Tam Lin & "Grimm"

Castle of the Enchantress by Alan Lee

I'm not normally a promoter of fan fiction but I'm making an exception for this recently written story since it does two things: 1) it makes good use of the fairy tale ballad Tam Lin (a favorite of mine) and 2) shows some of the (unused) the potential of NBC's Grimm.

Although this is essentially a fairly straight forward retelling of Tam Lin (with Juliette as Janet, Nick as Tam Lin in need of rescuing, Captain Renard as the fairy queen (king?) and the ever-helpful Monroe as sidekick), I think it does a good job of showing the sorts of places these characters could go, as well as illustrating how much fun a series arc could be, especially if it too is based on a fairy tale. Also interesting is the response of other fans to this piece. It's become very popular and is being linked to from all over the place. To me that says a lot about where this show could go.

One of the main criticisms of Grimm is that it's taking far too long for any series arc and character development to take place. Juliette (the MCs girlfriend) is frustratingly under-used and obvious repercussions of Nick's actions as a "Grimm" aren't being explored much, if at all. This fan fic tackles all that while managing the keep the characters true to the show, bring together hinted at plot lines and still leave the world wide open for exploring.

I could see certain aspects of a Tam Lin device developing over a few episodes, rather than this being told hurriedly in one, though I think "Anonymous" did a nice job. I'm not assessing this for the writing quality (think quickly written first draft with fairly good pacing that hits all the important points) but more for how apt it is for the show, characters used, genre and for the fairy tale angle. In other words, there's a ton of potential here I'm finding myself wishing I'd see explored in the actual show.

By the way, this little gif below, ties in nicely with the Tam Lin angle so thought I'd add it to help provide some visuals while you're reading. :)

If you like Tam Lin, or are wishing (like me) that Grimm's Juliette would be more of a major player in Nick's double-world, then take a few minutes and have a read. It's light, fun and Monroe bantering with a capable, smart Juliette is something I'd really like to see.

You can read the whole story (posted in 4 parts) HERE. (Scroll down past the "prompt post".)

I only wish I could properly credit the author. Clearly they've hit on something with Grimm fans.

A final observation: while Once is being talked about in forums, blogs and podcasts in a speculative sense, it's Grimm that seems to be inciting fan fiction. Clearly viewers see a lot of potential in the show's premise and world of Grimm creatures and tales that just isn't being explored. I too, hope that changes, and soon.

One note re the site: Try not to get put off by the site's name. I found this fan fic by searching for recent Tam Lin additions to the web, not by looking for Grimm news or because I was previously aware of this forum. A quick look around this site turned up a lot of NSFW adult content so I feel lucky to have stumbled across this at all. Despite this, you can be reassured that the story itself is completely clean and safe for work, as are the comments to date.

Advertising: Huggies Diapers Little Explorers, Snow White

The tag line for this series, created in response to the earthquake-tsunami tragedies that hit Japan last year, is: "Keep little explorers high and dry."

I must admit my first reaction to this was of slight shock. It took me consciously thinking of the tag line while looking at the illustrations to appreciate the campaign, though I'm still not 100% settled simply because of the reference to the disaster/s. Maybe I'm thinking about it too much but if keeping little kids dry helps reduce tsunami nightmares I say more power to the campaign and for getting kids a guaranteed-dry nappy/diaper!

I'm including the three print ads, even though only one of them is fairy tale themed. I think they're worth a looksee and I kind of like the idea of Snow White being considered an explorer too. The others are Zorro and Columbus. Interesting choices, though I wish there had been just one more for the girls.

Credits & Description: 

Keep little explorers high and dry

Advertising Agency: Ogilvy, Beijing, China
Executive Creative Director: Bill Chan
Creative Directors: Jacky Lung, Kweichee Lam, Xingsheng Qi
Art Directors: Xingsheng Qi, Shengxiong Chen, Zhihua Zhong, Jacky Lung
Copywriters: Guilin Bo, Kweichee Lam
Art Buyer: Xiaohang Liu
Illustrator: Yu Chen
Advertiser’s Supervisor: Helena He
Account Manager: Maggie Zhou
Account Supervisor: Monica Hung

The Print Ads titled Snow White, Zorro and Columbus were done by Ogilvy, Beijing advertising agency for product: Huggies Diapers (brand: Huggies) in China. They were released in June 2010.

Originally found HERE.

