Fairy Tale Roundup: Librarian Curated Fairy Tale Books, a new Snow White in the 1950s, Maleficent Bonanza! and Sibling Relations in Beauty and the Beast

So much going on!



Get Genrefied: Fairy Tale Re-tellings
Stacked, an amazing librarian-run book blog, provides us with an amazingly comprehensive list of YA fairy tale adaptations broken down by fairy tale, including old favorites and many I had not heard of!

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'Boy, Snow, Bird' Takes A Closer Look Into The Fairy Tale Mirror

NPR directed our attention to a new adaptation of Snow White that is coming out, about a girl in New England in the 1950s: "Reading the fairy tale, the way that it's so explicit that Snow White's beauty is tied into the whiteness of her skin, there seemed a very clear connection to me with the '50s and '60s in America when there was very much a debate over the rights of a human being based on the color of their skin."

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Reaching a Child with Autism through Disney

Io9 told us the story of a child who used to talk but developed regressive autism, unable to talk and almost unreachable, until he came across a certain scene in The Little Mermaid involving the loss of a voice. Read the entire article in the New York Times for the whole story. 

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Maleficent Pics, News and Trailer

So much new Maleficent stuff. Here are new pics and commentary and an EW interview with Angelina Jolie from Once Upon a Blog, and the full delicious trailer: 

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Sibling Relationships in Beauty and the Beast

Tales of Faerie performs a wonderful analysis of the various versions and adaptations of Beauty and the Beast, specifically regarding Beauty's relationship to her sisters. I didn't realize how very Lear it is! 

Book Review: Cress by Marissa Meyer

Cress

by Marissa Meyer

“I am an explorer,' she whispered, 'setting courageously off into the wild unknown.' It was not a daydream she'd ever had before, but she felt the familiar comfort of her imagination wrapping around her. She was an archeologist, a scientist, a treasure hunter. She was a master of land and sea. 'My life is an adventure.' she said, growing confident as she opened her eyes again. 'I will not be shackled to this satellite anymore.'

Thorne tilted his head to one side. He waited for three heartbeats before sliding one hand down into hers. 'I have no idea what you're talking about,' he said. 'But we'll go with it.” 

Beginning where Scarlet left off, Cinder, Thorne, Scarlet and Wolf are on their ship (voiced by Iko, their droid compatriot) trying to think of a plan to overthrow the Lunar Queen, stop her from marrying Prince Kai and taking over the world. It is not a B movie, I swear. On a satellite circling earth, we find Cress, a long-haired Lunar shell (non-magical Lunar), who has spent her life working for the Queen, hacking their security feeds, monitoring their transmissions, and hiding Lunar movements. In all that time of solitude, she has fallen in love with earth, and more specifically with the dashing and suave Captain Thorne whom she knows is hiding a heart of gold under his selfish exterior. She teams up with our heroes, but when Thorne attempts to rescue her from her lonely outpost, Cress' guardian, the Lunar Thaumaturge finds them, and sends the satellite hurling to earth. In the process, Thorne is blinded (the witch throws the prince from the tower, he lands in thorns and his eyes are gouged out). Cress, newly shorn, and a blind Thorne must find their way across the desert, join Cinder and stop the royal wedding.

To see what I though (Hint: I loved it sooooo much) see my review on Palimpsest! 

Performance: Glassheart Update

Hello everyone!

We are heading in to our first preview tonight! It is Pay What You Can, so if you are in the DC area, come on down! It has been a crazy whirlwind of tech. I have been eating, sleeping and breathing this show.

We had a "Meet the Cast" feature on the Rorschach Theatre Facebook page, so I thought I would share them with you!

Meet our Lamp and Company Member Megan Reichelt

Who are you?
I am Megan Reichelt, administrative assistant/ librarian student by day, actress and fairy tale enthusiast by night.

Where are you from? 
I am originally from Baltimore City, then Catonsville, then CUA, then Silver Spring!

Why are you here? 
To tell stories that people connect to, that help them feel understood, give them an escape, or help them change their lives for the better. The right story at the right time to the right person can change the world.

Also because once upon a time, seven years ago, Deb Sivigny asked me to stage manage a Rorschach show.

And also because fairy tale adaptations are one of my favorite things in the whole world. I love how the stories of the past still speak to the present, and how we reinvent them and live them in every era of human history. “The latest incarnation of Oedipus, the continued romance of Beauty and the Beast, stand this afternoon on the corner of 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, waiting for the traffic light to change.” - Joseph Campbell

What are you enjoying most about Glassheart?
The Lamp is probably the largest, and definitely one of the most difficult characters I have ever played. I am enjoying the challenge of digging into her brain and her heart, listening to her in rehearsals, living in her skin (or her metal and fabric).

I am enjoying playing with my cast mates, none of whom I really knew before we began this process, and collaborating with Lee, whom I have known for a very long time. It is a wonderful gift that we can work on this show together.

I am enjoying living in a fairy tale, an actual fairy tale where "Happily Ever After" is not guaranteed.

If you were a fairy tale character, who would you be and why? 
I would be the girl from East of the Sun and West of the Moon, a Beauty and the Beast (or Cupid and Psyche) story where the girl is taken to the palace of the Polar Bear King in exchange for her family's wealth and happiness. She learns to love the bear, but she makes a terrible mistake and he is taken far away to the castle of his evil stepmother that lies east of the sun and west of the moon. The girl must go into the wilderness, farther than she has ever been, to rescue her prince.

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Meet the Beast

Who are you?

