist calls a “very Chinese twist.” (Source)
If what a person reads and learns in his childhood does have an impact on who he will grow into, then the story may shed some light on…well…a hell lot of why China is what it is today.
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| The Ugly Duckling by Andrew J. Purcell |
"And they lived happily ever after," is how a kid's fairy tale usually ends, but a number of classic fairy tales have been adapted here in China with different endings: the ugly duckling does not grow up into a swan but gets caught by a peasant woman and made into a dish; Cinderella is burnt to death as a burial object of the prince; and the sleeping beauty turns out to be a witch who takes revenge on the prince that gave up on trying to save her.
Such adapted fairy tales also include The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast. Compared with the original versions of these classics, they contain more of the dark side of life that occurs in modern-day society. And because they have such dark endings, they have been dubbed "dark fairy tales" by Chinese netizens.(See the post on FB earlier in the week, showing The Ugly Duckling pages HERE.)
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| By emersontung |
While these "new" stories are widely spread online and from printed books, they raise controversial discussions on whether they are appropriate for children.
... (Some children's book publishers do not think) the new adaptations are good enough to exceed the classics. "Having been handed down for centuries, the classics contain meaningful educational benefits. [If there is no good cause,] I don't think the later generation should carelessly adapt them."
...Yet, there are opposing opinions both among professionals and common people.
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| Disney: Lilo & Stitch |
A staff member surnamed Zhao at Blossom Press, one of the publishers of the adapted The Ugly Duckingstory, told reporters from Shanghai Morning Post that they were made aware of the controversy around the story and reread the piece several times but did not think there was anything inappropriate.
"It is a fairy tale that is down-to-earth," she said, adding that there's no single writer for the new version of the story, but that it was adapted by a group and was examined carefully before being published.
Also, some supporters argue that dark fairy tales can help raise children's awareness of possible bad things they might come across in daily life, especially since recent years have seen more and more violence against children in China.
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| Ugly Duckling by Fernl |
In a reader's opinion column in the Southern Metropolis Daily, an opinion holder with the name Wang Pan took the "dark version" of The Ugly Duckling as one example and wrote, "In real life, many children, [just like the duckling,] are rebellious. They do not listen to parents' warnings and leave home alone, and later meet some accidents." Wang believes it is more meaningful to warn the children than make them daydream of becoming a swan.
...while disapproving of the "dark versions," Yang (Hongying, a popular children's author in China,) believes that adaptations have appeared in the market because the foreign classics are no longer applicable to the lives of modern Chinese children.
"So some people can make a selling point by adding in something more relevant to the society. But those made under the guise of a classic can do more harm."
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| Chinese "Dark Fairy Tale": The Ugly Duckling |
“At home, the lady prepared to kill the ugly duckling. The ugly duckling struggled like crazy. He cried: ‘Please don’t! I’m a swan!’ The lady didn’t understand a single word. She pressed him hard and killed him. ‘This is the most difficult duck I’ve ever handled,’ she murmured. Then, using her excellent cooking skills, she made the ugly duckling into a wonderful dish.”
“The darkest thing about this story is that it teaches kids not to be themselves and to follow the masses,” one netizen wrote... (Source)
I have always been fascinated by fairy tales. Growing up, I was an avid reader and the world of fairy tales ignited my imagination. As an adult, my work has often been inspired by fairy tales. My short films The Snow Queen (2005) andThe Red Hood (2009), both inspired by traditional tales, are two of the film projects in which I take the most pride. After completing my first feature film, Black Field, which was based on a wholly original story, I found my imagination drawn back to the world of fable. The story that I returned to again and again was Hansel and Gretel.
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| Snow White & the 7 Earth Benders* (Disney's Avatar Princesses) by Robby Cook You can see more HERE |
'The Order of the Seven' takes the idea of the seven dwarves and transforms them into seven highly skilled martial arts masters, each from a different part of the world. Set during the 17th century, the disparate international masters are all part of a centuries-old order who have lost their way when a chance encounter with a fleeing Englishwoman and an unrelenting evil that pursues her gives the men a chance at redemption and a new path to follow.Another description:
Order of the Seven initially was set up by producer Andrew Gunn as a live-action kung fu take on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs but later evolved into a fantasy-action adventure tale. The story centered on a young woman in 19th century Hong Kong who escapes her wicked stepmother and takes refuge with seven men belonging to an ancient order dedicated to fighting demons and dragons.
Jupiter Ascending is said to be the Snow White fairytale fused with Japanese pop culture in a sci-fi and futuristic mythological masterpiece. From the same minds that brought the sci-fi world The Matrix and Cloud Atlas the project will begin shooting this year. (Source)
In a twist to the classic fairy tale ‘Snow White’, Mila Kunis plays the only person who possesses the same perfect genetic makeup as the highly evolved Queen of the Universe. But what the wicked ruler never imagined is that the young woman threatening her reign is a Russian immigrant cleaning lady on Earth. A bounty hunter is dispatched to take her down, but instead, falls in love with the earthling and decides to become her protector. The Wachowski siblings (The Matrix trilogy, Cloud Atlas) are directing the sci-fi action film with Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow co-financing. (Source)
Speaking of Channing Tatum and his involvement, while his character name in Jupiter Ascending is listed as "Caine", he's not exactly playing a regular human.
"I'm a splice, splices are essentially built in a test tube. I'm a hybrid wolf and human. And half albino, so I'm a little defective." That is definitely going to throw everyone off, but these mutations are part of the world this is set in. It's set "in a universe where humans are near the bottom of the evolutionary ladder," and splices are higher up.
