Here There Be Dragons... Specifically Maleficent

While everybody still seems to have Frozen-fever, once Maleficent gets close to debuting in the theaters, I have no doubt we're going to see a lot of Sleeping Beauty emphasis, themes, products, marketing tie-ins and who knows what else. I'm actually looking forward to it, hoping they get creative and mine the tale in fresh ways and I don't care if it seems foolishly optimistic - I live in hope... ;)

We've seen the first poster and trailer - both of which have people ridiculously excited and as a taste of things to come, Walt Disney World have unveiled a steampunk Maleficent dragon that will be part of the spectacular new Festival of Fantasy Parade for Magic Kingdom this year. (Source)

(By the way: Steampunk + Disney = awesome! More please.)

Although Sleeping Beauty herself, named Aurora in the Disney film, is THE most passive of any princess or gonna-be-princess Disney has ever put on the big screen (argh!), I like many other things about this film. Apart from being an incredibly beautiful film - mostly due to Eyvind Earle's design contributions, Prince Philip is a hard-to-beat Prince, his horse Samson is just about perfect, Maleficent is both dark fairy and demon (and hard to beat for scariest villain ever), her raven is wonderful (her goons are not - they're ridiculous and hurt the film), the castle falling asleep is wonderful (and the best use of the ridiculous fairies), the original hundred year sleep is referenced as Maleficent mocks her captor, the thorn barrier is truly intimidating and awe-inspiring, the final battle is perfect (apart from the fairies, I think Philip would have done fine without them) AND Disney added physical transformation which is a stroke of genius.

Already intimidating Maleficent turns it up to 11 when she resorts to dragon form (I say "resorts" because it actually shows a measure of desperation on her part to pull out every last "big gun" she has against this hero. I'm always reminded of the GK Chesterton quote:

I love that this dragon is not only massive and awe-some (in the original sense of the word) but that kids will see this gigantic structure and quite possibly remember it for the rest of their lives (hopefully with positive associations). I remember seeing things as a kid that, because they were in front of me, made a huge impact whereas more incredible/technically better objects and characters were easier to dismiss if they were in books or on the TV. Take a look at some more close-ups. Although Disney has had giant Maleficent dragons in parades and displays before (the one at the link has been "retired"), this is something rather special looking (and possibly more real? Sometimes steampunk has that effect for some odd reason). You'll see this will be a pretty hard sight to top, especially if you're in the front row.

Pretty nice work, yes?

The Festival of Fantasy Parade is set to debut at Walt Disney World sometime in Spring (apparently, March 2014).

Though dragons in fairy tales aren't actually the norm (that's more a romantic medieval conceit and based around popular legends of St. George and the Dragon etc), evil women changing into serpents or other sinuous creatures are more common, so once Disney's Maleficent showed her inner-self, dragons became more popular as fairy tale staples too. It's a little example of how society's view of fairy tales changes with pop culture by the way, something that's about to be reinforced big time in 2014.

Fairy tale bonus of the day: "Philip's trophy"

Unique commission by Dan Reeder

Although I'm anti-hunting, and therefore trophies, I did see this and think it was something that might have happened in the era Disney's version was set in (it helps that it's papier maché, of course). Pretty cool and besides, being magic, I'm not convinced she's as dead as she appears. Fairy tales forever have heads being reattached and forms restored - usually good people and creatures but sometimes bad one s too... And by bringing a whole head into his house philip might just be asking for trouble (and a sequel) because, well, there's a lot a head can do, even all by itself.. ;)

More Images from G1988's "Fairy Tales: A Print Show"

Stitching Starflowers by Shannon Finch

Just a quickie post today, expanding on my previous entry HERE on this show at Gallery Nineteen Eighty-Eight...

What the Doormouse Saw by Misha

The Beast by Matt Kaufenberg

The Ugly Duckling by Marcus Marritt

I tracked down a few more illustrations from the G1988 (West) Fairy Tales print show. Apparently there were under 30 prints so this might just be the rest of them. (Kind of weird to have less than thirty pieces on a subject like fairy tales, no? You think they'd be hard pressed to narrow it to one hundred).

Jack and the Beanstalk by Marcus Marritt

 “The Golden Stair” by Jeremy Berkley

Hansel & Gretel by Marcus Marritt

I finally found - and updated - the missing credit from the last post - the graphic looking Sword in the Stone piece. It's titled The Once And Future King and is by Ryan Brinkerhoff. And Dave Quiggle's The White Stag which I liked so much, was apparently inspired by The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

The Crane Wife (I only had the artist sneak-peek view before) by Deborah Bencosme (of castlepöp)

Oh - and did anyone notice the wolf in Red's cloak in the print that was also used for the poster? (See below.) I didn't till today... *rubs tired eyeballs*

Gregory Maguire Talks "Wicked", Teases Nutcracker... (Drosselmeyer!)

Broadway hit Wicked (which is nearing it's 10th anniversary!) heads to Manila this month, debuting on January 22nd with an Australian cast (you can see a slide show of the Australian production HERE).

