Fairy Tale Art by Pat Brennan

Goldilocks and the Bears

For your viewing pleasure I'm posting just a few of the fairy tale themed work by digital artist/illustrator Pat Brennan (on deviantArt as moonmomma). The Goldilocks one at the head of the post remains one of my favorites, since seeing it a few years ago.

The Piper

Cinders in the Limelight

The Princess and the Pea

Yuki Onna

Undine

She has a LOT of gorgeous work in her deviantArt gallery, mostly fantasy based (lots of fairies and mermaids) so be sure to visit, take a look and leave a nice comment (and maybe hint how great it would be to see even more fairy tale pieces.. hint, hint). You can also visit her website HERE and her Flickr account HERE.

The talent must run in the family. Her daughter, Rebecca Parker, is just breaking into the book cover illustration biz too.

I'd love to see Pat work on a specific fairy tale project for a book herself though. She has such a lovely touch. While she does do commissions I gather she's very busy, so if you want to work with her be persistent in trying to contact her and let me know if you work together.

Cinderella Gets A Live-Action 'Reboot' (& More)

The writer of The Devil Wears Prada recently had her live-action Cinderella pitch bought by Disney.

From The Wrap:

Using the working title "Cinderella," the film is expected to deviate from the original fairy tale, although it's unclear how, or whether the new version will be released in 3D like the studio's reimagining of "Alice in Wonderland," which has grossed more than a billion dollars since it was released in March.

(You can read the whole article HERE.)

Amanda Seyfried-Raymond (of Mama Mia, who is currently at work with Twilight director on another fairy tale, The Girl with the Red Riding Hood) is rumored to be the star. (see article HERE and IMDB's article HERE).

You'll also see rumors in the articles linked to above regarding Angeline Jolie's rumored attachment to play the lead in Disney's other live-action fairy tale revisit, Maleficent - a live-action Sleeping Beauty.

But that's not all. Snow White is looking at a live-action revisit with the seven dwarves being cast as robbers once again, plus a dragon (not by Disney but a company called Relativity Media). The Wizard of Oz is looking at a revisit too by both Warner Brothers and Disney once again.

[Sidenote: if you enjoy speculating on actresses playing other Disney princesses and why they may - or may not - fit, have a look at this faux casting couch HERE.]

And yes - this is all due to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, so you can thank (or blame) him. ;)

"True Love and Fairy Tales" Pt II (Article)

Raiponce
by Sonia (a.k.a. petitpoids)

Part II of my article "True Love and Fairy Tales" is live at Supernatural Fairy Tales.

Part I takes a good (raised-eyebrow) look at Cinderella and Part II untangles Rapunzel (sorry, couldn't resist!).

True love in fairy tales isn't quite what most people think it is - it might actually be better. ;)

Part I is HERE and Part II is HERE.

Enjoy!

Fairy Tale Felted Wool Art by AndreasFelts

LITTLE RED CAP

(In this scene, the girl more commonly knows as Little Red Riding Hood is on her way to visit grandmother.)

I found these and had to share.

The work is so gorgeous and unique, not only do I want a complete notecard set but I'd love to see these in person. What's more, the artist, Andrea, obviously reads the old tales rather than relying on newer childrens versions, as you'll see from her descriptions of the pieces.

CINDERELLA
(In this scene, Cinderella kneels at her mother’s grave under the hazel tree and receives her dress for the ball. )

Here's what the artist says about her work:

I am a watercolorist turned felter. Using a felting needle, I "paint” scenes with fiber. Each work begins as a sketch and is felted by hand, using no machine, pattern or mold.

I sincerely urge you to go to her shop HERE for the close-ups views, as well as to see all her work. It's just stunning and completely reminiscent (for me) of impressionist pastel work.

FROG PRINCE
(In this scene, the princess bargains with the frog over the return of her lovely golden ball.)

HANSEL & GRETAL
(In this scene, the brother and sister are alone in the woods collecting small stones in their hopes of being able to find their way back home.)

LITTLE MERMAID
(In this scene, the little mermaid gazes up at the ocean’s surface in contemplation of trading her mermaid’s tale for human form.)

There's information about her techniques under the 'shop policies' section of her Etsy shop, which is very interesting too.

Just stunning work. I'd love to see a whole story book illustrated this way.

You can find her work in her Etsy shop HERE.

Hermés Dresses Karlie Kloss in Fairy Tales

For their Spring 2010 collection Hermés Paris have chosen a fairy tale theme. Photographer Paolo Roversi shot the currently 'hot' model, Karlie Kloss, in what appears to be Greece (or the Greek Islands) with quite a fresh approach to the theme. The men's campaign also draws on fairy tales (a couple of pics of which you can see HERE if you scroll down the page).Karlie is dressed as Cinderella, Alice (having tea), the Genie of the lamp, the Little Mermaid and the Princess (who managed to sleep despite the pea!). I'm not sure about the headshot with the flowers but it puts me in mind of Tinkerbell.

