Worst fairy tale to make into an animated film?
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Worst fairy tale to make into an animated film?
What do you guys think would be the worst fairy tale to turn into an animated film? I cannot think of one at the moment, but I was someone else would.
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Me too. Supposedly, Reese Witherspoon has dropped out of the project. Plus, with names like Kristin Chenoweth and Clay Aiken, and not Queen Latifah and Snoop Dogg, being linked to the film, I have hope that Rapunzel Unbraided may now just be Rapunzel, if you know what I mean.PatrickvD wrote:Would love to see rapunzel though. Hope Disney doesn't screw it up.
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Fairy Tales
The ORIGINAL Cinderella from the Grimm Brothers--you know, where Cinderella's step-sisters cut off pieces of their feet to fit into the slippers.
And later they get their eyes pecked out by these two birds.
Also another cool Grimm tale--The Juniper tree. It's about a little boy whose step-mother kills him (cuts off his head) to advance her own daughters and is then cooked (unknowingly) by his dad into stew. I forgot what happens but he does get revenge on her.
Little Red Riding Hood. I know it was made into a short,
("Red Hot Riding Hood") but I doubt you can make it into a feature without raising some issues. (Cross-dressing? The Wolf eating Grandma? He does eat her in some versions.) The story has very sexual overtones; it was partly meant as a warning for young girls to "stay on the path" and avoid strange men. Also in one version the Wolf asks Red to get in bed with him! (seriously)
Originally fairy tales were meant as folk tales, for kids as well as adults.
And later they get their eyes pecked out by these two birds.
Also another cool Grimm tale--The Juniper tree. It's about a little boy whose step-mother kills him (cuts off his head) to advance her own daughters and is then cooked (unknowingly) by his dad into stew. I forgot what happens but he does get revenge on her.
Little Red Riding Hood. I know it was made into a short,
("Red Hot Riding Hood") but I doubt you can make it into a feature without raising some issues. (Cross-dressing? The Wolf eating Grandma? He does eat her in some versions.) The story has very sexual overtones; it was partly meant as a warning for young girls to "stay on the path" and avoid strange men. Also in one version the Wolf asks Red to get in bed with him! (seriously)
Originally fairy tales were meant as folk tales, for kids as well as adults.
A long time ago I saw a Muppet version (Muppet Fairy Tales or something) which was HILARIOUS.Rumpustilzkin or howevery you spell it. I saw a live action version when I was a kid. It freaked me out. I hate the storyline. It's totally stupid. Would love to see rapunzel though. Hope Disney doesn't screw it up.
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!
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Sorry, I feel like a bumpin'!
There are a good number of fairy tales/classic stories that I don't think could be made into an animated film, or possibly a true film. These are...
The Gingerbread Man
If this was dragged to feature length, you'll be seeing an hour and a half of a little cookie jumping out of an oven and running down a country lane in England. It could be made into a short Silly Symphony cartoon, but even then it may not be the best material, as the ending is a bit marcarbre.
Ali Baba
This is due to a number of reasons. Firstly, people would compare it to Aladdin (another Arabian Night). Secondly, it isn't really suited to animation as it could easily work in live action. Lastly, it is a bit gory as well as people are killed not just by being stabbed, but by being drowned in oil.
The Three Bears
Similar reasons to Gingerbread Man here; it seems a bit too brief to become a feature film, though it would certainly look good as a Silly Symphony.
Little Red Riding Hood
For similar reasons as Shy Violet said. It's truly macarbre and has already been made as a sanitised Silly Symphony short (The Big Bad Wolf).
The Big Turnip
A turnip is big and gets pulled out the ground by a few people. What a bland idea. It can be summed in a sentence, and might not even be able to be padded out into short subject length.
Bluebeard
An intruiging tale, but is a bit too creepy in places (seeing the butchered corpses of your hubbie's former wives, anyone?), and in other places inpolitically correct.
Here are some that could work, but would need revising.
The Frog Prince
This would be a good idea, but would need a little tinkering to get it out to feature length without making it seem like another Beauty and the Beast/The Little Mermaid.
The Princess and the Pea
The same reasons as The Frog Prince...
Puss in Boots
It would need a little tinkering here and there, but would easily make a fine feature. However, thanks to Shrek 2, would this be a good idea if it was made outside of Dreamworks?
Dick Whittington
A possible alternative to Puss in Boots (it's a similar tale), but it may be a bit too obscure for many living outside of (or even inside) England, and it could do with a real villain.
Mother Holler
A story of a girl who falls down a well and gets glory, yet when her stepsisters follow, they don't exactly get the same. Did you know this story? It's a good concept, yet isn't it a bit obscure?
The Gingerbread Man
If this was dragged to feature length, you'll be seeing an hour and a half of a little cookie jumping out of an oven and running down a country lane in England. It could be made into a short Silly Symphony cartoon, but even then it may not be the best material, as the ending is a bit marcarbre.
Ali Baba
This is due to a number of reasons. Firstly, people would compare it to Aladdin (another Arabian Night). Secondly, it isn't really suited to animation as it could easily work in live action. Lastly, it is a bit gory as well as people are killed not just by being stabbed, but by being drowned in oil.
The Three Bears
Similar reasons to Gingerbread Man here; it seems a bit too brief to become a feature film, though it would certainly look good as a Silly Symphony.
