Pensuasion Takes on Fairy Tales for the A to Z Blogging Challenge (Which Means More Daily Fairy Tale Fodder For Us!)

S.L. Hennessy, writer of the informative, encouraging and entertaining writing blog Pensuasion is writing about fairy tales every day for 26 days. It's a daily blogging challenge she's taken on, in which the blogger chooses their own theme to post on and, lucky for us, she chose fairy tales. I really enjoy her writing. She obviously enjoys the tales and researches and writes enough to inform without overwhelming but also enough to give her unique perspective on the tales for those of us already in the know. It's been a lovely daily check-in point and she's very kindly given me permission to repost a preview/teaser of her writing every day remaining during the challenge. Thank you Ms. Hennessy (and yay for us)!

So first, let me catch you up, since I didn't find her until day 'H' and it's now day 'K'... I'm posting her ABC's with a screen cap 'teaser' so you can get a taste. Each ABC title links to her original post for that letter/entry so you can keep reading.

A is for AUTHORS.

(A for Hans Christian Andersen, B for Brothers Grimm and C for Charles Perrault...)

B is for BEAUTY and the BEAST.

C is for CINDERELLA.

D is for DISNEY.

E is for ENCHANTED.

F is for FABLES.

G is for GRIMM.

H is for HANSEL and GRETEL.

I is for ICE MAIDEN.

J is for JACK and the GIANTS.

and today (actually yesterday, Saturday)...

K is for KINGDOMS.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing where she goes with her fairy tale alphabet. Click on the mini-bio below to find out more about this writer and check out her blog.

And now I feel like I should make an A-Z fairy tale list of my own...

Welcome to the Debut of OUABlog Fairy Tale Forums (Don't worry the OUAT one is coming...) Let's Chat!

Since I had such a good response (especially via email) to the idea of a chat room/forum for TV series and more that...

Ta da!

Welcome to the launch of Once Upon A Blog Forums for fairy tale folk.

First up is a fan and viewer forum for NBC's GRIMM, fairy tale community edition, but I'll be adding a forum for each of the major active series or movie sensations of the season as we go along. (In the list so far: OUAT, Maleficent movie, Cinderella movie, Into The Woods movie... Ever After High?? General Forum for Fairy Tale Films?? Suggestions welcome.)

There's a bunch of topics set-up to get you going and all are welcome to join in. Active and lively discussion is encouraged! I only ask that you use common sense and courtesy in posting (additional guidelines are posted below the forum box but they're about the same as every other forum you've seen - no surprises).

Here's the link >>>> OUABlog GRIMM Forum and you should see a GRIMM Forum tab at the top of the page, under the header, that you can access any time.

And here's what it looks like in it's brand new baby forum... with some extra text and arrows to show you around.

To answer your question, yes I will be participating in discussions fairly regularly. I have a lot I'd love to discuss that I don't feel is appropriate to be creating whole posts on, so please, come, join in, chat with me and let me know your thoughts! We have a lot to talk about. *claps hands - can't wait!*

See you on the forums!

Shh! It's A Maleficent Collection Sneak Peek! (OUAB Gets A Hot Topic/Disney Collaboration Preview)

Yes, I have new horns!*

They are from the lovely people at Hot Topic who I had the privilege of spending time with today (Friday, April 11), previewing their new, limited edition, fashion collection collaboration with Disney, inspired by, you guessed it, Maleficent.

Once Upon A Blog was also invited to interview the design team and so, amid props from the movie (that Disney wouldn't let me photograph for all the usual legal reasons, although I am allowed to describe them... so more on those later), I got to talk fairy tales with people who have designed a modern fashion collection that aims to exude an aura of fairy tales with teeth. Boy did they succeed!

The collection is seriously gorgeous - lots of black on black textures with elegant lines and a dark-magic edge, inspired by Maleficent's costumes and props. (There are a couple of light and pretty Aurora-inspired pieces too.) I can't wait to show you - and I will very soon!

