Casting: Disney's Live Action "Beauty and the Beast" Closes In On Finalizing Mains

Fan art poster for the upcoming movie by Prateek Mathur
(lovely speed-motion "making of" video at link)

The Downtown Abbey cast must be on high alert for Disney reps, now that a second cast member of theirs, Dan Stevens, has nabbed a starring role in a Disney live action fairy tale. Stevens will be Emma Watson's Beast (confirmed by both Disney and Stevens less than 24 hours ago).

His nemesis, Gaston, will (likely) be played by Luke Evans, star of Dracula Untold and also from The Hobbit. (Evans is in talks but as yet unconfirmed.)

Here's a little extra from Screenrant on the actors just cast and where you might have seen them before:

Stevens, in the years since he played would-be Downton Abbey heir Matthew Crawley, has found his niche as a character actor. His resume now including solid supporting turns in such films as The Fifth Estate and A Walk Among the Tombstones, as well as a memorable lead performance as a mysterious military vet in last year’s action/thriller throwback The Guest – and, most recently, a scene-stealing comedic appearance as Sir Lancelot in Night at the Museum: Tomb of the Emperor. 

...Evans is up to play the film’s villain Gaston: a brawny and vain hunter who, concerned solely with her attractive appearance, becomes determined to make Belle his wife. The most recent script draft for the Beauty and the Beast live-action feature was penned by Stephen Chbosky, who also directed Watson in the film adaptation of his own novel,The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Calling the shots here, however, is one Oscar-winner Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) – who, as it were, previously teamed with Stevens on Fifth Estate (the 2013 Julian Assange memoir). 

Condon wins Best Adapted Screenplay for
"God and Monsters"

Both Condon and Watson previously indicated that the plan is to carry over Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s songs from the 1991 Disney animated Beauty and the Beast feature into the live-action version – with Condon having told EW that modern filmmaking tech will allow them “to bring that brilliant, amazing score and beautiful story into three dimensions.” One just wonders if any of the original tunes from the Broadway musical adaptation will also make the cut. It could be fun to watch Stevens perform a number like “If I Can’t Love Her”, after all.

So, at a glance, the movie cast will look a little like this (though it should be remembered that Beast is a beast for most of the film - at least, in the animated one and there's no news yet on just how that will be handled):

 Belle: Emma Watson - confirmed
 The Beast: Dan Stevens - confirmed
 Gaston: Luke Evans - in talks (TBC)
 Mrs. Potts: Emma Thompson - in talks (TBC)

Quite the gorgeous British collection so far, don't you think?

Beauty and the Beast begins filming later in 2015 with the vague chance of a late 2016 release, but more likely to hit theaters in 2017.

NBC's "Grimm" Nominated for Saturn Award: 'Best Network Television Series'

Saturn Award: "Honoring Genre Entertainment and Everything With An Edge" also known as The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films Awards.

Congratulations Grimm crew!

This is a huge achievement, especially for a fairy tale based (and to some extent driven) series that's in it's fourth season. The competition is pretty serious so it's great to see something that's bringing myth, legend and fairy tales into people's homes each week to be recognized.

Best Network Television Series:
The Blacklist
The Following
Grimm
Hannibal
Person of Interest
Sleepy Hollow

You can see Sleepy Hollow is in there too. Myths, legends and folklore is still pretty popular mainstream (and geek-stream).

You can see the full nominations and read more about what  Saturn Award is HERE.

Red As Blood, White As Snow, Black As Ebony... Discussing The Big Three Colors in Fairy Tales

'She bade him leave his horse with her and ride on her own two-winged horse' 
Illustration for The Bold Knight, the Apples of Youth, and the Water of Life
by N. Puttapipat (aka Himmapaan on social media)

This was written yesterday in response to the Tales Of Faerie post (Wednesday, March 4, 2015), which references tri-color themed fairy tales, but my comment was so long it wouldn't post on the site so I sent it via mail. I've posted it here with encouragement from Kristin, who thought more of you might like to read this. I omitted the part of the comment that responds directly to yesterday's post, just because it makes no sense out of context.

