'Disenchanted' (Disney's Official 'Enchanted' Sequel) Gathers Speed with New Director

Enchanted 2 has been on the "going to do this someday" slate for Disney for quite some time, but now the project is heating up and Disney reportedly has plans to start shooting in Summer 2017. If you count the months, you'll realize that really isn't very long to do the final polish on the script and get all the pre-production complete and camera ready.
From THR:

Adam Shankman, the helmer behind the musical Hairspray, is in negotiations to directDisenchanted, the follow-up to Disney’s musically inclined 2007 fantasy Enchanted that starred Amy Adams. 

Adams is expected to return for the sequel. 

Sources say Disenchanted is set 10 years after the first movie, with Giselle finding herself questioning her happily-ever-after life and accidentally triggering events that make everyone's lives turn upside down in both the real world and in the animated kingdom of Andalasia. 

Shankman's resume seems ideal for a sequel along the same lines as the original - a comedic musical fantasy. He not only did Hairspray, but also Rock of Ages, episodes of Glee and the romance films A Walk to Remember, The Wedding Planner and the family films Bedtime Stories and The Pacifier.

There's a good chance this movie will be filling one of those slots of "Untitled Live Action Fairy Tale."

Fitting that it will be around the time of the 10th anniversary... 10 years after the first movie, just when the story is to be set.

Little Red Body Shames Grandma

At first glance this comedic video that's making the rounds, seems like a one note joke but it quickly develops into a reflection on Princess Culture and "fairy tale expectations".

It's worth a look.

From Huffington Post:

When you think about it, Little Red Riding Hood is rather mean to her grandma, body-shaming her features the second she walks in the door.
Excuse me, Red? Maybe instead of waltzing into someone’s home and judging them on their personal appearance, you should spend more time worrying about the wolf that’s going to eat you right now.
Comedy writer Taylor Cox creates a very modern take on this old tale. Sorry, didn’t mean to call it “old” and age-shame it.

(Warning for small amount of language.)

It's kind of satisfying that the Wolf takes the old path at the end though, don't you think?

Article: Alternate Fairy Tales for Grimm Fans in 'The Girl Who Married a Lion: And Other Tales from Africa'

This recommended collection of African fairy tales, published in 2004, is by the New York Times best selling author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency mystery series. The TV series adaptation is worth a look too - wonderfully shot and acted. The way the stories are presented, both in the book and on film, it's no surprise to find a collection of tales coming from the same author. Clearly one influenced the other and, although the mystery series is not an adaptation of fairy or folktales (along the lines of Once Upon A Time or NBCs Grimm) it's a wonderful study of how fairy tales, with their ability to cross genre lines often and easily, can be inspiration for other genre styles and methods of storytelling.


But we digress.

This short article by Carrie Puckette, Staff Writer for The Clarion is wonderfully succinct and an enticing introduction to this different collection of fairy tales. These ones aren't as well known as Grimm's and Perrault's but they're just as wonderful to share with families and great alternate storytelling material. We'd love to see some of these adapted for film or theater in the same way Grimm's have been.

Being such a short piece, we're sharing a large part of it.

If you like fairy tales, but you’re bored with the Brothers Grimm, you can find a new variety of fairy tales from another culture in “The Girl Who Married a Lion: And Other Tales from Africa.” 

The book is a collection of originally oral stories from Zimbabwe and Botswana as arranged by Zimbabwean author Alexander McCall Smith. 

Appropriate for all ages, this 200-page collection contains a wide range of stories, including animal stories, mystical encounters, and moral parables.
Some of the stories within include “Guinea Fowl Child,” “A Bad Way to Treat Friends,” “Sister of Bones,” “Milk Bird,” and of course, “The Girl Who Married a Lion,” and many more, depending on what type of fairy tale you like. 

You can read the rest of the short article HERE.

Thanks to NPR, you can read a preview of a few of the stories HERE.

There's also an audiobook version available to hear with a free trial HERE, which sound worth the effort, with authentic narrators and a full cast.

Fairy Tale Bonus of the Day:

An artist named Kel McDonald, created a comic version of the title story in 2013, which is worth sharing. 

