I will admit I sort of yawned my way through this announcement, initially - Disney Junior is starting production on another fairy tale mash-up animated series, etc, etc.. - until I saw a very familiar name in the text: Maria Tatar.
Hold the phone!
I had to back it up and take another look and, given the lateness of the hour I'm writing, I thought I'd fallen asleep and was wish-dreaming but no, it's all there in black and white.
I've put the most exciting news in bold below.
Here's an extract from the announcement by Broadway World:
Production has begun on Disney Junior's "Goldie & Bear," a fairytale-inspired animated series for preschoolers. Slated to debut in Fall 2015, the series follows the adventures of newfound friends Goldie and Bear, following the renowned porridge incident of "Goldilocks and The Three Bears."
... (EVP) Kanter said, "Disney Junior embraces strong storytelling and memorable characters, and nothing reflects that more than classic fairytales. We are excited to continue the story of 'Goldilocks and The Three Bears' from a new perspective and hope to inspire kids to create their own 'happily-ever-afters' by giving them new stories featuring classic characters they already know and love."
Set in the Fairytale Forest, the series follows the adventures of plucky Goldie and her best friend, Bear, as they encounter well-known characters from fairytales and nursery rhymes, including Little Red Riding Hood, Humpty Dumpty and The Three Little Pigs.
Maria Tatar, John L. Loeb Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures at Harvard University and Disney Junior Advisory Board Member, serves as the series consultant, advising on storytelling, fairytales and folklore. The importance of storytelling is central to the show's curriculum, with episodes referencing original fairytales and nursery rhymes while providing new insights into their narratives and underlying messages. Throughout the series, Goldie and Bear model friendship and community, demonstrate creative problem-solving and exhibit critical thinking skills such as logic and strategy.
I'm just... floored by this fantastic news! And it appears to be on the "fast-track" too, set to premiere in Fall 2015. (I wish it were a little more unique looking, but other than that, all the news on this is great!)
The writer/creator isn't a newbie with regard to fairy tales either. Jorge Aguirre has had his own brand of fractured fairy tales in the form of the popular kids comic book, Giants Beware, (see above)out there for a while now.
(And coming soon, Dragons Beware).
You can read more on the talent and crew, along with a few hints as to the characters we'll be seeing, in the whole announcement HERE.
Between this and other developments in various companies in various places, it does seem that there might be some sort of "old tale revival" happening - at least for children. I could NOT be happier about this!
It doesn't matter if you don't play video games, don't like video games or don't care about video games. None of that is relevant when you understand what is really happening with Never Alone. (If it bugs you, just call it an educational tool". That's also a correct description.)
"What good are the old stories... if their wisdom is not shared with anyone?"
Note: If you only look at one thing in this post, please watch the video below. It will amaze you with regard to the tales being used, how they're used and how beautifully it has all come together. You can scroll down to view.... (and if you want to read more the text will still be here afterward. ;)
I posted on Never Alone initially when it was released (you can read that HERE, along with lots of beautiful pictures and many more resources about the tales, which I won't repeat in this post), but this week, they've just come out with a host of game improvements/upgrades, are releasing a soundtrack this week (yes, it's become that popular!) and are expanding the systems you can play it on, to include Macs (Apple computers), starting this Thursday, February 26th (currently available for XBOX ONE, PS4 and Steam),The soundtrack will be available through the Steam store at the same link.
Never Alone's mission is to bring the old and fading indigenous tales (of the Iñupiatpeople) back into circulation and popularity among current and future generations. That sounds ridiculously lofty - like an idea that would ultimately gather dust in some enthusiastic, but sadly naive paper somewhere, but here it's actually happened.
Correction: IS HAPPENING.
Not only has this video game educational tool been created, it has been done in the best way possible, with the combination of young, intelligent, technologically-savvy young people who among the best in their field, in conjunction and under continuous consultation with tribal elders. Yes. 70, 80+ year old traditional tribal elders are not just talking with, but working with hip (and geeky) youngsters who think in RAM, terrabytes and all things digital. Not only that, it draws on old traditions to inform the design style and the development of the storytelling!
