Jennifer M. Davis

Modern Interpretation of Fairy Tales

Definitions:

• "fairy tale" has always carried the connotation of "improbable fiction," for as long as the term has been around. That's one of the distinguishing characteristics of a fairy tale, as opposed to a myth or a legend -- the listeners understand it as a fiction crafted for entertainment purposes.

http://www.geocities.com/surlalunefairytales/boardarchives/may2001/definefairytale.html

• A fairy tale is a story of marvels and magic, often including stock characters such as the fairy, the ogre, a Prince Charming, a persecuted heroine, and the abandoned baby. It is about the adventures, fortunes, and misfortunes of a hero or heroine who ends up living happily ever after.

http://www.inkspell.homestead.com/FTnotes.html

Example:  Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998) staring Drew Barrymore and Anjelica Huston in a modern retelling of the Cinderella Story. 

Representational Genre:  Narrator + Dialog

Narrative Genre:

Tragedy- Problem begins with Danielle’s father dying and she looses her station in life and becomes a servant to her stepmother; Prince Henry must decide who to marry

Romance- As Danielle tries to be heroic in an effort to save another servant, the prince of France falls in love with her

Comedy- With the character of Danielle there is a case of mistaken identity; throughout the play there are comic elements including the character of Leonardo Da Vinci

Subject genre/audience appeal:  Fantasy, Love Story, Appeals to all ages

Identifiable Highlights of genre in example:  You often get another perspective of a well-known fairy tale

Alternative names/related genres:  Folk tales, Legends, Children’s books, Date movie

Additional Examples:

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)                                          

The Mask of Zorro (1998)                

Sleeping Ugly by Jane Yolen

Questions:

1. What makes a fairy tale modern?  What other fairy tales have become more modern?

2. In researching this genre, it was very hard to find a solid definition… how else could we classify such movies as Ever After?

Question #1

Kelly – What makes it modern is that there is no pumpkin, without that it’s believable

Jennifer – Also the fact that the two actors are popular now

Janet – Now there is a big push for fairy tales to be told from another perspective

Diana – There was a play I saw that had to do with Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf in which the Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood are together and they encounter the 3 pigs on the way

Jennifer – There is a Broadway musical called Into The Woods that involves a lot of the fairy tales, it puts them on an adult level

Diana – There is the modernization of The Wizard of Oz – The Wiz

Kelly – Even Pretty Woman is a fairy tale

J. Davis – Even at the very end of Ever After they use a fairy tale with her knight coming to rescue her, the most important thing is if you live and love

Question #2

Talking about Ever After

J. Davis – One classification would be a love story with a twist

Diana – Fantasy romance

J. Davis – I was talking to Dr. White and he didn’t know how to classify this either

Kelly – Well its historical as well

J. Davis – The reviews were very critical

Dr. White – Most of the reviews I saw were positive

J. Davis – They thought it wasn’t real enough

Janet – Fairy tales aren’t suppose to be real

Dr. White – The father of the prince was comical, a lot like Hogan in Moon for the Misbegotten

J. Davis – Leonardo de Vinci does a good job with humor, there is one part where Dad is talking about giving up the crown that is funny

Kelly – Almost like an allusion to Queen Elizabeth she’ll live forever and Prince Charles will never rule