OPINION ALERT! Plus controversial images and story below:
Vogue Italia has shot a controversial 'oil spill inspired' fashion editorial, complete with models (in their very expensive oil-covered clothes) simulating animals in distress. The image below in particular made me think this is what mermaids might look like (albeit it 'glamorized' in horrible positions) if they were real and having to cope with the recent oil spill tragedy. There are many other images, one which I found rather disturbing (which kind of looked like a mermaid coughing up oil) so I'll just stick with the cover and the one above for the blog.
You may ask why I'm posting this, especially since I was bothered by the spread, and my answer is this: I think it's an important issue to think about. Not all stories are nice - not the real ones, not fairy tales - but they're still something we should consider. Imagine the little mermaid's journey complicated by such a disaster. It's not so far fetched from what's actually been happening. Stories can help us work through issues that are too difficult in real life to properly face and to consider the mermaid angle is, I think, good brain food. Does it distance the tragedy? Or does it make us more passionate in our efforts to protect the environment and the earth's creatures? Perhaps putting a human (albeit mermaid here) face on the victims* may make us more conscious of our actions in future. [*Note: the victims do in fact include humans - many have lost their homes and livelihoods as a result of the disaster, not to mention the initial tragedy of workers killed.]
I won't make any more personal comments except to say I completely get the controversy over this.
You can go HERE see the entire spread via Refinery29.com and make sure to read the short post. Also note the links to help clean up and the comments written below by different points of view (neither are affiliated with Vogue Italia).
Zachary Levi (who is the voice of Flynn in Disney's upcoming fairy tale film Tangled) talks about what to expect on the 3rd Season of ABC's Chuck and ends up quoting The Little Mermaid...
(Note: email subscribers, you will need to go to the website to see the video)
(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.
There have been a few stories crop up I simply haven't had time to write posts for so, rather have you miss out, I'm doing a quick headliner post to catch you up and will link you to all the fairy tale goodness.
Just click on the headline to be taken to the story.
Energy efficient straw construction planned for Sutton in the UK, along with a permit for three little pigs to visit during the opening to continue the fairy tale theme.
Guests will experience new rides including, an indoor Little Mermaid Attraction, and an expansion of Dumbo's Flying Circus. Fantasyland will also be more interactive. Guests will be able to train to be a knight, dine with princesses or have dinner in Gaston's Tavern from Beauty and The Beast. "Not only will it immerse guests into story lines of their favorite princesses, but it's actually going to make guests part of the stories," said Walt Disney Imagineer Diego Parris.
(More additions detailed in the article. Video promo included from announcement at the link. Older concept pics for the new additions at this link HERE.)
Fifteen year old girl (& family) come forward to highlight her contraction of rare illness Kleine-Levin Syndrome, also known as 'Sleeping Beauty Syndrome' (sort of an extreme version of narcolepsy). Seen mostly in teens, it is hoped she will be 'cured' (outgrow it?) in 10-12 years. Additional coverage HERE.
Actress Emily Browning to play a narcoleptic prostitute that caters to those with a 'certain fetish'. (I kid you not.) This won't be a kiddie film (obviously!) but it's not supposed to be an 'adult' film either. I wonder if the girl's name will be Talia?
2 Beauty & the Beast images by Walter Crane up for auction
The pictures, which illustrate the most famous scenes from the French love story, are estimated to make £200-£300 when they go up for auction on February 20.
Bookworm Gardens, (is) a 2-acre fantasy garden based on children's literature located on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Sheboygan. The gardens mix paths, shrubs, trees and environmentally friendly structures with a series of about 10 reading-themed areas based on 74 different children's books, including "Charlotte's Web," the classic story about a talented pig and spider.
... The centerpiece of Bookworm Gardens is the Hansel & Gretel Administration Building, an A-frame cottage-style structure with a curvy roofline to resemble the famous house of the classic children's tale. It will include a classroom, offices, gift shop, restrooms and a small kitchen.
Other buildings include the barn from Charlotte's Web and "Little House in the Big Woods". The gardens are due to open in October later this year.
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There are a few more stories (there's always more fairy tale news than I can cover!) but I hope to cover a couple more fun ones in the next few days. :)
It won't be here in time for Valentine's Day but there's a fairy tale romantic movie coming our way.
