The Brothers Grimm
"The stories collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the early 1800s serve up life as generations of central Europeans knew it—capricious and often cruel. The two brothers, patriots determined to preserve Germanic folktales, were only accidental entertainers."
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The thing about the tales told by the Brothers was that they weren't always filled with Happy Endings etc and were just tales collected and told very different to the way the tales are told in a later stage by different authors.
Looking at examples of how Hollywood is representing the Fairy Tales in the 'present section', maybe Fairy tales going back to the style once told by the brother Grimm but presented with Modern aspects.
Edens, C. (2007).
___________________________________________________________________________ 'Fairy Tales' were originally Folk tales which have been passed down through generations and altered over time. "First...What is a Folktale?
Forest, H. (2000). |
So is this where fairy tales began? when they started to evolve through different media and become what they are today.
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| Hans Christian Andersen |
Mirror. (2010).
Hans Christian Andersen is another Publisher of many Fairy Tales that we love.
ArtPrintsForKidz. (2009).
With 168 Published tales from earliest of 1835, these tales have been well known and loved by people for years and years. Some Illustrations done based on the tales have been turned in products as simple as Jigsaws.
Lombardi, E. (2011).
Some of his stories have been later turned into motion pictures for example
Fairy tales are like a lesson for humanity, to show us happiness and escape in a fantasy world which just be impossible to reach in the real world and also teach people morals, the ways of life etc so its not really that shocking that a lot of classic Tales have been turned into children films. However Reviewers may not of loved this film as everyone who attempts a fairy tale classic is in competition with the Disney tales.
"Don Bluth's cartoons never seemed as fun as Disney and here's a perfect example. Thumbelina isn't cute, sophisticated or funny, it lacks any charisma at all, with Barry Manilow proving a poor Elton John substitute. Why Gary Oldman got involved remains a mystery."- Jeremy Clarke
Clarke, J. (2008).
Some other animated Films done based on the Tales by hans are:
Wallace, A. (2005).
overall this shows that the tales told by Hans Christian Andersen have been very popular for many many years, and were a large influence on animated classics which were very successful and continue to be popular today.
PicturesDepot. (2009).
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A lot of 'Fairy Tales' were Represented in the past by Walt Disney Pictures
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| Walt Disney's Snow white and the Seven dwarfs (1937) |
Jenkins, S. (2007).
Walt Disney's Fairy Tale Versions like Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, little Mermaid etc., are really Popular animations and have been around for years.
These Films were very happy and always had a 'Happy Ending' either by defeating an evil witch and marrying the prince. Although they are old films they are still very popular today and have made a huge impact on how people view fairy tales now.
"Your dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway." - Walt DisneyBrad, A. (1999).
Walt Disney's classics were very family friendly and aimed at everyone to enjoy, instead of just being a tale to be told to children, however these films are very popular to children and would be looked upon as children films due to its innocence.
Even though the disney films go back to earlier than the 1930s, the characters and films are still popular and merchandise like toys, games, costumes etc are still being sold today.
Fanning, J. (2010).
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Another source of Fairy tales are "The Celtic folk and Fairy Tales collected by Joseph Jacobs"
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| Paper Back of Celtic Folk and Fairy Tales |
Dover Pubns. (2011).
"In 1890 he published English Fairy Tales, followed, in 1894, by More English Fairy Tales. The books include popular tales such as Jack and the Beanstalk, The Story of the Three Bears (Goldilocks), Cap o' Rushes (a Cinderella type story), and Dick Whittington. Jacobs wrote the stories in a way in which they would actually be told to children.
His other works include collections of Celtic fairy tales, a collection of Indian fairy tales, an edition of Aesop, and a Book of Wonder Voyages."
Chowdhury, R. (2002).
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| Kenneth More Theatre 2002 |
This collection of stories are very well known, just like stories which have been published by the other authors .These tales have been passed down through generations, even though these may not of been the original publishers to such tales, there are many authors which have told the tale in their way many of times, it is said that some tales like Jack and the beanstalk for example appeared from the age of the Vikings.
Opie, I. Opie, P. Frow, G. (2010).
The tales have been that popular that they have spread in a variety of media for many years.
The tales have been that popular that they have spread in a variety of media for many years.