You may want to go read Kristin's Tales Of Faerie post first, HERE, before continuing below or at least have a glance at the academic article/paper she mentions (HERE), that she also posted her thoughts on, in December last year HERE. (The referenced paper is a number of pages long and quite detailed but you'll get the gist of the topics with just a scan.)

Note: generally, when writing comments on someone else's blog I write very informally, conversationally, if you like, sometimes almost like shorthand, so it's even less formal than my usual writing for OUABlog.

'But he could not hold the firebird herself; she tore herself from his grasp and flew away'
Illustration for Prince Ivan, the Firebird, and the Grey Wolf.************************

The tri-color aspect of many fairy tales (and cultural color recognition order*) is fascinating and one of the things I'm always curious about (my investigations started in my teens with my wondering about Snow White - of course). Vaz da Silva's article/paper has a lot of interesting points, things I've read or heard about quite a bit but it's also missing some basics I think. 

White and black should be obvious just because there is no greater contrast in the world, and this jives with one of the main interpretations too: ultimate good vs ultimate bad - however, true black and true white are almost impossible to create as well, so there's that dichotomy of the color significance. 

'Next morning the seven-year-old girl took off her clothes, donned a net, took the quail in her hand, sat upon the hare, and went to the palace'
Illustration for The Wise Little Girl.

White is interesting because, while Westerners tend to think "purity", it's the color of death in many other cultures. A strong theory of why clowns freak people out so much (especially children and babies) is because of the white face: it's basically a death mask (and if you know anything about the history of clowning, you'll know this was done on purpose - to remove the personal nature of the performer, among other things). 

'The sorceress was waiting for her, seized her, tied a stone around her neck, and cast her into the sea'
Illustration for Sister Alionushka and Brother Ivanushka. 

Black, on the other hand seems like a no-brainer: death, darkness. The dark was always a scary, dangerous time for people pre-electric lights but there's more to that as well. In many cultures the absence of a shadow is an indication of something supernatural - usually something bad - but once a shadow was seen/restored, then the human/natural element was returned and things were back in balance/safe. (Think of the significance of Peter Pan trying to get his shadow back too.) One of the reasons the twilight time of day is considered magical (or one of the dangerous Faerie times of day - and today - one of the worst times to drive because cars are so hard to see) is because shadows are hard to see/define/distinguish too. Gray is 'in-between" - neither here nor there - there are no silhouettes, no shadows, no easy proof of life.

'She became a terrible lioness, but when she was about to swallow the good youth, his magic steed came running and took hold of her with his mighty legs'
Illustration for Two Ivans, Soldiers' Sons. 

Red has almost always been related to blood and though we see it as violence as well, more often it means life (when you stop bleeding, you're dead.) Women bleeding monthly is still weird and mysterious to guys! How does one bleed without injury or threat of death? In many ways, it's like women have a secret "in" to what life is all about - something further enforced by the ability to create and birth children. I think menstruation and a women's cycles of maturation are a natural connection and a fairly common way of interpreting the appearance of red. Red is blood - blood is life, and blood also rises in passion (of love or violence) - proof of life in many ways.

'She waved her right hand, and lakes and woods appeared; she waved her left hand, and various birds began to fly about'
Illustration for The Frog Princess. 

Black and white are also not technically "colors" - true black is the absence of color and white is all colors together (or, if you want to get more technical - since trying to do this in paint always fails - white is the reflection of every color frequency/wavelength seen together, black is no reflection of any light wavelength). Red is the color that contrasts most against both black or white and especially against black and white together. It could be because we're built to recognize the importance of red (due to blood and the life connection) but I'm guessing there's a scientific reason too. Red is one of the lowest frequency colors - not much light is needed to see "red' at all, whereas other colors can only be distinguished if there's enough light. (Am I boring you yet??)

‘The fox is carrying me away … Cat Cotonaevich, rescue me!’
Illustration for The Cat, the Cock, and the Fox.

