Here's an animated tale I've been saving for a while with the intent of using around April 1st, particularly because a good heart wins over a conniving riddler. It's a version of "The Fisherman and His Wife" (the best known version was recorded by the Grimm brothers but apparently this version was penned by one of Armenia's greatest poets and writers, Tumanyan) and in addition to the question of wishes it includes a whole set of riddles asked by a shape-shifting wizard. Shape-shifting in various forms appears often in fairy tales and myth as most people know but the idea of people/beings changing shape/form multipletimes pops up regularly too. It appears linked to either desires or demons (or what people are most afraid of) - sometimes both. It's a trope I'm seeing used a lot in urban fantasy recently too, which is no coincidence, seeing as (good*) urban fantasy is in many ways a contemporary form of fairy tales (more on that subject soon). The shape-shifting is ideal subject matter for animation and the director, R. Saakyants (sadly no longer with us), obviously had a lot of fun. The short film is in Russian with English subtitles and easy to follow and while the similarities to the well known fairy tale are obvious this story has a different emphasis.
Enjoy!
Note: The video was originally found HERE. * By 'good' I mean mythic and resonant as well as well written. There are a lot of well written and fun urban fantasy novels that are highly entertaining and perfectly good books but the ones that stay with you tend to have mythic or fairy tale roots - even if they're well hidden. The "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" TV series is a good example (though creator Joss Whedon freely acknowledges fairy tales and myth as important in the creation of his stories).
This post was set to go live on Sunday before the Oscars but I didn't have time to finish it. I'm completing and posting it late anyway because this movie is worth watching (doubly so if you're interested in Celtic tales and myths) and is continuing to have incredible impact, including selling out to audiences in New York this week and breaking records for an Indie release.
The official website is HERE and includes resources for schools, wonderful music and much more (including even more images than are shown here).Now that Oscar nominated film "The Secret of Kells" (titled "Brendan and the Secret of Kells" in the UK and Europe) is opening in theaters in the US, a whole lot of people are being wowed by the visuals and story telling of this Celtic story, that's already received multiple awards and continues to garner critical acclaim. All the designs, including the characters, are based on the actual Book of Kells, making for a stunning and very different family animated film.Today, collected for your enjoyment from all over the web, I'm posting a variety of scenes from the movie.And if you don't know anything about the movie, here's a synopsis from Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com:
A haunting blend of history, fairy tale and pure invention, Moore's film follows a young student monk named Brendan, who has spent his whole life inside the fortified walls of the Abbey of Kells, whose forbidding abbot (voiced by Brendan Gleeson) has built it as a sanctuary against the Viking raiders who are pillaging and burning Irish villages at will. (It's somewhere around the year 800 A.D., give or take.) Into Brendan's cloistered life comes a playful monastic wanderer named Aidan (Mick Lally), who apparently studied with the legendary St. Colum Cille (aka St. Columba) on the Scottish isle of Iona, and carries with him perhaps the single greatest treasure of medieval Ireland.
That treasure is neither gold nor jewels but a book -- a lavish illustrated manuscript version of the Gospels that in centuries to come will be known as the Book of Kells. (Today it is considered Ireland's most important single cultural artifact, and can be seen under glass in the Old Library at Trinity College in Dublin.) Brendan's yearning to help Aidan complete the manuscript, and safeguard it from Scandinavian marauders, leads him outside the walls of Kells into the magical forest around it -- and also out of the then-new Christian world into the pagan past.
Borrowing a wide range of illustrations and motifs from the Book of Kells and numerous other medieval and indigenous sources, Moore and his team of Irish, Belgian and French animators send Brendan on a mystical voyage. He is aided by an irrepressible forest sprite named Aisling ("ASH-ling"), but must go alone to face the terrifying Crom Cruach, an ancient and perhaps demonic Celtic deity who -- at least in some legends -- required the sacrifice of first-born children to ensure the harvest.
Want to see more? There's a blog HERE which has chronicled the production since it began and is refreshingly personal and positive (as opposed to a selection of marketing releases). And here's the new trailer for the current US release:
And here, at a glance, you can see how it all works together. Just gorgeous! There's a special film story book released too, in which they've made an effort to capture the sense of style of the film, rather than just show images from the movie with text.Here are just a few of the pages (not in order): You can find that book HERE. (Note: Amazon is currently selling this book for over $100 but you can find it in non-US stores, who ship to the US, for much, much less.)
