La Bella e La Bestia

I found out about this via Megan Kearney's Beauty and the Beast tumblr-an Italo-Spanish mini series Beauty and the Beast. Starring Alessandro Preziosi and Blanca Suarez, it retells the classic story in two episodes, which Kearney provides links to here.

IMDB summary:

The story starts with Bella Dubois, daughter of a merchant/Sea captain. She decides to be a maidservant at Leon's castle because her father couldn't afford the debt at the moment. When Leon first meets Bella he has passionate feelings for her because of her bravery and she seems to understand his anguished memories.Their love is developing beautifully but encounters opposition in the form of his jealous cousin. Prince Leon finally convinces Bella that she is not a bet. He cancels her father's debt, frees her and they marry.

^This poster definitely gives the Beast more of a Phantom of the Opera vibe. Has anyone seen this/have opinions??

Speaking of BATB media...I haven't posted anything on the upcoming Disney version, mostly because my fellow bloggers have been covering it quite well, and you've probably seen the trailer floating around the internet by this point. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much, but have to admit I'm excited about it. I especially love that they seem to be returning to the tale's roots more so than just reinventing the Disney cartoon-referencing the French literary version/even McKinley's "Beauty."

Also from Kearney recently-a helpful answer to anyone who says BATB is about Stockholm Syndrome, and a link to a good article on Fairy Tales and the Necessity of Fear

Cinderella's Pumpkin Roundup, Part VII

youtube-DiY DiVA

oh-so-yummy (the mice are garlic cloves!)

metastential

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randibrooks

Craftsmile

Beneaththeferns

And a Beauty and the Beast bonus: (I would normally just keep this focused to Cinderella, but this one is pretty creative and with the new live action movie coming out I have an excuse this year?)

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And an extra pumpkin bonus! I found this chart of the different pumpkin types. I had no idea the standard carving pumpkin was actually called an "Aladdin!" Or that there was one called the "fairytale pumpkin". Not pictured here, there are also varieties called the Cinderella pumpkin (no surprise there), magic pumpkins, Oz pumpkins, and wizard pumpkins

Links to Previous years:

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

New BATB Themed Restaurant in Japan

Knowing I have an affinity for all things Beauty and the Beast, InkGypsy sent me this link!

In Japan they've opened a new themed restaurant that recreates several scenes from the movie, Gaston's Tavern, the Beast's room, and the Ballroom. It seems very similar in concept to the "Be Our Guest" restaurant in Disney World, but without having to pay the entrance fee into the park (and probably less waiting in line to get in/more reasonable prices!!)

The menu even includes this "Belle lunch" with a Belle-shaped omelette:

Can they open up one of these in Chicago please?? Any Japanese readers or international travelers going to go (Amy, are you anywhere near here?)

Emma Mosier's BATB Comic

Keeping with my unintentional theme...reader Emma Mosier share the link to her own BATB comic! It follows the classic story pretty closely, but this time the Beauty character is an adorable flapper, and she doesn't need the Beast to transform for her happy ending :). Some of the text was a little hard to read on the online format but that's the beauty of a comic strip format-which I'm slowly getting more used to reading!-the visuals also tell the story.

Thanks for sharing, Emma! Any more BATB comics out there we should be aware of? Be sure to check out Meagan Kearney's ongoing project if you haven't already!

Marvel's X-Men: Beauty and the Beast

It's Beauty and the Beast comic week over here! I was on ebay seeing if I could find some issues of the Disney BATB comic books I just mentioned for cheap when I discovered the X-Men series of the same name. I had mentioned that this existed years ago and didn't think I'd ever come across it, but you can get the full series of four issues from multiple sellers, for not that expensive!

So I splurged, and now I have a new addition to my Beauty and the Beast collection!

I was never into comic books growing up, but X-Men were my favorites in the superhero franchise, and eventually I decided I wanted to know a little more about them than what I had learned from Hugh Jackman movies or X-Men Evolution, and I bought Essential X-Men: Volume 1. Although the style of classic comics is often cheesy and/or over-dramatic, I enjoyed getting to learn some of the original histories of my favorite characters. It can be hard to follow the style of comics if you're not used to them, at first, but it gets easier.

One major theme of the X-Men is how society treats the mutants who are different than them, but also how the different mutants respond to rejection. It's a theme that really applies to our modern culture in multiple ways, so in a way they're some of the most relevant superheroes. Plus, for BATB fans, there are several characters that can be seen as Beast characters-Nightcrawler, Mystique (as a female Beast in her natural form), Wolverine (sort of), and of course, Beast himself-or Hank McCoy.