I was able to interview one of the design team (using a camera phone) and will be bringing you that video soon, along with lots of lovely collection pics. I got to talk Sleeping Beauty, the popularity of conflicted fairy tale characters and, of course, the upcoming movie, with the Hot Topic team and will share that with you too. (It's been an exciting day!)

I also get to share with you the exclusive online pre-order date, (APRIL 15!! - Mark your calendars!), which happens about three weeks before it goes into stores, and I'm so very glad I can because, honestly, once images start getting around, I don't think there will be much of the limited edition collection left for the stores.

More on this really soon but I just couldn't wait to share a teensy bit. In the meantime, some of the new Maleficent accessories, along with their in-store classic Maleficent casual wear can be found HERE.

Stay tuned!

*Note: I have not been paid for this endorsement. The horns were given to invited guests as a thank you for taking time to consider helping promote the collection on their own terms and came with the press release kit we received on entering. They also had strawberries, other yummy-looking fruit and iced lemon water but pictures of those aren't nearly as exciting.

"Frozen" (Sub)Fandoms Transform Elsa Into The New "Girl On Fire"

Fan made poster by nickart

Note: Yes, I was going to include this in my list of back-up articles but realized I'd referred to this in my previous post on Frozen and thought it deserved it's own slot, considering the amount of information and the linkage I wanted to include. As such, though, the first line links to the main article that has a really nice summary of the meme and it's popularity.

Frozen fan art and sequel speculation leads to trend of portraying Elsa as a fiery or Phoenix-like queen and the new 'Girl On Fire'.

It was inevitable that someone would head down this path but it's proven to be a "hotter trend' (groan) than expected. 

I'm sure the popularity of Katniss in her flame dress (from Hunger Games/ Catching Fire) and Daenerys, Mother of Dragons (from Game of Thrones) have helped the idea along but there's no doubt people just love this idea. 

I like the speculations of the phoenix-like character (who has a lot of similarities to Cinderella if you read them) and the This Could Have Been Frozen POC Tumblr crowd are loving this too, showing ethnic, asian and desert-homed version of Elsa. Some of it is silly and fun. Some of it seriously works.

Over the last few weeks, fans have spontaneously evolved a thriving sub-fandom around an alternate universe (AU) version of Elsa, the tormented snow queen, in which she has the ability to control the element of fire instead of ice. Replacing her austere blue and white color palette for every possible shade of red, the fandom has churned out fanart, song lyrics, GIF sets, and fanfiction devoted to the fiery queen. 

Do a Tumblr search for "Frozen fire" or "Elsa fire" and you'll be amazed at just how much there is on this theme. People have redone Let It Go as Let 'Em Burn, complete with altered animation & animated fire footage... (it's very well done from lyrics to animation but the singing is a bit hard on the ears, so consider yourself warned). There's even a nouveau-style fire queen t-shirt.

I find it really interesting that it's my home country, Australia, that has really cottoned on to this meme. While we do get snow in a few places, many Aussies haven't experienced snow and ice on the sort of scale Frozen shows but we're extremely familiar with sunburn and fire.. 

From a dedicated Aussie Tumblr:

“Mimis are fairy-like beings of Arnhem Land in the folklore of the Indigenous Australians of northern Australia.
They are described as having extremely thin and elongated bodies, so thin as to be in danger of breaking in case of a high wind. To avoid this, they usually spend most of their time living in rock crevices. They are said to have taught the Aborigines of Australia how to hunt, prepare kangaroo meat and use fire. They are like humans but they live in a different dimension.”

— also because Mimis. They’re the closest thing this country has to the trolls in Frozen.

I must admit, ever since seeing the amazing animation of the flame-Esmerelda in Hunchback of Notre Dame, I have really loved the idea of a fire elemental or phoenix-like character. 

There's so much potential to play with art on such a theme: lava castles, phoenix birds, dragons, all those scary-but-real fire phenomenons of nature...

