The Rose Elf by Veronica Dye Johnson

Illustrator Veronica Dye Johnson, recently sent me an image of one of her latest personal works and has kindly given me permission to share it with you all, it being inspired by a fairy tale.

Have you heard of this one, The Rose Elf? It's another Hans Christian Andersen one and used to be much better known.

The tale has always struck me as being a little bit of a split personality. As you can see from the above, beautifully rendered image, it has quite the dark side to it. This is of a girl holding her lover's head, after she dug it up out of the snowy wood, where her brother had buried it (after he'd cut it off). Sounds a little soap opera-ish in many ways but it actually has a lot of tragic romance to it.

(Note: Forgive me if I get the details wrong - I'm going from memory here.)

The girl, having just found out who killed her love, secretly takes the head home and buries it in a flower pot, over which she weeps every day. Her brother, who lives in the same house (and whom she keeps it for) has no idea why she's so sad but at least he doesn't have to worry about her taking off and getting married anymore.

Rose Elf in progress

She grieves greatly, pines, dies, and is reunited with her love in heaven BUT her brother, seeing this amazing plant that she's been keeping in her bedroom, decides all that was hers is now his, and he takes it to his room and puts it beside his bed. The plant, having grown on tears of anguish and with a wish for revenge, plunges poisoned barbs into the man while he sleeps, killing him rather painfully. His body is discovered shortly after and in the horror of the scene, the flower pot is knocked onto the bed and breaks, where the skull inside is revealed and so is the brother's secret. I believe he's then buried in an unmarked grave.. (it's been a while).

But I haven't told you the weirdest part.

How does the girl find out in the first place? Because of a 'rose elf'. He lived in a rose that wouldn't open and let him in due to the cold one night, so he went seeking shelter, finding some blooms near these lovers meeting where he overhears their love, their story and their trials. He finds that sweet but then through some slip or accident, ends up in the man's pocket. He's with the lover when he's murdered, escaping by holding onto a dead leaf that's floating through the air in the ruckus, only to land back on the hat of the brother-murderer and end up back at the girl's house. He whispers in her ear what happened when she's asleep, citing that she'll know this is true by the proof of a dead leaf on her chest when she wakes. She wakes, there's a dead leaf, she goes and finds the head, you know the rest now.

Rose Elf early color test

Isn't that just the oddest juxtaposition? You have this happy little elf looking for flowers, floating around so small he's undetected on one side (and there's a whole bit about him going to find the Queen Bee to tell her what happened too) and this macabre plant growing out of a lover's skull on the other.

It just doesn't feel to me like it was constructed by the same person (and when you read it, the language is bizarrely different too). I always felt I had heard the part about the head in the pot with the plant before somewhere - that feels really familiar to me and sort of Slavic too. The Rose Elf character just sounds.. like a construct.

I haven't researched it but it's like someone edited together part of a Disney film and part of an adult epic. Perhaps I'm wrong but in a weird way, it's the plant that feels most fairy tale like to me. The elf just kind of gives me the creeps.. I presume he ends up OK though? I can't remember.

Let me go find a link for you, so you can read the proper tale... HERE.

Anyway, I can see why such a tale inspired illustrators though I don't think I've seen an image of the girl holding her lover's head quite like this before. Thanks Veronica! There's a lot of interesting stuff about this tale that it's definitely worth remembering for.

Veronica Dye Johnson is a working and published illustrator who specializes in narrative images that showcase the human figure. You can find Veronica's website HERE, see more about her process of creating the illustration HERE and follow her and her work on Twitter HERE.

Family Theater: "The Brothers Grimm & A Showgirl" & "Cinderella Italiano"

Despite the implication in the name, The Brothers Grimm & A Showgirl is a family theater production and has a short run starting TONIGHT. Pantochino Productions Inc ("ridiculously entertaining") is an award winning professional non-profit family theater productions company specializing in family friendly musical theater with a large dollop of fun.

From the New Haven Register:

The show features spoofs and goofs of favorite fairy tales such as Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty. In the play, the Brothers Grimm arrive to perform their stories and are taken by surprise when a sequined and feathered Showgirl appears and helps tell the tales in her own special way.

