Fairytales 0%
So⊠a long time ago I made on my old DA account a post titled âfairytales 0%â and while I do not like this title I will still use it to report my thoughts here. Because the idea behind this post was to find, among the numerous movies and cartoons that were just adaptations of fairytales, some that felt like a fairytale, were fairytales, and yet were not adaptations of any existing story or based on any existing story. Brand new fairytales, and yet with â0%â old fairytale in it. I know the title is unclear and quite a stretch, and I am not pleased with it, but Iâll stick to it for now⊠And so here is the list of four works I listed that for me are those âbrand new visual fairytalesâ, those âfairytales 0%â. There are much more - but those were the four ones I could think of at the time.
1) Over the Garden Wall
An animated mini-series that aired in November 2014. The story of two half-brothers, the young, childish and naive Gregory alongside the older, more reasonable and sensible Wirt, as they try to find their way home ; for they are lost in a strange and magical forest known as âThe Unknownâ.
This piece of work is already cult. If you did not heard of it before, you must have heard of its creator - Patrick McHale, the man who was behind Adventure Time.
The first (and the second) time I watched Over the Garden Wall in its entirety, and this is true,, I felt the exact same feeling, the exact same sensation, as I felt upon hearing or seeing fairytales when I was younger. The EXACT same feeling - I literaly said upon watching the last episodes âI feel like I am discovering a new fairytaleâ. This mini-series is a masterpiece, a beautiful modern fairytale.
It takes back a lot of the codes and tropes of the fairytale genre: two siblings lost in the woods, who meet strange people, talking animals and witches ; undergoing a personal journey while being stalked by a monstrous entity ; and through their adventures learning not to trust appearances⊠But it truly seeks to build its own, unique story and identity. It notably does that by drawing upon all sorts of âold-timeyâ references and homages to the American âchildhood cultureâ - from the early cartoons of the 20th century to the Wizard-of-Oz-like literature⊠And the cast! From Elijah Wood passing by John Cleese, without forgetting Tim Curry, so many famous voices!
Over the Garden Wall is one of those things you need to see once in your life.
2) Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
A Czech movie released in 1970, whose surrealist tone keeps oscillating between the fantasy and the horror - at least, thatâs how it is officially described.
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders was a succesful and beautiful attempt at creating a modern fairytale. A young teenage girl, Valerie, lives a seemingly normal life in a remote Czech village. One day she pricks her finger, drawing a few drops of blood on flowers below, and her pearl earrings are stolen. From there starts a strange series of events that turn the story into a dream-like phantasmagoriaâŠ
Just like with Over the Garden Wall, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders reuse many codes, tropes and archetypes of fairytales while building its own unique story where the marvelous and the realist entwine. A wicked family member turning against the heroine⊠there is a male monster lurking around a sweet and innocent young girl, not an ogre or a wolf but here a vampire⊠Said young girl has to grow up through a series of strange events symbolizing other forms of maturity⊠A long lost brother put under a spell that needs to be rescuedâŠ
However there is one major difference with Over the Garden Wall: OTGW puts a distance with its own weirdness, playing consciously on the strangeness of the fairytale world. VAHWOW rather embraces the fantastical and oniric tones of the story, recreating in a straigth way all the marvels and grotesques of fairytales - which as a result makes one feel like this movie is a literal adaptation of an already existing fairytale⊠when it is not.Â
A really beautiful and soothing movie.
3) Panâs Labyrinth
A Spanish fantasy movie by Guillermo del Toro, released in 2006.Â
Panâs Labyrnth is always at the top of the lists of âmodern fairytale moviesâ, and for good measure. You might know Guillermo del Toro as the amazing mind behind works such as the first two Hellboy movies, The Shape of Water, Crimson Peak, The Devilâs Backbone, Mimic or Cronos.
Panâs Labyrinth tells the story of young Ofelia, a little girl living in 1944 Spain and whose pregnant mother just married Captain Vidal, a member of Francoâs fascist regime. Ofelia tries to adapt to her new life and father, but in the process discovers in the ruins of a labyrinth an old faun - who tells her that she is the long-lost princess of a fairy kingdom! To regain her throne and find back her real parents, she needs to undergo three trialsâŠÂ
The movie is split in two: on one side, the real world, dealing with the horrors of war. A story of fascists and resistants, as well as the story of Ofeliaâs new life and of the pregnancy of her mother - a historical piece. On the other side, the fairy world, with its magic, wonders and terrors. The two were designed to reflect each other in the typical theme of âthe fairytale tale (or the imaginary world) is a reflection of realityâ. In fact, Guillermo del Toro gave this trope a renewed popularity specifically thanks to this marvelous movie.
However, be prepared: this is not a children movie. It is an adult movie, it is a war movie, it is filled with violence and sadness - and it mostly seeks to adapt the darkest and most disturbing aspects of the fairytale world, relying on the âoriginalâ conception of fairies and nature spirits as dangerous creatures of the night. It stays however a very touching and powerful movie, with beautiful visuals. Youâll find in there a set of three trials, nods to The Devilâs Three Golden Hair, an amazing reinterpretation of the Ogre, beautiful shots of woods, and a strong system of symbolism perfect for this adult, mature, serious fairytale.
Beware: fragile souls should probably avoid it.
4) Spirited Away
Letâs get out of the darkness for a more child-like movie.
All the classic movies of Studio Ghibli can be considered fairytales of some sort, since they all share this particularity âfairytaleâ quality to them - which does make sense given most of them are actually adaptations of fantasy books. But the most obviously âfairytale-yâ of them all is not a book adaptation: it is the movie âSpirited Awayâ.
A young girl moves to a new town with her family. Her parents lead her to what they believe to be some sort of abandoned amusement park, but as it turns out it is a bathhouse for the yokai (Japanese folkloric creatures). The food there turns the girlâs parents into pigs, and she needs to hide herself from the various spirits inhabiting the place. With the help of a mysterious young boy, she will be hired by the wicked witch ruling over this strange place - starts a quest for her to save herself and her parents, while solving the mystery of the strange young boyâs identityâŠÂ
Created by the famous Hayao Miyazaki and released in 2001, Spirited Away is another one of those âmodern fairytalesâ movie, and the interesting thing here is that it is based on actual Japanese folklore and Japanese fairytales - the monsters and supernatural entites seen throughout this movie being lifted out of Japanese legends. It still keeps however several nods to Western fantasy works, most notably Alice in Wonderland. And above all, we find here the universal fairytale tropes and ideas: the topic of food and eating, a young girl lost in a strange world where magic is behind every corner, a wicked witch, small friendly helpers, a story about making deals and overcoming trials to save a loved one ; a story filled with transformations, cruses and secret identitiesâŠÂ
And there is no need to say how beautiful this movie is - as with all the great Ghibli Studio movies.