Fantasia 2000 did a jaw-dropping job of transforming Mt. St. Helen's into a Firebird but it's not quite the same as a character with a story arc, conflict and various motivations. 

What do you think? Would you like to see a fairy tale fire heroine (or hero)? 

Fairy Tale News Hound Digs Up More Than She Can Chew, er, Post (aka Article Roundup From Between the Coffee Stains in a Reporter's Notebook)

It's no secret that I barely get to a quarter of the fairy tale news stories I dig up and there are always a good handful I regret not sharing so I'm going to try something and we'll see how it goes.I'm going to list a group of stories I haven't had time to post on that I think are worth checking out, giving you links to the various key articles and web pages so you can both be aware of these things happening and research them yourself if they catch your interest. 

This won't be uber-regular as it could turn into a column all by itself (!) but from time to time, hopefully I can pass on a plateful of fairy tale goodies that you can follow up on at your leisure.

My big challenge, considering I'm already interested in them, is to keep my summaries brief and concise so this post doesn't turn into an encyclopedic-sized essay.... 

(Note: Most of these are from last week and any events mentioned are still running/exhibiting.)

• Tolkien Medieval and Modern: On Fragments, Soup, and Rapunzel

Beren and Luthien by Helena Panassol 

From a blog that, studies and critiques Tolkien's work comes a parallel with Rapunzel:

"...the Silmarillion presents a reconstruction of the story of Rapunzel, in which Luthien, trapped in a “wooden house” at the top of “the greatest of all the trees,” causes “her hair to grow to a great length,” and “of the strands… twine[s] a rope” and “climb[s] from her prison” (Silmarillion 203). "

I wish it expanded on it a little more but there's enough there for you to start your won research if you're intrigued. 

• Crazy (and possibly-wrong) predictions made from the new Maleficent banner poster

A fun post with some silly thoughts that also points out the two-sided nature of the banner and that the dual (and dueling) sides of Maleficent that are likely to be explored in the movie. This does appear to be the driving force of the movie but the article also kind of want to make a whole list of more silly predictions for fun now too. :) The article also touches briefly on the discomfort being felt by money-makers on Wall Street at the darkness of the film (which is the key talking point about the movie this week).

"... if you didn’t already predict a rosy reception to Sleeping Beauty: Dark Side Edition, you can start placing your bets...""... the structure of the poster symbolizes Malificent’s inner struggle: one side is dark and thorny, and the other is lush and community-oriented..."

• "Wicked" (Live Action) Movie Has Started Gearing Up, Though Nothing Is Official Yet

Try not to get TOO excited just yet... except it's hard not to perk your ears up when the composer is already so enthusiastic.

"..."Wicked" composer Stephen Schwartz... revealed that the "Wizard of Oz" origin story has already "started gearing up" for the big screen. Although, he admitted that there are still no concrete plans for the Wicked movie adaptation. However, after years of false starts, it seems that this year could possible the year for "Wicked" in the big screen.
"... his creative team are already thinking about what to consider in order to do so.
"What are we going to change?" Schwartz said. "What are we going to keep? How do you use a whole new language and medium to tell the story? [We can] really look at it again and say, 'Oh, we can do this, and we've always wanted to do that and we couldn't onstage, but we can in a movie.' We're actually having a blast."

• Weird Science: Can A Frog Turn Into A Prince? How Many Lies Could Pinocchio Tell Before It Became Lethal?

Third year natural science undergrads ask these questions (and more in the same vein) seriously and come up with some interesting answers.

"Pinocchio could only sustain 13 lies in a row before the maximum upward force his neck could exert cannot sustain his head and nose. The head’s overall centre of mass shifts over 85 metres after 13 lies, and the overall length of the nose is 208 metres."Lengthy, extensive lies are advised against, for the health and well-being of Pinocchio." 

"...It is theoretically possible to gain enough energy for the transformation of a frog to a prince from the kinetic energy of air alone."However, extraction of such amount of energy is practically impossible for present science, as it would require extracting all kinetic energy from the air molecule."This would result in an environment of absolute zero temperature. While solar heating would slowly provide the air with energy again, the health of the prince/frog and any other person (princess) in the area cannot be assured.