For an example of how these interpretations work both ways, think of how vampires are represented almost the world over: black, white and red. Black clothes, white skin, red mouth because they've drunk someone's blood. They're a scary symbol of supernatural-meets-human because they have both - the human element (red lifeblood), the white (death and supernatural) and black (evil but also earthly). Weird, right? But it makes sense too.

Anyway, I think all this has significance with regard to tales across the globe since it works for all interpretations of the how different cultures see black,white and red. 

'She boiled water and poured it into the barrels, thus scalding the six robbers to death'
Illustration for The Wise Maiden and the Seven Robbers.

One fairy tale (**in addition to the ones Kristin and Vaz de Silva mention) that comes to mind from Japan, is The Crane Wife - almost all white feathers but with a distinct black pattern, against the snow, in the dark, wounded, red and bleeding... Again we see the implication of the supernatural mixed with the natural in a single form (the woman), the "real" implication (not a ghost), because of the blood and the almost magnetic attraction to that combination for "man".

****************

If you haven't gone there yet, but want more I suggest going to Tales Of Faerie. There's an Irish tale using the tri-color theme for your reading pleasure as well ("The Snow, the Crow, and the Blood").

All these amazing silhouette illustrations are by N. Puttapipat for the Folio Society edition of Aleksandr Afanas'ev's Myths and Legends of Russia (though I cannot find it on the Folio website!). See left for a description of the book.

* Quote from Kristin's post HERE: "Da Silva cites a study in which they found that if a language has only two words for color, it's black and white. If they have three, it's always red, black, and white. "

** Tales mentioned specifically using the red, white & black tri-color theme, listed below:

• Snow White (& variations)
• The Crow - Basile
• Perceval - Conte du Graal
• The Three Citrons - Basile
• The Snow, the Crow and the Blood

"Cymbeline" Trailer

Some of the Snow White-like motifs will be clear. All of Shakespeare's Cymbeline should be obvious, what with the script pretty much following the Bard's (and they do it a LOT better than I expected). Not really my type of movie but I will be watching what people say about it and how it's discussed.

Fairy tales seem to get related to everything these days/weeks (and with no additional help from me!). In Cymbeline they wouldn't be stretching the idea too far, of course, but I'm curious to see just which ones they cite as having parallels. If Snow White doesn't come up you can then assume fairy tales are just the current hot-button-scapegoat for unveiling the darkness in us all... (insert ridiculous evil laugh here). But hey - at least they're open to discussing our favorite subject!

If you're interested in Shakespeare, seeing his work translated into modern  or are curious about the Snow White motifs in the play (which will have to be there in the movie to some extent since they're following the book so closely) then you might want to keep your eye on this film too.

Take a look at the trailer. It looks better than the poster implies and we might even be getting a glimpse of Imogen's death-like sleep. Or is it sleep-like death? Depends on the story you're telling I suppose... :

Guest Post: Modern Fairy Tale Home Decor

Intimate fairy tale style dining via iseecubed

I was recently asked by the home idea and inspiration people at Modernize if our readers would be interested in an article on home decor that was fairy tale themed and my answer was "Of course! Especially if you can bring us something out of the norm, something modern (ie. non-traditional) for design-savvy adults who love fairy tales; something that goes beyond Pre-Raphaelite motifs (as great as they are), showing you don't need glitter, frills and woodland scenes to maintain a fairy tale feel." Jane Blanchard at Modernize took up the challenge and didn't disappoint. Enjoy and be inspired!

Modern Fairy Tale Home Decor

By Jane Blanchard

Anglo-American poet W.H. Auden said, “The way to read a fairy tale is to throw yourself in.” We assume he meant bed, walls and all.

Every fairy tale needs a room. Just as the prophet Ezekiel spoke flesh onto skeletons in the Valley of Dry Bones, so an interior designer speaks second life into fairy tales from the troves of Walt Disney, Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm.

Yet too often, the run-of-the-mill fairytale room suggests that the artist’s craftsmanship long ago outstripped his knowledge of literature. It brims with Beauty and the Beast chandeliers, Sleeping Beauty canopies, that sort of thing. Lots of melodrama. Lots of pink.