We paired world class game makers with Alaska Native storytellers and elders to create a game which delves deeply into the traditional lore of the Iñupiat people to present an experience like no other. Never Alone is our first title in an exciting new genre of “World Games” that draw fully upon the richness of unique cultures to create complex and fascinating game worlds for a global audience.
The best of the old meets the best of the new. And it's a beautiful thing.
The result is a stunning, gorgeous and unique interactive storytelling-puzzle-and-platform game that leads the player through discovery of characters from tales, challenges from stories and triumphs via ingenuity and putting learned principles (and game skills) to good use.
Contrary to what you might think, this little indie game isn't just waiting to be noticed. It's out there making waves with it's approach, style and beauty of both storytelling and game design, as the developers confidently take it to all the leading game conventions and meetings. As a result, it's quickly earning worldwide recognition AND garnering some coveted awards along the way.
Before I write any more, take a look at the behind-the-scenes video and see behind some of the tales (and the people and process) of Never Alone:
I feel like this is exactly the sort of thing we need to be aiming to do to get old stories back in circulation. We need to meet the influential (often young) people (the trend setters, the most influential demographics) on "their" territory, speaking their language (technology, social media and video games) and give them reasons to want to tell and retell these tales themselves.
That's the only surefire way old tales will make it back into common knowledge and that's the way the wisdom and knowledge in these tales will be passed on to benefit people now and in the future.
Creating a widely respected and loved video game is a wonderful way of doing exactly that.
I'm so moved that the vision for Never Alone has been made real and is proving to be exactly what they set out to be: influential. Not only that, it's enriching the lives of the developers, the creation team, the communities supporting them AND the gamers and the industry professionals that are coming into contact with it (ie. inward and outward).
It's nothing short of magic.
It's the sort of difference I want to make, to be a part of - where the tales are alive and vital in ways that connect us to our past and pave the way for a (hopefully better) future.
The best thing? This is just the first game. They've only just begun...
Congratulations to the unique and wonderful team at both E-Line Media and the Alaskan Native Cook Inlet Tribal Council! We cannot wait to see what you do next.
There are two books I have been extremely excited about the last few months.
One of them is Jack Zipes' recent translation (and commentary) of The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, that is, the first edition they ever put together, in English, so we can finally read it in total for the first time (I'm using the present tense with regard to my excitement because I am still reading it and very much enjoying it). I plan on doing a special post just for that book when I'm done but I can tell you without doubt that if you're really interested in fairy tales, how they are told, recorded and the influence of the Grimms, then you need this book. Yes. Need. The second is the one being released today: Franz Xaver Von Schönwerth's newly-translated-into-English collection, The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales. We've heard a lot about how "raw and unsanitized" they are, and how devoid of editing the transcription of these tales was in general but unless you've read a lot of old tales (and even if you have), you're probably in for more than a few surprises. Thanks to an interview with Maria Tatar, care of Salon.com, I can give you an idea of what you'll be in for if you join me in adding it to your library (Thank you Kate for posting the link). I'm including just a few short excerpts, despite that the whole article is fascinating:
Tatar: What we have here are stories that are less mediated than most of the more familiar fairy tales and folktales. There’s a primary process of storytelling going on. They’re less heavily edited and they’re uncensored. The Grimms took great liberties with the stories they collected. The genius of the Grimms was to create this compact, standardized form of the fairy tale. They almost invented the genre of tale that is part of an oral storytelling tradition but also in the literary culture. Schönwerth, on the other hand, was not interested in readership as much as in just capturing the tales as they were told to him.