(A separate article HERE on Rapunzel's hair - what type of hair it would have to be, how strong, anchor points etc)

• Red Caps: New Fairy Tales for Out Of the Ordinary Readers by Steve Berman

A brief but good introductory review of this fairy tale anthology that lives on the dark side of the border.

Red Caps might be a rock band. Or they might be something more sinister, a fey source of sounds that are but the backdrop to thrills and misadventures. These thirteen stories provide readers jaded by the traditional, Old World fairy tales with tempting new stories that will entice bored readers from their suburban ennui. Closets are waiting to be explored. Escape from work camp leads to a dangerous encounter on a wet road. That high school year book is magical and might be mocking you…or helping you find love. And isn’t love one of the central premises of the fairy tale? 

These teenage boys and girls need not fear that their love has no worth, because Steve Berman has written for them princesses who love maidens and adorkable students who have wondrous and smart boyfriends. Readers can be assured that, if the tale does not end happily, it ends most memorably.

• "The Mermaid and the Shoe" and "The Mermaid's Shoe" double book review

Both are inspired by Andersen's mermaid but they take their own journeys.
Cate from Something to Read for the Train also had a recent review worth reading (HERE) on the first book as well.

"Not every little mermaid has to follow in the wake of Hans Christian Andersen’s beloved fairy tale. Two new mermaids with tales all their own swim to the surface in “The Mermaid and the Shoe,” written and illustrated by K.G. Campbell, and “The Mermaid’s Shoes,” written and illustrated by Sanne te Loo. These modern mermaids make for a refreshing and amusing departure from their famous predecessor."

• Who Brought the Filipino Folklore to NBC's Grimm? (Not for the faint of heart.)

Sergeant Wu, a character not (currently) "clued in" to the world of the Other on NBC's Grimm has to deal with seeing an Aswang - a fascinating Filipino folklore addition to the world folklore rearing its head on Grimm these day. Scary as all hell, we still like seeing folklore and fairy tales from all over the globe appearing in our modern multi-cultural world.

"A big thanks to Filipino-American actor Reggie Lee! The Filipino folklore ruled in the United States TV ratings which additionally emphasizes Filipino-American actor Reggie Lee, who plays Sergeant Wu on supernatural TV series “Grimm”. “Mommy Dearest” is the fourteenth episode of Season 3 of Grimm..... In Reggie’s interview, he related his part in helping create the story, how he gave the writers three mythical Pinoy creatures to choose from, and they wound up picking the aswang. “Binigay ko yung manananggal, yung dwende saka tiktik. But they really, really fell for the tiktik. So I was really happy that they stayed true to the Filipino story”, he said."

• Theater: A Mermaid Tale to Ward of Racism and Fascism? (staged by India's Theatre Nisha)

A very interesting use of the tale - read the excerpt (& the article) for a brief overview. The link above on Theater Nisha takes you to their production photos on Facebook.

Theatre Nisha’s version though, is not as happy as Anderson’s, reveals Sunandha. Where in the book she becomes a ‘daughter of the air’, on stage dies of a broken heart. “We wanted to give a context for the mermaid - a contrast and, at the same time, draw parallels to her story with modern day incidents,” explains the director.
On stage, Ariel not only rebels against what she is expected to do, but her actions are a metaphor for several incidents relating to women and their safety. “Through Ariel, we are confronting issues of honor killing, racism, fascism and maybe a little bit of jingoism that’s gotten a hold of us these days,” she says.
The characters are quite fluid – no one actor portrays the mermaid all by herself..."

• Article: The Colors in Fairy Tales by Seven Miles of Steel Thistles

Snow White's Apple
by Benjamin Lacombe

An article that caught my eye and stayed with me this week, about colors in illustrations contrasted with the mention of specific colors in fairy tales, as well as the conciseness of language used in fairy tales as opposed to retellings. Reminds me of discussions on the SurLalune boards.

