Article/Advertising: Gifts For Fairy Tale Characters

Inspired by the recent public fascination with fairy tales a couple of clever writers at the Los Angeles Times put together an article (which is really a cleverly disguised set of advertisements) on fairy tale gifts, with a difference. Instead of fairy tale themed things for people who like fairy tales (though those are awesome too!), these gifts are all about what you might consider giving the characters of well known tales for a present.

Hansel and GretelTwo adorable young children get lost in the woods and outsmart an evil witch in a candy cottage. For a sweet tooth: Vosges Haut Chocolat Ensemble du Chocolat, $135 at Vosges Haut Chocolat boutique, Beverly Hills.
Survival tool: Victorinox Tomo in apple green, $24 at Victorinox Swiss Army boutique, Beverly Center.
Cottage warmth: Semiologie quilt by APC, $548 at Anthropologie stores.
Angelic dressing: Lanvin ivory taffeta coat with grosgrain bow, $1,050 at Lanvin, Beverly Hills.

Although these gifts are obviously high-end and really just a cleverly disguised set of advertisements for Hollywood-end types, I really like the idea because it requires considering the tales themselves and the situations and challenges being faced. My favorite suggestions are the truly practical things like foot-rub lotions for a Dancing Princess' sore feet, or a Swiss Army Knife for Hansel.

Red Riding HoodTaking a basket of goodies to Grandma's house, the girl in the red cape (briefly) becomes lunch for the trickster wolf. Pack it up: A Bottega Veneta Plaster Cioccolato Nero Canvas Basket print Vachette tote, $1,550 at Bottega Veneta, Beverly Hills.
Off you go: Ralph Lauren Blue Label cabled hat and scarf, $200 at http://www.ralphlauren.com.
A pop of red: YBF Royalty Collectable Pewter lipstick in Royal Red, $28.80 at http://www.ybfgirlfriends.com.

You can see the whole fairy tale gift guide HERE. There are also photos of the suggestions items HERE.



I would really like to see a list of potential gifts that is more in the price range of regular folks. I think that would be a fantastic read and maybe spark some ideas on how we could be of more practical help to people who are undergoing similar challenges to fairy tale heros and heroines.

In the meantime, consider your favorite fairy tale people in the middle of their tales. What would you gift them with? [And let's say you get extra points if you can enhance their tale life without making spoilers. ;) ] How about a a beautiful cook book for Snow White or a decorative boot scraper or a discreet peep-hole for the front door? What about a diary for Rapunzel instead of just hair products, or equipment to facilitate time lapse photography?

Your turn. :)

Snow White's Glass Coffin Comparisons

After seeing the beautiful sculpture collaboration by Benjamin Lacombe and Julien Martinez (see post HERE) I got to thinking about the different designs I've seen for Snow White's coffin. This has been simmering in the back of my brain since the Once Upon A Time pilot where we saw Snow White's coffin in Fairy Tale as the whole design of it, including the way it almost grew out of the ground, struck me as quite unusual and very lovely.

So I hunted around a bit and found various illustrations and a few film images which show Snow White in her coffin (ie one with glass encasing her, or at least showing that it was encasing her).

Turns out this is one of the most unique coffins we've seen for a while so, while this post wasn't meant to include ABC's Once Upon A Time except in passing reference, it turns out I would be remiss to ignore it - especially considering how well received this has been (and is still being) by the public at large.

Click for a larger view - it's a rather big spread! (Apologies for the slight spill into the margin for this one but you can almost see the entire sheet this way and any other size option given me by the blog looks like a teeny patchwork instead.) Please note, many of the images are cropped to fit together or to help focus on the coffin itself, though I've tried to keep as many as I could intact.

Turns out, while there was a nice lot of variation during the Golden Age of Illustration, there really hasn't been a whole lot of innovation regarding the coffin design since. In fact, this particular scene really hasn't been illustrated a whole lot since Disney's Snow White came out in 1937. I truly expected to find a lot more than I did, and while I'm know I've probably overlooked some classics in my hurry to finish this, it's still clear there are not nearly as many drawings of Snow White lying in repose as there are of her collapsed with an apple somewhere in the scene.

I find this curious and fascinating! I don't think many people realize just how influential and iconic the scene from Disney's Snow White and the Sevens Dwarfs is. In the Disney movie all we actually see is a shot of the cottage floor, hear a thump and see Snow White's arm fall gracefully to the floor, letting a bitten apple roll loose from her hand.