The new film, "Ondine", (coming to theaters possibly as early as June this year), stars Colin Farrell and is directed by veteran director Neil Jordan. The movie's story has much in common with both "The Little Mermaid" & water nymph fairy tales as well as the ballet (which is based on the fairy tale novel "Undine" by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, which in turn was based on various folktales). You can read more about Motte Fouqué's story HERE, the plot of which is now usually considered a fairy tale in its own right. From FirstShowing.net:
Written and directed by Neil Jordan (of The Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire, The Brave One), Ondine is a lyrical modern fairy tale that tells the story of Syracuse (Colin Farrell), an Irish fisherman whose life is transformed when he catches a beautiful and mysterious woman (Alicja Bachleda) in his nets. His daughter Annie comes to believe that the woman is a magical creature, while Syracuse falls helplessly in love. However, like all fairy tales, enchantment and darkness go hand in hand. A story of love, hope and the unwavering belief in the impossible. Magnolia is distributing in the US but hasn't set a release date yet.
Here's a little more about the movie (and the making of it) from TheStar.com's interview with director Neil Jordan:
The importance of imagination and the challenges of creating a fairy tale in a less than magical environment were the main themes of an afternoon press conversation for the film Ondine.
The movie, directed by Neil Jordan and starring Colin Farrell, is about an Irish fisherman who finds a young woman in his net who he believes is a mermaid.
"I went back to Ireland and just had this image of a fisherman who had caught a girl in his net and it was a very captivating image," said Jordan.
He added, "People need a sense of fantasy in their lives to be able to live."
Jordan said he wanted to make the film reflect the "reality," of working life for many people in Ireland, but still create a sense of magic.
"The fairy tale romps into peoples lives, but turns out to be based incredibly in reality," he said. "In a strange way, reality is its own fairy tale."
Here's some notes on writing the screenplay from Jordan via FlicksNews:
During the Writer's Strike a Hollywood project fell through - Heart Shaped Box. I went back to Ireland where I have a house in West Cork and wrote this fairy tale, which could shoot entirely within a radius of five miles from where I live. About a fisherman, who pulled up a living girl in his net. His disabled daughter, who invented stories about her. These stories feed on local legends - sea creatures, seal creatures, selkies. How they only have a certain time on land. How they fall in love with their rescuer. How they can make a wish come true. How the sea always calls them back.
Much of what the girl invents turns out to be true, but never in ways she expected. The whole thing develops into an impossibly romantic love story, in which real human beings insist on turning their lives into a fairy tale. Because reality is too hard, maybe. Because that is what we love to do, have to do, maybe…
Not just fairy-tale based but described as 'a fairy tale', it appears to be a story of the older, folktale type, rather than the pop-culture type and a well layered, romantic story. (Yay!)
The fairy tale of Ondine has mainly been kept in people's memory by two treatments:
1) Arthur Rackham's incredibly gorgeous illustrations of the fairy tale (see some of them below)
2) The ballet "Ondine", made even more popular by the legendary British prima ballerina assoluta Margot Fonteyn for whom it was a signature role (even when she was dancing in her 60's - see a couple of pics below).
You can also see some gorgeous images from the underwater photo shoot for a recent production by The Royal Ballet in one of my previous posts HERE.
A lesser known Broadway production also helped the story stay in the popular consciousness though - especially when Audrey Hepburn played the role of the water nymph, Ondine. Here are some promotional photos taken for the production:
The movie sounds very promising and is getting positive reviews, having been shown on the Indie film circuit. Word is, even if you're not a Colin Farrell fan, it's worth a look. It's attracting critical attention and has already garnered multiple nominations for the seventh IFTA's (Irish Film & Television Awards).
Here's the first trailer (it should be noted that the film does NOT turn into a thriller or horror as the trailer seems to imply- the film is primarily a romance and a study in hope, with a good dose of mystery):
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.
Fear of fairy tales - The glossy sanitized new versions of fairy tales leave out what matters: the scary parts (Article particularly using Rapunzel in the discussion of the importance of unsanitized of fairy tales and the problem with the prevalence of Princesses)
The Trouble Clef: Hans Andersen and His Alter Ego - Bringing HCA's Little Mermaid to the stage. Lera Auerbach talks about being commissioned by the Royal Danish Ballet to write a full length ballet based on the story. He (?) talks about Andersen's fairy tales in general, looks closely at the story of The Little Mermaid and talks about how amazingly adaptable HCA's works are for bringing to the stage and screen. Very interesting/thoughtful article.
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.
Shiloh Pepin, the brave little girl born with Mermaid Syndrome and known the world over as 'the real-life little mermaid', passed on away on Friday, October 23rd at age 10, from complications of a cold and resulting pneumonia.
Rather than go into details about her condition I will just celebrate her bravery against incredibly odds and mourn her passing. She was courageous and happy and touched many people in her short life, encouraging others to live well and enjoy life. Many other children with life threatening illnesses and great disabilities reached out to her and thanked her for her example and joy. She will be greatly missed.