Andrew Keller. Anything past that is just guesswork, and temporary anyway.

Where are you from? 

Born: St. Louis, MO

Raised: Just east of there

Undergrad: An awful place southwest of there

Grad: A glorious place an ocean away

Recently: A toxic place with a few good people

Currently: A beautiful place called "here"

Why are you here? 

Geographically: Because all the cool kids are here.

Emotionally: Because I'm a very lucky person who's been very unlucky in the past.

Physically: Because all systems continue to be functional.

Artistically: Because I've had the unique and incredible blessing of being welcomed by people like me, who encourage individual exploration in the context of a common goal, for nearly my entire artistic life.

Spiritually: Because to be anywhere else than "here" is to miss the point.

What are you enjoying most about Glassheart?

I love being in the company of other people who play, and these people love to play. Like, a lot.

If you were a fairy tale character, who would you be and why? 

Suleiman Bin Daoud from "The Butterfly That Stamped." To be so powerful and yet to be wise enough to not ever use it for one's personal gain is to be the best of humanity.

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Better know your cast w/ Natalie Cutcher, our Aiofe

Who are you?

1.) A day in the life: Good morning, thank you for calling...hi there, may I help you with...are you in need of anything else? What should I pick up? Please tell me we got the coffee shipment. Wait. It didn't arrive?!] How may are in your party? Smile. Smile. Smile. Who and I training today?great. Of course! HOW WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR EGGS POACHED? She love you yeaah, yeaah, yeaaaaaaaaah!
Meanwhile, rehearsal provides the : escape, play, challenge, beauty, laughter, genuine connection

Where are you from?

2.) Virginia technically but really Maryland, college in Pennsylvania (and an incredibly lucky stint in Italy) then DC

Why are you here? 

3.) To explore the thriving theatre scene, expand my culinary pallet, and check out many a-museum in a city where you can see the sky

What are you enjoying most about Glassheart?

4.) So far, the team has been one of the best parts of the process. Everyone is bringing their A-Game to make this piece really vibrant. We're all wrestling with difference challenges along the way but digging into them with gusto. Thanks to Lee there's a fearless spirit in the rehearsal room; we get excited to experiment and really flesh out those moments that need a bit more care. I love watching Megan, Andrew, and Lynette make bold choices--it sets the bar wonderfully high for myself. Everyone in the room is simply happy to be there.

If you were a fairy tale character, who would you be and why? 

5.) Oh geez, I get Snow White a lot probably because I'm patient, enjoy reading, and hum while doing dishes but I've always like the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Although it would be pretty satisfying to frolic with woodland creatures at a moment's notice...

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Meet Rorschach actor Lynette Rathnam, who plays Ms. Russe

Who are you?
Feisty, pensive, annoying, annoyed, powerful, afraid, loving, cold, intense, scattered, driven, dreamer.

Where are you from? 
Maryland

Why are you here? 
To heal wounds from past lives.

What are you enjoying most about Glassheart?
Being wicked, magical and complex

If you were a fairy tale character, who would you be and why?
Someone of great power, magical ability and mystery. Neither good nor bad.

Performance: Glassheart with Rorschach Theatre in DC

“In the empty living room of a shabby apartment,

in the dark, a Beast is crying.

There is just enough light to see that he is monstrous,

and that he is clutching something precious to him.”

Ladies and gentlemen, at long last, I am living the dream. I am in a fairy tale. I am acting in Rorschach Theatre's production of Glassheart, by Reina Hardy, an adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. I play the Lamp. It runs January 17 - February 16th at Atlas Performing Arts Center in DC, with Pay What You Can Previews Janaury 17-19th. Here is our blurb:

"Beauty never showed up. The Beast and his remaining magical servant have moved into a shabby apartment near a 7-11, hoping for a lower cost of living and better luck with girls. This fairy tale includes a building manager with a taste for gingerbread and children, spells that come with a price, an eligible maiden, a kidnapping, and a relentlessly cheery lamp that discovers what – and who – must be sacrificed for an ordinary life."

It has been such an incredible experience so far! It is the largest and probably most complex role of my life, and I am loving every minute of it.

Here are a few pics from rehearsal:

We are about to go into tech, where all the costumes and lights and set elements will come together, so I will definitely have more amazing pictures for you soon!

Fairy Tale and Mythology Round Up: History of Little Red, La Belle et la Bete Trailer, Jupiter Ascending Trailer, Disney Villains High School, Moana: the Next Disney Movie

Grandma, What a Big History You Have!
Back in November, Once Upon a Blog featured an excellently written, moving piece on the history of Little Red Riding Hood and how her story has changed over time to serve the audience, since the first known variation in the 1st century. Well worth the read!

"Fairy tales, on the other hand, are much more mutable and most have their true origins in oral tales and are much more difficult to trace directly. They're accessible to all peoples of culture, time, class, education and to children as well as adults. That the tales are still recognizable after all this, that their motifs and essential stories remain intact ad recognizable speaks to how true they are in speaking about the human condition. As a result fairy tales are not only pretty special, they're essential." 

SurLaLune comments on it as well, and introduces us to the book Revisioning Red Riding Hood Around the World by Sandra L. Beckett and many other Red Riding Hood resources. My personal favorite is Red Riding Hood Uncloaked, but I am excited to sink my teeth into a few of the others she recommends!

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Breaking News: Gans' "La Belle et la Bete" Trailer Released This Morning 
Once Upon a Blog found the trailer for Gans' La Belle et la Bete for us, and it is absolutely stunning! They seem to be doing a straightforward version of the tale, with no modern twists or wierdness. It is actually kind of refreshing.