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| Heiner, H. (2003). |
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| trompeta. (2010). |
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Richard Dadd's illustrations
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| The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke by Richard Dadd. |
The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke is quite an interesting piece by Richard Dadd, It shows a large group of people who are watching a wood-cutter who seems to be creating a carriage for someone, probably for Royalty reasons. With classic fashion, pointy hats and poufy clothes but besides just the fashion, some of the characters are oldy shaped and quite fantasy looking themselves. This is quite a good example of the "Fairy tale image" which has stook around for years.
"His crowded, magical paintings have had a striking influence on future artists"
Byatt, A (2011).
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Art Passions. (2009).
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| Arthur Rackham's Fairy |
Another Artist who has made a lot of influencing art pieces on the fairy tale style is Arthur Rackham. This Painting of a Fairy Princess is beautiful, it kind of looks like what I would expect a Disney Princess to look like, with a long stunning dress and beautiful blonde long flowing hair. The thing that makes this piece quite beautiful is the little white spirit people or fairies, these people seems to resemble a wind motion which creates a beautiful atmosphere within the painting but also brings in the fantasy of the fairy tale world.
Art Passions. (2009).
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| Arthur Rackham's Alice in wonderland |
Alice in Wonderland is a really popular story with a recent film by Tim Burton and with the very well known Disney classic. Although these characters don't seem to be witnessed within the recent features, the art style of this illustration is very influencing towards the crazy tale of how we see it today.
Art Passions. (2009). Arthur Rackham Alice in wonderland.
Alice in Wonderland is a really popular story with a recent film by Tim Burton and with the very well known Disney classic. Although these characters don't seem to be witnessed within the recent features, the art style of this illustration is very influencing towards the crazy tale of how we see it today.
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| Arthur Rackham's Peter with Fairies |
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| Grimm's Fairy Tales illustrated by Arthur Rackham |
Dover Publications Inc. Grimm, J. Grimm, W. (2010).
He did alot of his illustrations on the Grimm's Fairy tales.
"Illustrations by Arthur Rackham for fairy tales, myths and legends are characterised by a sinuous pen line softened with muted watercolour - a feature that is typical of the Art Nouveau aesthete. His forests are looming with frightening grasping roots, fair maidens depicted by Rackham are sensuous - yet somehow chaste - and his ogres and trolls ugly enough to repulse, but with sufficient good nature not to frighten."
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He did alot of his illustrations on the Grimm's Fairy tales.
"Illustrations by Arthur Rackham for fairy tales, myths and legends are characterised by a sinuous pen line softened with muted watercolour - a feature that is typical of the Art Nouveau aesthete. His forests are looming with frightening grasping roots, fair maidens depicted by Rackham are sensuous - yet somehow chaste - and his ogres and trolls ugly enough to repulse, but with sufficient good nature not to frighten."
Spirit of the Ages. (2007).
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| Emperor's New Clothes by Edmund Dulac |
Edmund Dulac is another artist who work on other Fairy Tales, as you can see the art style is very similar to the previous artists. A style has been set for these tales and it has become a big influence on Fairy Tales presented today.
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| Hans Christian Andersen's stories illustrated by Edmund Dulac |
Full of colour and beautiful illustrations.
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Gorfor. (2011).
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| Kay Neilsen's Hansel and gretel |
Kay Neilsen's Artwork was different from the rest, his artwork was very bright, colourful and very unusal with influence from Aubrey Beardsley, the artwork looks flat but very classical, one I would immediately expect to see in a pop up book.
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| Venus by Aubrey Beardsley (1890s) |
Art Passions. (2009). Aubrey Beardsley Art.
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| Kay Neilsen's Brave little tailor |
Heiner, H. (2003).
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Richard Doyle - (1824-1883). His work was very beautiful and colourful, it seemed like he liked to draw the mysteries which could be happening within a magic forest, either it's with little people dancing around a mushroom or a girl riding a bird through the night sky. His artwork was very magical and relates a lot to the artists and their illustrations, all with a very similar style and creativity.
ArtMagick. (1996-2011). The Fairies' Dance by Richard Doyle.
ArtMagick. (1996-2011). Princely suitor by Richard Doyle.
Overall through my research of "Fairy Tale" illustrations I can see that a lot of the styles are very similar and were popular back in the day as there is a wide range of different illustrations by many artists. These illustrations have had a huge impact of "Fairy Tales" in the media back then and now.
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Around the time of the beginning of mankind, it is argued that people believed that cave paintings were a sign of magic, some sort of Hunting magic. People who drew these cave paintings (which is claimed to be about 15,000 years ago) may have believed that by painting animals etc they will gain a power which will help them hunt for animals.
