Fairy Tale Upswing

I like fairy tales.  I always have.  Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, The Girl Without Hands, Snow White and Rose Red, Puss in Boots... I like them all...

So... Has anyone noticed the recent upswing in fairytale-themed movies and other things?

I mean, it's been going on for a while... I think Shrek sort of rebooted the trend of taking a fairytale and sort of turning it on its head or updating it.  Then A Cinderella Story came along in 2004 and said, "Let's take fairy tales and make them happen in modern times".  So now this year, we have TWO fairytale themed movies: Grimm and Once Upon a Time and TWO Snow White-based movies.

Now, Grimm vs. Once Upon a Time is interesting.  Most people saw the matching premises and thought they'd be sooo similar.  After all, fairytale creatures/characters in the modern world and our hero is the only one who can save the day?  Sounds similar.  Unfortunately, if you went by that description, you'd be missing A LOT.

Grimm is about The Chosen One, the last Grimm, taking the mantle from his librarian auntie and hunting only "the bad ones".  In short, it has more to do with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it generally pulls from The Brother's Grimm.  This means there's a lot of German and a lot of ass-kicking.

Once Upon a Time... Well, when I first saw it my reaction was...

Why?  Because Jiminy Cricket is a character.Why would that set off my Disney alarm bells?  Have you ever read Pinocchio?  There's a cricket alright.  Pinocchio kills it.

PUPPIES!!!

But, seriously... even though the show draws on material that is naturally lighter and softer than Grimm, it's characters are more interesting and the plot keeps you wanting more. If there's a new Once Upon a Time episode, I HAVE to watch it.  If there's a new Grimm episode... meh...

Then again, Once Upon a Time has Rumpelstiltskin who takes every episode and makes it better by his appearance.  Meanwhile, Grimm's most interesting character is Monroe the wider blutbad... who can be funny at times...

Yeah, I like both shows, but the whole thing freaks me out a bit.  If these series succeed, if the Snow White movies do well, what's next?

I'm just hoping that eventually, lesser known or more racy versions of fairy tales come to the box office.  You know, titles like Sleeping Beauty: Rape is Love, The Girl Without Hands (which would also be a good horror film), and Snow White and Rose Red: The True Bestiality Story.


Enjoy your fairy tales!

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