Women and Dragons by Bluefooted

by Bluefooted

Just some beautiful paintings with a fairy tale feel I wanted to share. From "Silly Little Art Blog" where you can see many more beautiful and fantastic pieces.

by Bluefooted

 There aren't tons of updates and they're a little random but it seems from the most recent date that the artist is still working.

By Bluefooted

The piece at the head of the post appears in many professional artist's "favorite inspirations" pieces so I do hope "Bluefooted" is encouraged to continue in their art. I would love to see this self-proclaimed amateur do what they obviously love for a living.

Article: "It's Snow White's Moment. What's She Going To Do With It?"

Kristen Stewart as Snow White (Snow White and the Huntsman) by Alice X. Zhang

 Yay! An article on "there are fairy tales everywhere right now!" that did some research beyond "OMG-did-you-know-that-this-fairy-tale-stuff-is-really-wicked-nasty-gruesome-stuff!"

The writers at io9 always give me a fun read. They have clear (and sassy) opinions they're not afraid of sharing AND like using their brains too so the articles are usually written with at least a little research to back up their points of view.

Check out the research credits by Kelly Faircloth for this article: 

Sources used: The Classic Fairy Tales, edited by Maria Tatar; The Uses of Enchantment, Bruno Bettelheim; The Great Fairy Tale Tradition, edited by Jack Zipes.

When a mainstream writer posts on fairy tales and does their research beyond the online entertainment sites, you know you want to read it. Specifically, this writer is the first I've seen to consider just why it is that suddenly Snow White is the princess du jour.

It starts:

After decades out of the limelight, suddenly Snow White is everywhere. What woke this particular tale out of its coma?

Charlize Theron as The Queen (Snow White and the Huntsman) by Alice X. Zhang

After a brief catch-up on how it's been Cinderella, not Snow White, that has been the go-to fairy tale princess of the masses for decades, the writer gets to the meaty stuff:

So why Snow White? (edit InkGypsy: as in "Why Snow White now?")

Like all traditional fairy tales, Snow White has a few fixed elements. Let's use folklorist Steven Swann Jones' definition (via fairy tale guru Maria Tater): "origin (birth of the heroine), jealousy, explusion, adoption, renewed jealousy, death, exhibition, resuscitation, and resolution."

Stories from all over the world contain these immediately recognizable elements, but that list also leaves open a whole lot of wiggle room in the details of the telling. So besides the Grimm version, you'll also see variants like Giambattista Basile's "The Young Slave," where the heroine is born to a young woman who swallows a leaf. Her years-long sleep is actually due to a fairy's curse and a poisoned comb, and it's actually another woman's jealous that wakes her, when her enraged aunt goes to pull out her hair.

It gets even more interesting, so go read the whole article HERE. 

The Waltz from Enchanted Fan Art by Alice X. Zhang

On the note of trends in entertainment, if this is something you follow (which if you write you should, at least in a basic sense), this article HERE is also worth a look, and not just because in it's "Lessons" list it has "1) Dark fairy tales rule." There's one line quoted in the comments that writers and creators everywhere should remember when trying to promote ideas, follow public trends or predict Hollywood leanings - and this will most definitely apply to fairy tales being revised/retold too:

I'm reminded of the screenwriter who once remarked that the lesson Hollywood drew from the success of the movie TITANIC was "we need to make more movies about boats". (From commenter Chip Overlock.)

So far, it seems that Snow White isn't into the "more boats" business just yet, (thank goodness) but the time is bound to come. It may even be the case that tapping other fairy tales in the hopes they'll shine like Snow White currently does, is doing just that. Despite how difficult it is to see this happen to tales we love, I don't think this is anything to be too worried about in the long term. One of the wonderful things about fairy tales is that they ARE so old. Their substance is, well, substantial, and remains so. No matter what anyone does with them, they'll always come back, sometimes in ways you least expect (such as hit TV shows that send Disney galloping back to their feature fairy tale franchise, despite them swearing off fairy tales (again) forever.) If there's a lesson Hollywood could learn from the Snow White resurgence it might be: never underestimate a sleeping princess. ;) 

