AAR

[JamieMF]

I know I'm late to the thread, but as a positive fairy tale fanatic, I couldn't help but comment! Two of my favorites are "The Snow Queen" and "Snow White, Rose Red", because both of them feature proactive protagonists, strong female friendships rather than female rivalries, and just plain cool/unique stories. They aren't as well known as Cinderella, Rapunzel, et. al, but I think they are fantastic, and I would love to see movie or television adaptations of them. That said, I really enjoy both the hard-core original fairy tales with their blood, guts and Biblical retributions and Disney movies, which still are plenty scary for little kids as is and are awesome in their own way-I love 'em all, from Snow White to Tangled.

[Nana]

I absolutely adored Shannon Hale's YA romance Book of a Thousand Days, based on an obscure Grimm fairytale which I'd never read called Maid Maleen. (Having now read the original on Hale's web site, Thousand Days is much better). It's a princess-locked-in-a-tower story, except the heroine isn't the princess but the hapless maid locked in with her - whom the Grimms conveniently forgot about. Plus it's set on the Mongolian steppe. The writing is excellent and the whole thing is just wildly original. I can't recommend it highly enough.

[Hopeless_Romantic]

I love most fairy tales, but my very favorite has been so since elementary school because of my mom.

She had told me as a child about her favorite fairy tale: "Beauty and the Beast", then in forth grade I found a childs' copy in my class room and read it because Mom liked it - but I fell in love myself!

As a teen I read "Beauty" by Robin McKinley and fell in love all over again!

Now I can't resist a "Beauty and the Beast" themed book and have a thing for scarred, reclusive heroes!
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Close-Up Merman's Kiss http://th06.deviantart.net/fs10/300W/i/2006/102/5/b/A_Merman__s_Kiss_Detail_by_Barbiedoll.jpg http://images.epilogue.net/users/emerald/mermans_kiss_emerald2006.jpg

[JamieMF]

Oh, Nana-a thousand times agreed on Shannon Hale! Have you read Rapunzel's Revenge, a graphic novel she co-wrote with her husband that sets Rapunzel in the Old West? Or Princess Academy, which isn't a direct fairy tale retelling, but rather has a lot of fairy-tale elements to it. She is doubtless one of my favorite authors, and I love all of her work-I would be interested to see her do adult novels as well as YA, a la Meg Cabot or Kelley Armstrong. (Granted Armstrong's adult novels came first, but she handles each with equal adroitness!) Actually, come to think of it, though they aren't technically fairy tales, Meg Cabot's Avalon High (King Arthur) and Abandon (Hades and Persephone) are both really good mythology retellings. And then there's Margaret Peterson Haddix's Just Ella, Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted (VERY different from the movie, though I like them both for different reasons), Francesca Lia Block's The Rose and the Beast and Emma Donohuge's Kissing the Witch...I could do this for days. Maybe I have a bit of a problem!

[Nana]

JamieMF - yes, I read the comics, and I loved them too. Very inventive, great characters, and the art was fabulous.

My favorite Gale Carson Levine is Two Princesses of Bamarre. I don't know if it's based on a prior fairy tale or not but it has a classic archetype feel which I loved. Basically, one sister is a tough fighter and the other is a quiet domestic, but when someone has to go out looking to cure a plague, it's the quiet, unprepared sister, who discovers new strength in herself.

[JamieMF]

[Jean Wan AAR]

[JamieMF]

Wow, thanks for the link! I was not aware of that, its existence makes me very happy.

[jenks]

[quote="Tee"]It's a rainy morning here and I decided to add to my computer time by browsing some Disney characters for ideas. It turned nostalgic for me almost immediately and one question seemed to be popping up repeatedly. So I'll ask those of you who may want to answer it:

[i]What fairytale or their characters come to mind first when you hear the word fairytales?[/i] It could be from the actual reading of it or hearing the tale in your childhood or seeing a movie replicating it.

Just curious. Mine is Cinderella and I wouldn't doubt that it's probably one of the most frequently mentioned ones--but maybe not. When I see clips or graphics or hear the word Cinderella, I seem to be transported back to a time. I can say pretty positively that I'm not usually that sort of person, but Cinderella does it to me most every time.

[img]http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd242/alternate17/167569_482544230953_11784025953_6067896_4591271_n-1.jpg[/img][/quote]

The first book that I remember reading was Aesop Fables, Grimm Fairytales....my favorite Fariytale was Sleeping Beauty.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fzrl-XMuWxY/TkIXUzT7pkI/AAAAAAAAAFE/jVF-CTWbRQo/s200/how-disney-princess-works-15.jpg
I watch this movie and like you I'm transported to my youth and can remember the day I went to see it at the theater. I just loved it...

[Eliza]

Boy, I somehow missed this thread before.

I enjoy fairy tales and folklore from around the world to this day, but if I had to pick a few favorites from my youth, it would be Beauty and the Beast, The Little Tailor, and the Ugly Duckling.

I particularly like the old classics, as dark as they are, but I really don't care for Disney. At. All. They dared to shoot Old Yeller!! in a movie when I was very young, which turned me off Disney forever literally. I've always been able to manage the human stuff okay, but hey, no hurting animals, for Pete's sake, even when they're the heroes.

[Eggletina]

SPOILER for Pinocchio:

At least Disney let the cricket live in Pinocchio (those who haven't read that story are in for a few surprises).

[Sterling_95]