Enjoy.

You can find this and many others of McDonald's comic creations HERE.

Ask Baba Yaga: Which Direction Should I Go In?

                                                                  Baba Yaga and Zarevich from Marya Morevna by Energiaelca1

This one is for those many people who are multi-talented, Jack-(or Jill)-of-all-trades, if you will. Though it sounds great to be able to do so many different things, not being able to decide what to focus on becomes the equivalent of a hamster wheel: lots of effort, continuous motion but never going anywhere. To put more effort into trying to focus is simply overwhelming, so: what to do?

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

(Originally posted at The Hairpin HERE)

Hm. How do you let one fire, among others, get "too big", let it "threaten the forest"? Is this another definition of playing with fire? It is comforting to know that the "little fires" don't need to be abandoned though. That makes it easier to let it happen.

What do you think of Baba Yaga's advice?

Want to ask Baba Yaga a question of your own?

You can!

This is the 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.

Breaking News: 'Mulan' Gets Fast-Tracked for Disney Live Action Remake

Mulan by Heather Theurer

It has certainly been a week for Disney live action  news! Mulan has been on the live action slate for a while but announced late yesterday (Tuesday) she's heading for a 2018 Winter release date - November 2nd 2018 to be exact.

Though Mulan is not a fairy tale - it's based on the legend of Hua Mulan, the girl who disguises herself as a man to go to war - Disney's treatment added that touch of wonder and magic that people associate with fairy tales so it's in the public consciousness as such. Mulan's even been named a Disney Princess, though she's royal not by birth or by marriage, and so the "fairy tale" continues in that regard as well (by "fairy tale" we mean adding to the invention by way of the wonder factor and the spinning of a tale, not necessarily the falsehood it also implies).

Mulan by Veronica Art

The great news is that Disney had embarked on a global search for the right actress to play the Chinese legend and lead character.

Though a director has yet to be hired, the script by Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin is “a more nuanced and elaborate adaptation” of material “combining the legendary ballad and the 1998 animated film,” according to reports. (source)

Also good news is that the team be accessing the original ballad more than the original animation (which, we will admit, was still an impressive tribute, especially considering how things could have been changed under the Disney banner). The script is going to take a bit of work, as is evidenced by the numerous attempts at a spec (see details HERE) but they must be getting close, otherwise they couldn't confidently set things in motion. Disney is well aware there will be a lot of scrutiny on representation and authenticity (relatively speaking) and reports are that they intend to do honor to the legend in the live action film as well.

We look forward to watching this develop.

Fan art poster from a few years ago

TILT "Spin Tales" To Release Interactive Fairy Tale Bedsheets

Sleeping Beauty by Lucy Levenson

Technology meets textiles in startup company TILT's new line of fairy tale bedding. The announcement was made to the public at The Toy Insider's Holiday of Play event on September 21.

Note: None of the quilts shown in this post have anything to do with TILT or the interactive bedding. 

Here's the details:

Quilt or wall-hanging featuring Little Red Riding Hood,
made by Ukrainian woman Olga Basylewycz in a
displaced persons camp in southern Germany, 1946. 

Bedsheets and rugs are common household items yet a startup textile franchise called TILT has found a way to turn these unassuming items into playthings that will entertain children and foster their imaginations. Launched in 2016, TILT—which is under the umbrella of the larger Welspun group—is dedicated to the formation of “start textiles” which work with tablets and smartphones to bring colorful patterns and prints to life. This cutting-edge and creative franchise is known as “Spin Tales” and the brand has released a bedspread depicting the fairy tale themes of Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk and The Three Little Pigs and a rug featuring jungle themes.

And from the public announcement:

Hopeless Romantic by Barbara Zuazua

TILT by Welspun is an innovative smart home textiles company that creates interactive experiences through seamless integration of smart technology with home textiles. TILT will be launching their product line, Spin Tales, the first ever interactive bedding for children with a focus on storytelling, user experience and AR technology. The Spin Tales classic duvet and pillow case set allow readers to join Little Red, Three Pigs and Jack from Magic Beans on their adventures, or join Milo and friends in the Spin Tales Jungle rug to explore and learn about life in the jungle, by using an app that brings characters alive in 3D images. Spin Tales creates a unique bonding experience for children and parents; it draws them into an immersive world of stories and fosters learning in an interactive environment that is truly magical and playground cool. This is the first in a series of smart home textiles products that TILT is creating.

