Fairy Tale Fashion Shoot Retrospective: Annie Leibovitz & Grace Coddington's Wizard Of Oz

I have a very busy week this week so if I end up missing a bit of news, don't worry, it's only temporary! In the meantime, here's something I've had in my archive files for ages and never posted, but seeing as MGM's The Wizard Of Oz is having it's 75th anniversary is this year, and so much is happening on the Oz theme, I didn't think people would mind a little retro post.

It's a Twister

(with Actress Alba Clemente as Auntie Em and her husband,
Painter Francesco Clemente, as Uncle Henry)

"I love our December issues. We always mark the holidays with a fantastic, and fantastical, fashion portfolio; and this year Creative Director Grace Coddington has conspired with Annie Leibovitz to produce a stunningly dramatic spin on the Wizard of Oz. The project began in the summer, when Grace was captivated by the idea of a very specific look -- in her words, "Bonpoint for grown-ups" -- on the lovely Kiera Knightley. Grace got going, as tends to: instructing our top designers to make sweet Empire dresses that transitioned from nursery to cocktail; persuading artists such as Jasper Johns and Chuck Close to take part in the photographic pantomime."
- Anna Wintour's Letter from the Editor, December 2005 

Munchkinland
(with Artist Kara Walker as Glinda the Good Witch
& the Penn State Marching Band)

Here, photographed by the always amazing Annie Leibovitz, is Keira Knightley in the role of Dorothy in various iconic scenes from The Wizard of Oz for December 2005 issue of Vogue Magazine.

If I Only Had a Brain
(with Painter Brice Marden as the Scarecrow)

Oil Me, Please

(with Painter John Currin as the Tin Man)

Oh, My!
(with Sculptor Jasper Johns as the Cowardly Lion)

I had collected them all to post together at some point, as most blogs and articles didn't seem to have the whole collection, but "news of the moment" just keeps happening with fairy tales these days (yay!) and I never got around to it.

Emerald City

(The Lion, Dorothy, The Tin Man, and The Scarecrow)

The Wonderful Things He Does
(with Painter and Photographer Chuck Close as the Wizard)

I wish I had some interview notes from Ms. Knightley or Ms. Leibovitz on the shoot, but in the absence of that, I've included a very short (and sadly low quality) video below, but I've also researched a little and included the supporting cast names and where they hail from to give you an idea of how wonderful a shoot this really is.

I'll Get You My Pretty

(with Artist Jeff Koons as the Winged Monkey)

Ding Dong!

(with Artist Kiki Smith as The Wicked Witch of the West)

It's nice to have it up for this year, though I think.

Troubles Melt Like Lemon Drops

(Dorothy, Auntie Em, Uncle Henry)

Here's the quick behind-the-scene video:

From one blog entry (of many!) devoted to the amazing fashion shoot, this writer encapsulated what it was about this shoot that was so incredible at the time. It's not just the styling but just how many artists were involved (emphasis in bold is mine):

The Annie Leibovitz treatment of the L. Frank Baum novel turned film has never been so in vogue as when it appeared in the December 2005 issue of “Vogue.” This portfolio rocked the world and especially the “Art World.” Leibovitz is famous for her photo spreads and celebrity portraits but it is rare to almost non-existent for “A-List” artistic luminaries to be featured as stars in such a mass media venue. All the stops were pulled out for this one as Annie; such a prolific and passionate professional scores big.

Hope you enjoyed the little look back to 2005.  (I have to say, the white rose pattern on the white dress in the twister photos is just stunning.)

What are your favorite reinterpretations of Oz?

Note: the photo above was for the cover. As lovely as freesias are, I only wish it had been shot in one of California's famous poppy fields during spring to make the entire shoot perfect.

Philip Glass' Rescore of Cocteau's "La Belle et la Bête" Performed Live to the Film in Santa Barbara This Wednesday

One of the most celebrated and unique works in Philip Glass’ recent career, his live interpretation of Jean Cocteau’s masterpieceLa Belle et la Bête is also his most deeply personal and romantic. For this production, Glass removed the film’s soundtrack and replaced it with his own musical score played live by the Philip Glass Ensemble. The dialogue is also performed live by the vocalists who are synchronized with the actors in the film. This mythical, lush and sweeping love story is a tale for the ages.

Oh wow. I would LOVE to see/hear this! Although Beauty and the Beast isn't my absolute favorite fairy tale of all time, and I pick and choose my opera viewing rather carefully, I'd go to this performance in a heartbeat. Cocteau's film is one of my absolute favorites ever (I have, I think four? five? slightly different presentations of it... and I can't get rid of a single one) and seeing/hearing the different score and vocal track, inspired by the film and made for the film, to match mood, action and dialogue and meant to be heard ONLY as you see the film (ie it's not supposed to be a separate work) and to hear it being played and sung LIVE? Well, that's just.. goose bump worthy.