Dutch design studio Ontwerpduo took the road less traveled by. Hired to colonize with furniture a room inside a gorgeous 16th century mansion, Ontwerpduo designers made 10 pieces based on different fairy tales. Themes included the secret room, the genie in a bottle, and the princess and the pea. Lighting fixtures overran the ceiling like fugitive plumping pipes. Lilies blossomed out of the carpet rug – and was that a pea underneath the six-stack bed?

Via Once Upon A Blog...Fairy Tale News

Ontwerpduo has its own Fairytale Furniture collection, which showcases a swinging birdcage seat, a warped wooden cabinet, and a handcrafted "Marbelous" maple table with grooves and channels ferrying stainless steel marbles across the surface, down the legs and along the supports. Lewis Carroll would be proud.

Via Designose

The Dutch design studio may be one of the first to homestead the next frontier of home design: modern fairytale chic. Warner Bros. Studio argues that pop culture cinema and television like ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” and HBO’s “Game of Thrones” will ignite an interest in adult fairytale design, a movement defined by its creativity of scale and emphasis on mood. Aspen bedposts tower over sleeping beauties; intricate glass chandeliers loom over distressed window frames. The style relies upon earthy tones, gothic elegance, rustic accents and mirror arrangements.

But the fairytale design is not new. In the 1920s, architect Hugh Comstock constructed a handful of fairytale cottages in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Now some of the most sought-after properties in Monterrey, California, the Comstock cottages sport rusticated chimneys, pointed eaves, storybook masonry and whimsical arched doorways. A modern Carmel-by-the-Sea home might cost $5,000,000.

Via Tales from Carmel

Sandra Foster devised her own DIY gingerbread house, and it didn’t cost $5,000,000. Stretched by a too-big house and long workdays, she and her husband felt like a pair of Laffy Taffy candies. So they bought a woodland cabin in the Catskill Mountains for $40,000. Foster renovated the 9x10 cabin using odds and ends purchased from antique shops, salvage stores, Craigslist, and the occasional tree trunk. Her refuge, a Victorian shabby chic cabin, cost just $3,000.

Via the New York Times

Now that’s a happy ending.

Jane Blanchard is a blogger, home design geek, and graphic designer from Savannah, GA. She also is a passionate writer for Modernize.com. 

For more home design tips and tricks, please visit Modernize.com.

Note: This article was written for Once Upon A Blog with permission to publish here, in exchange for a credit for Modernize and link to the company website only. Once Upon A Blog has no ongoing affiliation with Modernize but is happy to say they found the staff friendly, helpful and professional. They were a pleasure to work with.

Ask Baba Yaga: How Can I Avoid Drama?

Baba Yaga by Vania Zouravliov

Oh yes. I need to hear some advice on this one too please Baba Yaga.

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

(Originally posted at The Hairpin HERE)

The way one enjoys their tea can be so telling. Too bitter, too sweet - I'm picky, I know. Perhaps that's why my circle of true confidantes is so small. I'm known as a coffee connoisseur but I can enjoy a cup of tea too if I can take some time with it (tea always feels like it needs ceremony, even a small one, to me). It just needs to be good for me not to be left with an nasty after-taste. I guess this tells me I should be looking at the tea leaf tales left in a cup I make; one of my own choosing, rather than a random cup thrust at me. Baba Yaga seems to suggest having your own brew bubbling at the ready, just in case. That sounds like some sensible, practical advice I can actually follow. Snow Monkey Plum anyone?

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.

Firebird Ash Shoes

Firebird ash shoes - holy..!

