"Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer!" (Real Boy? No. Real Hero? Yes!) The Complete Collection Coming June

Back in the middle of 2009 (!) I posted on a new and innovative graphic novel, titled Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer! and was a little stunned no one had ever thought of such a wonderful idea match before. Because it works, really well. I'm not the only one who thinks so either. Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer! has garnered much critical praise as well as enthusiastic recommendations from respected comic book reviewers and online Geek kings such as Topless Robot.

There have been two volumes published since but now a new company has taken the creative team of Dusty Higgins and Van Jensen under their wings and is releasing a soft cover, French-flapped, 500+ page graphic novel of the trilogy in June this year (which is all four volumes - part three was published in two parts).

Note for fairy tale enthusiasts: a former newspaper crime reporter, writer Van Jensen is clearly drawn to fairy tales. He's also the author of Snow White: Through A Glass, Darkly.

Here's the press release:

After gathering substantial praise for their individual volumes, artist Dusty Higgins and writer Van Jensen officially join the Top Shelf family this summer with the first-ever complete collection of Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer! 

Click through for more details and a 12-page preview. (Just click on the book cover image to start.)

This puppet may not be a real boy… but he just might be a real hero.

When bloodthirsty monsters invade Pinocchio’s hometown and kill his father Geppetto, Pinocchio discovers a new benefit to his magical nose: telling lies produces a never-ending supply of wooden stakes to combat the vampire hordes! Will Pinocchio be able to defeat these horrors, avenge his father, and save his friends?

Jensen (Green Lantern Corps) and Higgins (Knights of the Living Dead) present a captivating blend of comedy, horror, romance, and adventure, rooted in the original Italian novel but brought – as if by magic – to new life.

 One of YALSA’s Top Ten Graphic Novels for Teens!“It’s the greatest thing I’ve read all year. And you’ll notice my nose didn’t grow one bit when I said that.” — Mark Waid“Page after page of amazement.” — Publishers Weekly“The premise for this graphic novel is really almost too good to be true… and the execution doesn’t disappoint.” — Booklist“Outstanding.” — Topless Robot“Sometimes dark, sometimes silly, but always fun, Pinocchio coming of age Batman-style is just the thing for fantasy and horror fans.” — MTV“Really, really good.” — Comics Alliance“Seriously, it’s perfect.” — Comic Book Resources

I've really enjoyed the art, the writing and ideas behind this series and am seriously considering picking up this special edition copy! As an extra incentive, Amazon currently has a pre-order price deal of over $6 off HERE.

You can check out the original trailer, which neatly shows you the art style, story concept and balance of humor and urban fantasy, HERE. Highly recommended if you like comics, urban fantasy, Pinocchio, fairy tales and being generally cool. ;)

Original Release banner

Frozen II: It's Happening (Probably. Maybe. They're Thinking About It.)

Frozen in the Style of Mucha by Yar'Tzana-Serenade

Yes, it's true! There are rumors... but that's still as concrete as it is for now.

It's becoming more and more likely that, thanks to the film's monumental success, Disney will return to Arendelle for further 'Frozen' tales.Some fans might be a tad perturbed at the thought of a sequel, because the original is so adored, but the film's directors, Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, have admitted that the folks over at Disney are just as concerned. (Source)

Talk about a Frozen sequel, addressing the "discourse" of the fans is definitely happening amongst all the official-Frozen people but it's still early days of Frozen's success, historically speaking and it's still a "new movie". Though Frozen has just become the most successful animated film of all time (yep - broke the billion barrier!) it doesn't guarantee we'll be seeing sequels. It's pretty clear that any consideration of a sequel will want to avoid the (generally) lower quality writing and/or animation of the direct-to-dvd crowd. If they do take a stab at this, it's likely it will be big screen all the way.

Here's as much official word about it as was discussed in a recent interview (posted 4/4/14) the directors had with Den of Geek:

Fan made poster for Broadway Musical

We're past the age of straight to DVD sequels now, that much is thankfully clear. And obviously there's been talk about sequels to this, a musical... but how closely do you stay now as guardians of it? How do you stop The Jungle Book 2 happening to it? How do you protect these characters, or do you have to accept that it's someone else's now? 