More information can be found on the Facebook page HERE and at the Pantochino theater company website HERE. You can see some photos via BroadwayWorld HERE.

The company is also staging an intriguing production titled Cinderella Italiano. Cinderella Italiano begins on April 24th, 2015.
                   

UK Trailer for "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" (Coming to UK Theaters in English & Japanese March 20)

What lucky folks our British friends are! The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is coming to theaters on March 20, 2015, and can be seen with either the English dubbing OR in the original Japanese! #slightlyenviousoverhere

The trailer is the first proper English trailer I've seen and is wonderful, and a very different presentation from what we've seen to date. (I don't understand why this didn't get advertised like this in the US - it would have drawn a huge audience.) If you were on the fence about seeing it before this will likely to change your mind to a "yes - gotta see that!".

For the rest of us, we'll have to be content to watch on DVD and Blu-ray, though we still won't have the original Japanese language, with English subtitles option. (Why?)

I'm hoping to have a "home viewing" of the movie myself (finally!) this weekend. And if I do, I will review...

In the meantime, enjoy - and be inspired:

"Frozen 2" Officially in Development

Fan made banner

So: Tumblr exploded today (Thursday, March 12) because this was announced at D23:

Today at The Walt Disney Company’s annual meeting at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, California, Chairman and CEO Robert A. Iger told shareholders and D23 Members in attendance ...that Frozen 2 is officially in development at Walt Disney Animation Studios.

The Oscar®-winning team behind Frozen—directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee and producer Peter Del Vecho—are returning for the new film. “We enjoyed making Frozen Fever so much and being back in that world with those characters,” said John Lasseter. “Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck have come up with a great idea for a sequel and you will be hearing a lot more about it, and we’re taking you back to Arendelle. We are so excited about that.”

As are many, many (maaaany) Tumblr users but there's also a lot of worry too.

And with regard to fairy tales, well, Frozen is barely connected to a fairy tale to start, Frozen Fever, from all reports has nothing that puts it on par with the movie even in terms of theme (it's goes for the Olaf and the cute, but otherwise...) and Frozen 2 will... very unlikely be a fairy tale either.

But it will be sold to the public as one, and likely have more magic and more Elsa. Would it be too much to ask that at least some regional folklore from Scandinavia and the Sami people (aka Laplanders) get woven in?

And in the meantime, what's happening with Giants - our Disney-fied modern Jack and the Beanstalk story that's supposed to be in production currently? I see it was moved to 2018 at the end of last year but other than that, I haven't heard a peep about it for months and months.

Not an official logo

And Moana, a "mythic musical adventure set in Polynesia", which is supposed to be released in 2016, has barely had any press either, apart from this announcement back in November:

The film will tell the story of MOANA, a teenage girl and “born navigator” who “sets sail in search of a fabled island,” according to a summary from Disney. “During her incredible journey, she teams up with her hero, the legendary demi-god Maui, to traverse the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous sea creatures, breathtaking underworlds and ancient folklore,” Disney reveals.

I wouldn't be surprised if Giants gets bumped (again) and Frozen 2 is put on the fast track because, ya know...

In Memorium: Miyoko Matsutani - Thank You For All The Tales

On February 28th, 2015, one of Japan's leading folktale scholars, collectors and writers, passed away. We lost a fairy tale hero that day  - a woman who made it her mission to preserve the folktales of Japan before they were lost to memory - and whether you know her name or not, we fairy tale folk have benefitted greatly from her life's work. I feel it's only right that I pay tribute to her memory and help her name be remembered.

She began writing fairy tales after graduating high school and wrote over 300 books (picture books, children's and juvenile literature) and was the first Japanese author to make the Hans Christian Andersen honor list (Award of Excellence) for Taro the Dragon Boy and won numerous awards before and since. A committed peace activist, her original works often used themes of war and peace.

She was also the head of, what I've seen described as "a folklore laboratory" which, although is probably only due to a weird translation, sounds awesome. (The real name of the organization is The Miyoko Matsutani Folklore Research Center.) Matsutani herself traveled all over Japan collecting folktales from ancient storytellers, as well as being a storyteller herself - something which, she seems to have done right up till she passed away. She has been instrumental in reviving the fading practice and art of storytelling in Japan, which diminished greatly when the Industrial Age began. Due to her traveling, storytelling, publishing and working with community centers, women's groups, schools and more, the practice is coming back, and although she alone can't take credit for it, she has been one of the key instruments in making that happen.

