The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Opening Folktales (Must See!)

I have less than 10 minutes to write this post so please forgive the intense brevity!
First a quote on the gorgeous patchwork quilt design created for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics:

In the concept design, every patch was infused with the history and personality of traditional crafts from each of Russia’s 89 regions: in a single tapestry we combined Uftyuzhskaya painting and Vologda lace, Gzhel and Zhostovo painting, Kubachi patterns and the flowers of Pavlo Posad shawls, Mezenskaya painting and Khokhloma, Yakutsk patterns, fabrics of Ivanovo and other distinctive Russian patterns. That is how we arrived at a modern, distinctive and unmistakeably Russian Look of the Games.”

(See HERE for more on the Sochi quilt designs, including examples of the folk art it drew on.)

Sochi Olympic Opening = folktales coming to life!

If you haven't seen it - go find and watch! Many allusions to folktales, traditions, beliefs displayed in art, dance, film and theater.

My favorites: the Tolstoy tribute and Tchaikovsky's 'Spinning Lake' (the former = dance-theater par excellence, & the latter = wondrous + incredible physical physical feat!).

Adored the amount of regular people involved in behind-the-scenes and in performing (over 2 000 regular every day people), as well as world renowned artists, proving that with hard work, good design and planned timing ordinary people can make real magic too.

The opening ceremony was breathtaking, often incredibly beautiful, classical yet contemporary, very innovative, overall wondrous and technically marvelous.

Seriously, the tech side was perfect, (minus one, unfortunately very visible glitch), the technology used was cutting edge but felt classical and beautiful, and the best of all the arts - music, design, theater, dance, puppetry, film, animation, ballet, opera & more - were represented with uniquely Russian flair and the physical feats some of the performers had to pull off (LIVE!) were astonishing, yet looked effortless.

Folktales were represented throughout in story moments, in film, in images and motifs, in song, in pattern and movement.

The design of the banners for the Olympics reminds us that wonder stories are a strong part of Russia's heritage and still part of Russia's cultural expression.

The word that keeps appearing in the media across the world the day after the Opening aired is "fairytale", and they don't mean the 'glitter and happy endings' types. They mean the timeless, beautiful, rooted and often raw stories that remind us of who we are and guide our path to the future.

Out of time! Posting some pics from the opening, despite the fact that they do not do the performance (even the imperfect & heavily edited TV broadcast) justice! Seeing it all move is... magic.

Wish I had time to put this together better for you but hopefully it will be a good reminder for those who saw it and a prompt for those who haven't yet.

Enjoy!

Zooey Deschanel to Exec Produce New Animated-Workplace-Comedy On Difficulties Of Running A Fairy Tale 'Queendom'...

The show is a modern fairytale about an evil queen who realizes that running a Queendom isn’t easy when you have no people skills and everyone hates you. But with a little help from her staff, she will try to change her ways.

So the quote seems to indicate someone watched a few episodes of Once Upon A Time, sympathized with Regina's character and her groaning at the rest of the characters (who run around declaring loyalty one week and changing their minds the next) - with a little magic mischief thrown in the mix, and thought: "Ya know? Being an 'Evil Queen' boss of fairy tale people would be so frustrating - it would make a perfect workplace comedy!" And someone at Fox said "Yeah - we need some sort of property to get a piece of that profitable fairy tale pie - let's do it!"

(Um.. ok then!)

The show will be half an hour long and the title is: Queen Of Everything.

No mention of a series, so it appears to be a single-show project for Fox. Not sure how they intend to slot it into Fox programming, especially as a one-off (I can see this better as a short series). Fox doesn't have any other real fairy tale properties right now, though the two dramedy/fantasies of Almost Human and Sleepy Hollow show the mix of magic and wry one-liners should work well for their viewers.

It could be good...

I'm being optimistic. Are you being optimistic? Because ya never know... and Regina is the most consistently interesting character in OUAT so... *shrugs*

No word on who's designing or animating yet, although Ali Waller (American Dad, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon) will be writing, so there are lots of ways this could go. It's going to be a tough one to pull off well! Hopefully Ms. Deschanel will use her star-status well and get really skilled people on board who can make something surprising and fun out of this, because, honestly, the premise is a little cringe-worthy (and the writer isn't exactly known for having a subtle touch). I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

(Note to show: please prove my gut reaction wrong and make this awesome.)