Here is the 1946 version by Jean Cocteau for comparison:

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Trailer for Jupiter Ascending

We have discussed Jupiter Ascending, the sci-fi Snow White adaptation starring Mila Cunis and Channing Tatum, several times on this blog, but now we have a trailer, and it looks epic! For those longing for a space opera, this is it. Directed by the Wachowski siblings, you know it is going to be visually stunning:

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Why this "Disney Villains: the Next Generation" show is a problem

Io9 recently reported on a new show coming out of Disney:

[The Descendants is set] In a present day idyllic kingdom, the benevolent teenaged son of the King and Queen (Beast and Belle from Disney's iconic Beauty and the Beast) is poised to take the throne. His first proclamation: offer a chance at redemption to the trouble-making offspring of Cruella De Vil, Maleficent, the Evil Queen and Jafar who have been imprisoned on a forbidden island with all the other villains, sidekicks, evil step-mothers and step-sisters. These villainous descendants (Carlos, Mal, Evvie and Jay, respectively) are allowed into the kingdom to attend prep school alongside the offspring of iconic Disney heroes including Fairy Godmother, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel and Mulan. However, the evil teens face a dilemma. Should they follow in their nefarious parents' footsteps and help all the villains regain power or embrace their innate goodness and save the kingdom?

I will let you all respond as your conscience dictates. Io9 has some rather interesting questions about it.

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The Next Disney Movie in Development: Moana (2018)
Disney has another movie coming out for 2018, perhaps as a response to all the backlash Frozen got. It takes place in the South Pacific with a princess (alas, another princess) of color!

"The main character will be Moana Waialiki, a sea voyaging enthusiast, and the only daughter of a chief in a long line of navigators. When her family needs her help, she sets off on an epic journey. The film will also include demi-gods and spirits taken from real mythology."

It sounds like a lot of fun! I am a little nervous because the concept art has her all sexified Hopefully it can be an awesome adventure story without her looking like a stick body with ginormous eyes.

REVIEW: Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs

by Anne Ursu

“A boy got a splinter in his eye, and his heart turned cold. Only two people noticed. One was a witch, and she took him for her own. The other was his best friend. And she went after him in ill-considered shoes, brave and completely unprepared.” 

Hazel has moved from a more progressive, creative school to a traditional school in a new neighborhood. She feels so out of place. All the things she enjoyed about learning are discouraged. Her only touchstone is her best friend Jack. They let their imaginations run wild, inventing stories and playing baseball as superheros who are not allowed to use their powers. However, one day, Jack gets something in his eye, and he is completely different. He is mean to Hazel and doesn't care about what they used to care about. And then he disappears. Everyone thinks he went to visit his aunt, but Hazel knows something is wrong. She knows he was stolen by the Snow Queen. She must embark on a mission, facing wolves, witches, and ice, to save her best friend... who might not want to be saved.

To read more, see my review at Palimpsest.

REVIEW: Ice by Sarah Beth Durst

Ice

by Sarah Beth Durst

“She had a hundred reasons: because Bear had carved a statue of her in the center of the topiary garden, because she could always make him laugh, because he'd let her return to the station, because he won at chess and lost at hockey, because he ran as fast as he could to polar bear births, because he had seal breath even as a human, because his hands were soft, because he was her Bear. "Because I want my husband back," Cassie said.” 

Cassie has lived her whole life in her family's arctic research station. Her world is ice and science and tagging polar bears and survival. Her grandmother had told her fairy tales about her mother, the adopted daughter of the North Wind, who was supposed to marry the Polar Bear King but married a mortal instead. The North Wind was so angry that he threw the mother into the land of the trolls, never to be seen again. When Cassie grew up, she realized these were just stories to make her feel better about her mother's death. That is, until the Polar Bear King comes to claim Cassie as his wife. After agreeing to rescue her mother, Bear whisks Cassie away to his ice castle at the North Pole. She and Bear slowly and deeply fall in love, but when Cassie betrays Bear and he is torn from her side, she must brave the frozen wasteland to find him again.

To read more, see my review at Palimpsest.

Video: Who is the Wolf? Two Red Riding Hood Interpretations

I have a long backlog of adaptations I wished to discuss, and when I was exploring them, I came across two very different Little Red Riding Hood tales, one a short film, one a webcomic. While most interpretations focus on a young and handsome stranger as the wolf, these give us a different look at the wolves in our lives.

The Red Hood from Danishka Esterhazy on Vimeo.

The Red Hood first examines the wolf as "men." All men have an animal inside them waiting to strike. The enemy is not a predatory stranger, but the supposedly safe husband. And then the wolf is the girl. The wolf is not a specific gender. It is a primal and desperate urge inside all humankind.

Once Upon a Blog has a wonderful write up of it, including background and words from the director about her vision for the film. My joy at Red's killing was not as complete as Gypsy's however. When the husband stopped, and did not attack her, I saw a moment of doubt, of softness, like he might want to talk. But then her lover did not give him a chance to speak. That moment of the husband's hesitancy diminished the triumph I might have felt in her actions.

Redden by Maya Kern is a short webcomic which sends Red, a little girl, off to visit Grandmother, a terrifying monster in the woods. She is helped along the way by a wolf who gives her his pelt to "stay pure." When Grandmother see's Red, she decides to keep her as an apprentice. She forces her to set traps for the wolves of the forest, and  Red tries to helps them get free. But one day Grandmother catches her, and Red must fight for her life. The end is beautiful and heart wrenching.