It makes me appreciate the design for ABC's Once Upon A Time coffin even more, especially considering the Disney influence on the series. Their coffin seems to grow almost organically from the ground - almost as if it's part of the curse - which I have a feeling is intentional.

ABC's Once Upon A Time: Snow White's coffin, a coffin shard and the shattered coffin

(Have you seen the promo shoot photos for the Evil Queen and Snow in the bramble/nest tangle? Or noticed the Evil Queen's outfit on the OUAT cast photo header? Perhaps the evil queen really is just as trapped in the curse as Snow is...)

I'm now waiting to see how Snow White biting the poisoned apple will play out.

But back to the coffins themselves:

So here in this post are many versions of this scene by illustrators old and new, most well known, others unidentified and others completely new on the scene. I haven't made an effort to put them in any arrangement or order as I thought the comparison works better if you just see them all mixed up. (Please forgive the down-and-dirty presentation - this took a bit longer to put together than I thought it would!) I've included the artist's name where I could verify it (which I did for most of them) so if you like an image you should be able to track it down pretty easily. :)

While there are a few different angles most illustrators - and even cinematographer's key scenes - seem to go for the horizontal angle with Snow White's face in profile, or close to it. I like looking at different options other than the standard approach as they definitely make for a different effect/atmosphere to the scene. Some work well, others less so. One angle strikes me as missing altogether and that's the one from inside the coffin, through the glass to the outside world... I think the only film to try this is Snow White: A Tale of Terror but the view is pretty much limited to seeing a worried face through dirty glass and I wish they'd gone a step further. Again, Once Upon A Time did a unique job of this and it's worth noting. Nice use of the coffin design, the imagery (snow falling, soft focus etc) and the angles used helped shift the atmosphere toward the big moment.

So what do you think? If you had the challenge to portray this scene of Snow White lying in her glass coffin in a unique way, how would you approach it? I wonder how Errol Le Cain might have approached the scene? He always showed you familiar scenes in new and enchanting ways, making you think a bit differently about the tales he illustrated. Or what if Robert Ingpen or Gennady Spirin were asked to illustrate a fresh and different Snow White picture book, what they would do? Would they come up with something new, adding layers of meaning or would they stay with the dwarves finding her body and focus on the seven reactions as so many illustrators have? What, if anything, do the different ways of showing Snow White's beauty in death say?

(Can you tell I've been thinking about this a bit??)

PS: If you're wondering why I'm thinking about all this apparently morbid stuff in December it's two-fold: partly I'm inspired by seeing people talking about Snow White so much at the moment but also the idea of Snow White's coffin is very much like a Winter cocoon. That's what Winter Solstice, in part, celebrates. There is life within the depths of Winter and in hard times, even if it's hard to detect and hard to believe in. It's just waiting fro the right piece of warmth to wake it up so it can start a new phase. In the meantime we can at least hope for happy dreams... :)

Godzilla's (Xmas) Wishes

This image has been making the rounds on the web this month and with good reason. The image is very unique for the holidays. I mean, who equates Christmas with Godzilla?? But it got me thinking (consider yourself warned! lol) about the alternate views of characters in stories (OK, fairy tales) and how when you put yourself in the shoes of the "lesser" characters you end up with a very different - and often touching - story.

The Godzilla Haiku Tumblr blog is a good example of this. Reading through is not only amusing but touching. In fact, you find yourself starting to feel for the poor monster. Here are just a few examples:

 You can see more (lots more!) at the Godzilla Haiku blog HERE.

My favorite fairy tale retelling from a villains POV completely rocked my world when I read it the first time and made me think twice about a lot of things. It's The Magic Circle by Donna Jo Napoli; an amazing retelling of Hansel and Gretel from the witch's point of view (short review/synopsis at the link).

Ms. Napoli is a master at making me think differently about fairy tales I know well and have read many (many!) retellings of already. She is without doubt one of my favorite fairy tale writers and I wouldn't consider my library complete without her retellings, of which there are many. (Note: not all the books at the link are fairy tale retellings but MANY of them are.)

Another recommendation of fairy tales from villain POVs is Troll's Eye View by the incredible editing duo Terry Windling and Ellen Datlow. (You simply can't go wrong with any fairy tale collection these women put together!)

