Happy 100th Birthday Little Mermaid Statue (A Pictorial Tribute)

In August 23, 1913, a new fairy tale icon was unveiled on the shores of Copenhagen, Denmark and, one hundred years later, she remains as beautiful, alluring and enchanting as ever.

The statue was commissioned in 1909 by Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of Carlsberg, after he had been fascinated by a ballet about the fairytale. The sculptor Edward Eriksen created the statue, which was unveiled on 23 August 1913. His wife, Eline Eriksen, was the model. (Source)

She's left her mark on history and made a few strong statements here and there but will always best be known for her wistful beauty.

Before we look at her (occasionally scandalous) highlights, here are a selection of lovely photos:

She's been used in art and film (including having Disney's Little Mermaid take her pose on screen)...

... had installations exhibited near and next to her...

... been the focus of some controversial political and social statements and protests...

... survived being vandalized via paint (red, green and pink), having a "marital device" attached to her hand, being blown off her rock by explosives (!)...

... and losing her head...

... was (legitimately) turned pink for International Day of the Girl (October 11)...

... was finally given a male counterpart...

... and has even briefly traveled the world.

The Little Mermaid preps for her trip to Shanghai for the World Expo in March 2010

Excerpt from archived article at TheSqueeze: 

On March 25th (2010), The Little mermaid began her journey to Shanghai, to be part of the World Expo 2010. She will represent the cultural exchange between Denmark and China. 

...The Little Mermaid is leaving her homeland for the first time, since she was unveiled in the Copenhagen Harbor in 1913. There has been a big controversy over the decision to move the statue, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale, which is the city’s most popular landmark. The idea of sending a replica was dismissed by the Danish commissioner-general, Christopher Bo Bramsen, for Expo 2010.  

While she will be away, a video installation by the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei will be installed at her spot, until she returns in November.

Here's a video (very beautifully filmed!) of the Little Mermaid being kidnapped, er, relocated for the Expo:

EXPO mermaid from martin de thurah on Vimeo.

While she was away the Little Mermaid was replaced briefly by this:

Then by this:

If you are well familiar with HCA's Little Mermaid you know it's very poetic that she did, indeed, get to see the world. Despite the controversy, it seems a fitting tribute in more ways than one.

She's been back for a while now and continues to preside over the harbor, posing for thousands of photos per year, reminding everyone of her story*.

Denmark is having a slew of 100th celebrations events in the latter half of this year (and some beyond), some of which are detailed HERE.

Happy Birthday Little Mermaid!

*The Little Mermaid was written by Hans Christian Andersen and first published in 1837. It is said to be Andersen's most personal work.

Jennifer Hudson as Tiana by Annie Leibovitz

Just revealed about an hour ago, here's the latest pic in the celebrity Disney Dream Portrait campaign for Disney Parks: Jennifer Hudson as Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.

You can see a little from behind the scenes of the photoshoot below:

The image will be seen in issues of Vanity Fair, O – The Oprah Magazine, and People.

Breaking News: Disney's Next (Unannounced) Fairy Tale: "Giants"

Remember me hinting there was another fairy tale feature in development at Disney Feature Animation I couldn't yet announce due to Disney pulling all the info? Well this is it. And this time it's "boy-centric".

Make way for Giants. (Actually Storm Giants.)

Since D23 has spilled the beans on many Disney projects we've also gotten some sneak peeks at films in development too. This movie is still pretty early on in the development process and Disney have yet to officially announce this so there's a chance it may go away BUT for now it's looking solid.

Director Nathan Greno (co-director on Tangled) has already pulled together a couple of table reads (ie, he has a working script) and is well into the concept and design stage as well. Giants is said to be to Jack and the Beanstalk "what Tangled is to Rapunzel and Frozen is to the Snow Queen", which means it could have many things in common with the fairy tale or it only be using the fairy tale as a starting point.

Thanks to Brendon Connelly at Bleeding Cool, as of yesterday afternoon, we have some character and plot details - much more than expected! Note: it appears that the human characters are actually human as well (not talking mice, or ducks, or whatever Goofy is*):

(A) few years from now, we’ll be some distance away from Bryan Singer’s Jack the Giant Slayer, a film with which Giants shares more than a few specifics.
For one thing, they both have a hero called Jack, and Giants named for the Fee Fi Fo Fum rhymes. In this story, these names are abbreviations of Feebus, Fifen, Fogel and Fobert, a family of giants at the heart of the tale. There’s another brother too, Faustus, their leader. Like all good villains, he’s got a relatable point of view, he’s just not quite joining the dots correctly. 