"A fairytale does not have to try hard.  In keeping everything simple, it also keeps everything fresh. ‘Close by the King’s castle lay a great, dark forest’ leaves almost everything to your imagination, and then comes the ‘old lime tree’ and the cool well, and that’s as much as anyone needs to know.  A novelist might add a description of the well, providing it with a carved marble parapet or a rustic stone wall.  It might be beautifully written and very fine – but in a fairytale, it would merely get in the way....Colours in fairytales are strong, simple, basic, and meaningful.... White, black and red are meaningful colours because they are rare in nature and therefore noticeable. White is the colour of innocence, the colour of an untrodden fall of snow under which the whole landscape is transformed. A white dove is an emblem of peace, a black raven a signifier of wisdom. In some variants ofSnow-White, it is a raven which the queen sees against the snow, a more likely and a sharper contrast than an ebony window-frame. Black is unusual. Most birds are brownish: even today with our dulled attention to nature, we notice black crows and white swans.  Before chemical dyes, black was an expensive colour for clothes: it stood out: most people could not afford to wear it. And red of course is the most meaningful of all colours, the most emotionally charged.  Red is the colour that accompanies childbirth, wounds, war, accidents. Red is the stuff of life and death.... Colours in fairytales aren’t decoration, they aren’t even ‘just’ descriptive. They carry information.  They are a form of emphasis. And they can be relied upon. A golden head which rises to the surface of a well may be strange, but won't be evil. ..."

• 1908: Costumes for the Blue Bird at the Moscow Art Theater

A collection of photos I haven't seen all together before. Some of it is that odd-vintage style but some of it is really wonderful. 

Seeing it all together, gives you a good idea of the mood this particular production evoked in the audience.

“The Blue Bird is a 1908 play by Belgian Maeterlinck. It premiered at Constantin Stanislavski’s Moscow Art Theatre.  

The story is about a girl, Mytyl, and her brother Tyltyl seeking happiness, represented by The Blue Bird, aided by the good fairy Bérylune.”

• STC (Sydney Theater Company)'s Pinocchio is a beautifully designed, upbeat, musical spectacular. (April 11 to May 4th)

This looks like a lot of fun. Unfortunately I'm currently on the wrong continent...

Pulling no punches, this production is designed for a world raised on American idol. From the original fairy-tale Myers and O’Brien have created a 21st century music theatre spectacular for all ages. Conceived by the Windmill Theatre and the multi-Helpmann Award winning creative team behind last years hit play School Dance, this very physical, funny and heartfelt musical comedy looks set to accomplish that rare and wonderful feat – breaking new ground on a story we all thought we knew!

• Disney teams up with HSN (Home Shopping Network) for exclusive and high(er) end movie-related merchandise for Maleficent, Cinderella and The Hundred-Foot Journey.

The promise of exclusive behind-the-scenes and making-of movie content is quite tempting to go check out, especially because... MALEFICENT!

“We’re about content-driven retail. That’s the beauty of our business model.”...Disney welcomed HSN’s fashion director and other executives on set to gather inspiration for the movie’s aesthetics via conversations with the art department, costume designers and other crew members. That intel was shared with HSN’s merchandise and marketing teams, as well as its go-to designers, who put together an exclusive collection comprising curated items as well as products designed specifically for the event.... Following the 24-hour launch event later that month, HSN will air Countdown to Maleficent specials in primetime every night leading up to the film’s May 30 release. ...(HSN and Disney) indicate that the programming will build upon the precedent set by their Oz partnership, which featured props, set pieces and trailers from the film as well as appearances by star Mila Kunis and the movie’s makeup artist."

UPDATE 4-12-14: I neglected to add a link to HSN in case you want to check them out. Apologies! You can find the site HERE and this HERE is where news on the Maleficent merchandise & specials will be updated. If I get any advance news I will be sure to share that with you too.