The literal wolf in the tale is a friend whom Red must struggle to protect against Grandmother. Grandmother is the real predator.

illustration by Walter Crane

This brings up an interpretation of the fairy tale that is seldom explored in adaptations. The motif of the replaced relative comes up often in fairy tales. A mother is killed and replaced by a stepmother who is evil. The Brothers Grimm changed a lot of mothers to stepmothers so that the mother would remain good while still exploring the idea of someone who should love you treating you horribly. While the wolf in the forest is male, he goes and usurp's grandmother's place, even going so far as to wear her clothes, get in her bed and imitate her voice. A grandmother who used to be loving and kind, but now is cruel. The wolf is actually the grandmother. A loved one who has changed. Or in fact, a loved one who should be good but is evil. It is an interesting aspect to explore.

There are many wolves in the world. I think that is why "Little Red Riding Hood" is so captivating. We have wolves in every culture, in every walk of life: the person who appears to be good, but really is not. As much as the predatory male stranger is a strong and resonant interpretation, it would be interesting to see adapters to go in other directions to confront the other wolves in our lives.

Video: "Cinderonce" Makes Me Happy

I am catching up from my blackout period, so I know this is old news, but this video is one of my favorite things to come out in fairy tales this year: the story of Cinderella told through Beyonce songs.

It is brought to you by the fantastic artist, Todrick Hall who gave us Beauty and the Beat which went viral a year or two ago, and Cinderfella, a gay take on Cinderella which I had never seen until Once Upon a Blog's post. 

Everything in Cinderonce is lip syched, except for Todrick's vocals, but honestly, I didn't care! It was part of the homespun charm. It is a testament to how the themes of Cinderella still speak to a modern audience, and how the themes of Beyonce's songs transcend time. :-)

The best part is a cameo by drag queen Shangella as the fairy godmother! She is fabulous and makeovertastic. And Tiffany Daniels rocks the traditional Disney dress as Cinderella. The story is silly and tongue in cheek, but also very heartfelt at times.  

See more about the videos on Once Upon a Blog and Io9.

Here is Beauty and the Beat, a rendition of the song "Belle" set in the 'hood. 

Here is CinderFella, a touching gay retelling of Cinderella with a mix of Disney and modified pop songs (and sassy cameos from other Disney princes and princesses): 

BOOK REVIEW: Stung by Bethany Wiggins

"As I jump out the window, I glance over my shoulder. The window frames a face with smooth skin and hollow cheeks -- a boy on the brink of manhood. He peels his lips back and growls, and I stare into his brown eyes. For a moment it is like looking into a mirror and I almost say his name. Until I realize his eyes are wild and feral, like an animal's...As I sprint across the empty schoolyard, past the silent, rusted playground, I dare a look over my shoulder. My brother is hobbling toward the fence, his angle hanging at an odd angle to his leg. His eyes meet mine and he holds a hand up to me, a plea to come back. A sob tears at my chest, but I look away and keep running."

Fiona wakes up in her bedroom. Everything is covered in dust. The world around her is lifeless, and there is a tattoo on her right hand. She is 4 years older than she was when she fell asleep. She steps into a world divided, where those bearing the tattoo must live outside the wall because they are infected with a deadly disease that could turn them at any moment into mindless beastly killing machines. Those within the wall are safe, but at what cost? When Fiona is captured by the militia, she is marked as a Level Ten, the deadliest of all the infected. Yet, she feels normal. As flashes of memories come back to her, she and her former classmate Bowen, now a hardened militia man, must discover her secret before it is too late.

To see what I thought of this Sleeping Beauty adaptation, go to my other blog: Palimpsest! 

BOOK REVIEW: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet

by Marissa Meyer

“A sickening howl stopped her, sucking the air out of her lungs. 

The night's chatter silenced, even the loitering city rats pausing to listen.

Scarlet had heard wild wolves before, prowling the countryside in search of easy prey on the farms.

But never had a wolf's howl send a chill down her spine like that.” 

This second book in the Lunar Chronicles follows a delivery girl named Scarlet whose grandmother has been missing for two weeks. The police have given up, but she tenaciously searches for clues. When she meets a young, handsome, ambiguously affiliated street fighter, Wolf, who might hold the key to her grandmother's disappearance, they embark on a journey that might save her grandmother, or doom Scarlet to the same fate. In the mean time, Cinder (protagonist of the last book), is breaking out of prison with the charming, but rather self absorbed Captain Thorne. And poor Prince Kai is left to deal with the evil Lunar Queen alone. 

To see what I thought of it, check out my other blog, Palimpsest! (HINT: I thought it was awesome.)

Movies: ALL THE MOVIES!

My goodness. It has been a while since I have posted. I blame Master's Degree, Sickness, Vacation and First Week of School. Lots to catch up on, so lets get down to it. My first installment will be regarding all the fairy tale movies coming up.

H&G: a modern day retelling of Hansel and Gretel. 
"...I have always been struck by this fable’s portrayal of adult women. The stepmother and the witch are portrayed as heartless villains. Whereas the father, although also complicit in the abandonment of the children, is portrayed as caring and loveable. In reading about the history of the tale, I discovered that Wilhelm Grimm revised the traditional tale several times. He changed the mother character into a stepmother and he also made her less sympathetic. According to folklorist Jack Zipes, Wilhelm Grimm “deepened the characterization of the father and stepmother so that he becomes much more caring and concerned about the children and she becomes more coldhearted and cruel.” This sharp gender dichotomy, this demonization of the adult female characters, was an element of the story that I wanted to explore and challenge. 

