🍁 Tag Tuesday: Fairy Tale Tag- September 19th 🍁
The original tag is on the BookTube channel NEHOMAS2. Here is a link to her video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQRHPmelWZs&list=UUS8zKxtbi0LVKGzXQR5PE4A&index=1&feature=plcp
1. What was your first introduction to fairy tales?
🍂 The Disney Movies, probably The Little Mermaid or another princess movie.
2. Do you have a favorite fairy tale/ favorite fairy tale character? Or several?
🍂 Rapunzel is definitely a favorite fairy tale and fairy tale character of mine. Also Beauty/ Belle and the Little Mermaid/ Ariel
3. Do you immediately associate fairy tales with Disney and their Disney incarnations? Do you think this association is a good/ bad thing?
🍂 No, I don't automatically associate fairy tales with Disney. I also don't think associating fairy tales with Disney is a problem. It is because of Disney that I went out and tried to explore many of the tales that I have found. That is not even just the fairy tales but also mythology, King Arthur, and so many others. Many children now get to know these tales and have for so long because of Walt Disney or because of retellings of these famous tales. That I don't believe is a problem, especially since many fairy tales were passed down through stories from other cultures. I think that fans of the Disney movies or these other adaptations of the tales will try to find the source material to learn more about them. It's not a bad thing at all.
4. Do you prefer "lighter" or "darker" fairy tale renditions?
🍂 I'm sort of indecisive with this topic because some of the lighter renditions like The Little Mermaid or Tangled are some of my favorite movies. Then there are darker renditions like Snow White and the Huntsman that I also enjoy watching. I'll say both depending on my mood at the time.
5. Do you read fairy tale adaptations? If so, name some favorites.
🍂 The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer (an all-time favorite)
🍂 Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
🍂 Beastly by Alex Flinn
🍂 The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka
🍂 and really so much more.
6. In terms of fairy tales on film, what are some of your favorites?
🍂 The Little Mermaid
🍂 Tangled
🍂 Ever After
🍂 Beauty and the Beast
🍂 Shrek
🍂 a television show segment The Fractured Fairy Tales from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show
🍂 and my favorite Stardust (this is based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, which his own fairy tale and it's amazing).
7. What novels and films with a fairy tale feel do you enjoy? These are not directly canon tales eg. a tale from the Grimms, from Perrault, from Anderson, etc.
🍂 The Princess Bride (at least the movie, I have to still read the book)
🍂 The Neverending Story (again I have to still read the book)
🍂 the Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke
🍂 Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
🍂 Enchanted the movie
🍂 The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (a fabulous book series)
🍂 the I Hate Fairyland graphic novel series by Skottie Young (these are quite dark and gruesome but completely enjoyable),
🍂 a new one which is great is The Wizard of Once (This book will be released on October 3rd. Listen to the audiobook it's incredible)
8. What do you think accounts for the enduring appeal of fairy tales?
I think that many people can connect to these characters. Yes, we may not live fantastical lives like them but we can relate to a broken heart or falling in love. We can connect to having a dream that we want to attain so much that makes it the most important part of our lives for a while. I know for me, I love these tales especially because of how people have played with them over time. I thoroughly enjoy the feeling I get while reading or watching them and it's not something I'll ever forget. They endure on throughout the generations and centuries because we relate to the characters and feel for them. We want them to win and succeed just as much as we want ourselves and others to.
9. Is there a character that impacted you the most?
Well, this is hard because I can think of reasons that many have impacted me in my life. I became obsessed with The Little Mermaid when I was probably around four or five and my sister and I literally wrecked two VHSs because we watched them so much. This and many of the other princess movies made me interested in the world of fantasy and if it weren't for them I don't know where I would be today. I fell in love with fairy tales because of these movies and wanted to know everything about them.
One character that sticks out is Ariel. I remember connecting to her so much as a little girl. She wanted to go after her dreams and that was something I could relate to even at such an early age. Another big impacting character was Belle. I admired Belle because of her independence, her devotion to her family, and her love of reading. She was my type of character.
10. If you could be any fairytale character, who would it be and why?
The Fairy Godmother but the version from Chris Colfer's The Land of Stories series. The reason I choose this iteration is simple. The Fairy Godmother has always interested me even as a child. A woman who can come to fix all of your problems with just a wand, that sounded great to me. Chris's version of her just was an enjoyable character that seems like a sweet little old lady with great power. It would be cool to be a younger version of her.
11. If you could rewrite or reinvision a fairy tale, what would it be and what would you do/change?
Retellings are sort of a passion of mine and have been for most of my life. I actually have written one already and that is a secret, for now. I will say that I really like twisting what we already know from the original tales.
12. Your fairy tale weapon of choice: poison apple, the power of a name, an evil bargain, or praying on a specific human weakness/emotion?
I'm a sucker for a good poison apple.