What a lovely campaign.

Fairy Tale News New Year's Bumper Edition: Classifieds/ads for fairy tale people

• Heidi at the SurLaLune blog is looking for Graduate Programs information for fairy tale and folklore studies. Details at the post.

• Enchanted Conversation is open for submissions for the next issue - topic is Beauty & the Beast. Deadline is February 15th, 2010. Paid market for accepted pieces - fiction, non-fiction, poetry and artwork! Submissions info at the link.

• Check out the call from Cinderella's Closet (in the Fashion section) for gently used prom dresses.

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Fairy Tale News New Year's Bumper Edition: Fashion

• Wild at Heart (Fall fashion slideshow feature by ZoomZoom) In this fall fashion feature, Erik Almas takes 1930s paintings, taxidermy animals, and the modern woman to create diorama-like images of fashion in the wild. The result is an amalgam of the fairy tale and the mythological muse. The images conjure narratives of the heroine who can talk to animals, live amongst the brown bears, and rule nature itself.

• Ko Ara's Fairy Tale Shoot in Korean Singles Magazine 2008 (Thumbelina, Red Riding Hood, Princess and the Pea, Bremen Town Musicians, Peter Pan, Hansel & Gretel)

• Cinderella's Closet, which provides dresses to under privileged teens for their proms, is calling for gently used prom dresses.

• Fairy tale themed jewelry by LunarraStar (Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Wizard of Oz and more) Etsy find.

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Fairy Tale News New Year's Bumper Edition: Fairy tales in performance arts

• Do the tales of the Arabian Nights have resonance for audiences today? (Article by Marina Warner on the Royal Shakespeare's Company production of Arabian Nights and the resonance of the tales with people today [via The Fairy Tale Cupboard] )

• Beauty & the Beast theatrical production with audience participation. (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA)

• Korea National Ballet's Cinderella (Jan 29 to 31, 2010, Seoul Arts Center) is more dynamic than the traditional presentation and offers unique touches, twists and theater craft (eg Cinderella's mother and father are both shown in a touching relationship at the start before the mother dies and returns as a fairy-in-a-corset to look after Cindy the rest of the story; Cinderella is barefoot for most of the performance - including for the ball, in which her feet are dipped in a sparkling sequin dust; etc)

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Fairy Tale News New Year's Bumper: General (& latest) fairy tale news headlines (that I haven't seen posted elsewhere)

• Hunt for 'giant Cinderella' by a shoe store to fill size 15 Wellingtons/rain boots - free to anyone they fit.

Athena by Carlos Dunn

• Neil Gaiman introduces Neverwhere - article in which Neil Gaiman tells how Neverwhere (his novel about London-below, the parallel fairy land universe) came to be and was developed. Comments and 'conversation' on the subject and with Mr. Gaiman are encouraged during January 2010.

• A modern Brother's Grimm hunting down (and recording) Emirati fairy tales. Fascinating article with excerpts from wonderful tales included, as well as their roots in history - awesome! If anyone can figure out how to get a copy of his collection, "Kharareef", I'd be very interested in getting a copy.

• Bluebeard costumes and photoshoot by Sidhe Etain - beautiful costumes and shoot! Photography by Frank Tuttle. One of the best fairy tale photoshoots I've seen in a while - highly recommend clicking the link and seeing all the photos and story in sequence, along with the text by Walter Crane. (Via Told This Time LJ Community)

• Bryan Singer now in negotiations to make Jack the Giant Killer as a 3D movie (thanks to the success of Avatar).

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Ashes and Diamonds—Santa, Cinderella & Bert (Article)

I came across this interesting blog entry which looks at the magic of Christmas and uses fairy tale examples to explain the ideas. I think you'll find it interesting.

Here's an excerpt:

Of all the ways that presents and good things might come into one’s life, the chimney would, at first glance, be a bad plan—dirty, likely to be filled with fire, narrow and uninviting. A chimney is where we turn wood into smoke, and what exits by way of the chimney is of the least value to humans—soot, ash and greenhouse gas. Ashes to ashes and dust to dust, the burned down remains of the hearth’s fire would seem to be the end of the road, and yet they mark the scene of a new beginning.

The blogger, Bruce from Privilege of Parenting, then goes on to discuss Cinderella, Bert from Mary Poppins and Rumpelstiltskin and how we often find worth, in things and in people, in the unlikeliest of places, including the ordinary dirt - and dirty faces - of home.