Disney's Pocahontas Fan Art by Alice X. Zhang*

* The artist featured in this post in the amazingly talented Alice X. Zhang who is  professional artist and illustrator. I included the Pocahontas piece simply because I thought her work was worth featuring by itself. I particularly love her more recent painterly portraits of celebrities and popular characters. The links under the images go to her website except for the last one which links to her blog. THERE, in her Tumblr blog, you can see her works in progress, sketches and inspirations. Not surprisingly there are a lot of fantasy-based works and images there so fairy tale people should find plenty of lovely things. :)

(Edit comment)

The Odd Life of Timothy Green

With all the emphasis on fairy tale film retellings like Mirror, Mirror, Snow White and the Huntsman, Jack the Giant Killer, Maleficent etc there's one fairy tale inspired movie that may have slipped past your radar.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green definitely has echoes of Tom Thumb, the main difference being that Timothy/Tom grows to normal boy proportions so the focus of the story becomes different (ie not all about a miniature person in a world of giants), though his appearance is just as magical.

The official synopsis is as follows:

Cindy Green and Jim Green, a childless couple, become frustrated with their inability to conceive, so one night they dream up their ideal offspring and write the child's characteristics and life events on pieces of paper, including "scoring the winning goal." The couple places the notes in a box and buries them in their backyard. After a stormy night in Stanleyville, a 10-year-old arrives at their doorstep, claiming the Greens as his own. Soon they realize that the child, named Timothy, is far more special than they originally thought.

Sounds a little yawn-worthy but I'd be very surprised if there wasn't more to this movie than first meets the eye (just like Timothy Green). The movie was originally the idea of Ahmet Zappa (who is the multi-talented son of Frank Zappa and has a long association with Disney in various capacities) and the script was written by Peter Hedges (About A Boy, Dan In Real Life, What's Eating Gilbert Grape?).

Here's the trailer:


This is a Disney movie and was in production well before the edgy side of fairy tales became vogue again but it's clear that this film's theme focuses on things that aren't as they appear to be (and is PG) , so we may be surprised beyond the normal family fare one might expect. Overall the images released for the film so far are almost all of idyllic family photo ops but clearly that wouldn't sustain an entire movie so I'm wondering what we're not seeing. The additional colorful images I've found below (also shown in the trailer) certainly hint at more other-worldliness to come.

There hasn't been a lot of buzz about it to date, at least not since the poster was first released, and I'm curious to see how it will be marketed for a summer release now the tide of public interest has shifted toward fairy tales that show their shadows.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green is due for release on August 15, 2012.

Rapunzel Themed Wedding Photography

This lovely and unusual wedding photo shoot was a creative project to showcase the talents of the team at Connection Photography.

The wood setting is lovely and their custom built tree house adds that extra whimsy that makes this "wedding photography" unique and fun.

There are many (many!) more photos from this shoot which you can see HERE and a lot more beautiful and lovely themed shoots to see on the Connection Photography blog HERE. Just be aware that the blog is very image heavy and can take quite a while to load. It also has auto-play music but at least the player is easily visible at the head so you can turn it off straight away. Other than these little things there is a lot to enjoy there, especially if you like vintage-style photography.

Article: We Want More From Snow White

By Denis Zilber for a German anti-alcohol campaign

Now this is the sort of article I've been expecting to surface ever since ABC's Once Upon A Time became a hit. It starts like this:

The Little Mermaid is problematic. The girl who hates what she is, the misguided infatuation, the boy who likes a girl who knows how to keep her mouth shut . . .

Beauty and the Beast is probably worse. Kidnapping. Stockholm Syndrome. Interspecies angst.

Sleeping Beauty? Arrested development. Rapunzel? Desperation. Cinderella? One-night stand.

But none of these demented fairy tales have anything on Snow White.

In a fairy-tale cage match for the title of "most deranged, most horrific, most berserk classic children's story," Snow White lays waste to the competition. (And then devours the competition's internal organs.)

It's the kind of story you'd create if you were trying to mess kids up.

While this isn't exactly my view of Snow White (nor of the other tales - at least not as simply), the writer, does have some good points, especially as they echo concerns parents are currently having in reading kids fairy non-Disney versions of fairy tales.  My argument would be that's exactly why they should be read (but I digress and that's another paper altogether... ;)

Little Snow White by David T. Wenzel

She also goes on to talk about the Snow White movies in production, Once Upon A Time and puts forth theories as to why Snow White has gotten (and is getting) so many adaptations. I like what she finishes with (which explains also why the rest of the article is still very much worth a read):

I think we want more for Snow White — and more from her — than her story ever gives us. So we just keep coming up with new ways to tell it.