Coppens, P. (2003).
Egyptian Myth and Magic was a powerful ritual which everyone around that area and time believed in. The Power of "Heka" created the world and people who possessed the symbols given to them by the gods had secret knowledge of the power but were limited by rules on how to use them.
Priests were seen as special guardians of the power, They could read the ancient books of magic which were kept within temples. The Magic Wand was created to hold great power which could summoned and was mainly there to show authority and to create fear so people would obey them.
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| Richard Doyle - The Fairies Dance |
ArtMagick. (1996-2011). The Fairies' Dance by Richard Doyle.
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| Richard Doyle's Princely Suitor |
ArtMagick. (1996-2011). Princely suitor by Richard Doyle.
A perfect image which resembles to aspects of a prince trying to marry his princessess and the magical wonders of the fairy tale land which surrounds.
Overall through my research of "Fairy Tale" illustrations I can see that a lot of the styles are very similar and were popular back in the day as there is a wide range of different illustrations by many artists. These illustrations have had a huge impact of "Fairy Tales" in the media back then and now.
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The Art style is very well known within illustrations and books but a certain aspect which makes those illustrations very popular is the creativity within the world and its magic. I'm now going to look at how magic started and how it has changed throughout time and the way people looked at it in the past.
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| Cave Painting |
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| A portal to another world |
Another Cave art found has been claimed to be artwork done for the magic of traveling to another world. It was believed that the walls of the cave were a portal to another dimension, behind the walls or inside them. The People on the wall have escaped reality and travelled to another world.
Coppens, P. (2003).
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| Egyptian Magic Wand |
Priests were seen as special guardians of the power, They could read the ancient books of magic which were kept within temples. The Magic Wand was created to hold great power which could summoned and was mainly there to show authority and to create fear so people would obey them.
Mcphee, N. (2007).
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| Statue of Sekhmet |
The Ancient Egyptians believed in many rules which they obeyed by, for example, people feared illness, ghosts and demons. So they believed that by creating noise like loud sounds of drums banging will force them away. Statues were looked at in many different ways counting on the the design, mainly based on Gods who were well known and respected, others were guardians which protected the magic within a temple.
Magic was greatly believed in and was a main resource to humanity. If you had Magic, you had power.
Pinch, G. (2011).
From looking at these different ages of magic it shows that magic has been very popular throughout time but has been looked upon very different as thousands of years ago it was believed to be true but now people look at magic as fiction. However Magic is still presented like this through a variety of media, it is just known to be more fictional than fact.
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| Houdini in chains |
As time past the ways magic was looked upon had changed, it was more about illusion than actually believing in great power which could summon the gods. Houdini is great example of this, a very well known illusionist loved by so many, his tricks were to get out of the most awkward situations like being chained up but he can suddenly become free in just a few seconds.
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| Houdini hanging over the streets in Manhattan 1915 Magic Tricks, Inc. (2011). |
"Harry would stroll into a town, book a theatre and boast that he could escape from anything. Starting with relatively standard rope escapes before developing his act to include more complicated shackles likes handcuffs, he remodelling himself as, ‘The Handcuff King.’ Word of his escapes began to spread throughout America and his performances quickly began to sell out. His act capturing the hearts and souls of the public, a literal symbol and badge for the working class, the ability to overcome all odds through strength and sheer determination. Houdini had found his niche."Waller,J. (2011).
Harry Houdini had become a legend in the "Magic" field, with a memorial in America and Illusionists today copying his moves and trying to become the man that he was.
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| Expert Card Technique published 1974 |
Dover Publications. Hugard,J. Braue, F. Amazon (2011).
The art of doing magic card tricks and illustionists hasn't died out, this book made in 1974 shows that it was popular back then just as it is today.
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Another form of magic are witches, these characters were usually the evil villain within the old folk tales, as I discussed in the present section, witches were a a popular aspect with in "Fairy Tales", with Halloween costumes and Harry potter but how were they looked upon back in the day. This illustartion shows a witch flying off on a broomstick with a girl on the back, the witch has the typical pointy hat and dark cloak. Witches were disliked in the past, with the many sayings of "Burn the witch", a woman had to be very careful during the 1600. If a woman was to act suspicious of some kind they accused of being wicked and evil trying to kill people within the village, so people thought the best way to deal with it was to burn the witch at the stake.