Little Red Riding Hood
For similar reasons as Shy Violet said. It's truly macarbre and has already been made as a sanitised Silly Symphony short (The Big Bad Wolf).
The Big Turnip
A turnip is big and gets pulled out the ground by a few people. What a bland idea. It can be summed in a sentence, and might not even be able to be padded out into short subject length.
Bluebeard
An intruiging tale, but is a bit too creepy in places (seeing the butchered corpses of your hubbie's former wives, anyone?), and in other places inpolitically correct.
Here are some that could work, but would need revising.
The Frog Prince
This would be a good idea, but would need a little tinkering to get it out to feature length without making it seem like another Beauty and the Beast/The Little Mermaid.
The Princess and the Pea
The same reasons as The Frog Prince...
Puss in Boots
It would need a little tinkering here and there, but would easily make a fine feature. However, thanks to Shrek 2, would this be a good idea if it was made outside of Dreamworks?
Dick Whittington
A possible alternative to Puss in Boots (it's a similar tale), but it may be a bit too obscure for many living outside of (or even inside) England, and it could do with a real villain.
Mother Holler
A story of a girl who falls down a well and gets glory, yet when her stepsisters follow, they don't exactly get the same. Did you know this story? It's a good concept, yet isn't it a bit obscure?
-Joe
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Oh yeah! Have you also seen Swing Shift Cinderella (which is of a similar content and Cindy looks very much like Miss Hood). I have that on an old video somewhere and it rocks my socks!ShyViolet wrote:Don't forget Tex Avery's Red Hot Riding Hood!Little Red Riding Hood
For similar reasons as Shy Violet said. It's truly macarbre and has already been made as a sanitised Silly Symphony short (The Big Bad Wolf).
-Joe
[i]GIRL: Do you know the way to the Magic Kingdom?
PETER PAN: Sure I do...but can you [b]fly?[/b][/i]
-Scary Disney World TV ad circa '71
[b][url=http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&sub=All&id=big_joe]My DVD List[/url][/b]
[i]GIRL: Do you know the way to the Magic Kingdom?
PETER PAN: Sure I do...but can you [b]fly?[/b][/i]
-Scary Disney World TV ad circa '71
[b][url=http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&sub=All&id=big_joe]My DVD List[/url][/b]
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I haven't seen that but it sounds cute....Oh yeah! Have you also seen Swing Shift Cinderella (which is of a similar content and Cindy looks very much like Miss Hood). I have that on an old video somewhere and it rocks my socks!
Plus there's always that "Thief and the Cobbler" movie that it could get compared to, although not too many people have seen that...plus the whole Arabian Nights thing is on the outs now because of Sinbad...(although I still think Sinbad was kick-a**.Ali Baba
This is due to a number of reasons. Firstly, people would compare it to Aladdin (another Arabian Night). Secondly, it isn't really suited to animation as it could easily work in live action. Lastly, it is a bit gory as well as people are killed not just by being stabbed, but by being drowned in oil.
) Then there's the whole political climate with the war and all that, which was Sinbad's downfall because even though they tried to alter it so that it wouldn't really reflect Arabian culture that much, it got criticized for that as well. (They just couldn't win.) THEN there's an old Popeye Ali Baba cartoon that is just full of offensive stereotypes, Arab and even African-American if memory serves....
I think Shrek 2 had a reference to this...(The King)The Frog Prince
This would be a good idea, but would need a little tinkering to get it out to feature length without making it seem like another Beauty and the Beast/The Little Mermaid.
Actually this might be a really cute idea, and I think it has potential....The Princess and the Pea
The same reasons as The Frog Prince...
If you think about, however, every fairy tale has its downfalls and they can always be altered, like you said. Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast are both, in their original form, extremely grim stories with LOTS of sadness. Beauty had three vain sisters and a father who sold her to the Beast because he stole one of his roses....Little Mermaid died because her prince didn't notice her and married someone else. (and she couldn't bring herself to kill him and turn back into a mermaid.)
A Bug's Life was really "the ant and the grasshopper...." fable (Ants gather food for winter while grasshopper plays.) By itself it's pretty short but it WAS given a plot. (Plus there's an old Disney short with this story as well.)
The boy who cried wolf might make a good story, although they're already kind of doing that with Chicken Little....
Last edited by ShyViolet on September 27th, 2005, 2:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!
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Also I don't want to play the "I hate Pixar" song anymore, because I don't hate them. But even though Finding Nemo is a spectacular film in many ways the plot is extremely derivative of An American Tale (child interacts with human world/animal world/loses family/barely finds them again.) All the "Marlin almost got his son/thought he was dead" coincidences were done before in that movie.
And Nemo is cute but VERY much like Chip in Beauty and the Beast. Marlin is bascially Cogsworth in fish scales. W/out Dory AND Ellen that film would not be half the movie it is....
The Pixar films are bascially all The Prince and The Pauper redone and retooled for animation--character learns to appreciate different person/different world/self. They have the simplicity of fairy tales even if they don't actually adapt them. That's part of what makes them so popular but weakens them at the same time.
And Nemo is cute but VERY much like Chip in Beauty and the Beast. Marlin is bascially Cogsworth in fish scales. W/out Dory AND Ellen that film would not be half the movie it is....
The Pixar films are bascially all The Prince and The Pauper redone and retooled for animation--character learns to appreciate different person/different world/self. They have the simplicity of fairy tales even if they don't actually adapt them. That's part of what makes them so popular but weakens them at the same time.
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!