Fairy Tale Roundup: Everything Comic-Con and a Sci-Fi Snow White Movie!

Oh geeze Comic-Con. Why you gotta have all this stuff coming out right now? Quick round up of Comic-Con and other things, mostly gathered, curated and analyzed by the lovely Once Upon a Blog.



The Fairy Tale Comic-Con Line Up
First, fairy tales were well represented at Comic Con this year! Sure you had OUAT and it's spin off, and Grimm, and the CW's Beauty and the Beast, but you also had some beautiful fairy tale artists featured, the disturbing toy series Ever After High, and the sexy and gory Grimm Fairy Tales animated series which I don't know whether to squee about, or shake my fist in feminist rage. Click the link to see the rest!

-----

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
OUATW..which is a weird acronym....and it's 19 minutes of footage shown at Con seems to have had a positive response from Io9. "Gorgeous, fun, and scary" is certainly more than I had hoped for! Especially with the confectionery CGI in OUAT. (Click the link for details of the footage). It now is a mash up of Alice in Wonderland and Aladdin, which are two worlds I never would have thought to put together. Naveen Andrews (Sayid from Lost, yes, but I do love him as Balraj in Bride and Prejudice: click to see him singing and dancing) is going to play Jafar. This means that, as promicing as the premise of OUATW is, diverging from the Disney Alice, we will definitely still see Disney influence in the other worlds they promise. Sadface. See more of my sadface in the next item.

-----

OUAT: Neverland and The Little Mermaid

In regular OUAT, our heroes and villains have all banded together to save Henry. Why? I do not know. I feel like they need to stop hanging their seasons on a character that no one really cares about. Peter Pan will be non-traditional, as we have seen bits of, which is thrilling! Way to not just tell the Disney version! Though we do have Rufio as one of the lost boys. And we have this little gem:

Why you gotta be like that, OUAT? It's still the same schizophrenic show: half dark new spins on fairy tales (shadow Peter Pan, Little Red as the Wolf) and half Disney advertisement. I wouldn't be so frustrated with it if it didn't simply reinforce that the Disney versions are the only versions of these tales. Of course the Little Mermaid is a redhead named Ariel. Isn't that how it is in the original? Grumble, grumble. 

-----

Robert Downey Jr's Pinocchio

Once Upon a Blog rises to the occasion yet again, and digs up some really juicy stuff about RDJ's Pinocchio: the conflicts in development and speculation on the content of the movie. Thanks for the shout out, friend! I only have the Disney version of Pinocchio for reference (hypocrite much, Megan?) and sad to say I remember not liking it very much. But looking back on simply the plot itself, there is so much to mine about what it means to be a person, father/son relationships, giving in to temptation, selflessness, all of that. Once Upon a Blog supplements the analysis with really beautiful illustrations by Roberto Innocenti that highlight a darker dimension to Pinocchio that I never new existed. 

-----

Jupiter Ascending: A Sci-Fi Snow White Movie

At last! An outside-the-box fairy tale movie adaptation! Here, I cannot quibble with deviation from the main story, because they are using the Snow White tale to inform a new narrative...IN SPACE! The movie is said to be "the Snow White fairytale fused with Japanese pop culture in a sci-fi and futuristic mythological masterpiece" directed by the Wachowski’s  (The Matrix and Cloud Atlas). So you know it is going to be trippy and awesome.

"Jupiter Jones (Kunis) was born under a night sky, with signs predicting that she was destined for great things. Now grown, Jupiter dreams of the stars but wakes up to the cold reality of a job cleaning toilets and an endless run of bad breaks. Only when Caine (Tatum), a genetically engineered ex-military hunter, arrives on Earth to track her down does Jupiter begin to glimpse the fate that has been waiting for her all along – her genetic signature marks her as next in line for an extraordinary inheritance that could alter the balance of the cosmos."

Channing Tatum is a...ahem... "hybrid wolf and human. And half albino." That is crazy and awesome and I love it. And Sean Bean is in it too! 50 bucks says he'll die.

The design stuff looks amazing too! "The costumes and makeup on some of the extras look like 17th century French royalty that had their clothes tailored in Southeast Asia. " They claim to be doing filmic things that have never been done before, and the stunts are all real, not CGI. Not sure I am cool with the, "I want you to have sex with me in an alley" promo images, but we shall see! Click the link for more info, pictures, and Once Upon a Blog's thoughts.