Also like Singer’s film, we see the introduction of a love interest from a class above Jack. In this case, Angelina isn’t royalty, but just from a merchant family, though her parents do see him as being “below” her. 

Stills from Disney's Mickey & the Beanstalk 1947

The real money is manifest in Marco, born to nobility and the third corner of a love triangle with Jack and Angelina. He’s a good guy, though, and the only reason he and Jack can’t be fast friends from the off is that they’re both drawn to Angelina. And, yes, he’s called Marco because, like Polo, he wants to travel – and to open up trade routes. 

The fourth human lead is Inma, a scrappy tomboy type – and something of a class warrior, I understand. She’s the one I’m rooting for in this story, the tireless fighter against injustice, taken less seriously because she happens to be a pre-teen girl. Of course, there is that story about David and Goliath…
But, okay, it’s not the humans that get the title billing here. It’s the giants. The Storm Giants. Huge, thunderous figures. 

In this story, the Storm Giants have made a pact with the humans. If the humans work for them and give them a percentage of their harvest and livestock, they’ll return the favour by keeping danger and threats at bay. At first, it must have been appealing to have a Giant agree to fight your corner, but the people aren’t getting enough for themselves now. Faustus’ name is seeming to be a touch ironic. 

And this is where we find ourselves at the beginning. As you might expect, there’s then a journey up to where the Giants live and some terrible conflict between the humans and the Storm Giants. There’s a lot of sneaking about and gruesome recipes and all that good stuff you’re used to from fairy tales about ogres and their ilk. 

But what you may not expect is how Jack ends up befriending one of the Storm Giants – and this is what sews the beans, if you will, for the adventure, and the big changes it brings about.

There has been no official response from Disney on Giants at this time.

You can read the rest of the article HERE, which also highlights details on the approach of the film and how it's likely to end up looking. (And yes - it will be CG, not hand drawn. It's going to take a huge success elsewhere in 2D land for Disney to try that again unfortunately.)

From the details above, this sounds like it actually might be a Jack and the Beanstalk retelling this time around, instead of one of those vague "inspired by" concoctions so, after being sadly disappointed by Frozen's lack of a fairy tale anywhere to be seen (it might be a beautiful fantasy but it's not The Snow Queen and it's not a "new" fairy tale either) my interest in what Disney might do with a fairy tale is once again piqued. It's early days yet though (very early) so right now we can still expect quite a few changes.

It won't be the first time Disney has tackled Jack and the Beanstalk (the classic Mickey and the Beanstalk short from 1947 is quite wonderful and images from that film have popped up regularly in Disney's merchandise and products along the way, including the video game Epic Mickey). Disney/ABCs Once Upon A Time had a brief storyline line about Jack (Jacqueline) and the Beanstalk but it felt unexplored and too short lived, though the giant, Anton, did survive to make it to Storybrooke and in episodes beyond and the magic beans have been the main magic source for most of Season 2 (and catapulted the characters into Neverland for Season 3).

I'm very curious to see how they handle the boy-billing for a fairy tale feature animated film and if they can resist the princess marketing tie-ins in any way. There's a lot more to fairy tales than just princesses and I'd dearly love to see one of the biggest influences on fairy tale perception today acknowledge that (and maybe even have fun).

Here, to remind you how fun Jack and the Beanstalk can be is Mickey and the Beanstalk, complete with introduction by Professor Ludwig von Drake, who reminds viewers that Jack and the Beanstalk has been told many times by many different people in many different ways.

Enjoy.

Additional source: Slashfilm

*Goofy is supposed to be a dog but Pluto doesn't seem aware of that and Goofy is in love with Clarabelle... which is... bizarre.

Princess Apocalypse On the Horizon (New Toy Line For Girls Who Like Princesses AND Zombies)

This hasn't been on my radar at all and I didn't pick up any note of it around ComicCon time either BUT prepare to see some new fairy tale dolls - with an undead difference - entering stores in the near future: from the toy company that brought you Angry Birds, meet the princesses of Once Upon A Zombie. (Aimed at girls aged 6+ yrs.)

Initially released in Brazil (and received with great enthusiasm!) these dolls  - and corresponding game - are designed for little girls who love princesses but also love monsters, or more specifically, zombies. It's Monster High meets Ever After High.

Rather than talk about them at length I'll just show you the marketing and a bunch of released images as well as an introductory video. That pretty much tells you everything you need to know.