Her work hasn't been restricted to Japanese fairy tales and folktales either. She worked with Asian tales in general (in addition to her Japanese focus), publishing retellings of Chinese tales and fables as well as Korean, Vietnamese, Philippine, Indonesian and World Folklore collections. (Busy lady!)

Cover by Piotr Fąfrowicz

Here's a little summary extract on her scholarship contribution, from Books of Japan:

As head of the Miyoko Matsutani Folklore Research Center she collects and retells folktales from throughout Japan, and her Gendai minwa ko (Thoughts on Modern Folklore; 12 volumes) has earned praise for its compilation of folklore from the Meiji period (1868–1912) on. She is one of the true giants of contemporary children's literature in Japan, and her complete works have been published twice.

One thing I noticed in trying to search for her books, is that many of her picture books ended up being translated to Russian but are unfortunately difficult to find in English (apart from Taro the Dragon Boy).  You can however, see a whole lot of her Japanese covers HERE. It also seems like tracking down her multi-volume works and her collections of ghost stories and folktales isn't very straight forward either - something I hope will be remedied in the near future, especially since her passing has made it clear how valuable her work was.

There is a new book of hers due to be released in April, titled Shinano of Folklore (honestly - I haven't a clue how to read Japanese so I'm completely at the mercy of an online translator here. I'm not certain this title is correct..) Here's the synopsis, which sounds like a wonderful edition to looking at modern use of folklore and fairy tales in modern Japan and I'm not even going to try moving words around so it makes more sense to our English sentence construction. It has a wonderful charm reading it as is:

Japanese mind hometown revives now of the response with former TBS TV anime "Manga Japan Folk Tales" Mirai Inc. version proven caused a "folklore boom" and "Japanese folklore" series to many years of requests, outfit new We will. Illustrations are intact, the Kuminaoshi the print. "Shinano of folklore" is located in the knot of east and west, folklore that has been handed down among the natural Shinshu which is said to be Japan's roof. Crystal of wisdom, desire ancestors gave birth natural and human battle. 

A knot of East and West. I like that. We're all knots really...

I've done my best to track down the titles of the twelve volume series Thoughts on Modern Folklore (or Modern Folklore Considered) and have listed what I could find/understand below, along with most of the cover pictures. It will give you an idea of how wide her range of study and thinking was, which is pretty wonderful, especially when you realize in order to do this she was tracking the same thing we are here: fairy tale news and use of fairy tales in pop culture and entertainment.







1 Kappa Tengu - God hidden
2 Military conscription inspection and recruits of time
3 Laughter of ghost train, ship and automobile and ghost stories
4 Dream of news fireball missing out soul
5 Story went to news - underworld
6 Home front, thought suppression, air raid, Battle of Okinawa
7 Schools, laughter and ghost stories
8 Laughter of radio, television and ghost stories
9 Echo snake, tree spirits, war and wood
10 Wolf jackals, cats
11 Raccoon mujina
12 Photos of Kai civilization

Here's link to the WHOLE SET.

Here are some other folktale books:

                            

                         Modern Folklore:
                        You Narrator, I Also Narrator

Folklore of the World

Japanese Mythology

Just a few of her "Momo-chan" (peach-chan) books, so beloved by Japanese parents and children. They were based off of her motherhood diary she began keeping when she had her first child.

These don't even begin to cover her books for children and teens with series such as "Story Gems", "Once Upon A Time", a "Thriller Restaurant" series for teens, illustrated folklore collections for children and babies (yes, babies), a huge Japanese folklore series and many, many more. Have a look HERE to see a massive range of titles at Amazon Japan.

Rest in peace Miyoko Matsutani.

Thank you for all the tales.

Additional sources: HERE & HERE

Burton to Tackle Disney's Next Live Action "Fairy Tale" Dumbo ("Dumbo" is a fairy tale now?)

FTNH: *Answers incessantly ringing phone* Hello?

Chirpy PR Person: *yelling*"The famous flying elephant fairy tale is coming to the big screen - as live action!"