From The Independent:

“No one had ever done this before: take a talking film, turn off the soundtrack, and create a new one from start to finish,” said Michael Riesman, who has been part of the project since its inception in 1995. He will conduct the Philip Glass Ensemble in a live performance of the score — accompanied by the film, of course — this Wednesday at the Granada Theatre. 

The film is the 1946 classic La belle et la bête, directed by Jean Cocteau — a genius whose work Glass found continually inspiring. As Riesman noted in a recent interview, the composer turned one Cocteau screenplay into a more conventional opera and another into a ballet/opera. For this one, he decided to overlay new music onto the ethereal imagery. 

“It was quite a complicated process,” Riesman recalled. “[After we received the first draft of the score] we found there were lots of problems. The bed of music was okay, but the vocal parts weren’t close enough [to the actors’ dialogue] to be convincing. I thought we needed to at least do as good a job as a badly dubbed film. The right person’s mouth had to be moving!
“Sometimes we shifted the vocal line; in other cases, we threw it back to Philip, who would totally rewrite the section. This went on for weeks. We were already in rehearsals, so it was pretty scary. Fresh pages were coming in daily.” 

However hurried, the results were magnificent. In the New York Times, Allan Kozinn praised the way Glass’s music reflected the film’s “visual and atmospheric touches.” 

Here's a brief video explaining this new production (fresh cast, I believe), premiering this coming Wednesday at The Granada Theater:

Although Philip Glass will not be appearing with The Philip Glass Ensemble for this event in Santa Barbara at The Granada Theater, (at the University of Santa Barbara) Michael Riesman, who has led over one hundred live performances of the score to the film since 1995, will be conducting.

For more information and tickets, please see HERE.

A Wonderful Reading Of Oz - Tonight (Friday, April 25th - Arizona USA)

The (rotten) Nome King (no 'G')

 The main write up (most transcribed from the above poster, the rest from HERE):

Night of Fairy Tales: A Wonderful Reading of Oz 

Friday, April 25, 20146-8 p.m. 

Come travel with us from Kansas to The Emerald City through film, art, music, and stories in an evening celebrating the 75th anniversary of the movie The Wizard of Oz.  This event features readings from L. Frank Baum’s wonderful Oz series, on which the movie was based.  Excerpts feature—of course—beloved Dorothy and her “meat dog,” as Toto’s referred to early on in this weird little book. And have you heard about Queen Zixi of Ix, the Patchwork Girl, King Rinkitink, and the Shaggy Man? They’re featured at Night of Fairy Tales too!
Readers include University of Arizona students and faculty.  Visual ephemera—and video commentaries from poets, actors, economists, and others—will accompany the readings. 

Please join us for a Wonderful Reading of Oz and find yourself spellbound by Oz, as by poppies in a vast field. 

Dessert reception, games, and music will follow the reading at 7 p.m. This event is free and open to the public. 

Registration is strongly encouraged.

From Fairy Tale Review:

The Patchwork Girl & Woozy

Some of you may remember last year’s debut Night of Fairy Tales: A Very Grimm Reading. This year, we’re celebrating the 75th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz film with a reading from the original books by L. Frank Baum, on which the movie was based. Excerpts feature–of course–beloved Dorothy and her “meat dog,” as Toto’s referred to early on in this weird little book. But have you heard about Queen Zixi of Ix, the Patchwork Girl, King Rinkitink, and the Shaggy Man? They’re featured atNight of Fairy Tales too! 

Local to Tucson, the event will take place tomorrow night (Friday, April 25th) at the UA Poetry Center and will feature readings by UA faculty and students, special guests Brent Hendricks and Timothy Schaffert, along with live music from the Greasy Light Orkestra, and food from Amelia Grey’s Cafe & Catering. 

As with last year’s event, we expect a magical evening, filled with wonderment and awe, but also some due seriousness and a critical look at the legacy of L. Frank Baum’s seminal Oz series.

William Butler Yeats, Briar Rose & Maleficent

From the new official Tumblr page, this is just fascinating. An extract from Yeat's famous "The Stolen Child" poem is posted, along with the above gentle gif. Here's the poem, under the heading "Magical World":

Magical World - Briar Rose

Come away, O human child!

To the waters and the wild

with a faery, hand in hand,

for the world’s more full of

weeping than you can understand.

~William Butler Yeats

Now, I will never quite read that poem the same way again...

