Fairytale Reflections (10) Cassandra Golds at SMoST

The Friday before last gave us Fairytale Reflections (10) Cassandra Golds at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles. Golds is an Australian author not well-known in the states, but after reading about her and her books, I hope she starts to get more publicity here.

Her fairy tale of choice to discuss was The Little Mermaid.  As always, you will need to click through to read it all, but here is her beginning (in more ways than one):

The first time I listened to it I remember sitting on the lounge in front of the big record player in my childhood home with an aching throat and tears streaming down my face. The Tale Spinners version — which, although dramatised, stuck closely to the Andersen original — was about unrequited love, self-sacrifice and the hope of ultimate transcendence. In other words, it was not the Disney version. And yet, at the age of five or so, none of it seemed foreign to me. Not only did I think this was the most beautiful story I had ever heard — immediately I conceived a passionate allegiance to it. From this point on, for me, “The Little Mermaid” was what a good story should be — sad, noble, uplifting, passionate, desperate, extreme and big, opera-big. And it had to make you cry. It was the first time I was ever moved to tears by a work of art, and I have never fully lost the conviction that that is art’s first duty: the gift of tears.

And the dread hand of fate? Well, from the moment I first heard that record, I was destined to be a children’s author. It changed the course of my life. Or set me on it.

And finally some images of Golds' books with links:

  

Clair de Lune is also available for the Kindle for a great price, too. I wish the others were!

Overall Negative Response to Red Riding Hood Trailer

I'm going to do a few quick posts to catch up on stuff I failed to post last week. Here's the first:

The Guardian (UK) had a very negative response to the new trailer for Red Riding Hood. See Red Riding Hood trailer: life in the hood ain't so Grimm for a breakdown.

Fairytales have always played a vital function, offering strict morality lessons that help to mould each generation of children into well-developed adults. However, now that they're primarily being used to sell subscriptions to satellite television companies, there's a real danger they may soon be a thing of the past.

Hmmm, narrow view of fairy tales, but not surprising. But most of the attack is based on the Twilight tie-ins, from director to a love triangle, etc. Now, I'm not overly impressed with the trailer either, but I'm not going to rip the movie on a single trailer. I know trailers can be edited to make a movie look like anything. There's a whole genre of that kind of spoofing on YouTube actually.

Not that I'm excited about the movie either, mind you. It does look rather silly so far...  And so far the blogosphere agrees.  This one will be somewhat dueling with Beastly, so that will be an interesting match up.

And in case you missed it when I posted it several days ago, here it is again:



And here's the Beastly trailer again while we're here:

Rapunzel Week: Sugar Cane by Patricia Storace

I was saving Sugar Cane: A Caribbean Rapunzel by Patricia Storace and illustrated by Raul Colon to highlight later this week when I discovered it is bargain priced on Amazon right now.  I wanted to post it sooner rather than later because bargain books can last for weeks or minutes on Amazon in my years long experience with them. Just follow the links and look for the bargain priced edition.  It's there currently for $5.04 in hardcover.  Great price at 70% off!

Publisher's description:

“You live in a tower without a stair,
Sugar Cane, Sugar Cane, let down your hair.”

Stolen away from her parents on her first birthday by island sorceress Madam Fate, beautiful Sugar Cane grows up in a tower overlooking the sea. With only a pet green monkey named Callaloo for company, Sugar Cane is lonely—her only consolation is her love of music. Often she stands at her window and sings, imagining that the echo of her voice is someone answering her. Then one night, someone does hear her song, but could this young man with a gift for music break the spell of Madam Fate and help Sugar Cane set herself free?

Patricia Storace’s lyrical and poignant retelling of the Rapunzel tale in a Caribbean setting is perfectly matched with Raúl Colón’s lush illustrations. An unforgettable feast for the senses.