These pumps, crafted by Mexican designer Lucita Abarca, caused quite a stir at a recent Sixth Borough fashion show. These crystalline high-heels were grown by Wyrm’s Pass artisans, deep below the Rocky Mountains, using a mixture of firebird ash, waters from the springs at Paradiso, and a variety of secret ingredients, rumored to include Australian fire opals and powdered moonstone. The result of using the firebird ash become immediately recognizable when the heel of the shoe is dragged backward across any dry surface, as it creates an impressive streak of magical fire which can be accurately aimed with a little effort. Ms. Abarca said she wanted a shoe that made a statement, and that statement was “Any bastardo brujo catcalling me on La Plaza de Sangre better be ready to dose his huevos, you know?”  

from Ekaterina and the Firebird,* illustration by Anna & Elena Balbusso

I so much *heart* these shoes. And the statement.

But I can't just leave this here for you all to wonder. This is what could be termed a "Tumblr Tall Tale". There is no Mexican designer named Lucita Abarca (and the name can be roughly translated as "lit shoe" or "shoe of light"). The truth is there truly are so many ingenious inventions and incredible fashion creations out there, this could be a real thing. (Except for perhaps the Firebird ash - I would happily travel the world over to go see a real Firebird!) This wonderfully done GIF doesn't appear to have a "true" source and if you do a little investigating you keep getting sent back to American Wizarding (if you like fantasy storytelling and reference to tales in news, you'll probably enjoy the Tumblr site too - it's wonderfully creative). Despite Vogue-desire being cited as the source, as far as I can tell this is just a wonderful story many of us wish were true. I mean, can you imagine? I immediately think of the possibilities in a flamenco performance, immediately followed by the flammable possibilities in the same flamenco performance! (And if I were still working in ballet I'd be rushing to the Director and asking if we could figure out how to create something like this for a pointe shoes for a new Firebird performance!)

The Firebird illustrated by Luděk Maňásek (FB)

While I couldn't resist posting a Firebird related "product" anyway, it occurred to me that we've never really discussed the tales that circulate the internet via memes and gifs. They're like urban legend wildfire, the way things spread virally these days. I'm not just talking about misconceptions, poor journalism and rumors (which abound and has us constantly checking Snopes.com to see if they're true) but about that heightened-portrayal of reality. It reminds me of Big Fish (the book, though the movie was pretty good up till the end), and the way the father told his son all these slightly left-of-center stories in which it was difficult to tell the real from the unreal.

We do the same all the time with children and it's perpetuated through their own expressions - something we now see vivid evidence of on Tumblr and other teen-driven social media. 

More than ever, fashion sells itself via tales these days - and not just fairy tale fantasy like it used to. Runway shows are now theatrical performances and people are sold the story as much as the look. The look by itself just doesn't grab as much as being able to be part of a story as well. Fashion has always sold an altered reality but these days we see even more effort put into the stories between the seams. The designers and seamsters talk continuously now of what this stitch means, what this "petal" represents etc - something that harks back to traditional folk artisans and the care with which they create things and infuse them with stories.

I think stories that use images like this to grab our attention have made a difference too, like when Katniss "becomes the Mockingjay" in the second Hunger Games movie. I'm talking about the movie specifically because of the visual effects which turn Katniss' false wedding dress into a fiery one, to reveal a dark, winged, Mockingjay dress. The themes of phoenix and hope rising are all over this story and the movie gave us some very strong visuals it's difficult to forget. (You can see a clip from the movie which shows the wonderfully done dress transformation and illustrates the rising rebellion against the system HERE.)

I have to say, I really like seeing this return to Story.

I'll leave you with another Firebird story, also from American Wizarding:

An early morning palm tree fire on Christmas day in Los Angeles 

"Reports are currently coming in from downtown Los Angeles, where a firebird, escaped from a reserve just north of the Mexican city of Tecate, has started its regenerative process within the full sight of Muggle onlookers and authorities. Agents of the Department of Secrecy and Obfuscation (DSO) and the Bureau of Conservation and Magical Resources (CMR) are already on the scene, and spreading the story of a lightning strike and a brittle palm tree. Representatives from both agencies claim that they are empowered by law to practice temporary memory charms on Muggle witnesses to prevent a potential breach of the Statute of Secrecy, and that warrants will later be sought to make the charms permanent. Once the firebird has burned itself out, the agents will collect the remains and repair to a secure facility to allow the creature to regenerate safely before being returned to its normal nesting grounds."  

