Final Blog

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This year in From Grimm to Disney I learned a lot about different fairy tales and their origins, many of which I'm not familiar with. I enjoyed reading each and every tale, whether I thought they were good or not. Each one was unique and I especially liked spotting the differences between the originals with other versions, as well as the Disney versions. While I personally believe that Disney makes the tales a lot more enjoyable with their adaptations, it feels good knowing their roots. Probably my favorite difference is with the story Sleeping Beauty. The original version is ten times better than the Disney adaptation. I much prefer the idea that when Briar Rose falls asleep the entire castle stops in time and they stay that way for 100 years. I like the message that during a young girl's development, they shut themselves off from people until the time comes, they have thorns. Rapunzel on the other hand I think is much better handled in the Disney movie Tangled. The idea of a princess in a tower was made more interesting with the addition of Rapunzel having magical hair that couldn't be cut, for losing all its magic. Therefore the hair had to grow out super long. I also like the addition of making the prince into a thief instead, it makes him feel more like a real character.
I really enjoyed this class, I'm very happy I ended up picking it for my First-Year Seminar. I think as a Cinema major, it's good to think about these kinds of adaptations from an older tale, to a film.

Blog 10

I couldn't find much of anything when I searched for Rapunzel cartoons, except for the Disney one that follows the movie characters. Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure is a tv show on Disney Channel that takes place after the Disney film. This show follows Rapunzel and Eugene's adventures after mother Gothel's demise, following up until they get married. This show is incredibly different from the movie in many ways, however, it still revolves around the same main characters. The show begins with Rapunzel regaining the magic hair she lost at the end of the movie. She regains the hair from magic moonstones that appear around the same spot that the magic flower first bloomed. There are also many new characters that didn't appear in the movie, such as Cassandra, mother Gothel's daughter, who becomes one of the new main characters, also Rapunzel's parents who we didn't see much of in the movie. The magic hair is also dialed up to 11 in this show, so if you didn't like that aspect in the movie you definitely won't like it here. There are lots of crazy magic hair moments, such as lots of magic anime battles, dark evil powers, crazy moonstone stuff. The show also seems to have a lot of songs, similar to the movie, this surprised me, even if they might not be as good as the movie's, they aren't bad at all and it's nice to see them. While the show seems to be pretty good, the adventures these characters go on are far more outlandish then what is done in the movie. The writers were really given full control and I don't know if the series is canon to the movie plot. However, if none of this bothers you and you just want to enjoy watching these characters again, then it might be worth checking out. Then again, there isn't much that ties it to the original fairy tale, it's mostly just connected to the movie, which in my opinion isn't a bad thing since I personally think the movie is the most enjoyable adaptation. 

 

Blog 9

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When it comes to the three different versions of Bluebeard, they are all very different and unique, yet all have things that make them similar. The Robber Bridegroom is a story about a maiden who was to be married to a man she did not love. He told her to visit his house in the dark forest, for he had invited guests. When she traveled through the forest she came across a house deep in the center of the woods. The house belonged to murderers but with the help of an old woman, she escaped having witnessed a murder while in hiding. At her wedding celebration, she had been asked to tell a story and she told the tale of the murderers and everything she had seen. The robber who was at the wedding tried to flee but was caught along with the rest of the band. This tale is similar to the others because it's about a maiden seeing something she shouldn't see. However, it's also very different because the maiden is not directly told not to go there, she just wanders into it. Fitcher's Bird is about a sorcerer who kidnaps beautiful girls to take to his house. Throughout the tale, he captures three beautiful daughters. When he went out of the house he would give the girl the keys to the rooms in the house, as well as an egg, but he warned them not to go into the room with the small key. What lay in the room was but the bodies of the people he'd killed. The first two daughters fell to curiosity and were punished with death due to the bloodstains left on the egg. However, the third daughter was cunning and left the egg in a safe place. She managed to put her sisters back together and they came back to life. When the man came back and there was no blood on the egg he made her his bride. Her request, however, was that he carries a basket of gold to her parents. Little did he know that he was also carrying the two other daughters home to get help. This story is also really different, as the third daughter is cunning and was able to outsmart the sorcerer. However similar, as the daughters all go somewhere they are told not to go to. This one is my personal favorite as I enjoy the happy ending with the two daughters being brought back to life. Bluebeard is very similar to Fitcher's Bird however instead of 3 daughters it is only one maiden. Her husband Bluebeard is going away for a while and leaves her in possession of all the keys in the house, however, she is told not to go to the room with the small key. She goes in anyway and inside lies the bodies of Bluebeard's former wives. She drops the key and stains it with blood. When Bluebeard returns he sees that the key has blood on it and goes to punish her. However, her brothers arrive to save her. This story is similar because the maiden was told not to enter the room. However, it is very different because it only features one maiden and she is saved in the end.