Many of you must be thinking this is one of the weirdest holiday posts you've ever read, let alone on a fairy tale blog. Why am I blogging about this the day before Christmas?

Many of you will be spending tonight and/or tomorrow with family - some of whom you love dearly and others who are, shall we say, "more of a challenge".  Family get-togethers are loaded with stress and are hotbeds for misunderstandings and drama. (Hence the plethora of crazy Christmas family dinner movies.) Christmas get-togethers are also prime settings for Christmas magic and have the potential to be some of the most special times you will remember for the rest of your life. It all depends on your approach to the occasion and how you handle the challenges that come your way. (Don't let your eyes glaze over yet - I have a point and it has everything to do with fairy tales!) Magic doesn't depend on the perfect setting, having the decorations all done or having the prefect meal and party. Fairy tales aren't filled with fairies and glitter and magical bling either (contrary to the public idea of fairy tales). Instead they're magical because there's an element of wonder that lifts the story above every day life, giving you a different perspective and making you pay attention to something important and, often, transformative.

Transformation by Rebecca Guay

 If it helps to view your mother-in-law as Godzilla in an apron, monitoring the oven obsessively or seeing your selfish brother who yells at people getting in front of the big screen as a lonely troll retreating under his safe-and-familiar bridge, then do it. You'll be able to better see your own blessings and maybe you might understand those monsters and help them transform back into the princes and princesses they could be.

 May your Christmas be magical in all the good ways and if it isn't, may the power of fairy tale transformation be yours to wield. Happy Holidays!

News: Bear Visits Goldilocks

European brown bear by Claire Scully*

From AllVoices Local to Global News online:

Date: December 15, 2011

Headline: Bear Visits Goldilocks

The bear, who had been seen in the neighbourhood, made his way into the man’s basement and was sleeping when the cable repairman found the 500 pound ursine in his Hopatcong home Wednesday afternoon. 

State Conservation officer Michael Madoni arrived at the home and ensured the bear would not awake by shooting him with a tranquilizer. The bear was then relocated to the Berkshire Valley Wildlilfe Management Area and a return to its wilderness home.

Read the full article, with bonus cute baby seal home invasion story, HERE.

Gotta love it - if we could confirm the man was blonde this would be a doubly awesome story. :D Very glad no one - and no bear - was hurt and a merry Christmas snooze could then be had by all (after bear-proofing the house anyway!)

Why does this story seriously make me want to go write a fairy tale short story now? :D

Silverlocks by Ali Shaw

And for your bonus material, may I suggest having a read of Ali Shaw's great post about Goldilocks, bears and Scrapefoot HERE. 

Ali Shaw is the author of The Girl With Glass Feet (you can see my review HERE) who has a clear love and understanding of fairy tales, along with a talent for sketching fantastic and unusual things. I always wish there were more to look at!

His next book, The Main Who Rained, is about to be released on January 1st 2012. Although I haven't read it (and it has nothing to do with Goldilocks, Silverlocks or Scrapefoot that I can tell) I do recommend Mr. Shaw's writing and tale spinning.

And for a "beautiful things bonus" go visit Claire Scully's portfolio. The "Bejewelled" section is full of beautiful artistic tributes to animals and nature like the one at the head of the post, and fits the idea of respect that "Bear Visits Goldilocks" is telling us, at least in between the lines, we should have.

Fairy Tales & Architecture - 3 Part Series w/ Kate Bernheimer & Andrew Bernheimer

 

This month we learn that our friend of fairy tales Kate Bernheimer has been doing some groundbreaking work in an unusual field - at least regarding fairy tales. Now that the subject has come up I wonder why I haven't seen it tackled before? The series is called "The House on Chicken Feet"and is co-produced by fairy tale writer and teacher Kate Bernheimer (editor of one of my favorite fairy tale study books, Mirror, Mirror On The Wall among other fantastic works) and her brother and architect Andrew Bernheimer.

Here's the introduction to the concept and header for each part in the series:

Fairy tales have transfixed readers for thousands of years, and for many reasons; one of the most compelling is the promise of a magical home. How many architects, young and old, have been inspired by the hero or heroine, banished from the cottage, lost in the woods, who risks everything to find a forever-space?

In this series, which appears in three installments this week on Places, we look at fairy tales through the lens of architecture. Participating firms — Bernheimer Architecture, Leven Betts and Guy Nordenson and Associates — have selected favorite tales and produced works exploring the intimate relationship between the domestic structures of fairy tales and the imaginative realm of architecture.  