Sources: HERE & HERE

"La Belle et La Bete" New Posters & Stills (aaaand it's countdown week: 5 days till the premiere...)

New posters, new stills...

I'm guessing they got tired of seeing the low rez screen caps zippping around Tumblr and other social media. ;)

 I'm not complaining at all. We haz more prettys now. :)

New stills - and more - after the jump.

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Update On "Song of the Sea" (Selkies!)

The caption says "in development" but it's actually in production - they're on the downhill run now!

Those of you in 'the know' regarding animated films, know they take years (and years and sometimes years and years and years) to make, and Song of the Sea, by the creators of the wonderful Secret of Kells people (Cartoon Saloon), is slowly but steadily making progress. After a ton of work, much is which is done by hand at the very small company (compared to the big animation studios), they're finally getting to the stage where they can release images here and there, as well as a teeny bit of teaser footage too. *cheers!*

In case you missed it, and before you go any further, here's the conceptual trailer which has been out for about almost 4 years now. Most of what you need to know about the film (and the fairy tale relevancy) is right there:

Song Of The Sea - Conceptual Trailer from Cartoon Saloon on Vimeo.
Now take a look at their new showreel, just released. It has new footage from Song of the Sea! (Each section is titled, so no need to guess which one is the selkie pic):

Cartoon Saloon Showreel 2014 from Cartoon Saloon on Vimeo.

I'm really hoping the timing for the release of this film is good so it gets decent exposure. Kells was just stunning yet hardly anyone saw this lovely Irish film until, by a miracle, it was nommed for an Oscar and distribution was finally picked up by Buena Vista. While that was great, it would have  done better if the public had been enthusiastic about it earlier and it had gotten a larger fan base in the lead up to the nominations. Song of the Sea promises to be just as beautiful and it would be great if they didn't have to struggle as much for support this time around.

LOTS MORE CONCEPT ART AFTER THE JUMP!

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"La Belle et la Bête": The 'First Dinner' Scene (squee!)

Official Italian Poster for "La Belle et la Bête"

Yesterday, a whole scene from Gans' spectacular looking fairy tale film was released! We get the iconic and moody (aka inspired by Cocteau), first dinner scene as Beauty meets the Beast for the first time (and has a little freak out).

This is making the waiting harder! (US/UK release dates already please!)

La Belle et la Bête : extrait exclusif "Premier dîner" sur WAT.tv

Are we still looking forward to this?

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!

As a bonus for today, here's a newly released - and very lovely - behind-the-scenes video on the fairy tale aesthetics of the film (sorry - French again, but you get the gist):

PS If you can't see the "first dinner" video (because there is something bizarre going on with the code sticking from foreign sites, right now), click to see the scene HERE.

Source: HERE

Theater: Glassheart - A Very Different Beauty & The Beast (& Fairy Tale Friend Megan Reichelt Is Getting Rave Reviews For Her Performance!)

One of our beloved fairy tale news-blog friends, Megan Reichelt of The Dark Forest, is busy bringing magic to the stage and "illuminating" a different side to this beloved fairy tale (sorry, Megan - the puns are difficult to resist!) in the company of Rorschach Theatre. The play is titled Glassheart, and was written and created by Reina Hardy.

While Rorschach's production of Beauty and the Beast doesn't have singing silverware, flirtatious furniture or dancing dinner plates, it does have a one last magical servant of The Beast's, who keeps him company in this after-the-failed-fairy-tale story. 

She's a quirky, upbeat and particularly chatty lamp, named "Only" (thanks to a random dictionary choice) and actually has a hat that lights up, underscoring her magical nature [and potential] as well as the hope and dreams within her. In her own way, she helps bring the truth to light, (again - very sorry!), including truths about herself. This delightful and layered character is being played by our dear Ms. Reichelt - and getting great reviews on her performance to boot! 

Here's a blurb remix (multiple blurbs, re-blurbed into one):

Beauty never showed up, so the Beast... left. Now, holed up in a tiny, shabby Chicago apartment near a 7-11, with his only remaining magical servant and friend, a lamp, he waits; hoping for lower cost of living and better luck with girls. The downstairs neighbor has a band, the landlady makes suspiciously delicious gingerbread, then one day, a U-Haul arrives… 

In the space between now and always, GLASSHEART confronts the universal uncertainties of love, fate and free-will and a relentlessly cheery lamp discovers what - and who - must be sacrificed for an ordinary life.

