Eugenio Recuenco's Fashionable Fairy Tales

Eugenio Recuenco is a well known Spanish photographer who's fashionable avant garde fairy tale recreations for Vogue caused a big splash back in 2006.

In this popular series he recreated The Princess and the Pea, Snow White, Puss in Boots, The Pied Piper (though this shot could double as the delirious Dancing Princesses), Cinderella, Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast.

Here are the spreads from Vogue that swept the web at the time:
I recently found a few more, though I'm not sure when they were taken. For this set we have Sleeping Beauty, Thumbelina, Snow White (take two), The Ugly Duckling and two additional Beauty and the Beast shots.And, just for fun, here's an ad for Saniterpen Pet Odor Remover in France (from March 2008). Puss in Boots gets a little on the smelly side...All of his photos have a dark, other -worldly quality. His extensive online portfolio is well worth your time to browse.

Steampunk Fairy Tales - Part II of III

Here we continue to look at some interesting 'steampunk-ing' of fairy tales. This is part II of III. You can find Part I, posted 7/12/09, HERE, which includes my introduction.

Please note, you can click on the images for a larger view (highly recommended). The link to the artist and more of their work are in the title & name.

Enjoy!

STEAMPUNK FAIRYTALE STEAMLADDIN by NIKLAS TARPILA

DON QUIXOTE: SUPRESSOR OF ENGINES by MAREK MADEJ

STEAMPUNK FAIRYTALE GOLDYLOCKS by CLAUDIA M. a.k.a LAVAH

STEAMPUNK THUMBELINA by HAKUBAIKOU

Part III, the final installment for this round, is coming on Thursday.

Make Sure You Have the Right Accessory Before Going Into the Woods...

I'm not really a bag-person but these ads from Louis Vuitton make me think twice about that assessment, besides, don't you think Snow White would have fared better if she'd just grabbed her bag before heading out the door with the Huntsman? Besides, how can a princess function without a few changes of clothes? (And shoes - don't forget the shoes!)And you have to wonder if Alice would have had quite as much trouble had she taken the right accessory with her through the looking glass... At the least she could have grabbed a few souvenirs along the way!Don't you want to reinvent the tales, just a little now? ;)

(You can see more creative ads for bags HERE.)

Steampunk Fairy Tales - Part I of III

CINDERELLA'S COACH CONCEPT by GORO

Halfway into jotting down my myriad ideas for a new fairy tale retelling, I realized the genre it fit perfectly was: Steampunk.

Gulp!

How can I possibly write steampunk? Don't you have to be part genius to handle everything from the Victorian language and sensibilities, combined with all that technical mechanization and steam technology? Then I realized many fairy tales are actually well suited to the genre and that means I'm already well on the road. It also explains why the ideas just kept coming and fell into place.

I knew there was a contest by CGSociety called "Steampunk: Myths & Legends" (which included fairy tales) toward the end of last year, with the contest winners announced in late February. (You can find all the contest entries HERE) I remember loving the few entries I saw and thought I'd post some to show you just how fun this idea can be. In further Googling, I found even more 'steampunk-ing' of fairy tales, not limited to the competition.

I thought I'd collect my favorites for you into a few different posts and link you to the creators. You can click on the images to see a larger version (which I highly recommend). The artist can be found be clicking on the title/artist note above each one.

So here's 'Part I' of Steampunk Fairy Tales.

Enjoy!

STEAMNOCCHIO by FABRICIO MORAES

STEAMPUNKED CINDERELLA by GORO

BAKTOFAIRY by LAURENT PIERLOT

ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN STEAMLAND by GUILLAUME DUBOIS

Parts II & III are coming later in the week (Tuesday and Thursday).

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.