FTNH: *winces* Um, Dumbo isn't a fairy tale.

Chirpy PR Person: "But it's Disney and Tim Burton is directing it!"

FTNH: Those are not the criteria for a fairy tale.

Chirpy PR Person: "Oh pshaw - it'll be BIG! Bigger than BIG! It'll be..."

Buddhist Folktale - The Elephant Girly-Face

FTNH: A circus.

Chirpy PR Person: "Well, yes!"

FTNH: -sigh-

Chirpy PR Person: "Doesn't it at least qualify as some sort of folktale? Or urban legend?"

FTNH: Can you think of one?

Chirpy PR Person: "Er, well how about that line "have you ever seen an elephant fly?" and the horse fly, house fly stuff? Isn't that some sort of folklore-y thing?"

FTNH: You're going to make me do the Grumpy Cat face.

Chirpy PR Person: "You mean.. flying elephants have NOTHING to do with fairy tales and folklore?"

FTNH: Well, if you must tie something in, it would probably be regarding the Indian legend of the origin of elephants.

Chirpy PR Person: "And how does that go exactly?"

FTNH: Well, one version says, that after the sun had been hatched out of some giant cosmic egg-thingy, Brahma (supernatural head honcho, god-style) picked up the left over shells and started chanting, only to have an amazing white creature emerge (aka the original elephant), followed by a couple of dozen-plus cloud elephants. These elephants and their elephant-kids could fly around...

Airavata-the elephant by Yuti

Chirpy PR Person: *interrupts* "Did they have huge ears?"

FTNH: *glares at phone*... and even change shape when they wanted to, but their partying disturbed some old grumpy dude who decided enough was enough, cursed them and clipped their wings - in some versions they have actual wings. Basically, they lost all their flying abilities and were stuck on the ground forever. ‡

Chirpy PR Person: "Harsh."

FTNH: *shrugs* Stuff like that happened a lot way back when, apparently.

Chirpy PR Person: "Soooo... *brightens* elephants have been part of circuses for a long time then!"

FTNH: What? No! They were free, not in cages performing... look, it's a legend and has nothing to do with circuses.

Chirpy PR Person: "But this will!"

FTNH: We're back to that, are we?

Chirpy PR Person: "'Cause it's going to be BIG!"

FTNH: Alright - make your announcement thingy and then we can call it quits because there are lots of elephants folktales and fables but they're a long way from anything remotely like Dumbo.

Chirpy PR Person: "Except for the cloud elephants."

FTNH: *Grumpy Cat face*

Chirpy PR Person: *Hurriedly pulls out press report and reads*:

"Disney is betting that the man to make you believe an elephant can fly is Tim Burton. The filmmaker behind “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure,” “Batman,” “Big Eyes” and “Alice in Wonderland” will direct Disney’s coming live-action remake of “Dumbo,” Walt Disney Pictures president of production Sean Bailey said. ... The film is expected to be a mixture of computer generated effects and live actors, although details on the project are still scarce at this early stage of development. Mr. Bailey would only say of the plans for a new “Dumbo” story that “It’s a big world,” indicating that the story will be broader than the original tale of a circus elephant with large ears who learns to fly."

FTNH: By "big world" you mean the movie will be longer than the lovely concise 64 minute classic storytelling Dumbo is.

Chirpy PR Person: *ignores comment* "And it will be Circus-Circus! Burton loves a good circus motif so this is going to be..."

FTNH: *interrupts* A 90 minute version of Pink Elephants on Parade, Burton style? *shudders*

by Ruth Sanderson

Chirpy PR Person: "Can't you give me one thing to hang this on? I mean, Disney is going to be all: "This is our new live action fairy tale" about it, and people are going to call it that too, so can't you think of some reason to get excited about it?"

FTNH: Well, there are a lot of fairy tales about magic feathers...

Chirpy PR Person: *even chirpier* "There you go! Disney's newest live action fairy tale project doesn't have a release date yet, nor do we know what kind of "magic" Burton will use to make this classic story a reality but you'll believe..."

FTNH: *interrupts* I know, I know: anything is possible - even ruining one of the best films ever made.

Chirpy PR Person: "That's not what.."

