Nutcracker Screenwriter to Adapt 'The Hazel Wood' For The Big Screen

One of the season's hottest 'fairy tale novels' is heading for the big screen. You've probably heard of The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert. This very recent YA release (January 30, 2018) quickly became a best-seller and had high praise from many quarters, including fairy tale aficionados. Here's a fairly concise description that we think summarizes the feel of the story and introduces the synopsis well:

The Hazel Wood is a grounded YA fantasy novel that reads as Pan’s Labyrinth meets Alice in Wonderland. Opening in modern day, the story follows teenage Alice, who lives a life on the road with her mother, incessantly pursued by bad luck. Alice’s mother has always forbidden her from having any contact with her grandmother — even banning Alice from reading her grandmother’s mysterious classic book of pitch black fairy tales, “Tales from the Hinterland.” But when Alice’s mother is kidnapped, Alice discovers that the Hinterland is not just a story, and that its strange supernatural forces lie behind her mother’s disappearance. To save her mother, Alice must journey into the Hinterland where she discovers how her own story went so wrong. (TheWrap)

Ashleigh Powell (left) and the best-selling YA novel The Hazel Wood hardcover

Ashleigh Powell, the "promising new screenwriter" who previously wrote Nutcracker and the Four Realms for Disney's upcoming movie has been attached to adapt The Hazel Wood, this time for Sony's Columbia Pictures, and looks set to spark a new wave of this genre of fantasy movies heading for the big screen. (Powell is also working on adapting the first book of The Paper Magician trilogy for Disney.) Interesting, the book caused so much buzz that the film rights were acquired even before it was released at the end of January.

The Hazel Wood does not currently have a release date.

Source: Screenrant

Norwegian Family Fantasy Feature "The Ash Lad: In the Hall of the Mountain King" Is A Hit, Goes Global

The live-action fantasy feature film The Ash Lad: In the Hall of the Mountain King (Askeladden i Dovregubbens hall), is a box-office hit in its home country of Norway and looks to be set for distribution around the world... well, the non-English speaking world. So far, that is. We have our fingers crossed it will get some English-language distribution soon too, with the UK quite likely the first cab off the rank, for a number of reasons explained below. (Distribution rights are currently held by TrustNordisk.)

The Ash Lad is a magical adventure film, directed by Mikkel Brænne Sandemose and starring Vebjørn Enger.

It was released on 29 September 2017 in Norway (and, some sites also say Russia).

The plot is based on The Ash Lad of Norwegian folklore and fairy tale. Reports say this is the first time The Ash Lad has been adapted to a full-length feature film, though it has been used for ad campaigns (TV and print), and a short puppet film by Ivo Caprino* (Ash Lad and the good helpers, 1961).

(The feature film) follows the epic journey of Espen, the 17-year-old son of a poor farmer, who sets off with his brothers to rescue a princess from a troll known as the Mountain King to collect a reward and save his family from ruin.  

(One of the producers) Horsdal said the script delivers modernized take on the characters and has some humor to appeal to teens and adult audiences. The producer also pointed out the princess character is “strong-willed, sharp and utterly charming.” (Variety)

Take a look at the fun-looking trailer below (English subtitles included):

And a longer synopsis, from a Czech website promoting the film (via Google Translate, so it's not exactly precise!):

Official synopsis: Are trolls only small cute creatures? You have no idea! The king of trolls is a sinister and threatening giant from the mountains that lies waiting in his cave for a princess to be married to him on her eighteenth birthday, just so he can catch and eat her...   

Espen is the youngest of three poor farmer sons. At home, they treat him as the family bastard who cannot do any useful work but just walks through the forests with his head in the clouds and catching the claws. (Ed: ?) His only task, which they entrusted to him, is to keep the fire in the stove in order for it not to go out. It's probably just a coincidence that he just met in the forest with Princess Kristin, who is just out of her native castle.  

Kristin is very stubborn, and she does not believe in the old tortures of the King of Trolls. Most of all, she does not want to marry Prince Frederick, chosen for her by her father. The day before her eighteenth birthday she runs away into the unknown. Unfortunately, not long after meeting Espen, she finds out that these troll stories are true... 

 

Meanwhile, unsuspecting Espen will make another big mistake. He can not even watch the charcoal in the stove and, thanks to his distraction, burns the whole cottage down. When the king declares a search for his disobedient daughter, and promises her hand and half the kingdom to the one who finds her, the brothers do not hesitate to go on the mission. The elders plans to get have a new roof for the family, while the youngest would like her hand. in marriage. Their journey quickly becomes a great adventure, with many monsters, much magic and enchanted places awaiting them. In the end, the terrible and overwhelming King of Trolls awaits. 

 

Director Mikkel Brænne Sandemose describes the character of the film by saying: "During the expedition for the preservation of Princess Kristin, the character of Espen is completely altered. When writing the script, we were inspired by Bilbo characters from Hobbit and Frodo from The Lord of the Rings. They have a lot to do with Espen. Not only are they aged between youth and adulthood, but all three are making their way, making them great heros to explore. Above all, their success cannot just be a lucky coincidence, they must be worth it. Tolkien borrowed much from Norwegian folklore and mythology in his stories… But I feel that we convey something that is more grounded and Norwegian, that there is something here that will really engage people.”

Looks like a fun and magical family film!