Report by Donna Maria Garcia, The Antigua Finca Times: February 4, 2015

Source: American Wizarding

* If you like Russian tales or the concept of The Firebird I strongly suggest going and reading the short story this illustration was created for at tor.com. The story is lovely and there are some nice insights in the comments below too. Go have a lovely read HERE.

"Into The Woods" Coming to DVD & Blu-ray March 24th

This is on my to-get list. I'm aware of some of the challenges of bringing a musical to screen and how impossible it is to please everyone. Considering the "small" budget (relatively speaking) for this movie and the decision to do as much as possible "in camera", I think this is an overall better-than-we-expected result. The casting was good to great and the music, complete with symphony-sized orchestra, is wonderful. I just wish there was more to this take-it-home package. Considering how beloved a musical it is in general I think they could have easily had a special edition with book and lyrics that included pre-production designs, as well as nods to previously great productions. I would have considered getting it and I know I'm not alone...

Listed below are the special features from the Blu-ray. Disney has a track record of only putting the best features on the Blu-ray, not the DVD, so if you want the behind the scenes extras the Blu-ray is the way to go.

They still haven't put everything currently available to view online on the discs though! (Seems crazy to me.) I wish there was more from Sondheim and Lapine, a comparison to the original screenplay, a shout-out to the original Broadway cast, some development artwork and story research notes... Anyone who is interested in this as a play, who is looking at tropes or as a lyricist is going to feel frustrated (including me).

There is a filmmaker commentary though and Rob Marshall isn't just a technical conductor with regard to his films. He's very involved in the "how" and "why" of each scene and moment, so hopefully there will be some great gems from him on here.

There's also the newly written, then deleted song. Disney released an excerpt of it late Friday as a DVD teaser (it was filmed for the movie, not just recorded and was cut late in editing so it's a fully produced version).

The clip features Meryl Streep as The Witch performing ‘She’ll Be Back,’ an original song written by Stephen Sondheim for the film. In the song, The Witch laments Rapunzel’s decision to leave her and run off with the prince, but she is convinced Rapunzel will return once she comes to her senses. (The) full length of the bonus feature/song (which also features an introduction by director Rob Marshall) is just over 4 1/2 minutes long. (via StitchKingdom)

Take a look:

Additional bonus features are as follows:

• Streep Sings Sondheim – ‘She’ll Be Back’ (4:35) – Meryl Streep performs a compelling new song that sheds a little more light on the Witch’s relationship with Rapunzel. This never-before- seen composition was penned especially for this movie by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, and is seen here exclusively on Blu-ray and EHV. With introduction by Director Rob Marshall.
• There’s Something About the Woods (12:46) – Journey into this mysterious forest to discover how this compelling, new musical was made. Meet Director Rob Marshall and his award-winning team of artists and craftspeople, see how the woods were brought to life…and what they represent to the story… and to all of us.
• The Cast as Good as Gold (9:42) – Emily Blunt. Anna Kendrick. Chris Pine. James Corden. Johnny Depp. Meryl Streep. Meet the remarkable cast of this musical movie, and hear of their affinity for this Broadway classic.
• Deeper Into the Woods – Journey even further into the development of the film in these 4 segments:
• Deeper Into the Woods – From Stage to Screen (8:10)
• Deeper Into the Woods – The Magic of the Woods (7:03)
• Deeper Into the Woods – Designing of the Woods (6:48)
• Deeper Into the Woods – The Costumes of the Woods (6:35)
• Get direct access to the musical song segments from the film, with optional sing-along lyrics.
• Easter Eggs – Meryl Climbs (:21), Witch Riser (:46), Sneakers (:12), Jack and the Bean Stalk Rehearsal (1:30), Bird Attack (:19)
• Into the Woods Audio Commentary with Director Rob Marshall and Producer John Deluca

You can pre-order via Amazon (they've updated with the proper images now) or through the official Into The Woods movie site.