Fairy Tale Roundup: Cinderella Movie, Snow White and Rose Red, English Censorship, Werewolves vs. Little Red, and the OUAT Wonderland Trailer

Catching up in the fairy tale world, here are several highlights from the blogosphere!

1) Robb Stark is cast as Prince Charming in the Kenneth Branagh/ Cate Blanchett Cinderella
Intreguing. Very promicing that he is much more than just a pretty face. And Cate Blanchett as the stepmother is phenominal. Kenny directing? Not sure. There are few films he has directed recently that I have been thrilled with. Sure, Much Ado, Henry V and Midwinter's Tale are amazing! But after that, his movies seem to tip from passionate realism into melodrama. Love's Labor's Lost was charming and had some excellent moments, but a bit ridiculous, and Thor was interesting, but certainly not all that it could have been. Hopefully he will do what he does best: keep the camera rolling and let the amazing actors loose to do their thing.

Don't forget, this was the Cinderella Mark Romanek (dir. Never Let Me Go) was going to direct before his concept was deemed too dark for Disney. Let's hope Ken doesn't swing in the opposite direction. Or at least sticks to his artistic guns and does not pander to Disney execs.

2) Snow White and Rose Red by Kelly Vivanco
Kelly Vivanco, one of my favorite artists, has written and illustrated an adaptation of one of the strangest and most interesting fairy tales, Snow White and Rose Red. She has a way of capturing a question in a painting. You are always compelled to ask "Why?" There is a fox in a top hat. Why? There is a girl sitting in a field with flowers, but she doesn't look happy. Why? Click here for more of her beautiful work.

3) Tales of Faerie has recently come out with two excellent posts. The first one, When Grimms' Fairy Tales Came to England,  is about how the English, nostalgic for "authentic" old traditions and values in the throws of the industrial revolution, took the Grimm's fairy tales and adapted them for 19th century England, cleaning up the morals, making them appropriate for children, and emphasizing the often false idea that the tales were collected from folksy German peasants.

The second, Werewolves and Little Red Riding Hood, is an exploration of the relationship between werewolf legends and Little Red Riding Hood tales. She draws connections between tales of werewolf trials in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries and the folktales of the little child accosted by the wolf in the same towns a century or two later. She examines common elements of those tales and extrapolates on their meaning, free from any morals or edits Perrault may have imposed.

4) Lastly, we finally have a trailer for Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, and you know what? It looks pretty good!

It begins by embracing the darker traditions of the Alice in Wonderland story that have sprung up in popular culture and analysis, exploring the idea of Alice's madness. I love that it is taking a darker route. I am a bit confused by the genie, and how that fits into Wonderland, and the CGI looks mostly pretty sub-par as I feared, but overall, I'm excited!

Travel: A Fairy Tale Hotel

Flavorwire treats us to some fantastic hotels inspired by literature, from an Ice Palace, to a romantic couples themed hotel, to one organized by the Dewey Decimal System! The one we are chiefly interested in, however, is the Maison Moschino in Milan, Italy, a fairy tale themed hotel! While Flavorwire showcases the Alice in Wonderland room, I loved the Little Red Riding Hood Room with it's strange wolf in comforter clothing!

While the other rooms don't strictly reference any one fairy tale, their design evokes strong images that crop up on many:

Life is a Bed of Roses: 

Luxurious Attic (with magical secrets hiding in boxes):

The Forest:

Sleeping in a Ballgown:

Sweet Room (very Hansel and Gretel):

Blue:

Half a Room (a bit Alice in Wonderlandy too!):

Zzzzzzzzz:

Tumblr Goodness: Fairy Tales for Twenty-Somethings

Yesterday, both Io9 and Flavorwire pointed us in the direction of a hilarious Tumblr blog called Fairy Tales for Twenty-Somethings, where our favorite fairy tales are facing quarter-life crises. It is my new favorite thing!

Here are a few and yes, a lot of these are not fairy tales, but they are funny, so I do not care:

Alice in Wonderland (Children's Book):

The crazy thing is that eventually even Alice began to doubt whether what she’d seen down the rabbit hole had ever really existed. And it didn’t make her sad, there was nothing overly dramatic about it, it was just that now she understood how the world actually worked.