Houses in fairy tales are never just houses; they always contain secrets and dreams. This project presents a new path of inquiry, a new line of flight into architecture as a fantastic, literary realm of becoming. We welcome you to these fairy-tale places.

— Kate Bernheimer & Andrew Bernheimer

The series start HERE and there are links to the second and third part on each page.

 

The various architectural firms take inspiration from three tales and revisit the designs of key structures in the tales at the same time as they look at the stories and consider the significance of such buildings. Considering Kate Bernheimer is a master at getting people to think about the relevance of fairy tales with regard to their lives and to the general populace, you know you want to read these articles! They're fairly short and easy to read but chock-full of unusual perspectives and information.

The three tales are Baba Yaga, in which they look at the hut on chicken feet, Jack and the Beanstalk in which they consider the beanstalk itself and Rapunzel who gets a design update on her cocoon, er, prison, er, childhood home. The stories all get a brief consideration in their own right (from the fabulous perspective of Kate Bernheimer of course!) then the architects and design firms are asked a few questions related to their re-imagining of the fairy tale structure.

Can you tell I'm fascinated? I'm only disappointed there isn't more. (Hint, hint Bernheimer siblings. ;)

Plum Pudding & Other Fairy Tale Food

Miss Plum Duff by Kristin Tercek

UPDATE 12/28/11 THANKS TO RENEE OF THE FAE: See end of post.

This illustration by Kristin Tercek (of Cuddly Rigor Mortis) reminds me of a favorite childhood classic tale from Australia,  The Magic Pudding, written and illustrated by Norman Lindsay . Although isn't set specifically at Christmas, it works with the season because every Christmas in Australia seems to require pudding and fruitcake. And how can you resist the idea of magical pudding?

I must admit, this Magic Pudding is on the grumpy side and quite a trouble maker, giving his companions  - who spend all their time guarding him against pudding thieves - a lot of grief. In fact, he's only happy when he's being eaten, though he can never be fully consumed, being magical and all.

The Christmas season tends to involve a lot of food and festive meals so thinking about fairy tale food also seems appropriate at the moment.

While I don't recall many (if any) fairy tales in which the food itself is magic (in that it has personality), there are plenty of examples of magical food in fairy tales, that is, food that is magical, makes magic as it's consumed or contains something magical. Food in fairy tales is always important, even when it isn't specifically magical as well. (I've commented on this a little recently with regard to apples and Snow White in ABC's Once Upon A Time.)

Off the top of my head here are some tales where food, or a food item, are of supreme importance in the tale:

Like Meat Without Salt (another of my favorites as a child)

Hansel & Gretel (remember the breadcrumbs as well as the candy house!)

Princess Manyfur & Donkeyskin (the soup made by the princess in disguise with an 'extra' ingredient)

Rapunzel (Radishes? Lettuce? Take your pick but the vegetable garden holds the roots of the story.. ;)

The Juniper Tree (I almost didn't include this but that meal is, sadly, very key)

The Princess and the Pea (a pea, obviously, but also breakfast revelations)

Cinderella (pumpkin in the best known version but if memory serves there are oranges and lemons as well - aristocratic delicacies)

Snow White (the famous apple of course but also what the queen asks for to add to her dinner)

Stone Soup (everything BUT the stone!)

Red Riding Hood (a basket of bread and wine for Grandma, and wolf food of course)

Love For Three Oranges (cheese and oranges)

Jack and the Beanstalk (not just beans but also milk and all the significance of that drink, not to mention the fee fi fo fum dinnertime. The other Jack o- f Giant Killer fame - also has pudding - see image earlier in post)

Beauty & the Beast (each night at dinner...)

Momotaro (Peach Boy - a little boy born in a peach)

The Tin Soldier (the fish sliced open for dinner)

Baba Yaga (rice)

Tom Thumb (his big troubles start with falling into a pudding)

The Girl Who Trod On A Loaf (bread and all it represents)

Goldilocks & the Three Bears (porridge and breakfast)

Strawberries in the Snow (or the Twelve Months)

The Nutcracker (not about nuts at all but lots of sweets instead)

This is not a definitive list. Just those I could list without heading to my fairy tale library. What obvious ones did I miss? What are your favorites? And what food or meals are involved besides the obvious ones (especially if they're in the title)?

