Tuesday, March 2, 2010

'Murderati' Discusses The Fairy Tale Structure

Last weekend, popular mystery writing site 'Murderati' (think Literati with a twist) discussed the use of 'fairy tale structure' in stories and in putting together a novel. More specifically, the article discusses the fairy tale 'rule of three', which anyone who reads fairy tales regularly will be familiar with, and how incredibly useful it is to use as a template in writing.

Here's an excerpt from the Murderati post (written by Alexandra Sokoloff):

When I respond deeply to a movie or book, no matter how realistic and modern it seems on the surface, chances are it’s going to have a fairy tale structure.

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, RED DRAGON, THE EXORCIST, THE GODFATHER, A WRINKLE IN TIME, STAR WARS, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, THE TREATMENT (Mo Hayder) – every single one of them is a fairy tale. And fairy tales have their own structural rules that just work for me.

I know JT and Cornelia have blatantly (my favorite approach) used fairy tales in at least a few of their books.

And yes - she talks about Pan's Labyrinth too.

I don't remember if I read this or heard this but I've always thought of the rule of three having specifically this effect: Once is chance, two might be coincidence whereas three is definitely not coincidence! (And therefore important.)

Click HERE to learn more about the 'rule of three' and to see multiple examples in fairy tales.

You can read the whole of this interesting article - which has something for both readers and writers of fairy tales - HERE.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Strawberries in the Snow Illustrations by Folkard & Anderson

The Three Dwarfs in the Wood, Grimm's Fairy Tales
by Charles Folkard


Remember my post on The Twelve Months/Strawberries in the Snow from December HERE?

It's taken me a while but I finally found where I'd read the version with the strawberries. It's a German fairy tale included in Andrew Lang's Red Fairy Book, called "The Three Dwarfs", and includes the paper dress the girl is forced to wear too (don't know how I forgot that part). While I'm certain I've blended parts from different tales in my memory I know I've also read a Russian version with strawberries somewhere too. Strawberries, apples or violets, I do love this variant on diamonds and Toads. I also like that the story continues after the girl is found by a king. Her troubles don't stop until the troublesome step-relatives are dealt with once and for all.

The Three Dwarfs
by Anne Anderson

Once I found the name/s of this variant of "Diamonds & Toads" with the strawberries, I also found these lovely illustrations by Charles Folkard and Anne Anderson too. Pretty, no? (You can see more of his fairy tale illustrations on the SurLaLune page for Folkard HERE and Anderson HERE.) Just like "The Twelve Months", I'm surprised there aren't more illustrations for this story - there's a wealth of subjects for illustrators to explore in this tale.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Jorinde & Joringel Inspired Short Story

My apologies for the double-up for email subscribers. Computer thought I was finished...

Want a fun, sexy, fairy tale inspired short story to read this weekend? I recommend Dorlana Vann's "Quiet on the Nightingale" posted over at Supernatural Fairy Tales. See if you can figure out why I used this pic for the announcement. ;)

Note: You can learn how to make your own birdcage dress HERE.

Tangled Official Teaser Trailer Released

Hot on the heels of the unofficial trailer leak is an official Disney 'teaser trailer'. We learn one important thing from this trailer: "Once it's cut, it loses it's power..." We also hear part of the famous Rapunzel story line: "..let down your hair..." Glad they're including that.

Found via Zachary Levi's blog (who's the voice for Flynn Rider). Enjoy!

New Fairy Tale Studies Blog Network

I recently found this 'blog network' for fairy tale studies students at Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN, USA), set up by TA Jessica Riviere.

Although it isn't outlined anywhere, from what I understand, there is a 'host' blog (which is the main place I'm linking you to, so you can find everything else easily) called Fairy Tales 2010. On this blog are posted questions/discussion topics that groups of students are required to respond to as part of their classwork, by blogging on their 'group' blogs.

The group blogs have lovely names too:

The Fairy Tales 2010 host blog for the network is HERE.