In other words, this is a literary retelling of the tale by Storace set in the Carribean. It is not based on a Carribean tale but is infused with Carribean culture. It is lengthy for a picture book, more short story than short tale, but it is beautifully told and offers a different culture to the well-known European versions.  The quirk is that so many of the tales told in the Americas are adapted from European versions that came with the European colonists of various countries, so excepting the literary details and length, the tale feels like it belongs firmly in that culture.

The only concern for giving it to younger children is the length.  This is not a sit down and read it in one sitting with your four-year-old book.  It's excellent for an independent reader though and reading over a few nights with an older child, merely thanks to length.

And the illustrations are lovely, here are a few more to peruse:

This is part of a series of books from Hyperion imprint, Jump at the Sun, which seeks to offer "minority" versions of tales, primarily African American. And Hyperion, for those not in the know, is a Disney owned company. There are many excellent fairy tales published by the imprint, mostly in paperback.  Sugar Cane: A Caribbean Rapunzel received special attention with a hardcover edition.

Rapunzel and Art.com Cyber Deals

Edited to add: All of these posters are still available, but not all the affiliate links work (always a problem with Art.com's affiliate system), so search for Rapunzel (or other fairy tale or non fairy tale stuff) once you are on the site.

Rapunzel Lets Down Her Golden Hair Buy From Art.com

Another CyberMonday Deal from Art.com:

Witch on Rapunzel's Hair Buy From Art.com

The Best Offer of the Year!

  

3 Days Only-30% Off Everything*

Offer Ends: 12/1/2010

Use Code: HOLLY

This really is one of their best deals that isn't offered very often anymore.  I also provided Rapunzel poster choices for the fun of it. And, yes, SurLaLune is an Art.com associate so these are associate links.

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Rapunzel Fairy Tale Buy From Art.com

The Witch Spies on Rapunzel Buy From Art.com

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Rapunzel Growth Chart Buy From Art.com

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Tangled Does Well, Very Well

From Tangled and Harry Potter 7 face off over crowded Thanksgiving by Scott Mendelson at HollywoodNews.com:

Like a combination of Thanksgiving holidays past, it was a combination of Harry Potter holding down the fort against all newcomers, while a Disney animated property broke out of the gate. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part I still won the three-day and five-day weekend derby, but Disney’s Tangled had a smashing debut that set a record for a three-day opening weekend for a standard Disney cartoon (IE – not Pixar). The Disney fairy-tale scored $49 million over the Fri-Sun portion of the weekend and amassed a whopping $69 million since opening on Wednesday. Inflation and 3D price-bump aside (56% of ticket sales were for the 3D version), this best the $42 million opening of The Lion King way back in summer 1994 (which was one of the top-five opening weekends ever at the time). It’s also the second-largest Thanksgiving opening weekend in history, behind the $80 million five-day and $59 million three-day opening weekend of Toy Story 2 back in 1999 (that $57 million debut was the third-biggest ever at the time). The lesson here is a simple one: Disney REALLY should have opened The Princess and the Frog in wide release over Thanksgiving last year.

Considering that Disney’s most recent animated features (Meet the Robinsons, Bolt, The Princess and the Frog) had opening weekends of around $25 million, the opening sprint for Tangled is all the more impressive. I took issue earlier in the year with Disney’s marketing campaign, which tried to make the film look less like a princess empowerment adventure and more like a boy-friendly action picture involving a roguish thief who sweeps Rapunzel off of her feet, but something obviously worked. I don’t have age or gender demo stats yet, but the film scored a very rare ‘A+’ from Cinemascore. That’s genuinely refreshing as A) the film is pretty darn good and B) it is indeed a ‘chick flick’ false advertising be damned.

I still contend that part of the success was about the release date, as Disney was in a better position to treat their 50th cartoon as a prime attraction of the holiday season. They shot themselves in the foot last year, opening A Christmas Carol at the beginning of November, thus causing them to put off the wide opening of The Princess and the Frog until December 12th. Frankly, most of the press attention for The Princess and the Frog occurred on Thanksgiving weekend, when the film was playing in just four theaters. By the time the film went wide, everyone was talking about Avatar.