There's a lot to explore in the new Tumblr already, including things like this:

Magical World - Earth Tones

Heed the wild call of the faerie folk with rustic, animal-inspired accessories.

I'm really enjoying the layering of these reveals, showing the thought process behind the movie and behind the final impressions they wish you to have. It would appear the movie has more substance to it than first appears. *cheers*

Fairy tale bonus of the day:

Have you noticed who the writing credits for Maleficent are being credited to? Both The Grimm Brothers and Perrault are credited, along with a few others... It's pretty interesting.
Here:

If you go to the Maleficent IMDB page, you can click on each of the writers credited for more detail.

Maleficent Concept Art (Oh My... WantArtOfBookNOW!)

So... like it says: I really, reeeeally hope there's an "Art Of" book coming, with a ton of story information and LOTS of notes from screenwriter, Linda Woolverton (with John Lee Hancock), and creative inspiration-from-the-tale notes on the costumes and set design etc etc... you get the idea.

Fresh from the brand new, official Maleficent Tumblr, Evil Is the New Black, are five lovely new concept art images.

I have to say, I adore this giant tree-warthog thing carrying the antlered-ent thing (technical terms *eyeroll*)!

 Could this be a young Maleficent? She looks vulnerable here. And a little bit scary too.

 And is this Aurora along way from her castle? (I believe Maleficent's realm has been revisioned to be more in line with faery myth and legend by making her domain more forest-centric than stone and underground castle-like but we shall see.)

I like the parallel scene with Maleficent's at the head of the post as well. Nice.

OK. I'm ready. More please!

Waiting Impatiently For 'Maleficent'? Read A Book, Have A Cup of Villain Tea...

MALEFICENT BLEND*Smooth and velvety, with a glamourous sprinkling of rose petals.
This blend is elegant with just a hint of something murky, waiting to surface.

Note: All teas shown are by Adagio Teas, the number one tea site that creates teas with pop culture themes. There are TONS of blends and themes here! All version of Disney, of course, but also Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Princess Bride, Sherlock, Buffy, Game of Thrones, Rise of the Guardians, Wonderland, Once Upon A Time, Beauty and the Beast, Star Wars, Grimm, Labyrinth, The Neverending Story, the Tolkien themed, Tales & Tea Leaves and a LOT more. Heck, there's even a Kate Crackernuts tea blend! (Be warned: it's a tea rabbit-hole!)

Fairy Tale Book Lists are popping up all over the place under the "While You Wait For Maleficent" banner.

URSULA BLEND**
Tropical and fruity, this blend
is reminiscent of the ocean, with
just hints of tanginess throughout.
It'd be very helpful if you were
to lose your voice. Not that there's
any reason that'd happen.

Ta da! This is one of those moments where fairy tale writers go - look! They're searching for us again! Not that readers have really stopped. For some time now fairy tale retellings - especially those with a little grit - have been in demand and now, if your book is currently on the shelves with the hashtag of #darkfairytale attached, there's a very good chance you will be making some extra sales this month.

A recent and decent one come from HuffPost HERE. It seemed for a while that fairy tale retelling lists had the same recommendations overall with only a slight variation between them according to the columnists taste. This list, however, has a much more variety - and many newer - books.

Specifically these are on the conflicted protagonist theme and I wasn't surprised to see Gregory Maguire's Wicked topping the list. I did, however, have the urge to give a little woot and fistpump on seeing Angela Carter's fairy tales in there. That will be an interesting fairy tale primer for the unsuspecting! Hopefully they'll fall in love and we'll have more fairy tale friends than ever.


There are NO SLEEPING BEAUTY RETELLINGS LISTED HERE! I wonder why? Or have we just not been as keen to rewrite her story in novel form as much as some others?

CHERNABOG BLEND***
Dark, bold, with hints of cocoa, this blend reflects the night with perfection. Drinking it in the morning may provide difficulties, like a choir singing to try to stop you.

I can think of lots of short stories and some older Sleeping Beauty novels but not a whole lot recently (ie the last five to ten years)... Hm.

Here's the HuffPost list:

(Note, that at the link, there is a very brief summary of the book and why it's Maleficent-esque reading)

• Wicked by Gregory Maguire
• Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
• Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes
• The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
• Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
• Snow White Sorrow by Cameron Jace
• The WoodCutter Sisters series by Alethea Kontis
• The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter
• Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
• Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay

THE EVIL QUEEN BLEND*****
This blend is full of the scent
of apples and sugar, a very pleasant
combination in deed. There is just
something bitter in that of
aftertaste that may leave you suspicious.