They've had interesting discussions on a number of tales so far (Red Riding Hood, Donkeyskin, Cinderella) as well as other topics like Bettelheim's work, motifs and more. The focus of these blogs is content, not presentation, so don't expect much artwork. It's just wonderful to be able to see what's being discussed by students with regard to fairy tales.

The topic of discussion for this month (February 2010) is Beauty & the Beast and there's plenty of reading there for anyone who loves this tale.

This is quite a different blog from Diamonds & Toads, which I visit as often as time allows and comment on regularly. Kate Wolford, who runs Diamonds & Toads, encourages participation from readers other than her students and often includes lovely artwork in her posts. As a result she's providing a very rich resource for us all to both enjoy and be a part of. Fairy Tales 2010 appears to be for those Vanderbilt students involved only and is focused on discussion content with not much, if any, art, but it still makes for great reading and for seeing the ideas college students are considering. I'm thankful they've seen fit to have it public so we can all enjoy it.

Note: The images are the ones each student blog uses for their headers.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Fairy Tale Felted Wool Art by AndreasFelts

LITTLE RED CAP
(In this scene, the girl more commonly knows as Little Red Riding Hood is on her way to visit grandmother.)

I found these and had to share.

The work is so gorgeous and unique, not only do I want a complete notecard set but I'd love to see these in person. What's more, the artist, Andrea, obviously reads the old tales rather than relying on newer childrens versions, as you'll see from her descriptions of the pieces.

CINDERELLA
(In this scene, Cinderella kneels at her mother’s grave under the hazel tree and receives her dress for the ball. )

Here's what the artist says about her work:
I am a watercolorist turned felter. Using a felting needle, I "paint” scenes with fiber. Each work begins as a sketch and is felted by hand, using no machine, pattern or mold.
I sincerely urge you to go to her shop HERE for the close-ups views, as well as to see all her work. It's just stunning and completely reminiscent (for me) of impressionist pastel work.

FROG PRINCE
(In this scene, the princess bargains with the frog over the return of her lovely golden ball.)

HANSEL & GRETAL
(In this scene, the brother and sister are alone in the woods collecting small stones in their hopes of being able to find their way back home.)

LITTLE MERMAID
(In this scene, the little mermaid gazes up at the ocean’s surface in contemplation of trading her mermaid’s tale for human form.)

There's information about her techniques under the 'shop policies' section of her Etsy shop, which is very interesting too.

Just stunning work. I'd love to see a whole story book illustrated this way.

You can find her work in her Etsy shop HERE.

Friday, February 26, 2010

"Rinse. Rescue. Repeat." - Tangled Trailer Gets Leaked

I was going to save this for tomorrow but just in case this disappears I thought I'd share it right away: HERE!
I heard a couple of days ago (thank you Ms. Mantchev the Marvelous!) that a trailer-in-progress for "Tangled" got leaked to YouTube. By the time I got there (within an hour of the message) it had already been removed. I have been hunting since in case it reappeared and sure enough, turns out somebody caught it before it disappeared and now we can share it - at least until that gets removed too. I'm including all the info I've found just in case.

Please note: this is not an official trailer. It's basically a mock-up of a trailer-to-be and includes pencil storyboard sketches, not-final-rendered animation and more. The images only give you an idea of the action and staging and look nothing like the end product will, so try not to judge the visuals.

The new logo is in evidence in gold along with additional lines: "It takes two to get... Tangled... Rinse. Rescue. Repeat." Underneath the images, a remake of "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" is playing to accent the action, which - don't worry- is temp music only. There's far more footage of the rogue hero, Flynn, than Rapunzel, but that's not really a surprise.

From ohnotheydidnt:
Keep in mind that the trailer is mostly in storyboard and rough animation, so it will give you an idea of the animation, but since all the animation is unrendered we won't know much about the actual look of the film until the finished trailer or teaser is released (which is rumored to happen with the release of the "Princess and the Frog" dvd). The trailer does offer us our first look at new characters Pascal, Rapunzel's sidekick pet chameleon and her white horse Maximus.
Here's what Latino Review has to say about the contents:

Up until today, we were only able to show you early concept art with few story details but today we have quite the reverse. As the trailer mostly relies upon storyboards and the animations are still in their earliest stages, this isn't so much about the look as it is about the tone. While Tangled does mark Disney's return to its fairytale roots, it's with a decidedly modern interpretation that's more Road to El Dorado and Pixar than Snow White or Sleeping Beauty.