Much of what I've seen with regard to this particular production of Glassheart, and the talented cast, shows a fun and creative approach to both the craft and in bringing the story to magical life. 

Here's an excerpt from a (somewhat cheeky) review by the Washington City Paper, explaining a little more of the thrust of the play:

In Glassheart... (the Beast) has traded in his castle for a Chicago walk-up, the kind bookstore clerks can afford. This we know because the sleep-deprived manic pixie dream girl who just moved in next door has come to work in a bookstore. The beast’s lamp—apparently the last of the walking, talking home appliances who like their master yearn to be restored to human form—is determined to play matchmaker because, as you’ll recall, only true love can break the curse that reduced a shallow prince to a drooling, shedding, feral monster, at least part of the time.

I must recommend reading this review HERE by the MDTheaterGuide for a great overview. As it discusses the performances more than the actual story it's difficult to clip excerpts to be posted out of context that still make sense, so just go read it. Although brief, it explains a lot of the nuances of the story as portrayed by the company.

Even though this retelling is set in a modern apartment in downtown bustling Chicago, with the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale front and center and the small, but obvious impossibility/magic of Lamp/Only a crucial part, it would be easy to feel this was disconnected from the real world, but one of the things I love most about it is how very "now" this play feels. Somehow it is both magical yet modern. Tweeting, Facebooking and "Vining" various aspects of the production help that too, giving it a life beyond the performance space. 

Take a look at some of the tweets from the rehearsals (you can get a personal behind-the-scenes look and meet the cast - with extra fairy tale questions bonus! - via Megan HERE), along with some more great performance shots (note: the rose pot is the last remnant of the Beast's castle, so you can intuit a little more significance when you see it in the photos):

Had to add this one, even though it wasn't technically in the rehearsal tweets!

Tell me you're not intrigued!

Here's what Reina Hardy (the playwright and creator of Glassheart, among other productions) said about Glassheart when interviewed by the Austin Chronicle last year:

AC: Regarding Glassheart: What made you want to bring those Beauty and the Beast characters into our reality? 

RH: It's just one of those things that gets into your head and stays there, worrying you until it turns into a play. I was very taken with the idea of the Beast's reduced circumstances, and of making the magical servant the main character, and I tend to write a lot of plays that imply there's a lot more to the world than what most people notice. ...Glassheart is about broken, scared people trying to be human.

Here's an excerpt from an article, again by the Austin Chronicle, on the premiere production of the show (ie, this is from Shrewd Productions and NOT Megan's current staging), explaining a little of the plot and the characters (note: the pic is also from the premiere production, not Rorschach Theater's):

Hardy's take on the fairy tale is intriguing and seems to relish in its own magic. Through the many years, the lamp and the Beast have developed a curiously loving relationship in which he regularly barks and snarls, but he also reads to her from the light that she gives off. In fact, the Beast is a true bibliophile. Some of the most endearing moments of Glassheart come when the Beast abandons his animalistic grunts and growls in favor of an earnest love of stories and books. The neighbor, Aoife, has come to Chicago to work at a bookstore (natch), and her quirkiness allows her an entrée into the fairy-tale world. She has the patience to tolerate the weirdness in the Beast's apartment and the loneliness necessary to give him a chance.
Throughout this story looms the presence of the witch, an odd, powerful woman with desires of her own. Evil she may be, but she's also a character with deep and sympathetic desires. Her efforts to manipulate the story away from the conventionally happy ending form the conflict of Glassheart.

And just to show you the sense of humor this play is being done with, I just had to include some cast roars... (after the jump... it autoplays but the sound is muted until you choose it not to be.)

I'm also going to add a somewhat spoilery overview of the story (though the ultimate ending is kept secret), so if you - like me - are unable to get to the show and satisfy your curiosity, hopefully it will take the edge off, as well as show you more about why Megan is so very excited about doing this (and we for her!).

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Some More "La Belle et La Bete" Concept Art from François Baranger (To Tie You Over Till My Main Post Later Today)

François Baranger never ceases to delight with these paintings, does he?

Once again, he's released some truly beautiful concept paintings for Gans' La Belle et La Bete - and they're stunning, just like all the others!

Gosh, I can't wait to see this movie...