Chris: ...I think with John Lasseter being there, he's such a guardian of the movies now... especially of Frozen, he really was such a big part of it. And the characters too. I think we'll be right there, but he's the 800 pound gorilla who says no, our characters don't do this. They don't go there. 

Jennifer: Right now, I certainly feel very protective of the characters, and it'd be very hard to see that happen. Having said that, the fans have seen different things in the film, some of which wasn't our intention, but they're responding to it, and there's a discourse going on. 

There really is. 

Jennifer: It's flattering. They're talking about our film at a deeper level than just it was good, it was bad. And that in itself means a lot. You don't want to take that away from fans. There is that balance of wanting to stay involved and protecting the characters, certainly going forward, but also liking the world that each person is making.

Basically, "yep we're thinking about it but don't get too excited, we're still feeling precious about this relatively new film." (You can read the whole interview HERE.)

Earlier this year Disney's CEO, Bob Iger, hinted that a follow-up to the animated behemoth is already in the pipeline as he told a conference call with investors that the film "has real franchise potential." (Source)

So, yes. They're definitely thinking about it. But the real question is: why am I blogging about it on a fairy tale news blog? Well Frozen has officially forever altered the way The Snow Queen will be considered; The Snow Queen as a character, the manifestation of snow, ice and Winter powers and also of the fairy tale. At least it retains the idea of strong women which is so prevalent in Hans Christian Andersen's story, though I'd love to see that connection strengthened a little more.

The Four Seasons - Tapestry artwork by Brittney Lee- Character artwork by Bill Schwab

It's a complete dream on my part, but now that the Disney-ness has been dealt with, with regard to this fairy tale rewrite, and certain cliches have been, at least, bent, if not broken in Frozen, I can see it paving the way to tap more of the original Snow Queen story and themes in a sequel, especially the idea of seasons and maturation, which is one of the reasons I really love the depiction of the Disney characters as shown in the image at the head of the post - there's more of an echo of the fairy tale than the artist probably realizes. The development art, immediately above by Disney artist Brittney Lee, shows the concept of applying the seasons to the story, themes and characters isn't foreign to them either, so you never know...

Whatever the case, Frozen and all associations with The Snow Queen (whether we like them or not) are not going away any time soon. Fan art, stories and theories are only continuing to grow and take some interesting - and fairy tale friendly directions (more about that soon, hopefully). Speculations are already growing about the film's transition/morph into a Broadway production, despite the fact that Disney has made it clear they are taking it slowly and carefully on that project and that we are unlikely to see anything for a few years yet.

So what do you think? Excited about a possible sequel? What do you think are the chances of fairy tale elements involved if there is? (And what if they're NOT from Snow Queen?)

Ask Baba Yaga: I Am a Practical Adult Who Can No Longer Feel Wonder

Vasalisa by Mia Araujo

Is it possible to squee like a fan girl about Baba Yaga? Because she's talking about FAIRY TALES today!

This week's question and answer (via poet and oracle Taisia Kitaiskaia* of The Hairpin):

(Originally posted at The Hairpin HERE)

Oh boy - I am SO glad this came up! 

This is something I used to worry about, big time, especially when I was a child. I looked at the bored, unhappy and unfulfilled grownups around me and worried I, too, would dry up into a husk of adulthood and lose the wonder that kept me curious and creating, not to mention my will to keep trying. If I woke up one day and that "power up" I found in fantasy and fairy tales was gone, how would I bring back the magic? 

This is a problem I see adults struggle with. All. The. Time. And I get asked about it a lot too, being so obviously fairy tale inclined. Unfortunately I rarely have a good answer, other than "nurture the wonder...' But I think Baba Yaga has illuminated an important point.

Ironically, it may very well have been my fear that kept me plugged in and in pursuit of the wonder, because now that I'm not only a certified adult but well into the "is that a gray hair?!" crowd, I'm certain I will always be one of those people who says (in a hushed Sixth Sense voice): "I see fairy tales..."**

But you're not here to read my thoughts on this - you get that pretty much every day. 

What do you think of Baba Yaga's advice?

Want to ask Baba Yaga a question of your own?

You can!

There's now an email address where you can send your questions

directly to Baba Yaga herself.