This was my starting place for writing H&G." - Danishka Esterhazy, Writer (Begins touring to film festivals Fall 2013)

Hallmark Transforming "Mirror Mirror" Comic Into Family Movie "The Hunters"
"Hallmark Released Synopsis: Carter and Jordyn Flynn (Payne, Forbes) aren't the average mom and dad. For them, a typical workday can take place anywhere in the world, raiding ornate museums and evading pursuing authorities as Hunters, protectors of powerful fairy tale artifacts that are anything but make believe. (Edit FTNH: Definitely sounds like a special annex of Warehouse 13!)" Victor Garber and Michelle Forbes will star.

This sounds right up my alley! I love me some Warehouse 13. Hallmark does not instill a lot of confidence, based on it's past movies (aside from it's Snow Queen), but it could be really cool! I certainly want to read the graphic novel now.

What a Fables Movie Must Have, According to Creator Mark Buckingham
"I think if it doesn't have Snow White and Bigby [Wolf] in it, then... [that's a problem]. They were such a core element of the first 50 issues of the story. So I think their romance, their relationship, is a really core aspect of the series. Beyond that, the beauty of Fables is it has such a rich cast, and you can really cherry-pick a lot of different aspects from it, and create a really good story, even if you don't necessarily follow the entire narrative."

Maleficent First Footage Reactions and Full Cast
"Maleficent is the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the 1959 classic “Sleeping Beauty.” A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. Maleficent rises to be the land’s fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal—an act that begins to turn her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading king’s successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom—and perhaps to Maleficent’s true happiness as well." (Full Cast)

First Footage Reactions from ScreenCrush: "To give you some idea of what was shown, it imagines the famous Christening scene of baby Aurora. The three fairies (Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather) fly to the castle, ready to bestow their gifts on the child. As soon as the green fairy, Fauna, is about to present hers, the candles are snuffed out and a dark whirlwind heralds the evil witch herself. “Well, well,” says Jolie, accompanied by a villainous, whispered cackle. Scenes flash forward as we see Aurora growing up into her teenage self, while Maleficent, engulfed in a green flame, casts the famed curse we can all probably recite from memory." (More from Once Upon a Blog)

Tatum Channing's Werewolf Assassin in Jupiter Ascending
In this sci-fi version of Snow White, Tatum Channing plays the Huntsman character, an albino assassin half-wolf. In Channing's own words, "I’m a splice, splices are essentially built in a test tube. I’m a hybrid wolf and human. And half albino, so I’m a little defective."

I am rather excited for this, but I hope it doesn't mean we can't have a Cinder movie too.

Disney's Next Animated Feature (Unofficially) is Giants
They are apparently doing to "Jack and the Beanstalk" what they did for Tangled and Frozen, which was highly successful in Tangled, but debatable in Frozen. There are so many plot details over at Once Upon a Blog, so please go over there and see them! The pics on the blog are not from Giants, however!

Movie: Gods Behaving Badly

So this is happening, and I am so frikkin excited about it! According to I09, there is a movie coming out based on the book Gods Behaving Badly, a personal favorite of mine. The Greek Gods have not disappeared. They have adapted to circumstances, and are living in an apartment in London (well, NY in the movie). They are still squabbling and screwing as usual, but lack of belief has depleated their powers to almost nothing. Then, two hapless mortals stumble upon this celestial group house, and are caught up in a story that not only tests them to their limits, but may signal the end of the world as we know it.

The cast looks amazing! Christopher Walken is Zeus (who has shut himself away in the attic), Nelsan Ellis  is Dionysus (now a DJ), Sharon Stone is Aphrodite (a phone sex operator), Edie Falco is Artemis (a dog walker), John Turturro is Hades, Rosie Perez is Persephone, Phylicia Rashad is Demeter, and Oliver Platt is Apollo, which I am so excited about! And Alicia Silverstone is one of the hapless mortals.

It is in post-production according to IMDB, and is labeled as coming out in 2013, but there is no trailer yet, or any further information, so I will keep you posted! This is Joseph Campbell at his best!

MOVIES: Anna Friel and Ed Speleers play Artemis and Actaeon in a short silent film

I am thinking I might start expanding this blog to mythology as well. Myths and fairy tales go very well together, both ancient stories that we tell over and over, changing them for our purposes, and often living them without knowing it. They both explore what it is to be human.

Here is a beautiful silent short film with Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies, Timeline, Bathory) and Ed Speleers (Downton Abby) depicting an Edwardian retelling of the story of Artemis and Actaeon, based on the Titian painting. For those who don't know the story, Actaeon sneaks a peak at Artemis bathing, and she turns him into a stag and his own dogs tear him to pieces.

The acting in it is superb. You can tell the attention is unwelcome, but in no part is Artemis the victim. She does not hide her body. She can shame him with her glance. The trippy abstraction of her spell makes you wonder if she did turn him into a deer, if she poisoned him, made him hallucinate and killed him, or what? Absolutely stunning visuals.

Fairy Tale Roundup: Two Bits of Big TV/ Movie News!