Here's the press release on the patent and technology, describing how an interactive bedspread would work:

Jack & the Beanstalk by Ellen Anderson

Welspun, a conglomerate that specializes in home textiles, is thrilled to announce that it has secured the "Interactive Textile Article and Augmented Reality System" patent, which protects Welspun's new product line TILT. The patent covers a system that has textile material with a design motif and an augmented reality software application. The software application is designed to allow a user to scan the design motif on the textile material, and enter an augmented reality portal that is thematically related to the design motif. TILT by Welspun is a new brand that focuses on seamlessly integrating technology into textiles. The first product, Spin Tales, is an interactive and innovative bed set and rug for kids aged three and up. With innovative technology, a free app designed for the duvet cover and rug allows the user to experience adventures in augmented reality and engage in interactive games. Spin Tales is the first of many smart home textile products that will be introduced under the TILT umbrella. 

We're not sure what we think of this new technology. It obviously has a lot of possibilities but we can also see the downside of this. Hopefully someone will see positive aspects and develop those.

In the meantime we support "portals into other worlds" by way of time honored bed time stories.

Dances of India Will Stage "Beauty and the Beast" For Their Annual Charity Show in October

Unlike Disney India's stage version of Beauty and the Beauty, which does add a lovely Indian flavor via design and choreographic changes, Dances of India use authentic Indian classical and folk dance for their annual charity show.

From their Facebook page:

Dances of India is an annual charity show featuring Indian classical (Kathak and Bharatanatyam), folk and popular dances performed by the students of the Kathak and Bharatanatyam classes of the Los Alamos Family YMCA and guest artists from Los Alamos and beyond. This dazzling performance features a family friendly story (Cinderella, Snow White, Aladdin) performed as a dance-drama and is filled with beautiful costumes, thrilling music and energizing dances. Intermission brings a bazaar with delicious Indian snacks as well as clothes, jewelry, spices and other items for sale in the lobby. Best of all the show is FREE to the public. The organizers however welcome donations from individuals and organizations in support of a designated charitable organization.

From the little information we can find on this production it would seem this is an adaptation of the well known French tale, rather than a somewhat 'Westernized' adaptation of the Indian version of Beauty and the Beast, The Monkey Prince. The emphasis for these annual shows is on storytelling and being family friendly so it's very likely this version includes many nods to the Disney version so it's easy for younger audiences to follow along. What isn't clear is whether this version incorporates any elements of the Indian version of the tale, but either way, it makes a wonderfully different lens through which to experience the tale. The combination should be very memorable! (Note re the Kathak style: the word 'katha' means 'story' in Sanskrit and 'kathak' means 'storyteller'.)

Dances of India presented their version of Cinderella,
titled "Doll Story" in 2015

From the press release:

The (Los Alamos) community (in New Mexico) is invited to this year's production of Beauty and the Beast presented by Dances of India, 4-6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16 at Duane Smith Auditorium in Los Alamos. 

Admission is free but donations in all forms (cash, check) are much appreciated (suggested $10 per head, $5 for children 10 and under). There also will be an Indian bazaar held during intermission. 

This year's proceeds go to one international and one local entity:

• The YMCA Mumbai street children program that offers shelter and food for street children of Mumbai.

• The Los Alamos Y Teen Center therapeutic intervention programs for girls (who are referred) going through a traumatic period in their lives.

Dances of India will perform Beauty and the Beast on October 16, 2016 in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

This is not the first Indian classical dance version being staged this year. In June Shivapriya presented a popular adaptation "Roopa Viroopa", in Austin Texas, which is a show that has been performed in various places and by various companies around the world in the past few years. In this adaptation the setting is an Indian village:

It story lines follows how a lovely young village belle falls in love with savage tribal - who by the way is a handsome prince who was cursed for his conceit. The story uses various Indian dance forms, particularly the temple dances to tell the story of true love and how it can transcend all other considerations.

