Underwater Fairy Tales, Myths & Fantasies

I just discovered photographer Elena Kalis's underwater work on Flickr (known there as 'sugarock'). Her online portfolio isn't limited to underwater photos but these, in particular, are very fairy tale-like, as you can see from the small sampling I'm showing here.I recommend checking out the rest of her Flickr photostream (there are quite a few pages) as well as the gallery on her website. The images there are wonderfully artistic and almost seem to hold stories in stasis.

Tough Characters

On March this year Levi's Kids launched a campaign (found HERE) showing tough versions of fairy tale characters, all wearing Levi's of course.

You can click on the images for a more detailed view.The advertising agency is BBH Asia Pacific & the illustrator is Tye Sok Kuan (clicking on his name will take you to his blog to see a lot more of his work).

Fairy Tale Characters in Critical Condition

The Literacy Foundation released a new 2008-2009 campaign on the basis of this message:

"When a child doesn't read imagination disappears."

The ads show fairy tale characters hospitalized and looking very unwell as they slowly fade away.

There are 2 radio ads, one 'voiced' by The Prince and one by The Big Bad Wolf. You can listen to them below:

The TV ad is described as follows (from their website):

Cinderella wanders the corridors of a hospital with her IV drip. Her blue ball dress is all wrinkled. Visibly worn down by illness, she is pale and weak. She passes, one by one, Tom Thumb, moving along slowly with his walker, a sick elderly dwarf, an aging Peter Pan in his wheelchair, and Sleeping Beauty, still asleep. Suddenly, the continuous buzz of a heart monitor is heard, warning that a patient’s heart has stopped beating. Cinderella watches as medical staff rush toward Little Red Riding Hood’s room. Then a child is heard saying: “When we can’t read, the world of our imagination disappears. Give The Gift of Reading^®.”

You can see it below:

"The Princess and the Animator" - New Disney Featurette Released

Another featurette for Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" came out yesterday.

In this one, the Supervising Animator for Tiana (Mark Henn) and the Directors talk about creating a new Disney princess.

We don't see much concept art for Tiana's character in this video but I've included a few images here to illustrate some of the ways a character is explored. Once a design is decided/agreed on, the concept is then refined on a model sheet,which becomes the standard reference for all the character's animation in the future.

Please note: Most of these were drawn by French character designer David Gilson - who has worked extensively for Disney - but I cannot verify these were done specifically for the movie (you can see his blog HERE and go straight to his website & gallery by clicking on the images below). They are, however, the sort of art you'd see pinned up on the development boards at the studio, as they're starting to get close to a design everyone is happy with. I've noted the confirmed Disney drawings, just to be clear.

CONFIRMED DISNEY ANIMATION CONCEPT ART

The featurette, in which they discuss the development of both art and character of the new Disney heroine, is titled "The Princess and the Animator".

Enjoy!

Snow White on Blu-ray Has New 'Footage'

I am so tempted to upgrade to Blue Ray.

The 'Diamond Edition' of Walt Disney's Snow White is coming out on October 6, 2009 and while it has all those better quality things about Blu-ray we've heard about, it has something else too.

Instead of stretching the picture to fit, Disney has EXTENDED the artwork at the sides to fill the widescreen. I'm not kidding.

From eXaminer.com:

Now certainly it’s possible to “stretch” the film to make it widescreen and in fact there’s controls on TVs and DVD players to do just that. But even if done correctly, and often the resulting look is far from that, it does change the appearance of the film from what the creators as well as the director intended. So Disney decided to go the more intelligent and thoughtful route to not update the aspect ratio and instead do something much more time consuming and original. So the film continues to have its original sizing but the visuals “extend” out from both sides to create the widescreen aspect ratio. This “space” beyond the original borders now has original/custom artwork created by Disney artist Toby Bluth filling in the otherwise dark edges of the screen (for those interested there's information about Bluth on the disc). And so provide the home audience with a new view of the classic without mutilating it in the name of it becoming "modern". And since this imagery can be turned on/off at will, it’s the best kind of technology there is because it lets you choose to see it or not, rather than being forced on you.

You can read the rest of the informative article HERE.

And you can read about all the new never-before-seen goodies on this Diamond Edition HERE.

I admit it, I'm just greedy for more of what I love. Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" has been one of my favorite films since I was small. In all reality I'd probably prefer watching the original version more but it is sooo tempting... (no wonder that apple keeps appearing on the cover!)

For those of you who already have Blu-ray and don't need to buy it, maybe you can pick-up a Limited Edition Collector's Set:I have yet to find any sneak-peek (leaks) of before-and-after artwork comparisons but if I find any I'll be sure to post them. In the meantime, I am going to price Blu-ray players while you watch the official trailer. Enjoy!