AskBabaYaga AT gmail DOT com

To encourage Baba Yaga to continue imparting her no-bones-about-it wisdom (ok, there may be some gristle in there... bones too), I suggest we not to leave her box empty... 

Thank you Baba Yaga (& Taisia).

* Taisia Kitaiskaia is a poet, writer, and Michener Center for Writers fellow. Born in Russia and raised in America, she's had her poems and translations published in Narrative Magazine, Poetry International, and others.
** Actually, it's only gotten worse as I've gotten older. Baba's right - wonder is always mixed with fear. It doesn't have to be fear of the 'thing', it can just be fear of yourself (and I have plenty of that). It's one of the reasons I'm not so averse to this " dark fairy tales" trend, or of delving into the shadier sides of the stories. When you've been surrounded for a long time (as we have) by bubblegum and glitter tales, they lose their strength and ability to bite when you need them to. I like my stories to be strong and my fairy tales to have teeth...

Theater: "The King Stag" (A New Production with Puppets from the Creators of "War Horse")

There's a new production of The King Stag being staged by the University Theater of West Michigan (WMU) and this one has been created under the mentoring of some world class puppeteers (rehearsal photos  - as well as those figuring out the puppet designs - are shown throughout the post).

This is an 18th century Italian Shakespearean-esque fairy tale of love and sorcery being retold with very playful sense of humor in a Commedia dell-Arte** play (albeit with some key differences due to the large scale, multiple-performer controlled puppets). It has "entrapped wizards, talking birds, enchanted busts and magical spells that cause the souls of the characters to switch bodies"*- all while the audience watches with comedic delight.

The classic comedy by Carlo Gozzi is having a revival, of sorts, in theatrical circles in the past few years (very possibly being helped along by the rise in popularity of deer people - and people enchanted as deer - tales from the Celtic to the Native American) and usually, the young man, enchanted in the form of a stag, among the other animal-like characters of the court, is played by humans.  This production is handling the story a little differently:

King Stag is a magically funny fable in which men transform into creatures and creatures transform into men. Through a sophisticated blend of live actors and puppets created and directed by guest artists from the Puppet Kitchen in NYC and Handspring (creators of War Horse) in South Africa,King Stag will challenge the boundaries of imagination and contemporary creativity. Lose yourself in a world of powerful magicians, heart-sick lovers, whimsical servants, and a giant bear—all in pursuit of true love.

The play is intended for people of all ages (barring the very young - the suggested age is 10 and above), and promises to be a lot of fun, especially with the likes of Handspring involved!

Here are one of the University's promotional videos, showing behind-the-scenes of the puppet-building and their performance challenges as a result.

Here's a blurb about the play by Carlo Gozzi from an earlier production. The University Theater production follows the same story, of course. They just tell it a bit differently.

Carlo Gozzi's magical tale brings to life King Deramo, the faithful Angela who loves him, his treacherous prime minister Tartaglia, several hare-brained members of his court, a magician, a parrot, magical stags, and a giant bear.It's a fairy tale for all ages, a story of love and betrayal, intrigue and mirth, magic spells and pageantry.It is a fantastical and at times satirical look at the destructive vices of ambition, jealousy, and lust, and the power of true love to transform and transcend them all.And like all good fairy tales, "The King Stag" is not only about enchantment. It's also enchanting.

If you love Commedia Dell-Arte, this is one play you will want to keep your eye out for. Every production I've seen mentioned dives deeply into the Italian street theater tradition and really, just looks like a lot of fun. You can see some performance photos by The Curtain Theater in California HERE. They have one stag puppet and make wonderful use of masks and stage their play as if it were being performed in an Italian street.

There's also a completely different and modern take on The King Stag, though still using Commedia Dell'Arte, by the Shanghai Academy HERE, and it should be mentioned that Julie Taymor also designed a production of The King Stag early in her theater career as well. You can see some photos from that HERE.

The performance premiered yesterday on April 3rd (Thursday) and will run through the 13th. You can find more details on times and about tickets HERE.

*Quote about the play elements from a different production HERE.

** Commedia Dell’Arte is a Rennaisance Italian Street Theater Form which is known for broad comic situations featuring stock characters (many of which are recognizable today), physical comedy, improvisation and clowning.