Moving art full of myths and tales. This film is enough to make me consider going back into animation. I hope there are lots of extras included on the DVD and I can't wait to see how the next feature "Song of the Sea" turns out (think selkies and Irish folklore - see development pic and conceptual trailer below)!
Once Upon Blog wishes Granny O'Grimm much luck and fun tomorrow at the Oscars - "Brad Clooney" and all. Knock 'em dead Granny! (Well, er, not literally...)
Here's Granny's "Once upon an Oscar" tale (I hope she gets to say a few words during the show, with or without a golden statue):
Hot on the heels of the unofficial trailer leak is an official Disney 'teaser trailer'. We learn one important thing from this trailer: "Once it's cut, it loses it's power..." We also hear part of the famous Rapunzel story line: "..let down your hair..." Glad they're including that.
I was going to save this for tomorrow but just in case this disappears I thought I'd share it right away: HERE! I heard a couple of days ago (thank you Ms. Mantchev the Marvelous!) that a trailer-in-progress for "Tangled" got leaked to YouTube. By the time I got there (within an hour of the message) it had already been removed. I have been hunting since in case it reappeared and sure enough, turns out somebody caught it before it disappeared and now we can share it - at least until that gets removed too. I'm including all the info I've found just in case.
Please note: this is not an official trailer. It's basically a mock-up of a trailer-to-be and includes pencil storyboard sketches, not-final-rendered animation and more. The images only give you an idea of the action and staging and look nothing like the end product will, so try not to judge the visuals.
The new logo is in evidence in gold along with additional lines: "It takes two to get... Tangled... Rinse. Rescue. Repeat." Underneath the images, a remake of "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" is playing to accent the action, which - don't worry- is temp music only. There's far more footage of the rogue hero, Flynn, than Rapunzel, but that's not really a surprise.
Keep in mind that the trailer is mostly in storyboard and rough animation, so it will give you an idea of the animation, but since all the animation is unrendered we won't know much about the actual look of the film until the finished trailer or teaser is released (which is rumored to happen with the release of the "Princess and the Frog" dvd). The trailer does offer us our first look at new characters Pascal, Rapunzel's sidekick pet chameleon and her white horse Maximus.
Here's what Latino Review has to say about the contents:
Up until today, we were only able to show you early concept art with few story details but today we have quite the reverse. As the trailer mostly relies upon storyboards and the animations are still in their earliest stages, this isn't so much about the look as it is about the tone. While Tangled does mark Disney's return to its fairytale roots, it's with a decidedly modern interpretation that's more Road to El Dorado and Pixar than Snow White or Sleeping Beauty.
Here are some the select highlights from the trailer: Rapunzel has an anthropomorphized gekko/lizard of sorts, the male lead relies upon his charms and wiles to steal hearts and money but is captured by Rapunzel who seems immune to everything he can throw at her -- especially since she weilds a frying pan as her defense.
Overall, it seems like Disney is going for humor with this film and is trying to undermine its self-perceived princess problem by making the story every bit about the male lead as it is about Rapunzel escaping from her tower and letting down her golden hair.
Rapunzel can also apparently manipulate her hair as a weapon, though perhaps not with quite the 'cowgirl' feel that Shannon Hale's Rapunzel's Revenge heroine does.
I also want to mention that despite the marketing changes, the story will not likely have changed significantly to reflect the new 'boy-friendly' tack. One of the perceived problems with "Princess and the Frog" is that there is very little actual "princess" content and much more adventure/boy-friendly content than pro-princess girls were wanting/expecting. Despite recent Disney marketing being very pro-princess and girly the (animation) films do tend to strive for a balance of pretty vs gritty. They can be marketed either way. I'm curious to see if they can temper the pendulum swing before it goes from the extreme-princess marketing we just had to extreme-adventure-boy marketing.
Now, if you haven't already, go HERE to see the trailer (at the bottom of the article) before it vanishes!
Please excuse the break in the news this week. Here's the weather: we've been under it.