NOTE: The image at the top of the post is by John Alvin, deceased Disney poster artist. The artwork, sadly, does not come with the DVD.

Fairy Tale Treehouses

There's a Scottish company called "Treasured Dreams" that builds tree houses and retreats that are the stuff of storybooks and wishful thinking. Designed by Gordon Brown, these treehouses are not (just) for kids but are functional spaces to escape to and entertain in (for a price of course).

From their website:

After a severe lighting strike destroyed the largest limb of a 500 year old Cedar tree, the owner was looking for an interesting way to fill the sizeable gap that remained. Our solution was to create a stunning and unique structure that could be used as a fantasy Treehouse for children, but which could also keep the adults thoroughly entertained.

Standing at the end of a long driveway on a grand Scottish estate in Fife, this imposing Treehouse stands at over 45 feet tall, with the large natural Cedar shingle roof blending in not only with it's surroundings, but also with the copper clad fairytale turrets.

Sunlight streams through the stained glass windows and doors - the top floor being a secluded space reached by a ladder making it an ideal place for an exciting sleepover.

Across a suspended bridge sits a large treedeck under the shelter of an attractive Copper beech.

The company has just put out a book on (their) tree houses in the UK and been profiled on the Scottish BBC news.
From the History tab on their blog:

Many famous people have built Treehouses; John Lennon had one overlooking Strawberry Fields Orphanage and Winston Churchill constructed a Treehouse twenty feet up a Lime Tree at his home.

There are many more interesting tree house facts to read on the blog, showing just how fabulous an idea people, through many ages, have considered tree houses to be.

‘Treehouses seem to fascinate everyone, children think they’re a makebelieve land, men view them as adventurous and women as romantic."

"Treasured Dreams" has just expanded, opening a Southern office in Birmingham and also into another niche market: making 'Escape Lodges' for hotels. While not as lofty, are treasured retreats now highly sought after by couples for a romantic getaway.

I just wish they were local...NOTE: Gordon Brown and his Treehouses are also on Twitter. You can read his updates and follow him here.

Grand Ole Bestiary - Classically Photographed 'Anthropomorphs'

Perhaps Beatrix Potter wasn't seeing things!

These anthropomorphic animals are so prim and proper, they could have stepped out of a classic tale. Or perhaps they'll inspire some new tails, I mean, tales.

From the Grand Ole Bestiary Etsy shop:

The Grand Ole Bestiary is a collection of faux-antique, anthropomorphic, mythological curios that were recovered from an ancient archival vault found buried deep inside the core of a metaphysical holy mountain.

These are actual, bona-fide, photographs exposed with light on a digital enlarger and developed on archival quality, Kodak archival photographic paper.

A brief description of the character/s is included (if such details were 'unearthed' along with the photographs discovered).

Adelaide Gazelling

The genteel and worried wife of Rufus Gazelling, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

Hortence J Pacadorf

Founder and proprietor of Pacadorf Industries, introduced many useful household products including a sticky-paper mouse trap made from peanut butter.

Madame Bella Van Lioness
Proprietor of Madame Lioness' Den of Debauchery and Spirits, was under an ongoing investigation for the disappearance of Rufus Gazelling, a frequent customer of hers.

Brotherhood of the Ram
Founded by The Three Grand Elder Rams, was an exclusive gentleman's club for the co-mingling of ideas, general merriment and occasional butting of heads.You can see many more 'Manimal' characters here.

Visualizing Red Riding Hood (a paper)

I found this interesting paper from a 2006 issue of Moveable Type - a publication of the Postgraduate Society of the Department of English Language and Literature at University College London.

The post-graduate student, Sarah Bonner, takes a look at how society is interpreting the tale of Red Riding Hood through visual means and incorporating it even more into society's make-up.

From her paper:

In recent years contemporary artists have been appropriating and re-inventing traditional fairy tales. Subverting and interrogating received meanings, artists are challenging the traditional parameters of tales which convey ideas of gender role and racial identity. The fairy tale is being translated from literary text into visual culture. The artists recoding the tales address shifts in cultural attitude, engaging predominantly with issues of identity and discrimination. In this paper I examine the visual development of “Little Red Riding Hood,” investigating the manner in which the literary tale has been adopted by contemporary artists, how the visual responds to the textual, and cultural attitudes embedded in reiterations of the tale.

This is a pretty fascinating exploration for anyone interested in fairy tales being interpreted in a visual medium. While academic in tone, it's still very readable and looks at everything from advertising and fashion to artistic renderings.