"During the sixteenth century whole districts in some parts of Lancashire seemed contaminated with the presence of witches; men and beasts were supposed to languish under their charm, and the delusion which preyed alike on the learned and the vulgar did not allow any family to suppose that they were beyond the reach of the witch's power."
Baines, T. (1999).
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| Macbeth - wordsworth Classic 1992 |
Amazon. (2010).
Macbeth is very popular play, with many plays made on this story passed on throughout time and then been turned into featured films. In this tale Macbeth goes to talk to three witches who can predict the future and they influence Macbeth on his actions, they are dark, hideous and gave off a bad vibe throughout.
Royal Opera House. (2011).
___________________________________________________________________________ Royal Opera House. (2011).
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| Roald Dahl's The witches |
"Roald Dahl's The Witches" is a childrens story which picks on the classics details of witches being evil, hideous and scary. The story book had become a very popular tale which has been told to many children since it was made, with its success the book had been turned in to a play which was acted out at theatres and then turned into a feature length film.
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| The witches (1990) |
Imdb.com Inc,. (1990).
Witches personally creeped me out, with their evil purple eyes staring into my soul and when they all started ripping off their faces to then appear as giant rat looking women, then the nightmares began.
It was a great film would stuck with the origins of witches and the tales of which people believed in.
"In fairy-tales, witches always wear silly black hats and black cloaks, and they ride on broomsticks. But this is not a fairy-tale. This is about REAL WITCHES. The most important thing you should know about REAL WITCHES is this. Listen very carefully. Never forget what is coming next."Shannon. Giraffe Days. (2011).
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| Hocus Pocus 1993 |
Imdb.com Inc,. (1993).
Hocus Pocus was another film which was released three years after The witches film, this film was based mainly for a family audience like the audience based for the witches film. Once again these witches, although stupid they are meant to be evil trying to collect children to drink their souls for eternal life.
"Trying to break expectations isn't always a wise idea and here Disney show how not to do it. With this supposed-family movie, they disappoint on nearly every level. The plot is weak, the action poor and it's got Bette Midler, simply dreadful."Newman, K. (2007).
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| Wizard of oz (1939) |
Maitre. Hark, Inc. (2011).
Wizard of Oz's Wicked Witch of the west is a very popular yet typical witch, with the classic "Fairy Tale" pointy hat and dressing in all black with a broomstick. The wizard of Oz is a beautiful musical which is very well known and is still loved today, although its usually thought to get rid of a witch is either by burning or hanging or drowning, but this strange, wonderful story it ends the tale by melting the witch by water.
The idea of melting witches with water has become very popular. The witch is this film is once again evil and wishes only negative things upon the poor girl. All she wanted was her sister's shoes back that the girl stole.
Imdb.com Inc,. (1998). The Wizard of Oz (1939).
Overall this shows that from the time of 1939 to Hocus pocus's release of 1993, the typical evil witch was still enjoyed by the public and was still popular but seem to really have a come back in the the 90s. Although these witches do come across as negative evil characters they seem more children friendly, is this the more popular theme of witch?.
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| The Blair Witch Cult, Maryland Historical Society Museum. |
The "Blair Witch" has become an icon for witches in Baltimore. With all the other previous themes of witches, the audiences had kept with the family feel, even though quite frightening but maybe because of the "Fairy Tales" being aimed at children bed time stories, people have kept that aim towards witches in the same age rate.
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| The Blair witch Project |
This is a very dark Horror Film which is too scary for young
children and mainly made for adults.
Theofanopoulos, G. Beyond Media Online. (2010).
"Not as terrifying as advertised, and definitely flawed, it is still one of the most original horror films to have emerged in recent years. While it slightly loses the atmosphere in the last third as the hysteria builds, the first part of the film has some genuine moments of horror which raise hairs on the back of your neck, and if nothing else,will keep you out of the woods."
4 Star Rating
Barclay, A. (2000).
As you can see, no matter what type of audience the media aims for, witches are very popular but one thing that stays the same is the evilness of the witch.
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As well as witches being a popular villain in "Fairy Tales", Dragons instantly come to mind as evil 'Monsters' which must be defeated to save the day. As discussed in the present section, dragons are still popular today but how popular were they back in the day.
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| Wine Jar, Ming Dynasty, early 16th century |
MingL, P. (1995).
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| Emperor's Robe (11th Century) |
china info online. (2010).
Emperor's during the 11th Century wore clothing with symbols of dragons on them, maybe this was a sign of power of the dragon.