Blog 8

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When it comes to comparing the original Hansel and Gretel fairy tale to the MGM film, there's a lot to look at. There are a lot of changes, but it isn't so drastic as to affect the story or the message of the tale. Probably one of the biggest changes is what the film directors have done to the mother character. In the Grimm version, the mother was very evil and wanted to get rid of the children so that she and her husband would not starve. She's actively angry when the children show up again at their house. "You wicked children!" In the film, she's not like this, she loves her children but is worried for her family's survival. When the children accidentally spill all their milk the mother gets upset at them and tells them to go into the forest and not come back without any berries. She strongly regrets this later when her husband comes home. "What have I done? My children!" In the Grimm version, the parents take the children out in the woods and leave them there, promising them to come back. This change was likely made as to not make the motherly figure out to be the villain. Another major change was the inclusion of the father's job and their money problems being more focused on and eventually solved. At the beginning of the film, we see the father delivering firewood to the baker and being scammed. Later he stands up for himself and demands the money that is owed to him. We also see a kind neighbor give some milk to the family as thanks for what their father did for them. None of this is seen in the Grimm version, the family is only shown to be starving and poor. I am unsure as to why the filmmakers decided to include this as it doesn't add anything but to make the family less poor. The witch's demise, at the end of the film, is slightly less horrific than the Grimm tale as she is turned into a dessert through magic, rather than being cooked alive. This is done for obvious reasons as it would be too violent for and children watching.

Blog 7

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The Disney cartoon; Little Red Riding Hood, Three Little Pigs And The Wolf, is fairly similar to the original story of Little Red Riding Hood, however, it does have it's fair share of changes of course. The biggest and most noticeable change is the inclusion of The Three Little Pigs into the story. These pigs weren't in the original and were likely included by Disney to familiarize kids with the Big Bad Wolf that's in both tales. Or just for fun. In the beginning, two of the three little pigs tell little red riding hood to take the shortcut through the woods, but the third tells her that the big bad wolf lives there and is dangerous. She takes the shortcut anyway, accompanied by the two pigs. This is different from the original where the wolf encourages her to leave the path, this time it's kind of confusing because she's being influenced into two different options by the same three pigs. Who's the enemy here? The cartoon also makes the story a lot more kid-friendly. The wolf does not eat the grandma nor little red riding hood at all. A lot of the action is slapstick cartoon violence. More for laughs, rather than being cautionary. The huntsman doesn't appear in this one, instead replaced by the wise pig who warned red riding hood in the first place.  The wolf's demise is hot coals shoveled into their pants, much less horrible than the original. Overall I thought this cartoon was pretty entertaining, even if adding the three little pigs was kind of odd. Does it capture the true meaning of the fairy tale? Absolutely not. This is clearly a more child-friendly attempt at capturing the surface level story. 

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Blog 6

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The fairy tale The Frog King by the Brothers Grimm and the Greek tale Cupid and Psyche are very different stories. They have very different characters and the length and layout of the stories are almost entirely different. However, these tales do have some things in common. For one, they both feature a prince and a princess in a complicated relationship with one another. In The Frog King, the frog only just wants to be loved by the princess and be her companion. The princess despises the frog and thinks he's ugly and gross. She only falls in love with him when he transforms back into a prince at the end of the story. She falls in love with him immediately in fact. Whereas in Cupid and Psyche, a somewhat similar but different situation occurs. Rather than Psyche seeing Cupid right away like the Princess saw the frog. Cupid doesn't reveal himself to Psyche for fear of what she'll think of his appearance, and how that might change her feelings for him. All he wants is to be loved as an equal. This mysterious nature of him just makes Psyche more curious, however. And with the advice from her sisters, she peeks at him while he is asleep and he is truly a beautiful angel. This is similar to The Frog King because both women didn't appreciate their man until they saw his beauty. The Princess hated the frog because he was ugly, and Psyche had no idea what Cupid looked like, for all she knew he could've been a monster.

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Week 5

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The Disney adaptation of the fairy tale Snow White changed a lot of things. This was most likely to make the story more appropriate and enjoyable for all ages. Nonetheless, there were many changes. Both versions feature a beautiful young maiden by the name of Snow White, her skin as white as snow and lips as red as blood, and a beautiful queen who despite her efforts could not match the beauty of Snow White, much to her dismay. The queen ordered her to be taken out into the forest and killed, however, her henchman couldn't bring himself to do it and instead told Snow White to run away and never return. In the Disney version, they emphasize the inclusion of animals and how Snow White has a friendship with them. They appear very often and even help Snow White clean the dwarves' house when she finds it. However, in the original version, Snow White does not clean the house. There's not even a mention of the dwarves' house being dirty. It's even described to be "indescribably dainty and neat". Instead of cleaning, rather, Snow White eats some of the dwarves' food and sleeps in one of their beds. When Snow White awakes, she tells her story about the queen and how she had to run away. The dwarves make a deal with her and propose that if she cleans, cooks, and sews for them they'll let her stay. However, in the Disney version, it is Snow White who proposes this deal. The Disney version focuses on the dwarves a lot more than the original does. Disney makes each dwarf their own character, and there are a few scenes only featuring the dwarves for comedic purposes. When the queen disguises herself and visits the dwarves' house, she does it three times in the original, whereas in the Disney version she only visits once. At the end of the story, the queen dies by falling and being crushed by a boulder, rather than dying to red-hot slippers like in the original. As I said, these changes were most likely made to make the story more accessible to all ages and to make it feel more like a real story with real characters. But it is still something interesting to think about.