But then she was tagged in a photo by an old friend, by the White Rabbit. It was a faded picture of her and the Cheshire Cat, and, wow, it just brought her right back.

The Prince and the Pauper (Children's Book):

The prince and the pauper unfriended each other on Facebook because neither one could stand the other’s political status updates.

Beauty and the Beast (Traditional Fairy Tale): 

 Beauty wanted to bring the Beast to meet her friends but she was nervous because they all had these super-hot boyfriends who worked in finance. She loved the Beast for who he was, she really did, but her friends were shallow and judgmental.

“Maybe you should get some new friends,” Siri advised.
 

King Arthur (Legend):

After pulling the sword from the stone but before becoming king, Arthur went on a cross-country road trip / vision quest. He crashed on friends’ couches or, on a few nights, the back seat of his car. He went to Burning Man, stayed in the mountains of Montana for a few weeks, and learned to build a cigar-box guitar from some guy on the street in New Orleans.

When he finally arrived home, a wiser man, he thought, “That shit was awesome. I gotta find a way to do that all the time.”

The Tortoise and the Hare (Fable):

The tortoise and the hare met for coffee. They each casually mentioned their recent successes, secretly hoping to appear better than the other. As they walked their separate ways home it hit them at the same time: There never was a race. There is no destination. There is no winner.

Little Mermaid (Literary Fairy Tale):

the little mermaid was a human now but sometimes at an upscale party someone would say to her, “that’s a very unusual accent. where are you from?” her past haunted her. she could never escape who she used to be.

The Ugly Ducking (Literary Fairy Tale)

The ugly duckling read obscure works of literature in other languages and listened to indie music even the guys in the record store had never heard of. if i’m not going to be prettier than anyone, she thought, i’m at least going to be better than them.

Chicken Little (Folk Tale):

chicken little knew she was supposed to be in a good mood while out with her friends, but she just didn’t feel it. she had this certainty that something was wrong even though she couldn’t name what it was. then she started going to therapy and realized all these things about her childhood she’d never thought of in that way. she also started doing hot yoga.

The Emperor's New Clothes (Literary Fairy Tale):

 the emperor bought a new fedora but all his friends thought he looked really stupid in it.

Cinderella (Traditional Fairy Tale):

 when cinderella left the ball right before midnight, the prince stood in the doorway and watched her go. “i’m so stupid,” he said to himself in bed that night. “did she want me to kiss her? maybe i should’ve kissed her. fuck, i should’ve just kissed her.”

TV: CW is doing an Alice in Wonderland series

(I hope it is at least as good as Malice In Wonderland)

So this is happening....

Here is an excellent commentary by our favorite blog, Io9:

"The CW is adding yet another fairy tale series to their list of new shows. First, it was the Beauty and the Beast reboot, then a Sleepy Hollow series, and now an Alice in Wonderland show tragically named Wunderland.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that director McG (who has a long track record with successful television — movies, not so much) is partnering up with The Playboy Club's Chad Hodge to produce and write this Alice-inspired series.

"The drama will center on a young female detective in present-day Los Angeles who discovers another world that exists under the surface of this ultra-modern city."

Remember, "female detective" is television code for "a woman who punches people." The pilot will be an hour long. We're not sure what to think about this yet, as the best fairy TV series ever was The 10th Kingdom which has yet to be topped. If this pilot gets made, it will be the fourth fairy tale show on television (and the second fairy tale show on CW starring a lady cop)."

Aaaand double points for thinking The 10th Kingdom is the best fairy tale series of all time, because it is the truth! If you don't know 10th Kingdom, watch it now. You will be glad you did.

Anyways, color me not really excited about Wunderland. Beauty and the Beast, the other fairy tale show on the CW, has missed the whole Beast part. It looks so lackluster that I have stopped reading any news for it. It's gotten to the point that rather than being excited about the new fairy tales movies and tv shows coming out, I am begging them to prove to me that they can do a good one. However, I am doing an OUAT re-watch, which I will report on later, but it is all because, despite my better judgement, I am pretty excited about the goings on in Storybrook this year.