Tangled opened on Wednesday with $11 million, giving the film a solid 6x five-day weekend multiplier. The legs on this picture are going to be about as long as Rapunzel’s hair (sorry…), and it has a solid chance of becoming Disney’s first traditional cartoon to cross $200 million since The Lion King. And yes, the film looks gorgeous in 2D, so the eventual loss of 3D theaters to The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Yogi Bear, and Disney’s Tron: Legacy shouldn’t be too much of an issue. With numbers like this, I seriously doubt that this is the last we see of the princess/fairy tale genre from the Mouse House.

Just like I said. :) Mendelson thinks like me. Anyway, there is more in the article about other movies, too, and I am anxiously awaiting The King's Speech release here in Nashville which is my other film choice of the season.

Although I am pretty sure I'll be seeing Tangled again, too. A big deal for me who averages only 3-4 movie viewings a year.

So if Disney decides to return to fairy tales eventually (and they will even if not in the immediate future) which one do you hope to see interpreted?

CyberMonday: MP3s Deals

Off topic bargain hunting:

It's CyberMonday and I admit I have been shopping for deals off and on, almost none of them .  Today Amazon is offering $3 worth of MP3s for free which is nice but even nicer if you are interested in any of their $1.99 album specials.  (The husband was.)

Use code GET3MP3S and get $3 in MP3 downloads instantly. Credit good for songs or albums sold at Amazon MP3. Offer ends November 30. No purchase necessary.

To redeem it, just go to any MP3 listing page and click on the "Redeem a gift card or promotion code & view balance" choice under the Buy buttons on the right side of the page in the green box. Then choose a few things or one album to download and the credit will be applied. You don't have to buy anything on the page you redeem the code either, that's just the quickest way to redeem it if you are shopping.

There's also lots of free Christmas music and other goodies for cheap, all inexpensive if you browse a little.

And although I owned it, I really recommend In Between Dreams by Jack Johnson who I love. It's one of the oldest of the deal offerings--many are recent releases--but it's a great one if you don't own it and like laid back music. Banana Pancakes is beloved in my house--the song, not the food.  I don't make pancakes often and I choose other fruit or chocolate chips if I have the choice.

Rapunzel Week: Falling for Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox

Falling for Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox and illustrated by Lydia Monks is the Rapunzel I am most often asked about in casual conversation by various people with varying levels of interests in fairy tales.  "Have you read Falling for Rapunzel?" I am asked. 

Yes, I have and I am always a little surprised at how big of a fan base it has. It's a fun Rapunzel spoof, using the classic story to make children and adults laugh. And it's a great book, but I am surprised at its widespread exposure. People I would never expect to have heard of it let alone read it ask me about it. First published in 2003, it's still in print in hardcover and paperback which also attests to its endurance in the fickle publishing world.

Product description from the publisher:

The prince is hoping to fall for Rapunzel, but since she can't quite hear what he asks for, everything but her hair gets tossed out her window. Instead of her curly locks, she throws her dirty socks. Instead of silky tresses, out go lacey dresses. And you can predict the guaranteed-to-crack-kids-up clothing she sends down when the prince simply says hair. . . .

Finally Rapunzel heaves out something that makes all the prince's dreams come true, showing how misunderstandings can lead to happily-ever-after.

Hilarious text, clever page-turns, and vibrant, eclectic art make this a non-traditional Rapunzel kids will want to read about again and again.

And all of the reviews were great when it came out. I agreed. And it is a fun book, an excellent holiday gift choice for new fans of Rapunzel after seeing Tangled, too. The ending is surprising and fun but don't read the reviews if you don't want it spoiled. Some of them do and that's too bad.

And the same author and illustrator team has also produced a Sleeping Beauty spoof if you like this one: Waking Beauty.