(Edit FTNH: Re the underlined portion above - which is my emphasis - I just wanted to mention here that I am a HUGE fan of the Grimm's work. Although I don't always agree with the details they left out and those they added or altered, they effectively popularized tales that were rapidly going the way of the dinosaur and difficult to find intact in people's memories - even those who practiced storytelling. Schönwerth's collections won't ever replace the Grimm's, nor should they, but they can add a lot to our understanding of tales - and of people and our own history too.)
One example in this book is a version of the well-known story of “The Valiant Little Tailor,” the guy who kills seven flies with one blow. The Grimms’ version has the flies hovering over a sandwich that the fellow has made. In Schönwerth, the flies are hovering over a dung heap. So that gives you a sense of the raw energy of the stories and the way that Schönwerth decided he was going to tell it straight up, tell it like it was.
King Golden Hair
Salon: ... You mean that he’s interested in recording these as accurately as possible, not in creating a bestselling book, like (the Grimms)?Tatar: Or (creating) a standardized form for the fairy tale itself. I think you have it exactly right, that is, it’s more of an anthropological, folkloristic model. Schönwerth just refuses to homogenize the stories, and so you find that there’s a lot more gender bending in Schönwerth. There isn’t that strict division of gendered labor that you find in the Grimms. The Grimms don’t have a male Snow White, for example, whereas Schönwerth does. Schönwerth has a male Cinderella. He has a boy who wears out iron shoes while searching for the woman he loves, a figure who is a girl in “East of the Sun, West of the Moon.” He has a prince who gets under the bedcovers with a frog so she can be turned into a beautiful princess. You just don’t find that in the Grimms at all.
And in summary regarding fairy tales in general, Tatar says:
What I really love about fairy tales is that they get us talking about matters that are just so vital to us. I think about the story of Little Red Riding Hood and how originally it was about the predator-prey relationship, and then it becomes a story about innocence and seduction for us. We use that story again and again to work out these very tough issues that we have to face. My hope is that this volume will get people talking about not just the stories and the plot but the underlying issues.
There is so much more in this article I'd love to point out and discuss - you can read the whole of it HERE - but for now, let's just get our copies and read it first. Discuss later!
Prince Dung Beetle
There is also another Schönwerth book recently printed I wanted to draw your attention to as well and I'll include it with a recent relevant comment left by Jungian Analyst, Lara Newton, since it hasn't had much attention at all:
For the past several months I have been working on interpretations of some tales from another translation of some of Schönwerth's collection. This volume is translated by M. Charlotte Wolf (Dover publication 2014) and is titled, "Original Bavarian Folktales: A Schönwerth Selection." There are 150 tales in this dual-language edition. In the recent hoopla about the translation coming out by Maria Tatar, this volume published last year seems to never be mentioned. I am happy to see that Tatar is translating more of the tales, and I do love reading and working with the stories from Schönwerth's collection, but I just want to say that the translations of Wolf are really finely done and deserve attention! In her introduction, she gives a very thorough account of the manuscripts ("thousands of handwritten pages in 30 ungainly boxes"), their discovery in 2010, the publication of "Prince Dung Beetle," etc. The volume is worth looking at, for those of you who want to have the whole story! As for the rawness, I do find Schönwerth's collections to be very raw and exciting to work with. As a psychological interpreter, I find the archetypal images to be amazingly close to the bone, so to speak, and I have been gaining so much from the work I am doing with these tales!
Note: For additional reference, HERE is the link to an earlier article from The Guardian, focusing on Erika Eichenseer, (pictured below), who is largely responsible for the revival the Schönwerth collection. It's a good read too.
There's also the New Yorker article from 2012 HERE, focusing on the "rediscovery" of those lost "Cinderfellas" that's worth a re-read as well.
Erika Eichenseer, a retired teacher who has dedicated herself to exploring Franz Xaver von Schonwerth’s work since the 1990s, on fairytale trail in woodland outside Regensburg, in Bavaria (source: The Guardian)
Fairy tale bonus of the day:
I have been unsuccessfully attempting to track down information online, on the newly opened (September 2014) Schönwerth Fairytale Road (yes, Fairytale is apparently one word - perhaps because it's translated from German Märchen which only needs the single word?), in which contemporary artists have created works based on his collected tales.