You can read the rest of the article HERE.

Confessions Of An Ugly Stepsister - Screen Adaptation

I missed "Confessions Of An Ugly Stepsister" when it was shown on TV (based on the book of the same name, by Gregory Maguire, which is a retelling of Cinderella) by only a couple of hours and have had it in my TiVo 'watch-list' ever since. It's never aired again, as far as I know and I've only seen dubious looking DVDs available (see the 'cover' above). I can't believe they haven't officially released this mini-series as I often hear requests for it. (Probably mired down in a copyright issue.) What I didn't realize is that some kind person put it on YouTube a while back for us all to see. (Yay! And thank you to them!)

It's in 9 parts and I'm trying something different. I made a playlist and am attempting to embed it below (so it will automatically play through the parts in order without you having to find and click the next one). I hope it works! (You should see arrows at the sides of the YouTube frame to navigate back and forth between the parts.) Oh - and you may want to click that 'full screen' button too. :)

Enjoy!

Here's the cover of the book the movie is based on. You can find more information on it by clicking the image.

Cinderella's Evil Stepmother for Vogue Korea?

Another article from Vogue Korea's December 2009 fairy tale issue. This time it's Cinderella - or, if the write-ups at various blogs are correct, Cinderella's Evil Stepmother.

The model (also a Korean star) is Chae Si-ra.I'd seriously like to get a translation of these articles to find out the stories or if they're purely riffing on a theme. Whatever the case, it's something very different and very interesting.

The Vogue Korea website is HERE.

And there's still more to come. This issue is like a Christmas present for fans of fairy tales!

"Dreams Come True: Art of the Classic Fairy Tales from the Walt Disney Studio" Exhibit at NOMA

A while back I mentioned (HERE) there was a Disney Fairy Tale Art Exhibit making its way to New Orleans.

The exhibition is up and running (it opened on November 15, 2009) and will continue to show until March 14, 2010 at NOMA (The New Orleans Museum of Art).Here's an excerpt from the exhibit description by the museum:

Dreams Come True showcases original artwork from legendary Disney animated films, including Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, and will feature a children's section celebrating Disney's connections with jazz music and the Crescent City. The artworks, on loan from the Walt Disney Studio Animation Research Library, will be accompanied by film clips to demonstrate how individual sketches and paintings lead to a finished celluloid masterpiece. Organized by the Walt Disney Animation Research Library and the New Orleans Museum of Art, this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition, which cannot be seen anywhere else in North America is set to coincide with the premier of Disney's upcoming animated feature, The Princess and the Frog, set in New Orleans during the 1920s Jazz Age.

And from the dedicated page:

The New Orleans Museum of Art will present Dreams Come True: Art of the Classic Fairy Tales from the Walt Disney Studio, a major exhibition featuring more than 600 original artworks that shaped legendary animated features including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. (Ed FTNH: as well as artwork from the December 2009 movie release The Princess and the Frog.)

... Visitors to the exhibition will encounter themed rooms showcasing artwork related to specific animated features. Arranged chronologically by year of release, the rooms will feature, in order: Silly Symphonies, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Princess and the Frog. Film clips will accompany the artwork to demonstrate how individual sketches and paintings lead to a finished celluloid masterpiece. An adjacent Education Area will highlight Disney's long association with music and also will serve as a mini library for animation research and storytelling programs.

You can read the rest of the description HERE.and there's a brief but interesting article about Lella Smith hosting a preview tour of the exhibit HERE. (Lella Smith is Creative Director of Disney's Animation Research Library. I posted excerpts from an interview with her HERE as well as links if you're interested in finding out more about her.).

There's no mention of Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, The Black Cauldron, Aladdin, Mulan or any of the shorter fairy tale related works in either of the Fantasia films or the separate shorts like Little Match Girl, so I'm guessing they're sticking with full-length feature films based on Grimm's and Perrault's work only.

There is a very interesting looking catalog of the exhibition available for purchase online HERE, by Lella Smith.Here's the blurb:

Dreams Come True: Art of the Classic Fairy Tales from the Walt Disney Studio
by Lella Smith

This beautifully illustrated catalogue presents familiar fairy tales and the adaptations made by the Walt Disney Studio for the movies. The films span 80 years- from the early Silly Symphony shorts to the 2009 release of The Princess and the Frog.

The comparative tales would be very interesting and this is likely to be a collector's item in the future. Even if you can't make it to the exhibition before mid-March next year, this may be a nice thing to think about buying.

NOTE: All the Sleeping Beauty art shown is by legendary Disney artist Eyvind Earle. You can read more about him and his work HERE.