IP Justification

My IP Opportunity is "Twisted Dark themed Fairy Tales" combined with "Magical Powered Heroes"

Masters, T. (2011). 

From my research I have found that Fairy Tales are adapting to a much more darker theme than they have been presented before. In my present research I found examples of "Fairy Tales" becoming massive hits in the box office like the "Red Riding Hood" film which had been released this year.

"Along with the usual sequels and spin-offs, Hollywood is about to bombard cinemas with new takes on old fairy-tales - starting with Red Riding Hood." 

Dunn, T. (2006).

The new versions of the classics tales which the makers had grown up with are much darker than the tales presented through Disney classics. Through the different eras of "Fairy Tales" this topic has been very popular for a very long time, sticking with the original illustration's style that were shown in the Grimm Fairy Tales books etc but bringing it to a more darker purpose. 

This year's Red Riding Hood set a bold new template for contemporary fairytale reworkings, by ignoring most of what people liked about the original and making the rest of it all insufferable and Twilighty. It's a formula that next summer's Snow White and the Huntsman would do well to stick to. Heritage, S. (2011). 

The influence of dark features was very popular with the hit film "Pan's Labyrinth" which was released in 2006, it had a very dark theme containing war, death and betrayal that strangely enough the audiences loved, the style itself created a new vision for the way Fairy Tales could be presented.

"Dark, twisted and beautiful, this entwines fairy-tale fantasy with war-movie horror to startling effect." 

 ★★★★★ Rating 

Newman, K. (2006).

This style however had been tried before with the classic film "Legend" although the target audience for that film did not fit perfectly with style that it had approached with.

Scythe, R. (2011). Legend (1985) 

These are just a few examples of how the dark theme of "Fairy Tales" has been around but only recently has it started to rise more effectively in the market and start to produce a variety of media with this theme. Amongst my horizon research I came across some more releases of "Fairy Tale" remakes that contain violence and a completely new look upon the classic tales we all once knew like "Snow white and the Huntsman"

 Grey. (2011).

The trailer for the upcoming film shows a lot of fighting and much more older themes which would not relate to younger children, this is why I have chosen a dark twisted theme for my IP because my research shows that the age of which "Fairy Tales" are now enjoyed is much older than you would expect and appreciates that a large sum of the fan base is at a much older age. 

From my research I have found that the "Grimm Tales" are becoming much more favourable for a type of theme which the tales should be based on. The classic tales were once dark themselves with not always ending in a happy ending and this theme has continued to now showing that the darkness and trueness towards these mystical tales are more enjoyed. Especially with the "Grimm brothers brews"Chapman, D. (2011) being based around characters featured in the Grimm brothers stories shows that there is a market for this type of style for adults as kids would not be allowed to drink ale, the design itself is very dark. The colours which are used in all this media are very nature themed but very dark at the same time, so the dark twisted themes are still connecting with the original style that the tales were once presented with. "The Grimm Tales" have been very popular and well known since the 1800s and with that in mind, why shouldn't it continue to be very popular in the near future.

"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." National Geographic Society. (1999).

NBC grimm

Trumbore, D . (2011). 

Fraser, C. (2010). 

Although the tales may be dark and a lot of the "Fairy Tales" are turning towards a more mature audience, my research on the Penguin design awards 2012 may show that there is still an interest in "Fairy tale" books for children but mainly the fact that the brief is based around the stories made by the Grimm brothers, shows a much more popularity with the more Grimm tales.

Penguin Books ltd. (2011).

A variety of different media shows that there is a popularity in darker, more mature styled "Fairy Tales", like with the Horror designs of lovable fairy Tale characters made by Spawn Mcfarlane, T. (2005). Through my 'Monster' research I found that the horror genre is still alive with new remakes of serial killers which were very popular from the 80s and horror shows selling out Farmaggedon. (2011). during the time of Halloween, this increases the popularity within the dark theme genre and that tells us that older audiences enjoy horror. so combining the two features which are popular; the more mature, modern, dark and violent fairy tales aimed at older audiences with a twisted horror genre is a good mix that could be very popular in the future. As the fan base is getting older, why not increase the depth of violence and darkness which older audiences enjoy.

Farmaggedon. (2011). 

The violence and horror has become a popular feature for "Fairy Tales" and I believe that it will continue to do so, with the examples of "Alice: Madness Returns" which was a sequel shows that there is a fan base out there that enjoys the darker side of the stories and it is increases more and more over time.

IGN. (2011). Alice: Madness Returns Screenshots.

"The Wonderland that you knew from childhood has gone horribly wrong ... again. This is the follow-up to designer American McGee's twisted take on the classic Lewis Carroll tale. Designed with the same dark style of the original"

IGN. (2011).

Twists on Fairy Tales are becoming much more popular today after the release of the film "Shrek", the idea of bringing modern references to old classic characters was very popular and still continues today with many other franchises, for example the soon to be published "Fairy Tale Twists" book. So approaching an old traditional tale with a different version is smiled upon as the stories are forever growing and need updating so that the audiences can relate to the material. In the " Fairy Tale Twists -Jack to the Rescue" it shows the main character as a super hero which relates to another popular topic "Super heroes" and one that I would see as a good IP by combining the magic of Fairy Tales and the heroes together.

GT Wallpaper. (2008).

Waterstones. (2011). Jack to the Rescue! - Fairy Tale Twists by Katie Dale.

Entertainment Desk. (2011).

From my research I had found that another popular topic in today's and the near future's market is "Super Heroes". Magic has continued to be very popular especially with the franchise "Harry Potter", this topic has also continued to be very pleasing to many audiences when it has been featured in "Fairy Tales" in the media.
If you combine the aspect of a super hero with the "Fairy tale" theme it would still relate to the very popular type of magic.

Marvel's type of "Super Heroes" had began around the 1940s and started as "Timely comics"

Tano, D. (2011). 

superherocomicshop. (2009)  from this idea, the super heroes grew massively and are still very popular today and range from many different audiences. However the themes of the super heroes is changing much like "Fairy Tales" by aiming more at a older audience and relying on their large fan base to know of the characters.
Super heroes are very popular today with many new releases of films and other media Marvel. (2011). the idea of a hero with magical powers and also the villain seems to continue to be very favourable in the market, especially with new film releases that fans a looking forwards to which is "The Avengers" imdb, inc. (2011).

Marvel. (2011).

As Fairy Tales are growing more in violence and still contain the strong features of magic and heroes, a combination of the turning that magic into more a super hero would appeal to a lot of fans of both the original fairy tales and super heroes, combining both popular topic for a new twist.

imdb, inc. (2011). The Avengers

Marvel has also worked on their own versions of "Fairy Tales" which has many comics released based around the classic Fairy Tale stories mix with the Marvel Heroes.

Marvel. (2007).

The idea of magic becoming more of a super hero theme has featured in many different media, like "Magic Pickle" Morse, S. Forbidden Planet (2011), which appealed to both audiences who enjoy magic and the action of the super heroes.

 Morse, S. Forbidden Planet (2011)

Overall I believe that dark twisted Fairy Tales will grow in popularity and become a greater feature than ever before, with future releases of "Fairy Tales" still containing the magic feature that attracts many audiences and creates the fairy tale itself and also containing strong powerful heroes who appear to be much more violent and action packed to appeal to wider range of audiences, magic super heroes would be a great combination within the IP and be loved by many as both Super heroes and Fairy Tales seem to be very popular topics now and in the future.