0 Happily Ever After Is Not All That It Seems... (A Handy Infographic)

Just sent to me today as part of a promotion for a book any fairy tale student (or regular reader) should have, is this great infographic, created by the Norton Critical Editions team. We see a lot of infographics floating around these days but one of the best things about this one is I know the team will have done their research properly to create it, so you can trust this summary and use it confidently for reference.

I love the artwork too - very nice, yet easy to quickly reference all the information. Look at that neat list of referenced fairy tales at the bottom to. It's a very neat resource to have on hand. (Can we get a poster please?)

Here's a link to the Norton Critical Edition of The Classic Fairy Tales, edited by Maria Tartar, if you don't already have a copy, or need another to give to a friend.

In case it's not already clear, this book is highly recommended for any fairy tale study library, from the casual student to those more inclined to serious scholarship.

Here's the summary:

Fairy tales shape our cultures and enrich our imaginations; their narrative stability and cultural durability are incontestable. 

This Norton Critical Edition collects forty-four fairy tales, from the fifth century to the present. The Classic Fairy Tales focuses on six tale types: "Little Red Riding Hood," "Beauty and the Beast," "Snow White," "Cinderella," "Bluebeard," and "Hansel and Gretel," and presents multicultural variants and sophisticated literary rescriptings. Also reprinted are tales by Hans Christian Andersen and Oscar Wilde. 

"Criticism" gathers twelve essays that interpret aspects of fairy tales, including their social origins, historical evolution, psychological drama, gender issues, and national identities. 

A Selected Bibliography is included.

Detail: Happily Ever After Is Not All That It Seems... (A Handy Infographic)

0 Disney's Newest Maleficent is Kristin Chenoweth

Honestly, it feels a little like Disney are attempting to cover all bases left open after Maleficent with this Descendants movie.

We've been told that Maleficent "honors the classic" and that it has "all the iconic scenes you want to see" and that begs the question of whether or not Maleficent dies, just like she does in the classic (which is crazy-iconic!) and how that cuts Disney off from the possibilities of sequels once this film busts all the blocks at the box office (you know what I mean).

So, sounding suspiciously much like the far-better-than-I would-ever-have-believed-possible show and doll line, Ever After High, Disney's Descendants has its own Maleficent, complete with bratty teen offspring attempting to redeem herself (something which the classic Maleficent never got the chance to wrangle, that being motherhood, and no, the goons don't count).

And she's Kristin Chenoweth.

OK then...

I guess Glinda will walk a mile in Elphaba's shoes after all. Sort of.

It looks like they've taken a leaf out of the Once Upon A Time book for this Maleficent. She even looks a lot like the OUAT Maleficent (played by Kristin Bauer van Straten, who, it's hard to believe, played the eyebrow-raising vampire Pam in True Blood). But perhaps they'll take a note of Ms. van Straten's transformation into a fluffy villain we couldn't quite be afraid of, and send Chenoweth in the Pam-in-True-Blood vein instead (ha!).

I don't know. This seems like for all the gravitas the Maleficent film is being touted to have, regarding themes and classic scenes, Descendants is going to do its best to undo all that and make everyone just misunderstood and worthy of second (or twenty-second) chances. That way they can take the franchise in any direction. :/ I love that it would appear they're taking risks with the movie. I don't love that this sounds like something churned out from the Disney sequel-studio.

But hey, maybe I'll be wrong about it. (Right now, though, that animated office evil-queen comedy sounds far more promising to me.)

Here's the latest synopsis & cast/character details:

In a present day idyllic kingdom, the benevolent teenaged son of the King and Queen (Beast and Belle from Disney’s iconic Beauty and the Beast) is poised to take the throne. His first proclamation: offer a chance at redemption to the trouble-making offspring of Cruella De Vil, Maleficent, the Evil Queen and Jafar who have been imprisoned on a forbidden island with all the other villains, sidekicks, evil step-mothers and step-sisters. These villainous descendants (Carlos, Mal, Evvie and Jay, respectively) are allowed into the kingdom to attend prep school alongside the offspring of iconic Disney heroes including Fairy Godmother, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel and Mulan. However, the evil teens face a dilemma. Should they follow in their nefarious parents’ footsteps and help all the villains regain power or embrace their innate goodness and save the kingdom?

(I'm going to go with "save the kingdom". I'll bet you a pretzel.)

Chenoweth’s Maleficent will be butting heads with her daughter Mal, played by budding Disney star Dove Cameron. Also among the cast are Booboo Stewart (X-Men: Days of Future Past) as Jafar’s son Jay; Cameron Boyce (Grown Ups 2) as Cruella De Vil’s son Carlos; Sofia Carson as the Evil Queen’s daughter Evvie; and Mitchell Hope as Belle and the Beast’s son Ben. 

Quote source: HERE 

Detail: Disney's Newest Maleficent is Kristin Chenoweth