fairy tales Tagged Articles at Cinematical

What do you get if you mix together Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella, toss in a dash of Ariel and a smidge of Belle, and drop her into the cold, harsh light of reality? Writer Bill Kelly and director Kevin Lima ask just that question in Enchanted, Disney's newest family film offering, which merges classic Disney animation with live action in bringing fairy tale characters to life.

Animated Giselle (Amy Adams) has been spending her time doing what all good little Disney heroines do -- sitting around her cute little cottage in the middle of a forest, hanging out with all the little forest creatures and dreaming of her Prince Charming coming to carry her off to his castle in the clouds. Giselle doesn't seem to have much purpose or direction in her life beyond that singular goal; after all, she already has the two things every good animated future princess needs in order to snag a royal sweetie: delicate beauty and a lovely singing voice.

Giselle does meet her Prince Charming, er, Edward (James Marsden) when he rescues her from a troll who was about to eat her for a little pre-dinner snack. After bursting into song in a perfectly harmonized duet (actually sung by Marsden and Adams, both of whom have surprisingly good voices), the pair plan do what all good fairy tale folks do the day after they meet someone they like -- get married for ever, and ever, and ever. The one person who isn't thrilled with the happy couples' nuptial plans is the prince's stepmother, Narissa (Susan Sarandon), who, in addition to being secretly evil, isn't about to give up her crown to the sweet Giselle. Disguised as a hag, Narissa enchants Giselle as she rushes to her wedding and sends her down a magic well and into the real world.

I've always gotten a kick out of creepy children's rhymes and tales -- whether you peel back the layers of Disney-like storytelling and find the wicked, creepy center, or you actually pay attention to the cheerily-delivered words and find out what they mean. Most of the time, the stories get white-washed into a fairy tale where Rapunzel wasn't getting it on with the Prince, and Little Red Riding Hood wasn't unknowingly eating her own grandmother. Obviously, they weren't quite the kiddie fare they are these days.

And that's why Neil Gaiman just wrote a great piece for The Guardian, explaining how he came to write the adult fairy tale, Stardust, which came out last month and is being released on DVD just in time for Christmas. The article starts with the history of fairy tales and how they went from adult fantastical fare to kid stories, and the many manifestations they have taken over the years. It's pretty cool to read how he went about writing the tale -- trying to channel the mid-1920s: "All I was certain of was that nobody had written books on computers back in the 1920s, so I bought a large book of unlined pages, the first fountain pen I had owned since my schooldays and a copy of Katharine Briggs' Dictionary of Fairies. I filled the pen and began." In the days where we can write and rewrite without the least scribble, I find it impressive when people go back to writing's roots and do it by hand -- especially when most hands aren't conditioned for it any more.

Gaiman also discusses the changes to the story once Matthew Vaughn penned the script. While the film takes a number of liberties, some of which the author mentions, he points out that this is what they're meant to do -- every story is weaved through a cycle of records on paper and retelling. "I would, of course, be happy if Stardust met with a similar fate, if it continued to be retold long after its author was forgotten, if people forgot that it had once been a book and began their tales of the boy who set out to find the fallen star with 'Once upon a time,' and finished with 'Happily ever after.'" If that happens, someone else will come around and recreate an adult fairy tale and the cycle can continue.