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| American Chinese Performers carrying a Red Dragon |
For years now there has been a "Chinese new year celebration" Performers carry a giant "Dragon" costume and dancing down the streets, these Dragons aren't feared but looked upon as a celebration icon. But where is the whole idea of a dragon attacking the village with knights and English style tales come from? how can dragons be part of a celebration, guardians of a culture with respect among ancestors to being evil monsters within a "Fairy Tale".
Ling-chi Wang, L. (2008).
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| The 40-foot-long female dinosaur fossil, excavated in South Dakota in 1992 |
Dragons look very similar to the Dinosaur appearance but with giant wings and can breath fire. Fossils of Dinosaurs have been appearing over and over, allowing the human race to understand what was around before we even existed. The bones of these reptiles are a big influence on how we expect to see dragons today and by looking at the present research, the imagery has stuck. Dinosaur Fossils have been taken to museums to show the exhibition to the public so that they can enjoy and understand them.
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From the fossils, the idea of dinosaurs has spread into a large amount of media, one very popular example is "Jurassic Park".
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| Scene From Jurassic Park film (1993) |
Dellamorte, A. (2011).
The film Jurassic park directed by Steven Spielberg took the idea of collecting the fossils of dinosaurs and being able to genetically create an island full of them, this film was very popular, loved by a lot of people and became an instant classic.
The film Jurassic park directed by Steven Spielberg took the idea of collecting the fossils of dinosaurs and being able to genetically create an island full of them, this film was very popular, loved by a lot of people and became an instant classic.
Imdb.com Inc,. (1993)."The fact that the whole thing’s outrageously far-fetched never seems to matter. Neither does the lack of characterization or the deviations from Michael Crichton’s original novel (he also co-wrote the screenplay). It’s the monsters that are the stars here and, let’s face it, everyone loves a good monster flick. And ‘Jurassic Park’ is without doubt the T-Rex of all monster flicks."
Panton, G. (2003).
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Two Brothers Tale - Grimm Brothers - Kay Nielsen Artsy Craftsy. (2009).
Here is another illustration done by Kay Nielsen who I had discussed early in this section. The illustration shows a man fighting a dragon while being watched by animals which surround. This shows that dragons were popular in classic tales and that the imagery is still the same after all this time.
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| The Page Masters Dragon - (1994) |
FORGOTTEN SIN (username). (2010).
Another media where a dragon was introduced was in the film 'The Page Master' (1994) directed by Pixote Hunt and Joe Johnston. This is a tale about a boy who travels through different stories experiencing different types of adventures.
At the end of the film the boy must dress up as a knight (sword and shield) and fight a dragon, this type dragon has been featured in a lot of media, it is the dragon we have all come to love, reptile looking features, wings and fire breath. The Dragon was the main final 'Monster' of this tale which makes it stand out greatly as if it was the main villain.
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| The Page Master (1994) |
Imdb.com Inc,. (1994).
"Many in the target audience -- 10 and under -- won't understand some of the references or jokes, which are clearly aimed at their parents. The characters of Fantasy, Adventure and Horror are wonderfully acted and supplied with some cheeky repartee by producer-writer David Kirschner. "How'd you like to curl up with a good book?" takes on an altogether different meaning when Adventure suggests it to Fantasy."
Kempley, R. (1994).
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Dragons would fits perfectly within the Monster Genre due to it's purpose of destruction or because of its monstrous appearance.
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Rob Bowman's Reign of fire (2002) |
A brood of fire-breathing dragons emerges from the earth and begins setting fire to everything, establishing dominance over the planet.
Imdb.com Inc,. (2002).
The film takes the original idea of what people would imagine dragons to be like, dinosaur appearance, breathes fire etc and brings it into our society today with the same cities and places we live in.
"And it's hard not to like a film that has sky divers jumping out of helicopters to catch flying dragons in a big net.With cartoon heroes (is ultra-buff McConaughey the new Stallone or the old Vin Diesel?), swooping dragons, and a burnt and blitzed London climax, this could well be the best barbeque you go to all summer."
★★★ Rating
Cawthorne, A . (2002).
Overall you can see that dragons were very popular in the past and have featured in a variety of media, once thing that seemed popular about dragons though was its monstrous actions and fire breathing attacks. This theme has continued for many years and even though is media out there that shows dragons in a positive light, I believe that Dragons are more accepted now as friendly reptiles due to "How to train your dragon"
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A hero within the "Fairy Tales" are a big deal, even though sometimes they may not be the main character, they sometimes come in at the right time to stop the bad thing from doing something wrong, in the present section I discussed, princes and how the public looks upon them, especially with the royalty clothing and then started to see how the idea of magic has combined with the hero to create a new generation of hero. Firstly for heroes I'm going to look at ancient legends which have been around for generations and how they were presented then see how through time, the idea of the hero has changed then I want to look at how the 'Prince Charming' Feature has been adapted.