Dancing Ghosts and Haunted Shoes in Fairy Tales (+ The Most Adorable Little Short!)

A little ghost Singin' in the Rain (fan art) by Cellsai

Are there ghosts in fairy tales?

The answer isn't as straightforward as you might think. The dead - and symbols of someone dead (especially beloved dead) are fairly common in fairy tales (eg the help Cinderella receives from birds in the Grimm version are symbolic of her mother watching over her) but actual ghosts, not so much. Unless you're talking Irish fairy tales. Or Japanese. But then these are more often "spirits" than the ghost of someone people/the characters knew passed on.

There is a whole category of folktale categorized as The Grateful Dead (and Heidi of SurLaLune is busy working on a collection of these! I can't wait!) but usually these aren't classic ghost stories in the usual sense either.

Enchanted - or haunted - objects appear every so often as well but not usually in the modern sense of the word haunted. I often wonder, though, what on earth happened to those red shoes, once they were cut off Karen's feet? Did they continue dancing through the ages? Did they change form and haunt other people who had to dance or they felt they would die?

OK, I admit it. I don't have a well researched and deep article on this topic for you. It's really an excuse to bring you this completely delightful little animation I saw for the first time today. It will at first puzzle you, then make you smile wider and wider the longer you watch. Full disclosure: I had to watch it over again immediately when I first saw it, so consider yourself warned. ;)

Lovers of musicals, prepare to fall in love again:

義足のMoses from ががめ on Vimeo.

Seeing a short like the one above makes me wonder: what if one of the Twelve Dancing Princesses was caught in that limbo or underworld land because she loved dancing so much and was doomed to wander and dance alone for the rest of her days? What if that princess found her way to the abandoned stage of a musical?

Or, what if the spirit of Karen (the girl from The Red Shoes by HCA) was forced to walk, er float, upon the earth (considering her feet were cut off). I would think that perhaps the saddest thing for her would be not necessarily that she was dead, but that she couldn't dance. And what if she found some shoes that continued to dance by themselves, long after their owners stopped? What would her response be?

I should go look up that Ferragamo exhibit o shoes again (The Amazing Shoemaker - Fairy Tales and Legends About Shoes and Shoemakers), which JUST GOT EXTENDED THROUGH TO MAY 18, 2014! No doubt the topic of ghosts or shoe haunting will be addressed there in some form...

{Aaaand this is how my hooked-on-fairy-tales brain works, much of the day... be glad you don't live inside my head. }

As always, feel free to add your own crazy thoughts and/or studied insights in the comments below. The whole topic is pretty fascinating and I'm sort of surprised there isn't more literature available on it regarding fairy tales in particular. Folktales however, I'll bet some of you have entire shelves just devoted to those, and we'd love to hear about it.

Now, I'm going to go watch the short again...

Note: I'm sorry I don't have much information on the animator. All I know is that they're Japanese and I can't access the websites they appear on without an account. Your best shot is to go to the Vimeo address and leave a message, or follow up via that way. Good luck!

"Maleficent" Banner Released Today Shows Us Sleeping Beauty's World (& What Kind Of Movie This Really Is)

The new banner poster for Maleficent - click to see much larger image

We saw a blurry three quarter view from a pic taken at CinemaCon but here's the full image of the World of Sleeping Beauty and Maleficent (original source). Best of all, it makes it clear what kind of movie this really is: an epic family fantasy adventure blockbuster movie, on the scale of Legend.

You must admit, Disney are really good at these 'world of' teaser banners. They definitely call to mind the epic fantasy paintings from series book covers like The Belgariad (remember those?) and similar. Both the US Alice in Wonderland and the Oz the Great and Powerful banners are gorgeous looking, no matter what you eventually thought of the movies. (You can click on the posters below to view them a bit larger but you get the idea: world = magical). I just hope Maleficent proves to be much better than either, and is better at capturing the imagination - like Labyrinth, Legend and ET were, way back when.