FTNH: *Presses END CALL* - HEADDESK -

by  Larry T. Quach

Source: HERE

Note: This better not be why Ringling is taking another two years to finally stop using elephants in their circuses.

‡ See another folktale about flying elephants from Soara, India, HERE.

On "Cinderella" Costume Practicality and Altering Oneself To "Fit"

Sandy Powell - Queen of Cinderella Costumes (siting on a prop from the costume display)

Perhaps things will change after the movie is in theaters and everyone who wanted to see it (or see the Frozen "sequel" before it), have seen it but for now, the strongest impressions of Cinderella are all about the costumes.

Three time Oscar winner, Sandy Powell is the costume designer for this movie and I have to say the sneak peeks and close-ups are indeed stunning (not things I would wear but the craftsmanship is clear).

But it's the teeny waist controversy that's bugging people out a bit. No matter how independent and strong this Cinderella is compared to her (Disney) predecessor, the fact that star, Lily James couldn't comfortably eat solid food while in her corset, shouts far louder to the public that ideal look and measurements are still the deciding factor for what makes an ideal woman.

This, of course, fits well with the theme of the step sisters doing their best to squeeze their foot into the glass slipper, in order that they will become the chosen bride. The Grimm's version is pretty clear on just how far the sisters may have gone, and currently, the new designer "glass" slippers by famous brand designers all show a slim fit shoe in which there was only one design that was under 4 inches (I may be being generous - perhaps none were), not to mention an inbuilt requirement for having feet that are well manicured and bunion, vein and sweat-free.

Oh, and in case you were wondering? Foot surgeries: still popular.

What a colorful society this is! Pity real life isn't so much.

Looks are everything in this film - everything is designed to shine, glow, be full of color or drama and everything is about as perfect as possible. Even the blue dress featured in every Cinderella commercial, was designed to look perfect while Cinderella was running, as well as standing and dancing.

Funny thing is, it turns out that when Lily James had to run she wasn't wearing those Swarovski crystal heels at all, but running shoes. Well that just makes a little too much sense, doesn't it?

If Cinderella lost a shoe because she was desperately loosening her corset and slipping into something more comfortable to run in (or resorting to bare feet) that would actually be quite a statement. Can you imagine? It would change the whole conversation....

I thought I'd share a few other notable pieces of trivia on this shoe and fit business as well:

Powell is very particular when creating designs that the under garments are as close to authentic as possible.
“I want to dispel the myth that corsets are uncomfortable,” Powell says. “Corsets are uncomfortable if they are made badly or if they don’t fit right. If they are made to fit properly, your squeezey bits — like your waist — get pulled in properly and it shouldn’t push on your rib cage. All that it does is that it makes you aware of your posture.” 

It took about 20 minutes to get James into the costume, including lacing up the corset. 

The corset didn’t hurt James, but there was a side effect Powell hadn’t anticipated. Richard Madden, who plays the Prince, noticed during dance scenes with Cinderella that if James ate anything while in the corset she would have some pain. They would have to stop so it could be loosened.

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2015/03/07/4413028_sandy-powell-dresses-cinderella.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

FTNH Interrupt: Hang on a second - how do the phrases "didn't hurt James" and "have some pain" work simultaneously?! Even if you take this as generously as possible how can a corset that "doesn't hurt you" coexist with a corset that makes your body object if you eat?! OK - two cents over, back to it:

...James was able to wear comfortable running shoes because the gown covered her feet completely. She never wore the glass slippers that prove so important to the tale.
Powell designed the slippers based on an 1890s shoe she saw in a museum. The 5-inch heels gave the shoes a modern look that was still suitable for the fairytale. She had casts made of the shoes, which were sent to a company that created the slippers out of cut crystal. 

The shoe is made up of three pieces of crystal fastened together. The shoe was only used as a prop. Scenes that show the slippers were added via computers after the filming was completed.
When asked about the cut crystal shoes, James smiles and says they didn’t fit her feet. She immediately realizes that she’s ruined the fairytale ending and adds, the shoe wouldn’t fit anyone’s foot.

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2015/03/07/4413028_sandy-powell-dresses-cinderella.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

Well isn't that ironic?

And I'll just leave this last bit here for your reading pleasure:

Most of her work for “Cinderella” went as Powell planned — except for a small issue with the Fairy Godmother design. Helena Bonham Carter would only play the role if the character had wings. 