As part of promoting the new production there, Gregory Maguire was recently e-interviewed (it's an official thing now) by Philippine newspaper The Star about, not only his thoughts on seeing his book head to the stage (and quickly become "a commotion"*), but also about his writing life and upcoming book plans.

Wicked Elphaba by Laura Mossop

The article also included an excerpt from the Auckland, NZ, show program for Wicked last year which, if you haven't read before is pretty wonderful:

...(Maguire) noted in the souvenir program for the Wicked run in Auckland, New Zealand (which The STAR covered late last year): “When Stephen Schwartz approached me with the notion of turning Wicked into a musical play, I needed much less persuading that I let on,” adding that “… from the opening anthem’s foreboding figure of notes… the score for Wicked respects the book’s tensions and ambiguities” making the figures who once lived solely in his head seem more real,” he added.

To have your book turned into another (professionally produced) art form is pretty fantastic but to feel that the people doing that understand your vision and "get" your work? That's on the rare side and completely thrilling.

Here are some excerpts from the recent e-interview:

Can you recall the exact moment when the idea of Wicked first came to you? 

“No. But I do remember the moment when I realized that the information we did have about the story was incomplete. In one of the songs from the MGM film (The Wizard of Oz), the Cowardly Lion sings, ‘What makes the Hottentot so hot?’ Even at the age of eight, I knew that Hottentots were from Africa, not from Oz: So how could the Cowardly Lion use such a reference? Similarly, when Dorothy sings to the Tin Man, ‘You could be another Lincoln…’ he doesn’t stop the song to ask, ‘What’s a Lincoln?’ They are not telling us the whole story, I said to myself, and scrunched closer to the TV to see what else was going on.” 

You’ve said in interviews that you don’t write anything that doesn’t ask big questions. What’s the biggest question and message readers will take away from Wicked? 

“What is the true nature of evil? Is evil determined by culture, by history, by God or by spirits, by the accident of birth or the behavior of individuals? I can’t say I provide an answer, but this is a question we do well to ask ourselves over and over. It is never an old question.” 

Wicked by Tim Shumate

What’s your daily writing life like? 

“I try to write about five pages a day when I am writing a new novel, and a first draft is usually done in a couple of months. The older I get, the more time I spend on revisions — my newest book has gone through eight drafts. It is out next year. (I’m working on) a book called Egg & Spoon, a fantasy set in Tsarist Russia about the time of Dr. Zhivago, more or less.”

(By the way - the projected date for that book's release is still "sometime during Fall 2014".)

And now for the news that had me probably more excited than I should be, especially since it's still in the "vague idea" stage:

If there’s another classic tale you’d want to give a “wicked” treatment, what would that be and why? 

“I have been playing with the idea of writing a book called Drosslemeyer, about the godfather who gives Klara the Nutcracker in the story of the same name. I don’t know why I would want to write that. Writing it would give me the answer.”

!!!!

Drosselmeyer by Artuš Scheiner

Nutcracker (and, in particular, the character of Drosselmeyer) has so much potential to me. Unfortunately it often feels like Clara (Klara?) reaches the Kingdom of Sweets and people fall into a sugary malaise of... nothing.

Only two (that I can think of) interpretations come to mind that attempt to mine Hoffman's story for retelling potential (remembering that this was a whole, literary work, by the way): one is Graeme Murphy's Nutcracker: The Story of Clara for the Australian Ballet, about a Russian dancer, migrating and growing older (available to view on DVD). The other (at almost the opposite end of the scale) is a video made for a college assignment by a student who used Britney Spears' song Toy Soldier (What? Yes - right there with you!) and blended the choreography with images and symbols from the traditional Nutcracker ballet in an attempt to empower girls instead of have them waiting to be rescued. It's actually more successful than it sounds. Yes I was surprised too. (You can click HERE to see it on YouTube if you'd like. It's a much better than average amateur video, especially once it gets started on the song/choreography portions.)

It's bizarre because I always thought Nutcracker could be quite epic. Drosselmeyer is a completely fascinating character, the music is wonderful and well known and it's a tradition for many people to go see Nutcracker at Christmas time so there's an audience already built in.

Nutcracker by Natasha Tabatchikova

But I digress.

You can read the whole fascinating interview HERE (note: sometimes the website has difficulty loading but keep trying, it's worth it). While it's not very lengthy, it packs a lot into a page.

What do you think of Maguire's next fairy tale-based novel consideration?

* Wicked fans will get my reference. :)

Pop Culture Print Exhibit: G1988 (West) "Fairy Tales"

The opening reception for Gallery 1988's newest exhibit "Fairy Tales: A Print Show" was held last night. I gather from the brief literature available that the exhibit is supposed to be more graphic (design) in nature rather than full illustrative or "art pieces". These are the images released via the affiliated Fire Wire Pop Culture Blog and various "leaks" here and there around Tumblr, personal blogs and Twitter.  Gallery 1988 has shown about half these on their website as well. I'm not sure how many works will be shown in total but Gallery Nineteen Eighty-Eight has promised to post more over the next few days.