A pre-release review (here) included this interesting note on the folkloric creatures included and direct nods to Asbjørnsen & Moe that will be of particular interest to our fairy tale and folklore readers:

Maipo Film’s producer Åshild Ramborg said that the Norwegian folk tales have everything audiences would want from a feature film; spectacular images, action and humor. The film is firmly rooted in folk tale fantasy, with water spirits (nøkken), huldra (a female forest creature), an old woman with her nose stuck in a tree stump, and of course the mountain troll itself making appearances. The film’s script is new but based on the stories of Asbjørnsen & Moe. "I have to applaud our writers who has added something new and fresh [to the story], while at the same time digging deep in the familiar tales. I assume there will be reactions, but I am very glad for our version. I think it will make children interested in folk tales (again)", Mikkel Brænne Sandemose said to NTB a few days ago. Maipo producer-CEO Synnøve Hørsdal said: "Obviously we are not only targeting Norwegian cinema-goers, but also international audiences. Given the renewed interest in the fantasy genre and Nordic mythology, I think it will perform well abroad."

International distribution confirmed at the end of February is listed below:

The movie was acquired for Latin America (California Filmes); France (Seven Sept); Italy (Videa); Spain (Art Mood); Germany, Austria, German-speaking Switzerland (Telepool); Japan (Interfilm); and China (HGC Entertainment).More sales were inked for Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan (Capella Film); the Czech Republic and Slovakia (Cinemart); Turkey (Euromedia); Korea (Activers Entertainment); Croatia (Discovery Film & Video); Estonia (Estin Film); and Malaysia and Vietnam (Red Pictures).

We hope it's not too long before it's picked up by English-speaking countries. It has reached the attention of the Irish Film and Television Academy for Windmill Lane's visual effects work on it, (likely in part to it being co-produced by Ireland's Subotica), and TrustNordisk, the distributor, shows the trailer with English subtitles on their website, so fingers crossed we get to see this.

We find it interesting that both the production design and creature designs follow nature-loving artist Theodor Kittelsen's classic renditions and illustrations from the early 1900s of this story quite closely. (Kittelsen was nicknamed "the father of all trolls" due to his many striking and stark renditions of trolls for children's books in particular.) Here are some examples for comparison:

The Ash Lad and the Troll - Theodor Kittelsen 1900

Askeladden som kappåt med trollet (The Boy Who Had an Eating Match with a Troll) - Theodor Kittelsen

Skogtroll, 1906 (Forest Troll) - Theodor Kittelsen

Theodor Kittelsen - The Forest Troll , 1892

According to cineuropa, the family adventure film is the first in a trilogy about the "Norwegian national hero", and the sequel is already in the works, with the third film well into the planning stages, so there will be more fairy tale films coming out of Norway in the near future to watch for too. A quick search through Variety's archives found this information on the sequel:

In the first film, scripted by Aleksander Kirkwood Brown and Espen Enger, the Ash Lad and his brothers fight to save the Princess from a vile troll, and collect the reward to save the family farm from ruin. In the sequel, also by Sandemose and Brown-Enger, he and Princess Kristin are searching for a legendary castle made of gold. When they arrive, the king and queen have been poisoned – only the Soria Moria water of life can save them and probably the world.

We'll be watching for these!

*By coincidence, the new film’s director is the grandson of Bjarne Sandemose, Ivo Caprino’s chief studio engineer.

Timeless Tales Opening Soon for Snow White Submissions

Written by Tahlia Kirk, Editor of Timeless Tales Magazine

Writers, sharpen those pencils and polish those keyboards! In just a few short days, Timeless Tales will be open for retellings of Snow White...

Guys, can I be honest for a sec? I've already written around a dozen versions of this announcement, and I'm getting kinda bored with repeating the same info over and over again. So buckle up, because I'm launching into sassy know-it-all editor mode.

https://www.timelesstalesmagazine.com/submissions

Normally, we don't have a slogan for our themes, but Snow White is so famous that I felt the need to remind writers that we do NOT want submissions that are in any way traditional. Even more than a glass slipper is a mascot for Cinderella or a dying rose for Beauty & the Beast, the bright red apple is the symbol that represents Snow White. I didn't even have to use the word "apple" in my google search and this graphic still only took me 5 minutes to throw together.

A selection of the ubiquitous Red Apple cover (Twilight not included)

And even though it embodies the story's delicious tension of innocence, jealousy, and temptation, we want to devour those themes in a completely new package. Don't serve us another apple pie. Instead, ask yourself what would happen if you put apples and parsnips together...in a soup!* Or I guess if we're talking fairy tales, apples and pumpkins would be more appropriate, heheh.

More so than ever, I'll have my eyes open for experimental settings and plot twists. Just the other day on Twitter, Gypsy was discussing the idea of a Snow White/Mary Poppins mashup. That's the sort of brilliance I'm looking for (and yes, feel free to steal that idea for your retelling).

Poets, don't think this excludes you! I will be one cranky editor if I have to read a pile of flowery ABAB rhymes about pale skin, ruby lips, and magic mirrors. So much of Snow White's imagery has become cliche that I'm going to really hold the bar extra high this time.

Oh, and don't forget about the Prince! As much as we adore female-centric stories, the one thing about our Rumpelstiltskin issue that I was bummed about was how few stories gave the King any sort of backstory, so I'm hoping to see a few submissions who make the Prince a well-rounded character. I expect many people will merge him with the Huntsman, but be aware that you won't be the only writer to think of this twist, so he still needs to have a personality versus being a cookie cutter romantic lead.

Alright, time to rein in the snark and remind writers that I'm not a big scary ogre over here. My goal here isn't to make anyone afraid to submit because they're worried their story isn't good enough. One of my greatest joys is when a writer tells me that Timeless Tales is their first time submitting to be published. Your publication credits are not always an indication of your writing talent. I understand that your writing is a little piece of yourself, so if you pluck up your courage to send it to us, I promise to treat it as an honored guest until it's either published with us or sent back home to you.


Information on how to submit to Timeless Tales Magazine's Snow White issue can be found at https://www.timelesstalesmagazine.com/submissions




*Err, thanks internet for that bizarre idea