Bonham Carter had to put up with a lot for the costume to work. Her dress is filled with lights and batteries to make her shine. That’s why Powell was finally willing to add a small pair of wings to her look. Director Kenneth Branagh says Bonham Carter joked that every day there was a man to turn her on.

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2015/03/07/4413028_sandy-powell-dresses-cinderella.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

This might be the only case in the whole movie where the costume was made to "fit" the person. Even Prince Charming was faced with having his "codpiece" discussed and er, managed (please tell me they didn't CGI him into a Ken doll). Not even the boys were getting away with being 100% come-as-you-are. So in the case of the Fairy Godmother (and Helena Bonham Carter) the costumes had to "fit" the wearer, rather than altering the wearer to fit the costume (what a headache I'm sure, but in principle I say Bravo Helena!).

I'm not sold on the movie yet. I can't see anything particularly revolutionary about it that Ever After didn't already do (and much, much better) but those costumes really do look amazing.

Between those and Cate Blanchett (who apparently reads all sort of fairy tales to her three boys, and not just the boy ones but the girly ones too) I'm thinking I may have to do my fairy tale duty and go see this. Anyone want to go with me? I have a feeling I'm going to want to chat about it after over drinks, no matter how good or bad it is.


(Source: fresnobee)

Save Daylight: Reward Offered

Goldilocks by Scott Gustafson

Due to it being one of my most detested times of year (the start of daylight savings and back-to-work-after-even-less-sleep-than-usual-day), I thought to cheer myself up, I should hold a contest.

So here you go:

Save daylight during Daylight Savings Time! 

The rules are simple: 

Beginning with the first day of Daylight Savings Time, those entering the contest must begin saving daylight. Those who save the most daylight by midnight of the last day of Daylight Savings Time will be awarded a prize. 

Only pure daylight is allowed. No pre-dawn light or twilight will be accepted. Daylight on cloudy days is allowable. Moonlight is strictly prohibited and any of it mixed with daylight will bring immediate disqualification. 

Contestants are instructed to save their accumulated daylight in any container they wish, then bring the container to the Once Upon A Blog office at the end of DST — or when they think they have saved enough daylight to win. 

All entries will be donated to less fortunate nations that do not observe Daylight Savings Time.

*Original contest held via the ElDorado Journal. I do not take credit for this genius.

Maria Tatar Answered Questions on Schonwerth, Grimms & Fairy Tales at iO9 This Week (& it Was Awesome)

I'm sorry I didn't see this until about half an hour after the opportunity was over, and I didn't want to just add this to the round-up list, but yes: Maria Tatar was on the pop culture 'n' more news site iO9, answering every question, no matter how strange, with tact, aplomb and a solid dose of good humor.

Here's the announcement from Thursday:

Maria Tatar is the translator of the newly discovered trove of fairytales, lost for over a century, but just recently uncovered. Ask her all your questions about The Turnip Princess, the history of fairytales and folklore, and anything else you want to know!Tatar will be joining us today from noon - 1:00 p.m. (Pacific time), so start asking her all your questions now about the history of fairytales, where these new fairytales fit in with the tradition, and what these stories mean to us today.

Although I don't really have too many questions on Schonwerth yet as I have yet to do more than skim the book, I'm sure I would have thought of something! But it's great to be there live as regular people are asking questions on fairy tales. That doesn't happen too often!

Here are a few exchanges that I thought you guys might find interesting:

Isabelle Arsenault

Ria Misra: Also, one of the things that stood out to me when reading The Turnip Princess was the darkness of many of the stories that were told. Obviously, the original Grimm brothers tales had their own dark elements as well, but those have been considerably softened through the years. Do you suspect that a similar softening process will eventually happen with these new fairytales, or are they more likely to retain their darker threads?Tatar: I've touched on some of the differences between Grimm and Schönwerth already, so I'll focus on the question of the "softening process." When the Grimms published their collection, they came under much critical fire for publishing stories that were "crude" and "vulgar." One reviewer was outraged by the story of Hans Dumm, who makes women pregnant by looking at them. The Grimms quickly dropped that story from their collection in part because they found that by making the volume more appealing to parents, they sold more books. Schönwerth never refashioned his stories, and he gives us a story in which a fellow eats dumplings and then makes a mess outdoors. Then there is the king's bodyguard, who gets the king's daughter pregnant. I imagine that these stories will expand the folkloric canon, and in some cases they will be watered down, in other cases intensified and made even more explosive. Neil Gaiman once said that a fairy tale is like a "loaded gun"—and that's why I use the term "explosive." You can always blow up a fairy tale, blow it up in both senses of the term. 