Here are some excerpts from the Schönwerth Society website, explaining the objectives and implementation of the Fairytale Road project (autotranslation used):
The Dwarf King
The largest project of our relatively young organization is the "localization" by Franz Xaver von Schönwerth in a "Schönwerth fairytale path"...
In Schönwerth fairytale path... seven Schönwerth tales are presented on forests, nature and environmental focus. Here visitors will primarily come to rest and feel the forest as a place of silence, meditation, relaxation, inspiration and motivation, as well as teaching values and philosophy of life, enjoy, experience, comprehend with all their senses.
Playful, are given an insight into the myth of "Upper Palatinate fairy tales and legends" children and adults. The imagination should be encouraged, and still carry on emotional-mental recognizing, understanding, interpreting to own creative work, ie for self-telling yourself writing, DIY Painting, DIY-crafts, games etc. The practical application of from fairy tales won lessons to their own lives are more overarching objectives. Ultimately, should be expanded by Schönwerth Wonderland path of awareness and appreciation of Schönwerth and his work in the general population and sustainable deepened.
One of Schoenberg Werth's most beautiful fairy tale prince Roßzwifl (dung beetle, Scarabaeus sacer, scarab). Since this beetle with his egg-ball also lives in the forest experience center, he stands at the entrance to the monumental tale path. The ball is security, home, Ward, safety, but also maturation, transformation, which wants to convey the Schönwerth Society with this device as well. Local artists exhibit the above tale is symbolic and artistic value, to improve the motivation to think and put the imagination of the individual no limits.
The Singing Tree
Sounds interesting doesn't it? And I'm curious about the children's aspect... we've been given reason to believe these tales are anything but child friendly (but that doesn't mean children can't be told them in the correct context, in a suitable manner). Perhaps it's because I don't read German well enough to be able to find the right links or perhaps there just isn't record of it and I need to contact The Schönwerth Society directly to find out more, but I'm especially curious about this: What do the works look like in context? What inspired the artists? How will it practically serve to help keep these "newly discovered" tales in people's consciousness? In case you're as curious as I was, below is a summary of the installations, the tales they reference and the artists who created them. Clicking on the tale titles will take you to a transcription of the tale, along with photos of the artist at work on the installations:
The artists of the objects for the eight forest fairy tales are:
This glass slipper is made of ice... has anyone told THAT story yet?
I told you it would be hard to escape! JC Penney has joined forces with Disney to bring (yet another) line of Cinderella fashion and merchandise and debuted their ad during the Oscar coverage last night.
Not the most creative of ads but it was sweet nonetheless.
Here 'tis:
Fairy tale bonus of the day:
JC Penney also held design contest for ten fashion school graduates to design a gown for that #CinderellaMoment, something which must have felt like spinning magic out of paper and pencils for those designers (complete with the sweat and hard work) and a royal-like party to celebrate the effort:
(Ten) talented graduate students in the Fashion School of Kent State University (had) under two hours to conjure up a glam outfit-inspired by this wondrous Cinderella ballgown-that was straight off the live-action film's set (eta March 2015)---in homage of the store's collaboration with this modern day take on the timeless tale.
You can see photos from the event and the designs HERE.
Into The Woods - Best Supporting Actress (Meryl Streep lost to Patricia Arquette for Boyhood)
- Best Production Design (lost to The Grand Budapest Hotel)
- Best Costume Design (lost to The Grand Budapest Hotel) Maleficent - Best Costume Design (lost to TheGrandBudapestHotel) TheLegoMovie - Best Song "Everything Is Awesome" (lost to Selma's "Glory")
It should also be noted, mythic storyteller and master animator Hayao Miyazaki, known for MyNeighborTotoro, TheTaleOfPrincessMononoke and the Oscar winning SpiritedAway, was also awarded an Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award (finally!).