For some people this may be true and it may very well inspire new takes. Personally I think there is far more to Little Snow White (Grimm's version) than meets the eye, which is why I keep going back to it, but ultimately it doesn't matter. The best thing is that people are thinking - really thinking - about fairy tales and why these stories keep coming back to us again and again.

You can read the whole article HERE. 

"Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters" Release Postponed Till 2013

Were you wondering whatever happened to the promised Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters trailer, supposed to appear the week after the first (and only) official image hit the web? Don't worry. You didn't miss anything (except for perhaps the colon that's officially no longer in the title). Not only has the trailer NOT been publicly* released but the movie release has now been postponed for almost a whole year... 

Cue "music of doom".

Yes, you're not the only one thinking this doesn't bode well for the quality of the movie but the studio people are insisting the date change is for valid reasons, not because there's anything wrong with the movie. They even cited three "valid reasons":

The move comes on the heels of the successful opening of Paramount's micro-budgeted horror pic The Devil Inside and Christmas tentpole Mission: Impossible--Ghost Protocol, which has already earned $458.1 million worldwide. The two films almost guarantee that the studio will have a good fiscal quarter (and Devil Inside--scoring the best opening ever for early January--proves the corridor can be lucrative).  

There are two other reasons for the move, according to an insider. The 3D materials for Hansel and Gretel are only now coming in, and Paramount wants time to market the 3D aspect, particularly overseas.

Third, Renner -- who stars opposite Tom Cruise in Ghost Protocol -- has two other 2012 films, The Avengers, which comes out in early May, and The Bourne Legacy, which hits theaters in early August. The insider said pushing back Hansel and Gretel also allows the movie to benefit from the exposure Renner earns from those two films.

Are your fears allayed? Mine neither.  The only good thing about this is that ten months is long enough to fix a movie already well into production (that is, if you work hard, have a decent budget and know what you're doing).

It's really not fair to make any sort of judgement on the film without seeing a single second of footage but the fact we haven't even been allowed that yet, especially so close to the original release date, says a lot all by itself. I'm just glad someone had the guts to do something about it before putting anything out there. Fairy tale zeitgeist or not, it's still going to be tough to win over mainstream audiences with such "an inherently pulpy design" (as one source describes the premise and approach) unless they've really nailed it. I wish the team every success as they put on the finishing touches, however many hammers they have to use. 

Sources: HERE, HERE & HERE

*Publicly released no, but some people have seen it, with reportedly guarded to outright negative responses. (See 2nd source for a more detailed summary).

"Hans My Hedgehog" Story Poster by Yael Albert

I found this recently and loved, not only seeing some new artwork for a fairy tale I love but that the poster takes you through the whole story as well. I wish there were more tales illustrated this way. They'd make wonderful teaching and reference tools as well as fantastic additions to a playroom.

The artist, Yael Albert is an Israeli-born illustrator who, although she seems fairly new on the scene (within the last few years) has hit the ground running going from high profile awards to publishing contracts in New York, including The New York Times (click to see his illustration).

Unfortunately I can't seem to find any details on why this poster was made or what inspired her. I also sincerely wish there was a high resolution image of this poster available so I could see all the details in context but we'll have to settle for a few enlarged images instead.

I wanted to mention her lovely little postcard sketches from her blog too (like this one HERE). Apparently she found some old postcards and doodled in some imaginary aspects for each one - what a great idea! I love them. They're completely fairy tale-like in their atmosphere and remind me of when I was a child and thinking of tales in different situations. 

Her website is HERE, her blog HERE and this beautiful Hans My Hedgehog poster was originally found HERE.

Tim Burton's "Pinocchio", Guillermo del Toro's Stop-Motion "Pinocchio" & a "Pinocchio Prequel" All In The Works

How did I miss this Burton announcement this week? The fairy tale movie list just keeps growing and growing... and that's the truth. ;)

Burton, who put his bizarrely charming stamp on "Alice in Wonderland" in 2010, is in talks to direct a Warner Bros.-produced big screen, live action adaptation of "Pinocchio." Circling the role of Geppetto, the puppet-maker and creator of the marionette boy, is none other than Robert Downey Jr. This version of the fairytale originally written by Carlo Collodi would see Geppetto seeking out his lost puppet son; past iterations, including the classic Disney cartoon, have focused more on the twists, turns and lessons learned during Pinocchio's quest to become a real boy and reunite with the puppet-maker. 