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| The Legend of Hercules |
This legend has been presented in statues, vases, paintings etc.
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| The Head of Odysseus |
Gill, N. (2011).
Another Hero type is Odysseus, once again presented through a statue. Greek Gods and legends have a huge impact on stories and morals and may have influence the "Fairy Tales" that we read today. The heroes were fierce and true warriors, battling seemed to be a popular feature back in those days so a true warrior was probably a great hero in their eyes.
Walt Disney's 'Hercules' (1997) In 1997 Walt Disney studio released the film Hercules which was based on the legends of the Hercules Tales, this was a new look towards the hero, instead of him being fierce and a true warrior who has been changed to become more family friendly, an innocent nice guy who jokes around and who wants to be come a hero but falls in love with the damsel in distress (Well known within fairy Tale features)
Imdb.com Inc,. (1997). Hercules
"Its characters may come from Greek mythology, but Disney's Hercules is pure Americana.
In this musical cartoon, Hercules (voice of Tate Donovan is a good-hearted klutz who is molded into a champion, and hits the kind of big time that Americans understand: His name shows up on sneakers and soda pop. Even the children in the preview audience laughed at the sight of ''The Hercules Store.''
McGURK, M. (2002).
This shows that the legends of Greek mythology were still popular during the late 90s, although the story may still have the same purpose etc. It seems to have updated itself to a more modern viewing with references to the times it was released. Jokes being made about the world that we live in mix with original stories that we know look quite promising in popularity.
This shows that the legends of Greek mythology were still popular during the late 90s, although the story may still have the same purpose etc. It seems to have updated itself to a more modern viewing with references to the times it was released. Jokes being made about the world that we live in mix with original stories that we know look quite promising in popularity.
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Sony Pictures. (2010).
Monty Python and The Holy Grail directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones was released in 1974, the story is about King Arthur and his quest with his knights to find the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail was an instant classic and very funny. They Mock the way people looked upon knights with random British Humour which really just didn't make any sense, for example instead of the knights riding on horses to travel on their adventure, they just hop along with their feet pretending they are on stallions with a servant behind clapping coconuts together to make the sound of a horse trotting.
"A comedy classic that only misses out on the Python canon's top spot because the talented swines also made Life Of Brian."
5 Star Rating
Film 4. (2011).
This shows that even the knight and hero topics are popular in the comedy genre.
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Vinylsurrender. (2011).
Adam and the ants had released a song named "Prince Charming" with the constant repeat of the words prince charming over and over. A music video was made for this song which is based around the "Fairy Tale" story of Cinderella and the Prince Charming. The Single Cover itself is a completely different look on how they would show a prince charming, the fashion is very 80s with the punk style and bright clothes (not actually that different from princes hundreds of years ago)
“Prince Charming”, which topped the UK charts, for 4 weeks in September 1981."
Gigseen. (1999).
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Tano, D. (2011).
superherocomicshop. (2009).
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KidsCo Limited. (2010).
IGN. (2004).
"games that feature Mario have sold nearly 275 millions copies, making him the best selling game character of all time." by matt woodWood, M. (2006).
Harris, C. (2004).
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The Mario games were to save the Princess which is also a popular feature which is known within fairy tales so now I'm going to look at damsels in distress.
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| Pulp Novels ( August 1949) |
Pulp Novels were made back around the early 1930s and had continued for over 30 years. On a lot of the front covers women are shown in distress which showed them as weak characters. This must of been how publishers looked upon women like they were always in need of help. This has definitely changed since then as women soon became strong characters throughout the media.
Galactic Central Publications. (2000).
Galactic Central Publications. (2000).
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| Princess Leia - Star wars Episode IV (1977) |
Lucasfilm Ltd. (2011).
Miller, L. (2011).
In the 28 years since “Star Wars” has exploded on the movie scene, the sci-fi genre has been reinvigorated. Indeed, the first trilogy has extended the realm of the sci-fi genre and elevated its visibility way beyond Kubrick’s revolutionary 1968 sci-fi, “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Emanuel Levy
Levy, E. (2011).
