By Emily Pate Freelancer
This spring, Disney released “Cinderella,” the latest in their live action fairy tale adaptions, following last year’s “Maleficent.” According to the International Business Times, these two films will soon be joined by similar adaptations, including Emma Thompson’s “The Beauty and the Beast,” as well as “Mulan,” “The Jungle Book,” and numerous others.
And why not, with how popular these new versions have been? In fact, the recent wave of fairy tale retellings has even been enough to catch “Saturday Night Live’s” attention, which refers to both “Maleficent” and “Cinderella” in their parody trailer of a live-action “Bambi” starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Many of Disney’s most popular recent movies have been a retelling of fairy tales. “Frozen,” according to the Daily Mail, recently became the fifth highest grossing film of all time. The only four that have earned more are “Avatar,” “Titanic,” “The Avengers” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.” This means that, of the five films that have made the most money globally, three are adaptations of preexisting stories.
“Frozen” is a new version of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Snow Queen.” The Disney version of this story was then adapted to television in ABC’s “Once Upon a Time”; the Huffington Post reports there are currently stage and on-ice versions in the works. Disney has also recently released the film “Into the Woods,” an adaption of a play of the same name, which was – in turn – an adaptation of the many fairy tales that take part in its plot.
These films and TV shows are just a few of the fairy tale adaptations that can be found in recent media. There are also, among many others, the ongoing show “Grimm,” which presents a new view of the family most famous for recording fairy tales, and “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters,” which transforms the classic story into an action film. The number of these new versions only seems to be rising.
As an adult watching the animated films of my childhood, I often wonder why the characters do what they do. What does Maleficent try so hard to hurt Sleeping Beauty? Why does Cinderella stay in a house where she is unhappy?
These new adaptations try to supply the answers, but what never changes is the fact that fairy tales are good stories. There are infinite ways to tell them – evident by the skyrocketing popularity of the genre, and as they shift for new mediums and audiences, I’m sure there will be even more versions in the future. I, for one, am hoping so.