Her funeral is set for tomorrow (Wednesday) and she will rest next to the stillborn sister she never knew.
For those who haven't heard Shiloh's story or understand the complications of sirenomelia here are some links HERE, HERE and HERE. Here's her FACEBOOK PAGE and one of many tribute VIDEOS.
Rest in peace little one. The world is a better place for you having been here.
I mentioned in a previous post HERE about an unusual art book coming from Disney, titled "The Art of the Disney Princess". It features different artist's interpretations (in their medium of choice) of different Disney princesses. From illustration to photography the pictures range from playing with realism to metaphoric interpretations and more.
It's just been released in the last week (or so) and some artists have shared their artistic contributions on their blogs.
From the official blurb:
Every little girl has a favorite Disney Princess--and for that matter, every grown-up girl, too! In The Art of the Disney Princess, Disney artists, designers, illustrators, and animators from around the world have re-imagined their favorite princesses and portrayed them in a variety of mediums. Ariel, Aurora, Belle, Jasmine, Snow White, and Cinderella are newly incarnated in water color, pastel, oil paint, colored pencil, mixed media, and computer graphics pieces that range from the traditional to the unconventional. This artwork has been created especially for this museum-quality book, which is sure to delight art lovers, Disney collectors, and any prince or princess who ever believed that fairytales do come true.
Photographic interpretation of Disney Princesses Snow White & Jasmine by Ryan Astamendi (click for a larger view - recommended)
Pictured above (along with the front of the book) is a photographic interpretation by Ryan Astamendi (whose blog you can find HERE).
Jasmine & the Magic Lamp (I love this one too) by Stacey Aoyama
Belle by Stacey Aoyama (you can see Stacey's blog HERE)
Here's a number of signed prints I found for sale on EBay during the Disney Expo (close-ups are available to see HERE): Nice to see Tiger Lily there! Here's a close-up, simply because I rarely see art with her as the subject, plus, it's lovely:
Princess of Never Land by Cathy Clark
The Little Mermaid 'Movie Poster' by Eric Tan.
I particularly like his Sleeping Beauty interpretation below. Sleeping Beauty 'Movie Poster' by Eric Tan
Ever since I started designing posters, I've always had this goal of creating my very own versions for all the animated Disney films. Those classics have had such an impact on my art and my career, that I wanted to do it almost as a tribute to the importance they had on me as a kid. Disney Consumer Products had a cool idea going when they decided to ask a bunch of internal artists to put their artistic spin on the Princesses for a book that was just released, The Art of Disney Princess. You can almost guess immediately what I wanted to do with my pieces. Yup, MOVIE POSTERS!!!
There was an event held, also called "The Art of the Disney Princess", to support the book launch and NERDLIKE.COM had a representative there to report on the show and take some photos to post. From the blog:
The Art of the Disney Princess is exactly what it sounds like, a celebration of the animated empire’s fair ladies. Disney commissioned 10 artists from Disney Global Consumer Products to re-imagine the Disney princesses. The results were dope to say the least. The event, hosted at the Zune LA house/building, was set up like an art gallery. The front room housed a collection of art pieces accompanied by its Disney Couture clothing counterpart. Each piece represented a different princess in the artists own unique styling....
...The second room upstairs was more like an art museum with pieces on the wall. From the abstract to a little weird, each piece retained the essence of the original princess, but somehow set it apart in a way that they felt authentic and real. Gone were the traditional aesthetics of the Disney cookie cutter princess. These artists had introduced the princesses to a whole new world (no pun intended). In addition to the transformation of the princesses, you could see each artists individual style and inspiration. Several pieces even escaped the realm of Disney and looked like pieces anyone would hang on their wall.
You can read the rest of the news about the show and see many more pictures HERE.
It's a real shame the event was limited to a select group and isn't on display for the public. The Disney Couture princess collection from the show will be on display at Kitson LA in February 2010 but this doesn't include all the pieces, of course. Even those who aren't fans of Disney (or who cringe when they hear the word 'princess' like I do) could enjoy a gallery showing like this! At least some of it has been put into a book for us.
You can find the book on Amazon.com - currently at 34% off - and see a lot of page samples HERE.
Vogue Italia has shot a controversial 'oil spill inspired' fashion editorial, complete with models (in their very expensive oil-covered clothes) simulating animals in distress. The image below in particular made me think this is what mermaids might look like (albeit it 'glamorized' in horrible positions) if they were real and having to cope with the recent oil spill tragedy.
There are many other images, one which I found rather disturbing (which kind of looked like a mermaid coughing up oil) so I'll just stick with the cover and the one above for the blog.