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When I think of atmosphere for a Fairy Tale I instantly think of a kingdom, knights, horses and kings. |
| Camelot |
JKC Information. (2000).
Camelot has become an classic Icon for a well known kingdom, this is where King Arthur created the round table, pulled the sword from the stone etc. |
| Camelot Theme Park - Opened 1983 |
Camelot is a theme park which had opened in 1983 and is still going today, the theme is based around the tales of the kingdom, with a dragon ride and shows of Knight fighting within an arena.
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Looking at the particular theme which fairy tales follow I am now going to look at media which are very strongly influenced by Fairy Tales.
Firstly there are quite a few films which are quite similar in style and theme
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| Legend (1985) Directed by Ridley Scott |
Susanne. (2010). legend (1985).
This film is very Fairy Tale based with magical unicorns, evil goblins and also a sweet innocent princess who must saved by her hero (Tom cruise). The film is quite entertain and the design behind it is very creative, although the storyline and theme does seem quite dark and the creatures could be considered hideously scary, its not actually that frightening that it would be unable to be watched by children. Its audience is aimed perfectly so that its entertaining for both children and adults.
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| The witch at the swamp - Legend |
Scythe, R. (2011). Legend (1985)
"Recent movies have created sort of a generic fantasy universe of Muppets and swamps, strange beasts and evil tyrants, damsels and heroic lads, and ancient prophecies and mythical legends. It's a world inspired by ingredients from "Lord of the Rings," the "Star Wars" movies, Dungeons and Dragons gamesmanship, tales of King Arthur and the latest gimmicks from the special-effects people.
In a movie that works, these ingredients can be exciting and delightful. "Legend" does not work.....
The problem is, the world of "Legend" is itself wrong for this material. To some degree, this is a fairy tale, and it needs a certain lightness of tone, a plucky cheerfulness, to work. Like many recent sword and sorcery movies, it is so effective in rendering evil, so good at depicting the dire, bleak fates facing the heroes, that it's too dreary and gloomy for its own good."
Ebert, R. (1986).
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"FairyTale : A true story" (1997) Directed by Charles Shurridge is quite a beautiful tale of the discovery of fairies and how two young girls stumble across them.
"FairyTale: A True Story, directed by Charles Sturridge, is an enticing drama about the eternal clash between reason and the magical realm of enchantment. The spiritual practice of wonder enables the two girls to experience healing, joy, and meaning during a period of desolation, loss, and death. Whether the existence of the fairies can be proved is beside the point. This astonishing family film salutes the mystery of life."
Brussat, M.A. Brussat, F. (2009).
Another thing that is quite interesting about this film, is that the people in it are desperate to believe in some magic, something enchanted but the film shows the works of Harry Houdini which I had spoken about in previous areas and it compares the two of what people want to see, the magic of fairies like you would see in a fairy tale or an illusionist tricking people.
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| Scene from "The NeverEnding Story" (1984) Directed by Wolfgang Petersen |
leetlady. (2010).
"The NeverEnding story" (1984) Directed by Wolfgang Petersen is a beautiful film filled with strange characters and mystical worlds which is all being told from a story book taken from a small book shop, the boy reading it escapes reality and feels as if he is part of the adventure within the story which is later revealed to show that the boy is the true hero of the quest.
"Magical storytelling targeted at children still fascinates."
Crum, S. (2009).
"The film has a lot of magic going for it, not the least of which are the often brilliant costume and creature designs, most of them done the old-fashioned way without the aid of computer-generated graphics. The flying, doglike dragon, Falkor, for instance, is wonderfully characterful, and the aforementioned Rockbiter is at once menacing and sympathetic. Moreover, we get a plentitude of creative set constructions, the wondrous Ivory Tower among them."Puccio, J. (2010).
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Characters from "The Labyrinth" (1986) Directed by Jim Henson
Heather. Movie Mobsters. (2010).
I loved this film as a child, the creativity and story was perfect for me, it just felt like a true adventure and the puppets in the film are beautifully created and look very stunning which gives the film its own feel.
"The film takes the form of a nightmare that visits the heroine, an adolescent girl named Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) who lives in a dreamworld of magic and legend and fairy princesses and enchantments.....Our first view of the labyrinth is impressive. Indeed, all the special effects in the movie are impressive, showing the director, Muppets creator Jim Henson, working at the top of his form. Inside the labyrinth, Sarah faces a series of horrific challenges and meets a lot of strange characters. We are reminded a little of "Alice in Wonderland....Great energy and creativity went into the construction, production and direction of this movie, but it doesn't have a story that does justice to the production."