UPDATE: Thanks to Renee of the Fae's comment below, I was reminded of The Talking Eggs by Robert D. San Souci. It's an American variation on Diamonds and Toads with lovely language and gorgeous illustrations. Check it out (there's a very small preview of a couple of pages on amazon.com). If you haven't got it already I'm predicting you'll add it to your fairy tale wish list. ;) Thanks Renee!

Kevin Tong's "Once Upon A Time" Posters Update

There's been so much fairy tale news and seasonal things going on I haven't kept up with the poster releases for ABC's Once Upon A Time. Here's a quick update of the set of six being created by Kevin Tong:

Rapunzel

Released December 8

 

Little Red Cap

Released December 15

Sleeping Beauty

Released December 22 (today)

Still to come:

 - Snow White
   Being released December 29

 - Rumpelstiltskin
   Being released January 5

 - Cinderella
   Being Released January 12

I really like the included details - and check the Sleeping Beauty and Prince profiles on the most recent poster - nice. (Of course once I saw them that's all I could see!) Both the gold and silver versions of these posters must be stunning in person.

If you want to get a limited edition print you can keep an eye on their release HERE and order from HERE.

The current bonus download story from ABC is Snow White. You can find the PDF link HERE (scroll down).

Disney's Snow Queen Out Of Development Deep Freeze & Now "Frozen"

She's baaaaack..

Great news and perfect for the first day of Winter (this is barely hours old as of this writing): it appears Disney Feature Animation is back on track to animate The Snow Queen, only this time under the new title of "Frozen".

Here's the old temp logo:

 .. but it looks like the new name (and probably the new logo) are going to get the Tangled  treatment, staying away from princesses and queens (though they'd do better with that if all their marketing and merchandise wasn't aimed at little girls!)

There's been a little confusion about whether or not it's a Pixar project and a dinosaur project but (see HERE for an explanation of how that can get confused with The Snow Queen) but all news appears solid for a new fairy tale adaptation coming our way from Disney:

Turns out that Frozen isn't a Pixar movie at all, but rather a new, possibly 2D-animated, film out of Walt Disney Animation. ...In reality, Frozen is an adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen, which the studio has been trying to get made for years now without any luck (the image at the top of this story is concept art from a few years ago). The 2D animation thing is up in the air, as the site's source recently responded to questioning about the format by saying, “Don’t put your name to that…not quite yet.” 

 It's going to be 3D (see HERE) and I'm most curious about an adaptation they feel they can finally run with...  There's so much potential with this story I'm frankly confused as to why they've had so much trouble to date. But hopefully that's all in the past now and we can be excited again - for real this time! (Yes, I'm choosing to be optimistic about this!)

Though there's no "Frozen" artwork anywhere yet I thought I'd give you something new and pretty and Snow Queen related to look at anyway.
 

Note: this is NOT from Disney Development but from this talented artist HERE.

Yay for fairy tale ratings and excitement over next years fairy tale films the last few months. I have no doubt that has more than a little to do with this development - and I'm very, very happy about it. ;)

Cinderella's Carriage At Midnight

Here's a beautiful fairy tale ice sculpture for the first day of Winter.

The Clock Strikes Midnight

The moment in the Cinderella fairy tale where the carriage begins to turn back into a pumpkin and mice.

I never thought of the magic in Cinderella's carriage as "melting" away before but it's very appropriate to the tale to show it this way. Glass slippers, ice-cold hearts and melting magic... this would make an awesome Winter tale.

You can see more amazing ice sculptures HERE, including a couple more from Cinderella's story.

The Hobbit Trailer & More

It's here...



And it's making people very excited.

There's more news for Tolkien fans too:

Apart from fun looking sets, what's exciting about Legos tackling Lord of the Rings is that there will be even more unique fantasy pieces and building options. The Harry Potter line opened up a huge range of possibilities and we've seen some nice fairy tale Lego creations since. I'm hoping that the combination of a new LOTR Lego line and all the fairy tale zeitgeist in the air will inspire people to get really creative with their bricks and delve into the world of fantasy and fairy tales.

Oh and the other cool thing about a hugely popular fantasy movie? Merchandise - lots of it! Makes for fantastic props for fairy tale cosplay, parties and general fairy tale feel around the house, especially if they produce versatile pieces that aren't all "branded" with the movie logo. I have a feeling Folk & Fairy will be very busy finding a LOT of fairy tale-ish awesomeness next year... ;)