The storyline itself follows Beast and his relationship with Dazzler, a former singing star who just revealed herself to be a mutant with the power to emit light. She has been rejected by her fans and the public and must find her place among mutants now. I enjoyed the story-it was a good read for a day I was feeling a bit under the weather, but I honestly liked it as a unique retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

Unlike just about every other BATB story, the emphasis here is not on the romance itself, but on the action and unveiling of surprise bad guys and good guys. Which is kind of nice-many BATB stories suffer because the ONLY plot is the romance, and it can feel one dimensional and the characters underdeveloped.

Plus, in most BATB stories, the plot follows the meeting and ends at the "finally getting together" part. In this, without giving too much away, Beast and Dazzler are together by Issue 2, and the rest focuses on their struggles as a mutant couple, as well as the other storyline. Of course, I don't mind the traditional drawn out romance between an insecure Beast and the beautiful girl who finally falls in love with him-if not it wouldn't be my favorite fairy tale-but it is kind of refreshing. Beast doesn't really struggle with insecurity, but runs around L.A. without caring what people think of him, and it's Dazzler who's learning to deal with rejection.

Although the story doesn't follow the traditional French fairy tale too closely-no roses thrown in or father-daughter relationships, they did make an obvious reference to the Cocteau film at one point.

I was impressed with some of the themes tackled in just this storyline-issues that are complex, especially for the kids and preteens you typically picture reading comic books. Although, it seems other fans were not as impressed with this story, from reviews I've read. Some point out Dazzler's penchant for hardly wearing any clothes (or if she starts out wearing a longer skirt it gets ripped off, etc.) which annoyed me too but I thought was pretty typical of the genre. Others thought the ending was ridiculous, which again, seemed to be in line with the superhero/comic book world as I understand it. But again, I'm not an expert on comics. Would love to hear what you think, if you've read it!

Disney's Beauty and the Beast Marvel Comics

Here's another hidden gem I found out about on Meagan Kearney's Beauty and the Beast page!

Back in the mid-90s, Marvel published a series of short comic books that were a spinoff of the Disney movie. You can read them all on Disney Wikia! Although, at least on my computer, each time you go to a new page you have to wait for the popups to go away to allow you to read the words at the top and bottom of each page, which is kind of annoying. But since the issues aren't that easy to track down in real life it's a small price to pay for a true Disney BATB geek.

I read the first one, "A Chance for Romance." They're clearly aimed towards a young audience-the main problem in this one is that the Beast is in a bad mood and the objects are worried his bad mood will spoil the Wardrobe's surprise birthday party. In fact, reading the comic made certain relationships seem more strange to me. I'd read other people complaining about how the enchanted objects too happy to be the Beast's servants, or how Beast's relationship with Belle could promote abusive relationships-which I don't think is as much of an issue in the movie itself. But in the comics, you see the same scenarios repeat themselves over and over and everyone seems to tolerate the Beast's tantrums a little too well...

However, there are some endearing and funny moments too, and we get to see more of the fiesty Belle we all know and love who's not afraid to tell the Beast what she thinks. We also get to see some of the Beast's insecurities, although from skimming the plots of the first few, it seems that they all just repeat the same formula: the Bibettes/silly girls in the Village are trying to ensnare Gaston, while at the castle the Beast loses his temper and Belle calls him out and then they have a nice moment. I hope that as the issues progressed, the Beast shows more progress, and the whole romance isn't based on the fact that Belle simply isn't afraid of him. Here's the official blurb:

Beauty and the Beast was a series of comics published by Marvel Comics, spun off from the 1991 animated film of the same name. It ran for 13 issues from July 1994 to July 1995. 

 The comics took place during Belle's stay at Beast's castle, more specifically an unknown period after Beast, at Lumiere's suggestion, gave Belle his library. Until Issue 7 (or Issue 8 if one counts flashbacks), the comics (with the exception of issue #6) both focus on Belle's stay at the castle as well as events occurring at the village (the latter mostly regarding Gaston trying to find a way to impress Belle, with the Bimbettes trying to get him to focus on them instead of Belle), either at real time or, in the case of Issues 5 and 8, via flashback. Starting with Issue 7 until Issue 10, flashbacks to Belle's time with her father were showcased, and Issue 11 and 13 also showcased flashbacks to the Beast and the servants time as humans. It is not to be confused with a similarly-titled 4-issue story arc for the X-Men franchise, and is usually referred to in official Marvel materials as Volume 2 to distinguish it.

 Some elements in the comic series were later included in the Broadway musical (most notably Wardrobe's backstory as being a former Opera Diva).

Also from the comics-Jenny Prater was wondering over at Halfway to Fairyland why, in the musical version, the Beast never learned to read as a child, when he would have been raised as a Prince. It does seem like possibly an oversight on the side of the writers, but that's another plot element that actually came from these comics! So while it still might not be the best addition to the story, it's kind of cool that they used these stories for ideas when writing the musical...

