When it comes to fairy tales on film, the elephant in the room has a name: Disney. So today Alex and Jonathan go through the history of fairy tale films as told by the Walt Disney Animation Studios, starting with the first feature length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), through the “Disney Renaissance” with Beauty and the Beast (1991), and up to the modern runaway hit Frozen (2013). We discuss Disney as a monolith in the modern fairy tale storytelling landscape, the evolution of animation techniques and technology over time, and how to effectively incorporate the element of eucatastrophe into storytelling.
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Skip to: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (20:55), Beauty and the Beast (44:12), Frozen (1:07:52), Overall (1:39:04), Coming Attractions (1:50:44)
Resources referenced in this episode:
- LISTEN: Episode 87. Disney Doesn’t Die feat. Aaron Johnson
- READ: “On Fairy Stories” by J. R. R. Tolkien
- READ: Little Snow-White by the Brothers Grimm
- READ: The original list of 50 dwarf names
- WATCH: Jonathan Pageau on Snow White
- READ: Beauty and the Beast by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont
- READ: The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen
Coming Attractions – Fairy Tales are NOT for Kids
- Beauty and the Beast (1946)
- Ugetsu (1956)
- Donkey Skin (1970)
Intro/outro music:
Ash by Mike Braudrick
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