• Harry Potter movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, confirmed to now be a trilogy.

Fan Made poster (source)

Slightly older news but if you haven't heard it yet, you need to know: Yes, the Harry Potter spin-off will now be  "three megamovies" and J.K. Rowling will be doing the screenplay (it's her screenwriting debut). 

And check out the fan-made Harry Potter-styled moving poster! I have a strong feeling we are on the verge of "gif posters" as being the new official advertising medium as well. You heard it here first.. ;) 

"That is when Warner announced that Ms. Rowling had agreed to adapt for the big screen her “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” a 2001 book billed as one of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts textbooks. Three megamovies are planned. 

The main character will be a “magizoologist” named Newt Scamander. The stories, neither prequels or sequels, will start in New York about seven decades before the arrival of Mr. Potter and his pals."

• Cymbeline is getting a modern reboot in film form. 

Known as Shakespeare's fairy tale or a Roman-era Snow White, this film is currently in production with no release date yet announced. Although this is older news because it's been happening for a while now, I haven't mentioned it yet as details have taken a really long time to trickle in, a trailer released late last year has been removed from everywhere and it's still pretty under the radar overall. It would appear, though, that we're finally getting closer to seeing the film finished and released. 

The cast is stellar, including Dakota Johnson as Imogen (that's the Snow White character), Milla Jovovich as Queen, Ethan Hawke as Iachimo and Ed Harris as Cymbeline. 

(See the link on the title for a little more information and the 'reboot' link for film style details.)

Phew! I'm going to stop there as that's an awful lot for one post but this is by no means everything happening with fairy tales in the last week. Seriously. I'll bring you some more news tomorrow...

OUAT Portraits by Adam Osgood (& A Question For You All...)

OUAT's Snow by Adam Osgood

An illustration post for you today, with some interesting Once Upon A Time fairy tale character portraits by Adam Osgood.

The thing most interesting about these is that they are so "illustrative", even more than caricatures of the actors playing their characters. This gives us some very different illustrations of familiar fairy tale characters and, I think, gives another possible perspective on these archetypes than the ABC show does. It's kind of cool.

      

                

I've included quite a few different portraits (you can find even more on his website HERE and his Tumblr blog HERE) and although I probably don't need to label them for you I should point out there are a few characters with more than one portrait. Snow has two (the one at the head and the other in white/grey diamonds), the Mirror is shown in both genie and mirror form and Belle is shown in country girl mode as well as in her traveling cloak (one of my favorites).

 

The Evil Queen actually has a whole page of different looks! (You can find them on Mr. Osgood's site & Tumblr, linked above), something which is really interesting when considering archetypes. Pictured are the Snow White's Evil Queen/Stepmother look (above next to her current nemesis), The Evil Queen taking on the guise of Ursula (because, if you remember, there was a real one revealed as a punch line), and the one in the hat is Regina/Evil Queen in hunt mode. I think we first see this version of her in the Hansel and Gretel episode, although there was a separate  - and wonderfully creepy - blind witch in that OUAT story too.

I really should post more on Once Upon A Time - there really is so much to delve into regarding use of fairy tales and fairy tale characters and motifs, even if it's not your preferred type of show. Now that the current season has brought the Wicked Witch of the West to life, complete with Oz additions and metaphors, the season is much better and richer in lore than the Neverland half (which consisted of a LOT of wandering around in Peter Pan's jungle LOST. Yes, exactly like that old show). Even though we've had essentially a third (?) "reset" of people stuck somewhere and missing memories etc this iteration is proving quite interesting... (and that's all I'll write about re my opinion on the plot lines of OUAT for now).

                                  

I'm considering the idea of a chat board/forum type of thing to add to the blog, so people who want to discuss episodes from different fairy tale series (specifically OUAT and Grimm at present) and various TV specials have a place to talk specifically to fans/viewers who are also fellow fairy tale friends. Although it's late in the season this time round there's still  to talk about!

What do you think? Is that a feature you'd enjoy and/or find useful?