Sarah Winter's Beauty and the Beast

Exploring fairy tale titles on Amazon, this description caught my eye for Sarah Winter's Beauty and the Beast (Fairy Tales Reborn Book 1):

"As a child, Prince Leopold Villeneuve unleashed his aristocratic cruelty on an old woman by the bank of the River Chaud. On his eighteenth birthday, the old crone returns to find the same ignorant boy in the body of a beautiful young man. In a night shrouded in mystery, his parents King Alaric and Queen Adele died and Leopold himself disappeared. For years, villagers are frozen in fear of a mysterious and terrifying creature that haunts the town at night. 

 Armand Babineaux, once the wealthiest merchant in the village of Fontainbleu, must secure his daughter Jolie to the unpleasant but enormously wealthy Quentin Garamonde, or condemn her to a life of servitude and poverty. His eldest daughter, Mireille, has already married well, but Jolie will be left all alone in the world if he does nothing to safeguard her future. Once the task is done, he must travel to Port Lucerne to recover his last ship or face the same fate in his old age. On his return trip, he is caught in a winter storm and finds himself far from the beaten path, at the foot of Villeneuve Castle. 

 Armand seeks shelter in the castle, and once inside, he is forced to confront the reality of what happened to the royal family so many years ago. The next morning, when he picks a beautiful rose for Jolie, he is brought face to face with the creature of local legend and must make a decision that will change all of their lives forever."

I love the nod to Villeneuve's version just in the naming of the royal family! The curse scene seems to be clearly influenced by Disney, but that is a really fascinating aspect of the story to explore more, and this seems to fill some of the holes the Disney version left (where are the Prince's parents? Why is a mere child punished, since it's years before his 21st birthday, in Disney's initial release? And what happened to their royal subjects, why don't they seem to notice their Prince is missing?) It seems this author has done her research (for example, the presence of another sister). I'm definitely going to keep my eye out for this one! Have any of you read it yet?

Around the Web

Here's some sites I've added to the link list on the right and wanted to highlight-

Megan Kearney's Beauty and the Beast tumblr-I've mentioned this a couple of times after linking something here that I found on Megan's site. Someone once called me the online expert on Beauty and the Beast, which is very flattering but sadly not at all true. Megan Kearney, on the other hand, just might be (although we can't forget Heidi Anne Heiner of Surlalune!). This site is a source of all kinds of BATB inspiration, and she's introduced me to versions and illustrations and other fun facts I had no idea existed! The site also gives updates to her online BATB comic. I'll admit I haven't been following along, mainly because I really don't like reading anything of substantial length on my computer-but I've got Volume One of the printed version on my wishlist and from everything I've heard it seems like this could be the next best version of my favorite fairy tale.

Fairy Bat Tales- Aiyanne Chan just finished a fascinating series looking into the Magical Items to Survive the Grimms' Fairyland. She read ALL the way through the Grimm fairy tales (something I've never even done!) and took copious notes on all of the magical items found there. It's really eye opening, there are so many interesting magical elements in the lesser known tales. I think this would be great inspiration for writers who want to weave fairy tale elements into their stories, or anyone who wants a glimpse of folklore beyond the standard tales we hear about over and over.

*Housekeeping Notes: In the process of editing my link list I accidentally deleted it! I've been working on getting everything back, but if any of the links don't work, or something is missing you would also consider a great online resource, let me know in the comments!

And, I would love to have more suggestions of your favorite fairy tale books! Last chance!

Angela Barrett on her Fairy Tale Illustrations

"I was most inspired by pity for the beast’s awful loneliness and self-disgust. His tragedy is to know all about beauty and how to create it in everything around him, but to miss it in himself." — Angela Barrett, on illustrating Max Eilenberg’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’

Quote found on Meagan Kearney's Beauty and the Beast site. Angela Barrett's illustrations have long been some of my absolute favorite for BATB, inlcuding the Tales of Faerie header image

Retold by Max Eilenberg, it is set, at Barrett's request, in the 1860s - "the period when there was the greatest difference between the male and the female silhouette - men were tall and thin while women's skirts were wider than ever".

Barrett on Snow White:

"I always feel that my happy endings are somehow inadequate. I'm wary of perfect conclusions. I'm always disappointed by the way Jane Austen ties things up so easily at the end ... The truth is, I'm more easily moved by distress. I'm no good at jolly scenes of dancing and merriment - laughter can be so sinister."

"Naomi Lewis's retelling of The Emperor's New Clothes (Walker Books, 2000) gave Barrett a longed-for opportunity to show some very different talents. It's set in 1913, at the end of the belle epoque, in an imaginary kingdom. The drawing is glorious and only an artist with Barrett's knowledge of fashion, and her hands-on experience of dress-making, could give this story such elegant, wickedly funny authenticity. And because "it's such a one-joke story", she has introduced a host of royal dogs, including a pompadoured poodle (himself half-naked) who blushes with embarrassment at the sight of the emperor's pink bottom."

-All other quotes from This Interview on the Guardian