Strollin... by Ridge Rooms

UPDATED with correct title & website link 1/12/14: Seven Wives by Nicole Rifkin

The Fairest of Them All by Eric Tan

Pied Piper by Kim Herbst

In Case of Great Fall by Dave Perillo

Born To Kill by Ross Proulx

As with pretty much all artwork, I would guess that seeing these in person would be very different from the online peeks we're getting (especially seeing as they're considerably low resolution) but at least, for those of us who can't get there to see it in person, we have an idea of what's trending in the print art scene in LA right now.

Red Riding Hood by Barry Blankenship

by Dave Quiggle

You Can Trust Me by JP Valderrama

Snow White by Glen Brogan

Enchanted Forest Product by Clark Orr

Little Red Riding Hood by Rocco Malatesta

UPDATED 1-12-14: “The Once And Future King” by Ryan Brinkerhoff

Although I'm not surprised to see a couple of different Red Riding Hoods it's interesting that Snow White is keeping a strong representation at the moment, especially considering these works have been created very recently, for this almost-New-Year exhibit. I would have thought Sleeping Beauty or Goldilocks might make an appearance.

Rapunzel poster by David Welker

Little Pig, Little Pig, Let Me Come In by Chris Brake

The Real Puss In Boots by Noël Ill

Snow White by Andrew Trabbold

Snow Queen by Priscilla Wilson (valorandvellum)

The Crane Wife by Deborah Bencosme (of castlepöp)

Being a "print show" I'm curious as to how they'll be presenting the works. For example wouldn't it be kind of cool (and memorable) to see a bushel of apples with those "Product of Enchanted Forest" stickers on them, under the print or "full label"/ad?

I also wonder if they'll be merchandising any of the images there? They're doing prints, perhaps obviously. From what I've seen on Twitter and more, artists have been getting their limited release prints ready and numbered for the opening, but I'm wondering if they're doing t-shirts, bags or other things. I do very much like the White Stag, Sneewittchen and Crane Wife works.

Pulitzer Prize Finalist (& Fairy Tale Author), Eowyn Ivey, to Receive Governor's Award

A big congratulations to Eowyn Ivey for all the recent recognition of her beautiful work in writing The Snow Child.

Not too long ago Ms. Ivey was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize and today (January 10th, 2014) it was announced that she will also be receiving recognition from the Governor for her artistic contribution to the US in 2013,  in the form of her novel.

The Snow Child - cabin concept (paper cutouts & Photoshop) by Aubrey Williams

The Snow Child by Dyana-M

Excerpt from AnchorageDailyNews:

Eowyn Ivey reads from her book

 A best-selling Alaska author and former state legislator are among the recipients of the 2014 Governor’s Awards for the Arts and Humanities announced on Jan. 10.  

Eowyn Ivey of Chickaloon, whose debut novel “The Snow Child” was a surprise best-seller overseas and continues to rank in the regional best-seller list for the Pacific Northwest, sill receive the Individual Artist Award. 

The Governor's Arts and Humanities Awards will be presented at... (a) Gala banquet on January 30, 2014.

     
 I'm including the following announcement which will be of interest to folklore and fairy tale people, should you happen to be in Anchorage, Alaska during the time.

Fireside Books - The Snow Child display window

ADN Announcement:  On Monday February 18, 2013 Professor Victoria Kononova will discuss the snow maiden fairy tale in Russian folklore, literature, music and art at the UAA Bookstore from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Russian snow maiden fairy tale was the inspiration for Ivey's award winning book.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2014/01/10/3267354/governors-arts-awards-announced.html#storylink=cpy

Gosh I would love to sit in on that! It's rare to hear Russian fairy tales being discussed, let alone so specifically. Let's hope someone has the foresight (and generosity) to video it and share it on YouTube.

With the fantasy touch and being based on a fairy tale it's not too difficult to see pictures when you read The Snow Child. The initial marketing for the novel included a truly lovely and sensitive animation and the various book covers have been fascinating to see as well.

The Snow Child (setting) by Arandadill

Into the Mountains (The Snow Child) by Cachava

I do love it when people create good quality art out of love though, so it's wonderful to see art inspired by Ms. Ivey's work as well. A very brief search unearthed the included art (credits included in the corresponding captions).

The Snow Child by Amy Schmitt (I love this!)

The Snow Child by Cachava

The Snow Child (characters) by Arandadill
And how cool is this? In her many travels, finding fans all over the globe, Ms. Ivey visited Scotland where landscape painted Amy Marshall was able to show her the charcoal illustration she was inspired to do, full size (how awesome would that be to see as an author?!).

Eowyn Ivey (left) admires Amy Marshall's (on right) charcoal drawing for her book, The Snow Child

I'll finish with a book cover I hadn't seen until today. They're all so different but I would have easily guess this cover belonged with Ms. Ivey's novel. This is by professional illustrator and artist Matthew John Gordon. 

In the meantime, congrats again Eowyn! We love your book and are still talking about it. It's been one of the very few fairy tale novels I've been able to recommend to non-fairy tale people and have them enjoy it thoroughly as well.

Alternate book cover by Matthew John Gordon