The presentation of the Beast Prince looks intriguing in this version! There are photos of this performance available online HERE.

Disney's 'Gigantic' Adds 'Inside Out' Writer Meg LeFauve As Director

It happened on Frozen and it's happening, now, on Disney's upcoming animated feature Gigantic. Announced yesterday (Monday), Meg LeFauve, who was already writing on Gigantic, was just promoted to Director, joining the original director Nathan Greno, for being recognized as adding key creative direction to the script and development. It will be LeFauve's first directing credit.

Sources say the move is akin to what transpired on Disney’s 2013 hit Frozen, on which Jennifer Lee was promoted from screenwriter to director alongside Chris Buck. (source)

We applaud the recognition of female writing talent and recognizing the potential for the position of director, we hope this shows the long-coming acceptance of women in leadership roles in the "good-old-boys club" of feature animation. There's no doubt LeFauve has the talent and ability. Her credits and track record testify to that. (LeFauve is most recently known for her work on the upcoming Captain Marvel.)

There has been a trend in recent years of Disney adding a second director to their movies during development and production, as seen in Big Hero 6 and Zootopia, as well as Frozen, so it's not without precedence. We're very interested to see what a Greno-LeFauve team looks like in terms of creative output.

Official description: Set in Spain during the Age of Exploration, Gigantic follows a teenage adventure-seeker Jack as he discovers a world of giants hidden within the clouds. Along the way he meets Inma, a 60-foot-tall, 10 year-old girl, and agrees to help her find her way home. But he doesn't account for her super-sized personality. Who knew giants were so down to earth?  

"Jack befriends the female giant Inma, who’s “11 years old, 60 feet tall, fiery, feisty and a lot to control” and treats him like a living doll", Greno said. (D23)

It should also be noted that Kristen Anderson Lopez and Robert Lopez (Frozen) are confirmed as writing the music. Gigantic is currently scheduled for release on November 21, 2018.

Found on Tumblr as a Gigantic/Star Versus the Forces of Evil crossover
(both Disney properties). You can see the character of Inma mirroring Star
very well (by an anonymous Drawfriend) 

Fairy Tale Bonus of the Day:

New Character for Gigantic: The Golden Goose

(reposting, extracted from Tumblr)

If people were not aware, there’s been a new character revealed for Disney’s Gigantic. It’s the Golden Goose. Thing is though, the character hasn’t been finalised. From the concept art by@pbcbstudios (voice of Marshmallow, Mr. Yama), we see that it’s going to join the ranks of Maximus, Sven and Pua of non-speaking Animals. This means to say that there’s going to be some gimmick with this character (Maximus was strategic and engaged in combat despite being a horse and Sven was able to speak through Kristoff). But, there’s some more interesting details that people may not realise…

It nests in human hair: On the concept art, we see that it nests on human hair, and, it has strands of blonde all hair over its body. This elaborates on a lot more than people may presume. For instance, it’s a size indicator of the Golden Goose being regular human size if it rests on giant hair strands. Also, if the hair is blonde, we can assume that the golden goose is associated with Imna. And before you wonder, I don’t think it’s even Imna’s pet, because…

The significance of birds: Linking back with my previous point with the Golden Goose being associated with Imna, another point to stress out is a world building aesthetic of Gigantic. Now, I want you to evaluate this picture (LEFT) very closely and identify anything that particularly stands out in this art…

Still haven’t figured it out yet? Well, birds are insects in the world of Gigantic. This leads to a lot of creative scenarios, for instance, pigeons and seagulls being pests instead of flies and mosquitoes. 

But how is the Golden Goose significant to the plot? We'll have to wait a little longer to find that out.

"Reimagining Beauty and the Beast: Social Stratification Through Human Animal Metamorphosis" Lunch Lecture Oct 18 2016 by IIAS

Polish Tales - Justyna Patecka - Dobrochoczy

You may wonder why we are highlighting this lecture when its purpose is primarily to better understand Asian social realities in a global context, but bear with us. The way this lecture presents and discusses animal descriptions of peoples (groups on the fringe of accepted society, for instance) to shed light on societal thinking, dovetails very well with fairy tale studies of tale types using transformed people, beast-people and even talking beasts. Try to have this in mind when you read the abstract.