Here are some the select highlights from the trailer: Rapunzel has an anthropomorphized gekko/lizard of sorts, the male lead relies upon his charms and wiles to steal hearts and money but is captured by Rapunzel who seems immune to everything he can throw at her -- especially since she weilds a frying pan as her defense.

Overall, it seems like Disney is going for humor with this film and is trying to undermine its self-perceived princess problem by making the story every bit about the male lead as it is about Rapunzel escaping from her tower and letting down her golden hair.

Rapunzel can also apparently manipulate her hair as a weapon, though perhaps not with quite the 'cowgirl' feel that Shannon Hale's Rapunzel's Revenge heroine does.

I also want to mention that despite the marketing changes, the story will not likely have changed significantly to reflect the new 'boy-friendly' tack. One of the perceived problems with "Princess and the Frog" is that there is very little actual "princess" content and much more adventure/boy-friendly content than pro-princess girls were wanting/expecting. Despite recent Disney marketing being very pro-princess and girly the (animation) films do tend to strive for a balance of pretty vs gritty. They can be marketed either way. I'm curious to see if they can temper the pendulum swing before it goes from the extreme-princess marketing we just had to extreme-adventure-boy marketing.

Now, if you haven't already, go HERE to see the trailer (at the bottom of the article) before it vanishes!

Happy National Tell A Fairy Tale Day!

February 26 is National Tell A Fairy Tale Day!
Yep - that's today in the US.

Officially:
This day celebrates Fairy Tales! On this day we are encouraged to have fun reading fairy tales and discussing fairy tale stories!
This is the first time I've heard of it too (if you look at the link you'll see it's a little hard to verify an official source except that a lot of people are celebrating it) but hey, sounds great to me!
There's a nice little article posted today by Hannah Boyd titled "Why Fairy Tales Matter" HERE.

So: if you could pass on ONE fairy tale ONLY to the next generation, which one would that be and why?

I know - impossible question. I have trouble answering that one too.

Let's try this one instead:
What one (or two) little-known fairy tale do enjoy?

I'll start:
"The Cat on the Dovrefell" also known as "The Trolls and the Pussycat"
Norwegian fairy tale collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe.
Trolls, a polar bear and a lot of humor. Love it! (Text HERE.)

"The Lame Fox" or "Laughing Eye and Weeping Eye"
Serbian fairy tale collected by A. H. Wratislaw (also in Andrew Lang's Grey Fairy Book)
A very patient (non-trickster) fox helps a boy win a golden horse, a golden tree and a golden girl. (Text HERE.)

And one more (because once you get me going it's hard to stop...):

"The Day Boy and the Night Girl"
by George MacDonald (one of my favorite fairy tale writers)
Opposites attract and help each other overcome their fears and the "witch with the wolf inside". (Text HERE.)
I also enjoy Jorinde & Joringel (Grimm's), The Tinder Box (H. C. Andersen - this is more popular than the others I've mentioned) and The Marsh King's Daughter (also by H.C. Andersen), which you probably know already if you've been reading this blog for a while. :)

Your turn.
Note: All images are of more familiar tales by the amazing Kinuko Y. Craft. SOURCE.

Reminder: Syfy Airing New "Beauty and the Beast" Tommorrow Night

Syfy begins airing their new movie-of-the-week franchise of updated fairy tales tomorrow, beginning with Beauty & the Beast. According to this synopsis/review HERE you may want to steer the kids clear of this one.

Fingers crossed for a fun movie and good viewing response so they'll re-make more fairy tales.

Logo Released for "Tangled"

Disney released the new logo for "Tangled", the renamed Rapunzel film yesterday. Let the marketing begin.