Meghan Ory (Ruby/ Red) is Leaving OUAT
Dear OUAT producers: if you do not play with your toys, you do not get to have them. Meghan Ory was one of the best actresses on the show, and after making her a regular for season 2, they haven't used her significantly since November. No wonder she's leaving to move on to bigger and better things like this:

 

From the sounds of it, (and through watching the show) Kitsis and Horowitz are trying to do too many things at once. Remember back to the beginning of season 2 with Charming's dad? He's still in town and plotting Charming's death, but it has not been addressed since then. They seem to be distracted by shiny new plots and characters, rather than investing in the solid core of actors and characters they have already. There is so much to mine with Ruby, including developing her friendship with Victor Frankenstein/ Dr. Whale, and not to mention a female werewolf is rarely seen in tv and film and absolutely fantastic. Your loss, OUAT. And ours too.

FABLES MOVIE!!!!

Fables, the most awesome graphic novel series about fairy tale characters living in the real world (and in my opinion better than OUAT), is going to be made into a movie! 

"The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that A Royal Affair director Nikolaj Arcel (who also penned The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo screenplay) has been tapped to adapt Willingham's Vertigo comic. Which means... it might actually be good. Jeremy Slater, of the Fantastic Four reboot, is penning the project and oh-my-god-all-the-blood-just-rushed-to-my-head-and-I'm-going-to-pass-out."

Start your fantasy casting now! If you are not familiar with the series, I highly recommend it. And I completely echo Io9's freak out: Please be good! Please be good! Please be good! I might have to go home and re-read them all right now. 

Fairy Tale Roundup: New Fairy Tale Fiction, Why Fairies Suck, and OUAT Trivia

Upcoming Fairy Tale Fiction
SurLaLune is frikkin amazing and has kindly created two Listmania lists of the 55 (count them, 55!) new fairy tale fiction books coming out this year, including Rump: The True Story of Rumplestiltskin, Stung (a post apocalyptic Sleeping Beauty), Cold Spell (a modern retelling of Snow Queen), and The Grimm Conclusion (the new Adam Gidwitz book!)  Apparently the biggest upcoming trend is Snow Queen, which gives me a happy. She will continue to add to the lists as more books come out, so keep an eye on it!

The Biggest Reasons Why Fairies are Evil
Io9 debunks the myth that fairies are benevolent creatures by looking at their fairly awful track record of stealing and selling souls, drowning people, kidnapping the womens and marrying them or making them serve as nurses for their children, the famous "seduce and destroy" maneuver, stealing babies and murdering children, disproportionate revenge, and enslavement. Don't forget to leave your fairy milk out as tribute, or you will be in a world of trouble.

OUAT Trivia
A new tumlbr has emerged called OUAT Trivias with 100 fun facts about the show and fairy tales related to the show. It hasn't been updated in a bit, but I highly encourage looking at the trivia they have. Some are a bit obvious and some are a stretch, but others are interesting, like:

 #91 "The book that Ruby gives Belle in "Tiny," The Mysterious Island, is the same book Mary Margaret Blanchard reads in "7:15am," a reference to Lost."

#67 "In the scene at Lake Nostos were Lancelot is on bended knee, he utters the words "God in his mercy, lend her grace," which is a direct reference to the Tennyson poem, Lady of Shallott. In the poem, the Lady of Shallott is cursed after trying to look at Lancelot directly, and dies as a result. Lancelot sees her dead body floating down a river, and says these words not knowing that he caused her death."

#62 "Regina calls her horse by the name Rocinate, which is the name of Don Quixote's horse."

One of them tells of the other "missing people" on the post-curse-breaking notice board, including Pierre Abelard (a medieval philosopher), and characters from Midsummer! Pretty fun stuff!

I am unsure now whether or not to do a final few episodes of OUAT review. Is it too late now? Have I missed the interest boat? Let me know.

Radio: NPR's On Being with Maria Tatar

While I often post about radio interviews with fairy tale experts, few of them come close to this NPR interview with Maria Tatar. In the NPR series, On Being, which explores the big questions in human life, Tatar explores the world of fairy tales with Krista Tippet, an excellent and incredibly knowledgeable interviewer. They discuss the origins of fairy tales, the structure of fairy tales, fairy tales in popular culture, and fairy tales and children, all topics we have heard before, but they bring an immediacy and relatability to the discussion, bringing everything back to the big ideas we explore in our lives. (Click Here to Listen)

They discuss the idea of "Once Upon a Time," and how that phrase gives us permission to explore, to do things you would be afraid to do, to question things you wouldn't normally question because you are in a new and theoretical place.

They explore the "operatic beauty and monstrous terror" and the promise of "Happily Ever After" that combine to create fairy tales. The "Happy Ever After" is important, because it promises that there will be a way out. This, Tatar says, is why we can read them to children. No matter how dark it gets, there will be a happy ending.

Maria expounds upon her idea that fairy tales are not sacred texts. They are part of the "great cauldron of story." There is no original version, and each generation and culture changes the tale to speak to what they value and fear.

She states that there are no morals to fairy tales. The morality is highly ambiguous. However, there is wisdom to be gained from the tales. They discuss big ideas: sexuality and innocence, poverty and wealth, action and inaction, etc. She laughs that, in our modern cultures, we adapt the fairy tales so that we befriend the monsters, rather than defeating them. Fairy tales allow us to explore our values and ideas in a safe place.

She reflects on the fact that fairy tale themes are everywhere, in reality TV, Sex and the City as well as the fairy tale themed tv shows. Fairy Tale tropes are so entrenched in our culture, so primal, that they pop up in almost all of our stories. She feels that, in this time of great transition, we need the ancient wisdom of old stories to guide us, make us feel rooted.

She also discusses the very personal power of fairy tales to help you face your inner and outer demons. They are full of mysteries and puzzles that fascinate our brain that we use to help us figure out the world.