Psoglav (Serbian: Псоглави, literally doghead)

Artist Unknown

First a little about the IIAS, as their knowledge sharing and collaboration is inspiring, and is similar to the philosophy held by fairy tale scholars and enthusiasts we greatly respect.

The International Institute for Asian Studies researches humanities and social sciences, encouraging global knowledge exchange with both academic and non-academic institutes, linking expertise around the globe. Almost all they do is collaborative in nature and inclusive. Based in the Netherlands, they hold international conferences, workshops, seminars, roundtables, and interactive think-tanks for a wide diversity of scholars and experts as well as public lectures. (Sounds great doesn't it?!)

This particular presentation is Lunch Lecture* by visiting scholar Dr Sayana Namsaraeva.

Below is the abstract. We have put in bold the aspects that piqued our interest:      

Reimagining Beauty and the Beast: social stratification through human - animal metamorphosis at the Sino-Russian border
In this lunch lecture, IIAS fellow Dr Sayana Namsaraeva (Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit, University of Cambridge) will discuss dehumanising narratives and new “bestiary” vocabularies at the Sino-Russian border.

Dr Sayana Namsaraeva

Following the ancient Greek and Roman traditions other accounts of imaginary beasts were added in medieval European bestiaries mostly to talk allegorically about immorality of the non-Christian Pagan world by depicting them as wild beasts, non-human or half-human creatures. On the contrary, China also has developed its own symbolic system  to depict their China-centered cosmology tianxia (all under Heaven) as being divided between those who lived according “Chinese ways” and those who didn’t follow “Chinese ways”  and live in beast-like condition in barbaric (藩部）peripheries of Chinese civilization. However, the myths of monstrous creatures inhabiting borderlands still persists, and the Sino-Russian border is a vivid example how  human-animal mythology produces new monsters at the borders of modern states.

Ve, Marian Murawski

Based on Georgio Agamben’s concept of “anthropological machine” (2004), my presentation analyses  dehumanising narratives and new “bestiary” vocabulary developed by Chinese and Russians, who are involved in border trade in a border city Manzhouli (满洲里）, to talk about race, ethnicity and their  social status in the local border society. Who are these “shaved pigs”, “old cats”, “old half-cats”, “camels” and “half-camels”, “devils”, “snakes”, “werewolves” and “dogs” the border society comprises of here?  And why border politics as an “anthropological machine” contrasts humanity and animality, and  divides border society into humans and less-humans ?  

In addition, my presentation discusses other narratives, such as shape shifting (from Ugly to Fairy) mostly widespread among Russian female traders, new Chinese beauty ideas expressed locally in the notion of the “Russian Beauty”.   

You can get more information and register for the lecture HERE.

Beauty and the Beast by Gabriel Pacheco

* About IIAS Lunch Lectures: Every month, an IIAS researcher or visiting scholar will present his or her work-in-progress in an informal setting to colleagues and other interested attendees. IIAS organises these lunch lectures to give the research community the opportunity to freely discuss ongoing research and exchange thoughts and ideas.

NEW Advertising: Sleeping Beauty: "It's What You DO"

We admit it: we love this revisionist take on the fairy tale!

Fairy tales have been used in advertising for as long as... well, likely since there was advertising. GEICO has mined the richness of fairy tales for advertising before with Pinocchio and Jack and the Beanstalk.

Sleeping Beauty is a tale that hasn't been used quite as often by advertisers (unless sleeping can be directly related in the product, such as for mattresses), as the princess is considered passive, but it works perfectly here for this GEICO ad, in their "It's what you do" campaign.

Enjoy!

Description: What if Prince Charming's kiss never woke Sleeping Beauty? What if Sleeping Beauty was never actually "asleep" at all? This latest 'It's What You Do' campaign commercial turns a classic fairy tale on it's head with one of the oldest tricks in the book.

See why we like it?

We've seen a rise in different approaches to Sleeping Beauty's "sleep" recently. We look forward to seeing if this idea of using sleep as a personal asset, instead of being victim to it, spreads.