My pick to add in the "Maleficent-like" vein would be Fairest of All by Serena Valentino. It tells a very similar story, of a hurt woman changing to a downright evil woman from the Queen's perspective so that makes it even more interesting to follow (plus the writing is simply stylized yet poetic and lovely, while the story, no matter the twists it takes, stays very true to the Disney movie).

What would you add to the list, considering people want a Maleficent-like story (according to what we know from the trailers etc so far anyway)?



* MALEFICENT BLEND:  ingredients & lore: blended with black tea, yunnan jig tea, cinnamon bark, ginger root, wuyi ensemble tea, natural blackberry flavor, cocoa nibs, blackberry leaves, natural chocolate flavor, natural cinnamon flavor

teas: mambo, blackberry, chocolate chai

accented with cocoa nibs and rose petals

steep at 212° for 3 mins

** URSULA BLEND: ingredients & lore: blended with yerba mate tea, pu erh tea, apple pieces, hibiscus flowers, rose hips, dried coconut, natural coconut flavor, natural mango flavor, marigold flowers, natural pineapple flavor, pineapple pieces, mango pieces, papaya flavor

teas: pu erh tahiti, pina colada, mango mate

accented with ginger and hibiscus

steep at 195° for 4 mins

*** CHERNABOG BLEND:  ingredients & lore: blended with pu erh dante, pu erh tea, black tea, orange peels, cocoa nibs, natural chocolate flavor, blue cornflowers, natural orange flavor, natural caramel flavor, natural vanilla flavor

teas: pu erh chorange, pu erh dante,tiger eye

steep at 212° for 4 mins

**** QUEEN OF HEARTS BLEND: ingredients & lore: blended with green tea, rose hips, hibiscus flowers, apple pieces, orange peels, natural wild cherry flavor, dried cherries, rose petals, natural orange flavor

teas: dewy cherry, blood orange, cherry green

accented with hibiscus

steep at 205° for 4 mins

***** EVIL QUEEN BLEND: ingredients & lore: blended with black tea, rooibos tea, apple pieces, cinnamon bark, natural caramel apple flavor, natural caramel flavor, natural apple flavor, natural cinnamon flavor

teas: candy apple, caramel, rooibos cinnamon apple

accented with aniseed

steep at 212° for 4 mins

QUEEN OF HEARTS BLEND****
Paint this tea as red as you want. With levels of cherry, blood orange, and hibiscus, the longer you brew it, the redder it becomes.

Congrats Catherynne Valente - Hugo Awards 2014 Finalist for 'Six Gun Snow White'

It's official! Catherynne M. Valente is a finalist for a Nebula this year!

Congratulations Ms. Valente. We have our guns, er, fingers, crossed for you. :)

From Subterranean Press, where it was published:

From New York Times bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente comes a brilliant reinvention of one the best known fairy tales of all time. In the novella Six-Gun Snow White, Valente transports the title’s heroine to a masterfully evoked Old West where Coyote is just as likely to be found as the seven dwarves. 

A plain-spoken, appealing narrator relates the history of her parents—a Nevada silver baron who forced the Crow people to give up one of their most beautiful daughters, Gun That Sings, in marriage to him. With her mother’s death in childbirth, so begins a heroine’s tale equal parts heartbreak and strength. This girl has been born into a world with no place for a half-native, half-white child. After being hidden for years, a very wicked stepmother finally gifts her with the name Snow White, referring to the pale skin she will never have. Filled with fascinating glimpses through the fabled looking glass and a close-up look at hard living in the gritty gun-slinging West, readers will be enchanted by this story at once familiar and entirely new. 

From Publishers Weekly (Starred Review):“Valente’s adaptation of the fairy tale to the Old West provides a witty read with complex reverberations from the real world… Any attempt to derive a simple message from this work would be an injustice to the originality of the atmosphere, the complexity of the interplay of its elements, and the simple pleasure of savoring Valente’s exuberant writing.”
From Library Journal: “Valente’s (Palimpsest; In the Night Garden) talent for telling stories that have the cadence and grace of poetry makes her a perfect interpreter of classic stories. Her fans will appreciate the humor and artistry in this imaginative retelling of one of the world’s most popular fairy tales.”
From Locus:“Catherynne M. Valente’s Six-Gun Snow White moves Snow into the wild, wild west and her take on this trope has all that you’d expect: prospectors, duels, horses, and dust. But Valente rips the beating heart out of the old versions of the story, dissects it to see how it works, jams it back into this new tale, and gives it a jolt of juice to bring it back to life. Six-Gun Snow White is a vital marvel.”
From SF Crowsnest:“…any reader who loves magical, poetic prose can dive into this sad and beautiful little story and take pleasure in the author’s elegantly rendered wordscapes.”