Sketchnotes for "The Great Cauldron of Story" with Maria Tatar by On Being

The Homework Ogre: In terms of original fairy tales, the one thing that everybody seems to know is that they were once much more violent — wicked stepmother dances to death in red-hot iron shoes, kids waste away and die together under a tree, stepsisters mutilate themselves to fit the slipper, etc. etc. — and have since been "sanitized" for the consumption of kids. I'm sure the stories in this collection are no less grim (har har); how do you feel about the bowlderization of folk tales?Tatar: I'm completely irreverent when it comes to fairy tales. There's nothing sacred about these stories. No one really owns them, and we should be able make them our own in mash-ups, remixes, and adaptations. It's important to preserve the historical record, and that's why I am so deeply invested in the work of the Grimms, Charles Perrault, and Schönwerth. But why should we read stories from the early nineteenth-century to our children today? Especially when women dance to death in red-hot iron shoes? Or a stepmother decapitates her stepson in "The Juniper Tree"? There's no reason not to create our own zany versions, and, if you look at picture books about Little Red Riding Hood, you see that we do that all the time. We are constantly recycling "Cinderella," "Snow White," and "Sleeping Beauty" for adults—in ways obvious and not so obvious. I don't necessarily like every new version, but I do love to talk about it. What did the writer or filmmaker get right? Where did they go wrong? 

Silver Marmoset: In a class I'm currently taking on fairy tales, we've discussed where the Grimms' fairy tales came from geographically (apparently Italy). But have you any idea where the fairy tale motifs themselves came from? As in, what ideas or time periods gave rise to the idea of ogres, talking animals, and magic as story fodder?Thank you!Tatar: Great question, and I'd start with Vladimir Nabokov who tells us that fiction began on the day when a boy came home crying "Wolf Wolf" and there was no wolf. I love the idea of fairy tales as lies—true lies that exaggerate and bend reality in ways that enable us to flex our intellectual muscles and "think more." Where did these stories come from? I don't have much faith in the view put forth that the tales had literary origins in Italy. In fact, the Schönwerth collection has few literary fingerprints on it at all. His stories are not urban and urbane confections, but narratives rooted in popular culture—with all the rough edges, surreal qualities, and lack of closure you might expect from oral storytelling traditions. The more I study folklore, the more I realize that the tropes (lost slipper, cannibalistic ogre, predatory wolf) circulate globally. The stories are primal and take up cultural contradictions that are found everywhere—human vs. animal, predator vs. prey, bestiality vs. compassion, hostility and hospitality—and help us try to make sense of them. 

LucilleBallBuster: what do you think the modern equivalent of fairy tales are? do you think any of the stories current society creates have taken the place or fairytale? or do we still form these types of stories and pass them around?Tatar: Fairy tales have not gone away. They have just been re-mediated, and today we find them on screen, at the opera, on stage, in advertisements, even in paintings. Take Little Red Riding Hood: She's refashioned in films like Hanna, Hard Candy, Freeway, and The Company of Wolves. We see her in a Chanel ad, in a Pepsi commercial (where she becomes the wolf—I think it's Kim Cattrall howling in the soundtrack), or in a Volvo ad (with a red-hooded car driving through the woods and a kid in the back seat). Then suddenly Vogue has a fairy-tale fashion shoot, and presto she reappears. Visual culture loves the girl in red, and Kiki Smith has an eye-popping series of Little Red Riding Hood images (one in the series famously appeared as a perverse wedding gift in Gilmore Girls—could not stop myself on that one).

As you can see, there's a lot to chew on here! (I had to stop myself from adding more.) You can read the whole Q&A HERE, though you might want to make yourself a very large cup of tea. Once you start, it's hard to stop reading.