Ebert, R. (1986). Labyrinth.
A feature which is appearing a lot in these films is the creativity towards the strange enchanted creatures within the tales, it seems quite popular to make interesting characters which the audience will come to love but would never be able to see in real life.
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These example of Monsters in Fairytale stories are really interesting
McFarlane's Monsters : Twisted Fairy Tales
McFarlane's Monsters : Twisted Fairy Tales
These figures are twisted versions of characters in fairy tales which are loved by children, however these figure are most definitely not made for children with it's grotesque imagery, blood and violence.
The whole twist on how the main characters, either victims or heroes are been turned into evil monsters to creature a much more darker negative view.
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| Humpty Dumpty |
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| Peter Pumpkin Eater |
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| Red Riding Hood |
Fairy Tales can come in all shapes and sizes and still be very popular in the market just because of its back story but looking at the present research, fairy tales are getting much more Grimm and this type of design could grow much more popular in the future.
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| Orc from Lord of The Rings : Fellowship of the ring (2001) |
alicia-logic. (2001).
J. R. R. Tolkien's "Lord of the rings" books were very successful and have become feature length films directed by Peter Jackson, the first film of the trilogy "The fellowship of the ring" was just the beginning of the soon very popular franchise.
In the "LOTR" stories there are armies of Orcs which attack people all around the world, these creatures are very similar to creatures you would see within a fairy tale, like goblins and Ogres etc.
Miller, L. (2011).
Miller, L. (2011).
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I am now going to look into influences of fairy tales within games and their popular features. |
| Disney/Square Soft (Enix) - Kingdom Hearts (2002) |
koji. Blogger. (2011).
With the combination of Disney and Square Enix, they were able to create the "Kingdom Hearts" (2002) game using features from Final Fantasy Games and features from Disney Classics. Through the game the main character interacts with many Fairy Tale characters and does missions based around the Fairy Tales storyline.
The Game was very popular and has gone onto creating multiple sequels.
CBS Interactive Inc. (2002).
__________________________________________________________________________CBS Interactive Inc. (2002).
IGN. (2000).
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| American Mcgee's Alice (2000) |
Another approach towards Fairy Tales in Games was The "American Mcgee's Alice" (2000) this however takes the story of Alice in Wonderland and turns it into a very dark gruesome game but still has all the magic features which are shown within the original Tale. The Game has gone on to creating a sequel in 2011.
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| It's Behind you - ITV (2002) |
its Behind you. (2010).
Pantomime's are very popular in Britain and have been going on for years now, most of the stories that are acted out are based around Children's Stories like Fairy Tales.
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"Fairy Tale Sculptures by the Sea" First displayed in 2004
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| Sculpture of Hansel and Gretel trapped in a cage |
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| The King and Queen |
Gerardus. Angel. (2010).
These sculptures are shown in a museum in The Hague, Netherlands. The art pieces are very funny and mainly based around the Fairy Tale themes that the public have come to love. The Sculptures had been around for about 6 years but then had to be taken down due to construction work.
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| Revealed in 1984 - statue in warrington based around "Through the looking glass" |
The Alice in wonderland story is very popular and has been popular for a long time, this example of "Alice" being at the tea party statue was built in 1984 in the town square. This just shows that even one classic story has a huge influence on what we can see all around us.
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A great example of a modern take on Fairy Tales in the Film 'Shrek' This film takes all the features from well known fairy tales and mocks them, basing the characters around a book by William Steig.
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| Shrek and Donkey |
GT Wallpaper. (2008).
"In ninety minutes, "Shrek" offers more laughs and giddy pleasures than most movies of late do at that twice that length. It is a wondrous, comical animated adventure that satirizes fairy tales and wears its heart on its sleeve without ever winking too far to remind us that it is all a joke." -
SHREK (2001)
RATING: 3 stars and a half
Saravia, J. (2002).
Shrek is a really popular franchise with four films already released,a few short holiday special episodes and a huge market in toys etc, this film was a big success. The way the film laughed at all the tales we came to love made it enjoyable for everyone and it was nice to see some modern referencing involved like fighting using the motion techniques shown in 'The Matrix' and also having a wrestling ring for Shrek to wrestle Knights in.
There's SO much to explore in this area. Aim to choose a variety of diverse tangents to work with and look at how they've been manifest in media and how they've influenced the present.
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