She tells of how she asks her students what books from childhood they brought to college. Most of the students don't remember the exact plot of the stories very well, but they always have a nugget of story that they cling to, something they strongly related to, a talisman they carry with them into this new place.

Finally, they talk about children, and how the liminal moment of bed time is a perfect meeting of generations, where those carring the nostalgia of fairy tales meet those who are hearing them for the first time. It is a co-storytelling, a time for asking questions and exploring what ifs, and what the story means for the world, and if it means anything at all.

It is an excellent interview, well-crafted and personal, bringing out the intimate and human nature of fairy tales.

And it ends with a clip from Game of Thrones, which is a mark of excellence in my book.

The Female Trickster and "Strong" Heroines

"What ya got in your basket, little girl?" "Weapons." - Buffy, "Fear Itself"

One of our favorite topics here in The Dark Forest is the idea of "strong female characters." In The "Empowerment" of Snow White, I wrote about if giving the leading lady a sword makes her "strong." In "Passive and Dumb" Heroines, I defended the more conventional fairy tale princesses. Recently, two articles came to my attention discussing very different angles of this issue:

Maria Tatar wrote an interesting article in the New York Times about two types of female characters: the Sleeping Beauty and the Female Trickster: While I find the Lady Gaga paragraph a little out of place, the rest of the article explores manifestations of both archetypes in popular culture:

"We've come a long way from what Simone de Beauvoir once found in Anglo-European entertainments: “In song and story the young man is seen departing adventurously in search of a woman; he slays the dragons and giants; she is locked in a tower, a palace, a garden, a cave, she is chained to a rock, a captive, sound asleep: she waits.” Have we kissed Sleeping Beauty goodbye at last, as feminists advised us to do not so long ago? Her younger and more energetic rival in today’s cultural productions has been working hard to depose her, but archetypes die hard and can find their way back to us in unexpected ways."

After listing many versions of the female trickster in pop culture from Buffy to Hanna to Lisbeth Salander to Katniss, she also makes a troubling observation:

"If male tricksters have traditionally been fixated on satisfying colossal appetites of all kinds, our new female tricksters—orphans, loners, and outsiders—are beleaguered and needy. At work, they become Cassandras, confident and shrewdly prescient women whose intuition and brashness cut through thickets of bureaucratic procedure. Yet, once work stops, they seem utterly lost. There is clearly something compensatory in the psychological fragility of these women warriors: their gains in intellect and muscle are diminished by moments of complete emotional collapse. Vulnerability continues to attract. Hence the intransigent presence of the sleeping princess, who remains central to many films and novels, despite the rising numbers of female avengers and investigators."

I wish I knew the heroinesTatar was thinking about when she said this. I do not think this "complete emotional collapse" occurs with all female tricksters. Hanna certainly never showed a loss of emotional control that was unwarranted. Certainly, there are some cases when this instance occurs, but there is a difference between voyeuristically delighting in a strong woman's vulnerability and creating compelling flawed characters. If a female trickster was a badass all the time, and never lost, and never wavered, she would be highly uninteresting. The same would be true of a male character. I do not think that moments of weakness of vulnerability diminish a character, but enhance it. The second article, published later, echos my feelings exactly.

The Hub's article,  "What We Talk About When We Talk About Strong Heroines in Young Adult Fiction," embraces all kinds of female strength:

"When we talk about strong heroines in young adult fiction, let’s celebrate the quiet(er) strength of realistic characters as well as the dramatic, death-defying strength of sci-fi, action/adventure, and fantasy heroines. Strength is more than physical prowess or fighting skills. There’s no universal way of being “strong,” and a character’s weaknesses are often what allows a reader to relate to him or her.

In my opinion, strong heroines are dynamic: they struggle, and through those struggles, they change. They are agents of action, rather than passive or reactive. Female characters can fall in love and still be strong. They can be bold or reserved. They can be feminine or they can be tomboys. There is no one way of being strong, just as there is no one way to be a girl. When we talk about what it means to be a strong heroine in young adult fiction, let’s make room for all the ways girls can exhibit their strength."

The article goes on to list many books that have female characters with other kinds of strength, not just the strength to fight and survive physically.

While I know this does not directly discuss fairy tales, it is an issue close to my heart, and an issue we encounter again and again as we see new fairy tale adaptations take the screen, and reread the originals. Is Cinderella not a strong female character for surviving years of physical and emotional abuse and then taking destiny into her own hands? Do movie executives think that the only strength needed to create a compelling heroine is to give her a sword? Don't get me wrong, I love me some chicks with swords, but we need to celebrate other strengths as well.

Movies: NPR's Bob Mondello on Fairy Tales for Millennials and Upcoming Adaptations

Molly Quinn in Hansel and Gretel get Baked

Bob Mondello over at NPR examines the new fairy tale movie adaptations that cater to teens and young adults coming out this year. He remarks upon Jack's lack of initiative in Jack the Giant Slayer, possibly commenting on or catering to the image of the millennial generation (I do not necessarily subscribe to this stereotype, being a cusp of millennial myself). They don't take destiny into their own hands, like Jack from the original tale, but are swept up in events beyond their control. This is perhaps appropriate for teens and young adults entering a work force that has no jobs for them:

"At age 6, as Disney long ago established, abandonment by your parents is terrifying. So is illness, so is the unknown, and so is that scary old dude down the street. But when you're 20, there's a whole new set of fears — fear of commitment, fear of getting pregnant, fear of unemployment. Or maybe of getting busted for drug use.

