By JIM REED
So who turned over a stone and let out the spirits of Jacob and Wilhelm?
Of course I'm referring to the late Brothers Grimm who in the early 1800's, masterfully spun over 200 children's and households' "fairy tales". Over the course of more than 200 years now, their works have influenced an unimaginable amount of media, none of which my be more so than the adaptations created by a man some of you may have heard of, Walt Disney.
Today, it seems as if an explosion has occurred as if these Tales were just discovered. Also, everyone seems to want to put their own spin into the straw wheel. Lets look at some of the new works.
Grimm - This television show airs on NBC an stars David Giuntoli and
Russell Hornsby. Who? Exactly. This show is essentially another "cop drama" with a new twist. The premise is that Giuntoli plays a character names Nick, a detective, who finds out that he his a Descendant of the Grimm bloodline. Grimms, have spent their lives tracking and killing all the supernatural creatures that have infiltrated our world. Nick can see people for what they really are that usually boils down to some sort of animal/human hybrid. The show outright says that it bases it stores around the famous "Grimms Fairy Tales" but many of the creatures so far have been outside of these tales. There's a sense of an over-arcing story line involving Nick's boss but mostly it's just the "criminal of the week." With the title and premise so blatantly stating what it is, this is still probably the furthest away from the true fairy tales. It's not a great show and I've been keeping up with it and enjoying it. I'm just not sure how much lasting power it has.
Once Upon A Time - This one's home is ABC and host a huge cast. Most will be recognizable from their past works in television an film and some are fresh faces. The plot here is that in the land of fairy tales, the Evil Queen has cast a spell transporting all the people into the town of Storybrooke in modern times. No one remembers their other lives but somehow the grandson of Prince Charming and Snow White knows they are all trapped and is trying to make them see. The show bounces back and forth from the fairytale world to our world creating a very deep back story and personality for all of the Characters. I think this show is fantastic. To see how this cast, of now nearly dozens of fairytale characters, lived in the same world and now are living in ours is fascinating. To see how their relationships evolved an personalities got carried over is really amazing writing. They throw some pretty cool homage in there for fans too. The local florest is called "Game of Thorns"
Robert Carlyle who plays Rumplestiltskin (Mr.Gold in our world) really shines for me. If you haven't given this one a look, you need to.
Snow White and The Huntsman - Dubbed a fantasy action drama, this movie (coming summer 2012) stars Twilight's very own Kristen Stewart as Snow White who is on the run from her evil step mother , who wants to eat her heart for eternal life. The evil Queen recruits Thor, I mean The Huntsman, played by Chris Hemsworth, to bring her back. Obviously, they wind up falling in love and with the help of the seven dwarves, unite to take down the evil .... Blah blah blah. Obviously not one I'm going to go see.
Mirror Mirror - Julia Roberts plays the Evil Queen in this movie where she rules the realm and banishes her step daughter Snow White, who eventually falls in love with the prince and with the help of the seven dwarves, unite to take down ..... Wait a minute! Didn't I just say this? This film (March 30th) seems to be taking the lighter side approach as it is being solicited to children and teens. My daughter wants to see it, but we'll just wait for the video.
In aother media, Zenescape Entertainment has an ongoing popular title simply called "Grimm Fairy Tales" that started back in 2005. In 2009 , Fairy Tale Fights, a hack-and-slash action game, hit the consoles with little to no success. Reiner Knizia designed a card/dice battle game for Playroom Entertainment a few years back and I heard absolutely nothing good about it.
So, why this sudden boom of Fairy Tale Fever? I don't really know. Obviously these tales have had huge success on small screens and large screens. (with exceptions - anyone see 2010s Red Riding Hood? Snore!) But outside of this, it hasn't really caught on, despite the tremendous depth of theme and characters. I love fantasy and this is just another avenue for it, full of folklore and mystery. But not all things can be created equal and some things should not be created at all.