I'm completely tickled that the audience were hanging onto their Lego Oscar statues as a tribute to TheLegoMovie which deserved to be nominated but wasn't. (That's the Jack-like story, complete with giants of many kinds, that I think is more fairy tale than most people realize.)
Hm. Being bored is one of the problems I don't usually have... unless I'm being forced to sit in a place I don't want to be for a long time, so maybe I can find a useful nugget in this one too.
Today's timely question and answer (via poet and oracle Taisia Kitaiskaia* of The Hairpin):
Oof. Well that's a wake-up call. I'm going to give that some serious consideration next time I stuck in a chair at some meeting or other. I do not like the idea of stagnating, brain-rot, zombie-fication... not even a little bit! I'm also beginning to think my 'random illustration choice' for the day isn't so random. I put it in the post before I read the letter...
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.
"... A charming bridegroom by day and a suave robber by night. Rosamund is the poor little rich girl who loves him. Salome is the wicked stepmother who tries, and largely fails, to throw a wrench (and even a poisoned apple) into the works... If this sounds like the makings of a fairy tale, that’s because it is: a Grimm fairy tale, no less, adapted into a Southern Gothic classic by Eudora Welty before being turned into a manic bluegrass musical comedy...Greensboro College is staging the rarely-performed musical adaptation of "The Robber Bridegroom..."
I'm going to squeak notice of this show onto the blog late today, even though tomorrow (Sunday, February 22) is the last day it's showing, because just the fact that this exists and is back in performance circulation is good fairy tale news! (And you can keep an eye out for it in future too.) Yes. The musical is based on the Bluebeard-related fairy tale The Robber Bridegroom (more specifically, on Eudora Weltey's Southern Gothic novel, which was based on the fairy tale - text is HERE), and is comic, a little bawdy and full of bluegrass music. In other words, it's probably not quite would you would expect if you're familiar with the tale. (I've included a number of different posters for the musical, along with the current one, to give you a better idea of the tone.) In case you've never heard of the musical version you should know this is considered quite a unique, though oft-forgotten, masterful work, among musical theater folk. It helped launch the careers of Kevin Kline, Patty LuPone and Barry Bostwick (the latter earning a Tony that season for Leading Actor in a musical). From some older productions here's a cobbling together of some different summaries to give you an idea of the show:
Set in eighteenth-century Mississippi, the show follows Jamie Lockhart, a rascally robber of the woods, as he courts Rosamund, the only daughter of the richest planter in the country. The proceedings go awry, however, thanks to a case of double-mistaken identity. Throw in an evil stepmother intent on Rosamund's demise, her pea-brained henchman, and a hostile talking head-in-a-trunk, and you have a rollicking country romp.It has one foot in the Southern Gothic tradition, the other in a fairy tale, and an arm gleefully waving about in comedy.
The music is one of the only genuine bluegrass scores ever heard in a Broadway musical: challenging fiddle melodies that twist, turn, and gather velocity like a hare escaping a panther, only to slide back down into the warmth of a quiet Southern night. With its distinct sound, colorful cast, and unique form of storytelling, "The Robber Bridegroom" is a hidden gem!
In case you have this evening free and are in the area, here's the information on the tickets:you can get more information on the times and tickets HERE.
From the Greensboro Theatre press release:
"The Robber Bridegroom"'s book and lyrics were written by Alfred Uhury, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Driving Miss Daisy," and were based on a 1942 novella by Eudora Welty. Music is by Robert Waldman. Opening on Broadway in 1975, this rousing, bawdy Southern fairytale has gone on to become a regional favorite. As Broadway historian Peter Filichia puts it, "This is a favorite show of many people who hate musicals, because it eschews the more obvious conventions and has no trouble being its unpretentious self."