Note: The gorgeous cover is by the always-amazing Charles Vess.

Ask Baba Yaga: Where Does All the Time Go?

Baba Yaga by Denise Plauché 

I was on the verge of sending this question to Baba Yaga myself. I feel in serious need of clones, if I'm ever going to do everything I'm supposed to do every day, let alone make better progress on my dreams. A Time Machine would work well too (TARDIS avec le Doctor s'il vous plait!). Baba Yaga is magical and probably has a few tricks up her sleeve but what does she advise when lowly mortals need they need to fold space and time to get things done?

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

(Originally posted at The Hairpin HERE)

The image of my head in a stew pot for Eternity wishing I'd done more, certainly makes me feel like I should get off my, er, rump and move it while it's still attached! 

So "capere solis radium", huh? If only I were a morning person. That would help a lot.

(PS. To the person who wrote the question: Choose the masquerade ball!)

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.

Ravens Are Big In Hollywood Right Now (In Case You Hadn't Noticed)

We have raven-like wings looming everywhere in LA at the moment and yes, it's supposed to be ominous and an ill omen. Not a big brain twister since crows, and particularly ravens, are fairly large carrion birds. They're big, noticeable and generally where they are, there are dead things. Put a human form in the middle and you have something very akin to an angel of death...

It's very interesting that suddenly three prominent marketing campaigns are using almost identical imagery in the same period of time - like there's a "conspiracy of ravens" (pun intended) descending on LA.

But there's more to it, as any good symbolist will be aware. Crows and ravens are uber-smart, and thought of as a trickster form (you saw the recent article about crows proving the Aesop's Tales correct, right?) and have that uncanny ability to know stuff we don't, meaning they're the keepers of mysteries (both light and dark by the way).

Odin was known as the Raven God and he had many daughters, called valkyries (often depicted just as Maleficent is when she has her wings, before turning to the dark side), who could take raven forms, while in Greek culture the raven was associated with Athena and Apollo. That's right, the raven was as solar-symboled animal! It was associated with illumination and wisdom, but, being rather conversational was punished for getting a little too chatty about things it shouldn't and Apollo burned its feathers black. (There's a great article HERE that details a lot of how the raven was seen in different cultures - definitely worth a look if you love corvids!)

Since one of these prominent ads is for the soon-to-be-released, Sleeping Beauty re-visioning, Maleficent, I thought I'd share a couple of raven-associated tidbits from behind-the-scenes of the movie I've come across in the past (and kept my links for) that I never figured out a good reason to post before:

First, from Sam Reilly, who plays Maleficent's right-hand raven:

Says Riley, “I play a raven – I’m Angelina’s lackey, basically. No, there are worse jobs. She’s not Method. She’s very nice. She took me under her wing, so to speak. We had a great time.” He refers to his character as a “mird,” which is part man, part bird.

And a brief story from a UK net maker who was called, out of the blue, to construct some raven-catching nets for the film:

Briar Rose Productions, the UK company handling the British filming at Pinewood, wanted Mr Leadley’s firm Caedmon Nets to make four lightweight nets which are used in the movie to catch ravens. “I took the call and really thought it was a wind-up from one of my mates,” said Mr Leadley, the managing director. "Then they followed it up with an email, and we realised it was genuine. They said it’s for an actress to catch a pair of ravens – I didn’t think much about it. I didn’t realise the ravens, and catching the ravens, was an integral part of the film and where the characters stem from. I think she’s throwing the net.” Mr Leadley, 48, who runs the business with his wife Diane, got to work straight away but the nets were too heavy. “We made the first versions from sisal (natural fibre rope), but they were just too heavy for the actress to handle so we sourced some lighter-weight spun flax from Egypt,” he said. “The four nets are all eight feet square, two with a two-inch, and two with a three-inch mesh. “We had to be careful about things like the colouring of the flax – the nets had to look authentic in the movie’s medieval setting. We can’t wait to see them in action.”

While crows and ravens will always be popular with filmmakers and ad designers, whether it's the basic pop culture surface association and familiar ominous symbol it's generally taken to be, or whether they're looking to layer their meanings a little more, it's still pretty weird to turn around and see different incarnations of the same symbol everywhere you look.

What do you think it might mean?

(That is, apart from the distinct possibility that a single agency pitched the same concept to multiple companies, who all coincidentally decided to use it at the same time...)

Note: aren't the wallpapers awesome? You can find out more information about the line and the designer HERE.

Disneyland Paris: The raven hidden in the wings of La Galerie de la Belle au Bois Dormant