  

I also really, REALLY hope it's good, because there has been a decided lack of family fantasy movies in general* for the last 30-ish years (other than animation or talking animal movies) and although my son has just reached that wonderful age where I can show him some of the classics (there has been some serious pleading to get a "My other ride is Falkor" license plate for our car), I'd love to have him experience the currently-in-theaters, en-masse-social-excitement for a new fantasy or fairy tale film that I had when I was his age. Not to mention, if Maleficent does well and hits the magical, substantial yet not TOO dark, target for families, we'll get more fairy tale family movies in the near future - that's just about guaranteed.

Seeing fairy tales in the theater when you are still at that age where Santa, The Easter Bunny (and in our house, Baba Yaga's Monster Chicken) comes to visit you every year makes a huge impact on a person and not just as an escape or piece of entertainment. I dearly hope Maleficent is something I can take him to see. And it means we'll get help raising a generation of people who love and are aware of fairy tales again.

For something to compare the foreign fairy tale marketing, here's the Italian poster, which has the added subtitle "The Secret of Sleeping Beauty". What are your thoughts on the different approaches? And does the "world reveal" of the top poster make you look forward to the movie or worry that we're about to be treated to another disOZster?

*Yes, we've had the Harry Potter film franchise but honestly, I can't really show more than the first two to my kid yet. They get darker and darker with every sequel too, so, true family films, notsomuch. We had Narnia (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) and the sequels but only the first one really made any sort of social impact. The Golden Compass was epic but rather high concept and difficult for the under-tens to understand and enjoy and Stardust just wasn't little-kid-friendly conceptually (and check the dates on all these movies too - they were quite far apart). There have been smaller films (and a number of more recent foreign films) that have been excellent but not many people seem to know them. Sadly, most of the really big fantasy films have been for teen and older audiences: Pan's Labyrinth, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit,  Red Riding Hood, Snow White and the Huntsman, Jack the Giant Slayer etc or they've been so effects-dependent with subpar writing, eg Oz the Great and Powerful, that the magic and possibility of jump-starting kids' imaginations has been sucked right out. While I adore grown-up fantasy movies, I'd really love my kid to grow up loving fantasy and fairy tales being buzzed about in popular culture as well. It feels a bit like everyone who grew up watching The Neverending Story, ET, The Princess Bride, Jumanji, Legend etc went on to make Lord of the Rings or Doctor Who and forgot to make good quality fantasy their kids could participate in viewing and loving as well. It's about time it came back around to an epic but family friendly fantasy. Hopefully this will fan the flame of good family fantasy and fairy tale movies and perhaps spawn some TV series in the same vein as well. (More Storyteller please!)

I'm Over at Tales of Faerie Today! (Where You Can Learn All My Secrets...)

My thanks to the lovely and talented Kristin for having me on her blog for an interview!

Kristin's blog, Tales of Faerie, can be found HERE, as well as regularly at the top of the Other Fairy Tale News Sources in the column on the right of OUABlog page.


She is one of these people who writes on fairy tales the way I wish I could. Her posts are fascinating, well researched, thought provoking and honestly, I kind of wish she was posting for me here.

We are lucky to have her as our fairy tale friend and blogger, who shows with every post why fairy tales are both fascinating and important.

Curious about the strange brain behind this blog, Kristin asked me a few why's and wherefore's you may be interested in.

You can find the interview HERE. 

(And you'll then understand why I've posted these pictures of a retelling of the Cupid & Psyche story as well...) 

I love the illustration Kristin uses in her banner for her blog (the double page is shown below). It's by Angela Barrett for Beauty and the Beast and reflects Kristin's blogging style really well: clearly fairy tales, good quality content and detailed research as well as thought provoking topics. It's one of my favorite places to visit and should be on your fairy tale must-reads list as well.

Beauty & the Beast by Angela Barrett

*Till We Have Faces by CS Lewis, vintage book covers by Time Life

Burton's Poppins Movie Rumor A Viral Publicity Stunt (April Fools!)

Is anyone really surprised, despite that it happened a couple of days early? (You can read about the reason behind the stunt HERE.)

t certainly confirms the trend of people wanting backstory-stories though, not to mention the odd-mother thing. Maleficent is certainly not your average fairy godmother, is she? And Helena Bonham Carter is giving Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo a new flavor too. Even if the enormous response/buzz hasn't swayed Disney toward something else Burtonesque, I have no doubt the response will help the company solidify some decisions on their Descendants movie and possibly other projects in the potential pipeline as well.