The marketing in the US appeared to begin at SDCC (San Diego Comic Con) this year, with cos-players carrying the dolls and posing them in various locations for photo ops, as well as a booth display.

I have no doubt there's a market for these. I kept seeing little girls  - 5, 6, 7 years old in the store around school supply buying time, preferring Monster High backpacks and folders to Barbie products, much to the chagrin of their suburbanely-coiffed* mothers (I fully admit to giving these kids a thumbs-way-up behind their parent's backs when I see this happen). The only problem is the quality of the doll design isn't quite up to Mattel's standard so they may seem like a poor substitute.

While they're clearly taking their cue from Disney movies as to which zombie heroine to do next, we may see some surprises. Here are some teased designs from their Facebook page:

They've even started designing some male zombies for the princesses to have adventures with.

I will admit, my reaction on seeing these was "you've GOT to be kidding" which quickly turned into "Well I can understand Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid being turned into zombies but why the others?" which goes to show you I may think about these things a little differently to most others... Heh. My six year old on the other hand: "Once Upon A Zombie? That's funny. They definitely need a zombie Big Bad Wolf..."

While it's most definitely news-of-the-weird** for fairy tales, it's interesting to see the current fascination in pop culture with zombies trickle down to kids - and include fairy tales in the process. Although Disney princesses have been getting the zombie treatment on mass in illustration (especially deviantArt) and on Tumblr for a little while now, and little boys have had their corresponding zombie toys and games since Plants vs Zombies took off in popularity (and won Game of the Year), this is the first overtly undead toy line for girls we've seen.

There are currently six dolls available for order and more coming. No word yet on when they will be hitting stores (ToysRUs, Target, Walmart, Walgreens for starters) but we can expect: a game, story books, notebooks, stationery, backpacks, trading cards, dress-up costumes for Halloween and probably more. If you can't wait you can download the "zombiecam" app and zombie your princess-self to share with your friends...


(If there were ever a time for Pixar  - and other companies - to get moving on their as-yet-untitled Day of the Dead movies, this would be it.)

* "suburbanely-coiffed" - I should copyright that...
** This blog has had some truly odd content recently!  I blame it on the news. And society. What can I say? I'm just telling it like it is.

"Cinderonce" Is Going Viral

I never know what to expect will turn up in fairy tale news and today is one of those days. This is one of the about-to-go-viral stories of the day:  Cinderonce - Cinderella Reimagined Via Beyonce Hits by Todrick Hall

Todrick Hall (YouTube sensation and American Idol finalist) is making a habit of retelling fairy tales and the just-released Cinderonce is no exception.

From The Huffington Post:

Tracking the rag-to-riches storyline through Sasha Fierce (ie Beyonce) hits like "Diva," "Countdown," and "Single Ladies," this brilliant reappropriation of a timeless Disney fairytale will have you gagging for more...

Featuring Shangela as Cinderella's own personal fairy drag-mother, Tiffany Daniels as Cinderella and Todrick (who apparently adds his pipes to Beyonce tracks) as the Prince, this is actually a lot of fun! Take a look:

The other Disney based  "reimaginings" to date are Beauty & the Beat and Cinderfella. Check them out below:

Beauty & the Beat  (think Belle in the Hood). This is hilarious and very much in line with "Somewhere Over the Ghetto":

CinderFella (a musical montage and gay take on Cinderella):

One more side note: Todrick made a "trailer" for the Cinderonce music video before it came out and really hit the suspense notes. It's worth seeing just to take a look at how he condensed the set-up for the Cinderella tale into a buzz-building 20 second suspense marketing piece (note: it may auto-play the next video so hit pause if you've had your Toddy-fill for the day):

What's next in fairy tale news? Stay tuned. 

The Disappointed Beautys You Didn't Know About

Greta Garbo is famously reported, on seeing Jean Cocteau's film La Belle et La Bete as saying: "Give me back my Beast!"* (echoing many a woman's response to the transformation).

Well it turns out Cocteau MEANT for the audience to be disappointed!

Josette Day & Jean Marais
behind the scenes ofLa Belle et La Bete (1946)

From an essay by Cocteau included in one of the DVD packages:

“My story would concern itself mainly with the unconscious obstinacy with which women pursue the same type of man, and expose the naivete of the old fairy tales that would have us believe that this type reaches its ideal in conventional good looks. My aim would be to make the Beast so human, so sympathetic, so superior to men, that his transformation into Prince Charming would come as a terrible blow to Beauty, condemning her to a humdrum marriage and a future that I summed up in that last sentence of all fairy tales: ‘And they had many children.’”