You can read the whole paper (with some pics throughout) here.

She also cites her references - a handy list, should you wish to do some more study on the subject.

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UPDATE: APRIL 29, 2014

Apparently the article has gone out of date where it was originally hosted but I've found it again HERE, complete with references. As it gave me the option to embed, I am doing so below. Hope it's helpful!

Visualising Little Red Riding Hood

In recent years contemporary artists have been appropriating and re-inventing traditional fairy tales. Subverting and interrogating received meanings, artists are challenging the traditional parameters of tales which convey ideas of gender role and racial identity. The fairy tale is being translated from literary text into visual culture. The artists recoding the tales address shifts in cultural attitude, engaging predominantly with issues of identity and discrimination.

Read More or Download

Don't Let Our Forests Become Once Upon A Time...

As the traditional fourth of July fireworks and festivities get into full swing I thought this Smokey Bear PSA was very timely as well as perfect for the blog.

Did you know Smokey Bear originally came about in response to using Disney's Bambi as a 'Prevent Forest Fires' poster?

From the History of Smokey Bear:

Walt Disney's motion picture, "Bambi" was produced in 1944 and Disney let the forest fire prevention campaign use his creation on a poster. The "Bambi" poster was a success and proved that using an animal as a fire prevention symbol would work. A fawn could not be used in subsequent campaigns because "Bambi" was on loan from Walt Disney studios for only one year; the Forest Service would need to find an animal that would belong to the Cooperative Forest Fire Prevention Campaign. It was finally decided that the Nation's number one firefighter should be a bear.

Here's an early PSA using Bambi footage combined with an animated Smokey Bear. As it's from 1964 it's in black and white but there was no doubt it reached people:

The Walt Disney Company has since allowed the use of their characters from Bambi (see campaign poster & ad at start of post) and is currently employing Sleeping Beauty to help spread the message of fire safety. There are two approaches. One is the more gentle, 'protect our friends in the forest' which you can see below:

The other is more dramatic, letting us know most fires are caused by humans and could be prevented:

You can see both Sleeping Beauty PSA's at the Smokey Bear website here. In addition to resources for children's education in fire safety, the website has many tips and resources on how to prevent wildfires.

The Power of Stories in Childhood - New Book by Maria Tatar

There's a new book out by renowned fairy tale and folklore scholar Maria Tatar.

This one,

"Enchanted Hunters - The Power of Stories in Childhood",

explores what happens when children are read fairy tales (and other classic fantasy) as part of their growing-up experience.

From Amazon:

Highly illuminating for parents, vital for students and book lovers alike, Enchanted Hunters transforms our understanding of why children should read. Ever wondered why little children love listening to stories, why older ones get lost in certain books? In this enthralling work, Maria Tatar challenges many of our assumptions about childhood reading. Much as our culture pays lip service to the importance of literature, we rarely examine the creative and cognitive benefits of reading from infancy through adolescence. By exploring how beauty and horror operated in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels, and many other narratives, Tatar provides a delightful work for parents, teachers, and general readers, not just examining how and what children read but also showing through vivid examples how literature transports and transforms children with its intoxicating, captivating, and occasionally terrifying energy. In the tradition of Bruno Bettelheim’s landmark The Uses of Enchantment, Tatar’s book is not only a compelling journey into the world of childhood but a trip back for adult readers as well.

Here's a short video in which she talks about why she wrote the book and what it's about:

Enchanted Hunters by Maria Tatar

And in the link below, John J. Miller from 'Between the Covers' at National Review Online talks to Ms. Tatar about her book.

Maria Tatar on Enchanted Hunters Talking to 'Between the Covers'

There's also an excellent, in depth, review here by Michael Dirda for The Washington Post, which takes you through her approach and the contents of the chapters.

Maria Tatar recently (in the last few years) released her "The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales" (shown above) & "The Annotated Brothers Grimm" (shown below) which touch on some of the same issues, though in a very different way. Both volumes are beautifully presented with classic story texts, a gorgeous variety of fairy tale art and lots of fascinating annotations throughout. There's a lovely review of the "Annotated Classic Fairy Tales", from the Harvard University Gazette, here, which I completely agree with.

I've never regretted adding Ms. Tatar's books to my library. Although her academic prowess and respect in Harvard circles and beyond is formidable, her books are very lively, fascinating and accessible reads - not to mention a wonderful resource/reference to have handy.

I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of her latest offering and read it for myself.

NOTE: I also just discovered her blog! I'm adding it to my Fairy Tale News Sources section. No doubt she'll give us a 'heads-up' on many interesting things...