In the upcoming Hansel and Gretel Get Baked, a witch lures teens with marijuana, then eats them to stay young. It's a horror movie — clueless teenagers getting in trouble because they're clueless teenagers, just going with the flow, passively.

That's different from the more active tykes who populate storybooks. In the old English folk tale Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack is maybe 12, and a schemer. He steals gold from the giant, chops down the stalk, killing the giant, and lives happily ever after with his stolen gold. I'll leave it to parents to find a moral in that, but at least he went up the stalk on purpose; it was his idea.
In the new movie Jack the Giant Slayer, Nicholas Hoult is playing Jack as a 19-year-old who's kind of a slacker and is trying to impress a girl when the beans sprout under him and he gets carried up to Giant-land very much against his will. Once there, he proves less incompetent than you might expect, but he's basically reacting to things, not making them happen.

The girl is the one who's looking for adventure, though for plot purposes — she is a princess, after all — she'll spend most of her time getting rescued.

There's no real "risk" in any of this. The Brothers Grimm wrote stories that were actually grim — designed to scare children. Hollywood's new grown-up fairy tales may quicken your pulse a little, but they're centrally soothing. Yes, there's an army of giants coming, but pluck and optimism will carry the day — a reassuring thought if you're a 20-something and staring nervously at an uncertain, recessionary future. It's especially reassuring if that thought is couched in a fairy tale so familiar and comforting, you've half-forgotten it. So get ready for lots of grown-up bedtime stories."

He also updates us on the upcoming fairy tale movies:

"I was going to say we're not in Kansas anymore, but we kind of are. There are nine — count 'em, nine — Oz movies currently in the pipeline, including the prequel Oz: The Great and Powerful, a story involving Dorothy's granddaughter that's just called Oz, and a martial-arts oriented Oz Wars. Also dueling Pinocchios, from Guillermo del Toro and Tim Burton, the horror-masters behind Hellboy and Beetlejuice. Not to mention Angelina Jolie assaying the title role in Maleficent, which tells the Sleeping Beauty tale from the evil stepmother's point of view."

 NINE???? NINE Oz movies. Geeze, think of something original, people.

Books: YA Fairy Tale Reads from The Hub

Ladies and gents, many of you may know that in one of my lives, I am a YA librarian. The Hub is a fantastic blog that keeps me stocked with really awesome, high-quality YA books, recommended by both librarians and very articulate teens. Today, they gear up for "Fairy tale day tomorrow" (Is that a thing? Like Margarita Day?), by giving us some of their favorite fairy tale mash ups, and to my delight, I have read only two of them (Book of Lost Things is fantastic!)

"The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly (2007 Alex Award winner)
Set during WWII, The Book of Lost Things tells the story of David, a lonely and grieving boy who is drawn into the dark space between fantasy and reality. When he ducks into a dark crack in the garden wall while avoiding a bomber overhead, he’s sucked into another world, one where the characters from his favorite books are real. The world is being held hostage by a missing king with secret book, and David must find the king and the Book of Lost Things before he can return home. Familiar characters like Snow White, Red Riding Hood, and Rumplestiltskin are given new, often nightmarish life, in this Alex Award winner.

 

Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross
Mirabelle Lively is a sheltered girl. Her guardians won’t talk to her about her parents or the way they died. Sick of half-truths and desperate for anwsers, Mirabelle runs away a week before her sixteenth birthday. Her destination is Beau Rivage, the town where she was born and where her parents lived and died. When she reaches Beau Rivage, Mirabelle finds a place that’s even stranger than she could’ve imagined. In Beau Rivage, fairy tales are real, and the stories are played out over and over again. Mirabelle has a part to play as well, but when she begins to fall for a boy who’s not the smug prince she’s destined to end up with, her feelings threaten the very existence of Beau Rivage and all who live there.

 

Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst
All her life, Julie’s heard stories of the Wild, the land her mother escaped from before Julie was born. Julie’s mother is Rapunzel, she of the long hair and the high tower. Rapunzel’s history in the Wild has been nothing but stories — until Julie gets home from school one day and her mother is gone and her house is disappearing into a deep forest. As the Wild threatens to take over her hometown, Julie ventures deep into the woods, determined to save her mother. On the way, she meets familiar fairy tale characters like Cinderella as well as characters from less well-known tales.

 

A Tale Dark and Grimm and In A Glass Grimmly by Adam Gidwitz
Gidwitz’s wonderful Grimm series is technically middle grade, not YA, but it’s a funny, wry mash-up with enough dark and gory moments to appeal to teen readers too. Hansel and Gretel are the stars of this story, but their quest takes them through eight other fairy tales, originally recorded by the Brothers Grimm and repurposed in all their bloody detail by Gidwitz. The sequel, In A Glass Grimmly, borrows from Jack and the Beanstalk, the Little Mermaid, and more.

 

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis (2013 Best Fiction for Young Adults Top Ten)
And finally, the book that inspired this post. I read Enchanted for the 2013 Hub Challenge, and I adored the cleaver way Kontis weaves together elements of familiar fairy tales into something new. Sunday Woodscutter is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, and like her siblings, Sunday is not even close to normal. Still, she manages to live a pretty normal life — until she meets a talking frog in the woods who turns out to be not a frog at all. Her kiss turns him back into a human, setting off a romantic adventure that features elements of at least half a dozen different fairy tales. The frog prince makes an appearance, obviously, as does Cinderella’s dropped slipper, Jack’s beanstalk (complete with fearsome giant), the old lady who lived in a shoe and many more." (Click here for Full Post)