In the meantime, while my household recovers from the various bugs and/or flu floating around, I thought I'd quickly point you toward this lovely Italian silhouette animation.
This is from a film called "Principi e principesse" from 2000 and yes, I'm aware the cover shows a different title but both iMDB and YouTube call the film by this title, not the one printed on promotional poster. The film has a collection of six magical short stories and while the whole thing is in Italian, you don't need to speak or understand any to enjoy it (though I'm sure that would add to it - it's obviously very funny).It's a very different take on The Frog Prince and I suggest you 'fast forward' to the one minute mark where the action begins. There's a bit of Italian dialogue right after the frog appears that I suggest you be patient through but after that it speeds up considerably. You'll very quickly get the idea and should enjoy the surprise conclusion*.
The style is somewhat reminiscent of Lotte Reiniger's silhouette animation but clearly has a more modern sensibility behind it. I've seen a short article on it a few months back but haven't been able to relocate it in my limited time (if anyone spots it, feel free to add a link in the comments).
Enjoy!
(I'll be back to sniffing out fairy tale news for you just as soon as my sniffer is available again.)
* You may be interested to know there is a Romanian fairy tale in which has a similar ending. You can read it HERE.I'm not sharing the title as it's a spoiler for the film. ;)
Remember my post announcing all sorts of changes at Disney feature animation last week? One of them has been publicly confirmed:
Rapunzel's new title is now, officially, Tangled.
Here's the announcement by the film's producer, Roy Conli, on Facebook:
"Hey everyone, I'm Roy Conli, producer of Disney's next animated film. I have some exciting news to share, and it was important to me that YOU guys – the Disney fans – hear it first. I want to tell you about Walt Disney Animation Studio's 2010 release, Tangled. It’s a really fresh, smart take on the Rapunzel story.
In our film, the infamous bandit Flynn Rider meets his match in the girl with the 70 feet of magical golden hair. We're having a lot of fun pairing Flynn, who's seen it all, with Rapunzel, who's been locked away in a tower for 18 years.
I’m so proud of the crew working on this film – they’re doing a fantastic job creating an awesome story with great characters and a stunning world – and it's all going to look amazing in 3D. All of us here at the studio are incredibly excited for you to see Tangled when it comes out in theaters this November."
(The comments below his announcement reflect the general sentiments I've been hearing about the name change too, by the way.)Why the change? Here's what First Showing is reporting:
So why get rid of a very recognizable title? For marketing purposes of course. Read on!
Blue Sky Disney goes on to explain that, after the mediocre-to-good success of The Princess and the Frog ($101 million in US box office), Disney is rethinking their marketing strategies for upcoming animated movies. They (meaning the execs and John Lasseter and so on) think that boys don't want to go see "girlie" movies and Rapunzel is instantly perceived as female because it's a story about a girl with the long hair. So by changing the name they give it some new life. Apparently it's not that girlie of a story either, so boys will still enjoy it. Other title considerations include the original Unbraided and The Thief in the Tower, too.
There's an animation studio in Spain, Milimetros, working on a CG family fantasy feature based on European myths and fairy tales. The film is called "The Heart of the Oak" and is scheduled to be released around mid-2012.
Here's a little about the story & concept from the company:
“The Heart of the Oak” is an epic story brought to life with humor and romance. It is inspired in the European mythological traditions, its legends, to create a magical universe full of beauty, a world close to children. But it is also the reflection of our own universe, a story of daily situations with the family.
Strange events are changing the climate in Dragon Hill and this sudden freeze has plunged it into darkness. On top of Dragon Hill, there is an oak tree as big as a mountain and as old as time. Its heart has always protected the balance of the environment but now it is dying. Robin, the little Elf and guardian of the forest, implores the Gods to help him fight this menacing evil that threatens to destroy all life. When he finally receives help – it is not what he expected.
You can read more about the film and production HERE.
Here's an animated tale I've been saving for a while with the intent of using around April 1st, particularly because a good heart wins over a conniving riddler. It's a version of "The Fisherman and His Wife" (the best known version was recorded by the Grimm brothers but apparently this version was penned by one of Armenia's greatest poets and writers, Tumanyan) and in addition to the question of wishes it includes a whole set of riddles asked by a shape-shifting wizard.