Neither director nor actor has signed on the dotted line, and scheduling still has to be worked out, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, they are both keen to sign on. Source: HERE

Once somebody puts ink on a contract somewhere and makes this more than a conversation we should get quite a few more details on this Gepetto-centric adaptation since Burton doesn't take long to jump into his projects when he has all his strings in hand. (The media are going to have a field day with the puns on this one! And someone is going to have to say something about Robert Downey Jr going from Iron Man to wooden boy...)

Speaking of Pinocchio adaptations, whatever happened to the Guillermo del Toro, Henson & Gris Grimley 3D stop-motion animation project? I snapped up the Gris Grimley illustrated book that was the inspiration for this adaptation, back when it appeared years ago. Even though it's "Gris Grimley dark", it also has an interesting humor to the illustrations and suits Collodi's original story (technically "stories") very well. Add in the other creative heavy weights (del Toro and Henson Co) and the potential for a film like this is amazing.

Guillermo del Toro's Stop Motion Pinocchio

Here's the info from earlier last year:

Guillermo del Toro, The Jim Henson Company and Pathe are moving forward with a stop-motion animated 3D Pinocchio. It is a feature adaptation of the Carlo Collodi fairy tale and will reportedly be edgier than the 1940 animated Disney classic. Gris Grimly is set to co-direct with Mark Gustafson, and production will begin later this year. The basis of this project was Grimly's 2002 illustrated book of of Collodi’s tale. Del Toro and Matthew Robbins crafted the story based on a script from Robbins, who has collaborated with del Toro on scripts for Mimic, the Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark remake, and the upcoming At the Mountains of Madness. The director is producing the feature along with Jim Henson Company’s Lisa Henson and Jason Lust, and Allison Abbate. Gary Ungar is exec producer along with Pathe’s Francois Ivernel and Cameron McCracken. This version will be for audiences 10 years and up, and will be scarier than the Disney film. Australian musician and film composer Nick Cave will serve as the music consultant for the project. The puppets and 3D elements will be developed with the UK's MacKinnon and Saunders, that did The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, and the upcoming Frankenweenie.

Guillermo de Toro's Pinocchio - key frame

And, in case you haven't read them before, here are some excerpts from an interview with Guillermo del Toro regarding Pinocchio, Collodi's characters and fairy tale recorders and adaptors (including Disney) from HERE:

“There has to be darkness in any fairy tale or children’s narrative work, something the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson and Walt Disney understood. We tend to call something Disney-fied, but a lot of people forget how powerfully disturbing the best animated Disney movies are, including those kids being turned into donkeys in Pinocchio. What we’re trying to do is present a Pinocchio that is more faithful to the take that Collodi wrote. That is more surreal and slightly darker than what we’ve seen before.”

“the Blue Fairy is really a dead girl’s spirit. Pinocchio has strange moments of lucid dreaming bordering on hallucinations, with black rabbits. The sperm whale that swallows Pinocchio was actually a giant dogfish, which allows for more classical scale and design. The many mishaps Pinocchio goes through include several near-death close calls, a lot more harrowing moments. The key with this is not making any of it feel gratuitous, because the story is integrated with moments of comedy and beauty. He’s one of the great characters, whose purity and innocence allows him to survive in this bleak landscape of robbers and thugs, emerging from the darkness with his soul intact.”

So the current status on this project is unknown apart from being "in production". Apparently it went into production toward the end of 2011 as planned and things have been very quiet from the team (I'm guessing they're very busy!) since.

Guillermo de Toro's Pinocchio - key frame

There's one more Pinocchio project in the works too: a prequel called The Three Misfortunes of Gepetto with Shawn Levyy (Real Steel) attached to direct as of October 2011 (see HERE for a couple more details). It's being touted as “a fresh way into the Pinocchio story.” 

Deadline report the studio bought Michael Vukadinovich's screenplay for The Three Misfortunes of Geppetto, and aim to produce a film in the vein of "Big Fish or The Princess Bride." In the story, Geppetto "endures a life of misfortune, war and adventure all to be with Julia Moon, his true love." (Source: HERE)

Not much else on this project right now either but I'm sure it will get more than a few mentions and perhaps nudge out any further news (if there is any) with the Burton & Robert Downey Jr. announcement this week.