In the meantime, please return to your regularly scheduled Poppins. ;)

Happy Birthday HCA!

Hans Christian Andersen by David Levine

Today - April 2nd - is the birthday of beloved literary fairy tale writer, Hans Christian Andersen. Born in 1805, he would have been 209 this year.

I saw this drawing by well known political and newspaper cartoonist David Levine and thought it went very well with one of Andersen's famous sayings, taken out of his autobiographical fairy tale, The Ugly Duckling:

"Being born in a duck yard does not matter, 

as long as you are hatched from a swan's egg!"

Speculation suggests that Andersen was the illegitimate son of prince Christian Frederik (later King Christian VIII of Denmark), and found this out some time before he wrote the book, and then that being a swan in the story was a metaphor not just for inner beauty and talent but also for secret royal lineage. (Edit FTNH: Theories still persist that Andersen was the bastard son of King Christian VII of Denmark.)
Bruno Bettelheim observes in The Uses of Enchantment that the Ugly Duckling is not confronted with the tasks, tests, or trials of the typical fairy tale hero. “No need to accomplish anything is expressed in “The Ugly Duckling”. Things are simply fated and unfold accordingly, whether or not the hero takes some action.” In conjunction with Bettelheim’s assessment, Maria Tatar notes in ’’The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen’’ that Andersen suggests the Ugly Duckling‘s superiority resides in the fact that he is of a breed different from the barnyard rabble, and that dignity and worth, moral and aesthetic superiority are determined by nature rather than accomplishment. (Source: Wikipedia)

Of course, that didn't stop Andersen from trying to accomplish as much as he could manage, to continually improve on his achievements and forever seek out recognition and acceptance. At the time of his death, however, he was already considered a National Treasure. And now, over 200 years later, he is even more beloved all over the world.

All Fool's Day (aka The Day We Remember Not To Believe Everything We Read On the Internet)

Update: My apologies for this late addition! Apparently I closed the post after saving but without publishing, so it didn't post when it should have.

Ah yes - I should just schedule this day as a day off from the news. In fact, I'm not even going to bother checking headlines until tomorrow because, well, you know... :)

April 1st is a day we can't even believe Google (and should be very wary about the 24 hours before as well) but it's a good reminder at how any one of us can be fooled - and by anyone.

Ivan the Fool is a staple character in Russian fairy tales, very much like the English Jack and the German Hans. The difference is that Ivan is not just an everyman but simple (sometimes simple-minded too), likable and especially lucky.

While I tend to like most Russian tales for one reason or another, I'm just as drawn to Ivan as I am to the English Jack but for slightly different reasons.

Wikipedia puts it well:

Unlike typical heroes, it is Ivan's simplicity and lack of guile that turn out to help him in his adventures. For example he listens to his heart, rather than his mind, he easily forgets offence and endeavours to help others even at his own expense. His naivety, kindness and daring help him fight villains, make friends, win princesses' hearts and ultimately he is rewarded with half a kingdom or some similar accomplishment. 

The moral of these stories is that Ivan The Fool is rarely the fool, he is merely perceived as such by others owing to his simple nature and joviality.

I recently found these lovely illustrations by another incredible Russian illustrator, Igor Oleynikov, who was recently nominated for the 2014 Han Christian Andersen Award, and have been keeping them for an appropriate post. It occurred to me that today is perfect for them. Unfortunately I can't read Russian and the images don't make translating very easy. All I really know, apart from Mr. Oleynikov being the illustrator, is that the title of the book is Ivan the Fool and that it's an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's literary fairy tale*, Ivan the Fool, retold by the loved and respected Russian children's poet, Andrei Usachev (published 2008). The fairy tale is also titled The Old Devil and the Three Small Devils or A Lost Opportunity.

Just from the illustrations it looks a lot like a few fairy tales I'm vaguely familiar with, combined into one, though the green bearded goblin-looking creature is actually supposed to be the/a devil in this story (who is defeated, of course).

A little fairy tale bonus for the day:

HERE's an online English translation of Tolstoy's fairy tale, thanks to the University of Adelaide in Australia.

Ivan the Fool

Arkady Pugachevsky

* It's Tolstoy so yes, expect a political agenda in this tale.