The Robber Bridegroom, small illustration by Walter Crane from Household Stories by The Brothers Grimm
Here's a link to the full background and analysis of the musical The Robber Bridegroom, by Scott Miller. It's quite lengthy but very readable and extremely fascinating, asking all sorts of great questions about men and women, relationships and how we view sex. With regard to current pop culture fascinations, specifically, 50ShadesofGrey, and Bluebeard tendencies to continuously rear their head, no matter how modernized, liberated and equal opportunity we believe ourselves to be, this is a good article to reference. Why? Because this is exactly what the musical is all about. The manner of the telling, with a large dose of tongue in cheek and folklore flavor, actually makes the material easier to consider and discuss. So if you're interested in Bluebeard, check out the article. You won't be disappointed.
A neat little diversion that popped up today: people making an effort to have some of the Disney Princesses more accurately reflect the time period Disney (seems to have) their version of the story in, with regard to their outfits.
Disney creates fictional worlds for their princesses to live in, drawing on historical and mythical inspiration to create beautiful fairy tales. We wondered what the princesses would’ve looked like if they’d existed in the real world, so we used context clues from the films to determine, as specifically as possible, the time and location of each Disney princess’s story. *based on the Disney films, not the original source material.
Take a look at the video:
You can find the whole post over at Buzzfeed HERE, which outlines the "context clues" that helped the costume people decide which way to dress each character. The comments are particularly interesting below as well, "discussing" the various time periods, what culture did what etc It's worth a look.
A little note sent via bluebird direct to TOF earlier this evening after our enchanting visit
If you missed any of the stops on the special five year anniversary of Tale Of Faerie Tour, you can find them linked below in order, starting with Kristin's interview here (very) early this morning. [1]Interview at OUABlog -An Invitation to TOF [2] The Parlor [3] The Grounds [4] The Library [5] A Letter (link to be added when the TOF post goes live)
Just sent to me today as part of a promotion for a book any fairy tale student (or regular reader) should have, is this great infographic, created by the Norton Critical Editions team. We see a lot of infographics floating around these days but one of the best things about this one is I know the team will have done their research properly to create it, so you can trust this summary and use it confidently for reference.
I love the artwork too - very nice, yet easy to quickly reference all the information. Look at that neat list of referenced fairy tales at the bottom to. It's a very neat resource to have on hand. (Can we get a poster please?)
In case it's not already clear, this book is highly recommended for any fairy tale study library, from the casual student to those more inclined to serious scholarship.
Here's the summary:
Fairy tales shape our cultures and enrich our imaginations; their narrative stability and cultural durability are incontestable.
This Norton Critical Edition collects forty-four fairy tales, from the fifth century to the present. The Classic Fairy Tales focuses on six tale types: "Little Red Riding Hood," "Beauty and the Beast," "Snow White," "Cinderella," "Bluebeard," and "Hansel and Gretel," and presents multicultural variants and sophisticated literary rescriptings. Also reprinted are tales by Hans Christian Andersen and Oscar Wilde.
"Criticism" gathers twelve essays that interpret aspects of fairy tales, including their social origins, historical evolution, psychological drama, gender issues, and national identities.
Production has begun on Disney Junior's "Goldie & Bear," a fairytale-inspired animated series for preschoolers. Slated to debut in Fall 2015, the series follows the adventures of newfound friends Goldie and Bear, following the renowned porridge incident of "Goldilocks and The Three Bears."
Maria Tatar, John L. Loeb Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures at Harvard University and Disney Junior Advisory Board Member, serves as the series consultant, advising on storytelling, fairytales and folklore. The importance of storytelling is central to the show's curriculum, with episodes referencing original fairytales and nursery rhymes while providing new insights into their narratives and underlying messages. Throughout the series, Goldie and Bear model friendship and community, demonstrate creative problem-solving and exhibit critical thinking skills such as logic and strategy.
The writer/creator isn't a newbie with regard to fairy tales either. Jorge Aguirre has had his own brand of fractured fairy tales in the form of the popular kids comic book, Giants Beware, (see above) out there for a while now.
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