As one commenter on a review wrote:

If this was Cocteau’s intent, his ending should be judged a success. I certainly felt Belle’s letdown.

I'm going to have to go watch it again (for the 52nd time) with this in mind...

Note: There's a really interesting article/review discussing the ending (how let down we are and why) HERE. Although it's all interesting (of course!) the ending is discussed in the second half.

In a related bit of news, a video interview was posted yesterday (August 19) by Stitch Kingdom, taken during D23's tribute to Glen Keane, (Disney veteran and the supervising animator for Disney's Beauty & the Beast) and some trivia emerged that will fascinate fairy tale folks.

While we know Disney referenced Cocteau's version quite a bit while in development, there's one thing the films had in common that likely the animators (and viewers) didn't know at the time (especially as Cocteau's essay referencing his intent with the ending, wasn't widely available then): it's just come to light that at least one key creative knew that viewers - and Belle - would most likely be disappointed with the transformation. There was even a plan to reference that.

Disney meets Cocteau by ~TaijaVigilia

When questioned on the popular rumor that The Beast's name was really Prince Adam, Mr. Keane, while not outright denying it, said this:

‘I never referred to him as anything but Beast,’ he answered. ‘To me he’s always been Beast. I always just believed that Belle called him Beast from the moment that he transformed… so whatever his name was before is not important because he was called Beast after that.’ Keane also went on to add, ‘matter of fact, when he changed into the prince, I knew everybody was going to be disappointed by that, because they fall in love with the beast.’ 

Keane also told us about his plans for keeping the memory of Beast alive even after the transformation. ‘We recorded a line when we were actually recording Robby Benson and Paige O’Hara as they were at that scene where they’re dancing,’ he told us. ‘I wanted there to be this moment where as she’s now dancing with her handsome prince, something’s missing, and she just says, “do you think you can grow a beard?” So we recorded that — we should’ve put it in there — I’m still hoping someday we still put it in there.’

Heh. Wouldn't that be awesome?

You can see the full interview from Stitch Kingdom HERE.

*By the way, critics agree this is likely true and not just an urban legend.

Music: Sara Bareilles - "Fairytale"

Especially for fairy tale MOOC participants, this music video concentrates on the problems of princesses (and other fairy tale heroines) attempting to find their modern happily-ever-afters.

Fairytale is by Sara Bareilles from late 2010 and amusingly takes us through onstage transitions (transformations?) from one fairy tale to another while the artist sings about the problems each of the heroines have.

Megan Reichelt of The Dark Forest mirrored my own reaction perfectly on writing this back in 2012 (which I just discovered - I'm so behind on entries!):

The theatre person in me enjoyed the cardboard cut outs and low-tech special effects. The fairy tale scholar in me loved how theater and fairy tales combined to present a woman who was being pushed into various situations where she had no real autonomy. She may not have wanted to be there, but that is where she was expected to be by others. Theater had her being directed, and lead by stage hands from one scenario to the next. The fairy tale aspect presented the idea that fairy tales are how life is "supposed to be," and Sara has to break free from those constructs to become her own person. 

Here's an excerpt from the lyrics:

Fairytale

by Sara Bareilles

Cinderella's on her bedroom floor

She's got a crush on the guy at the liquor store

'Cause Mr. Charming don't come home anymore

And she forgets why she came here

Sleeping Beauty's in a foul mood for shame

She says, "None for you, dear Prince, I'm tired today

I'd rather sleep my whole life away

Than have you keep me from dreaming"

'Cause I don't care for your fairytales

You're so worried 'bout the maiden

Though you know she's only waiting

On the next best thing, next best thing

Snow White is doing dishes again

'Cause what else could you do with seven itty-bitty men?

Sends them to bed and she calls up a friend

Says, "Would you meet me at midnight?"

The tall blond lets out a cry of despair

Says, "Would've cut it myself if I knew men could climb hair

I'll have to find another tower somewhere

Keep away from the windows"

'Cause I don't care for your fairytales

You're so worried 'bout the maiden

Though you know she's only waiting

On the next best thing, next best thing

You can read the rest of the lyrics HERE.

I recommend going and catching up on Megan's blog, The Dark Forest. She's a smart (and funny) lady who manages to fit a lot of insight into fairy tales and related news into far fewer words than I can. She's also recently expanded the blog to include myth as well as fairy tale. While she's not able to post every day, her articles are always worth the few days break waiting for the next installment. Go enjoy the awesome. :)