Disney/Pixar In General

I'll admit I went to see Cinderella for Frozen Fever but I enjoyed the movie too.

The animated Cinderella was just a competent movie that didn't really excel at anything, and the live action version sort of goes along the same lines... it's great eye candy, and it features some interesting ideas, but at the end of the day there's not that much one can do with that story.

Do an adaptation of the Grimms' version?

The Grimm story is actually not that different. Yes, the fairy godmother is replaced with the mother's spirit as a tree and the stepsisters get maimed and blinded, but that's about it as far as I remember.

edited 30th Dec '15 9:20:40 PM by Tuckerscreator

Well, for starters the father is still alive in the Grimm version and doesn't see how badly his daughter is treated somehow (most adaptations just kill him off nevertheless), there is no pumpkin, there are three visits before she looses her golden (not glass) shoe the third time because the prince had ordered to tar the steps. Also, the step mother orders her to sort out lentils out of the ash to keep her busy while the family is at the ball, but she is calling the birds to help and they do the work for her. And yes, the sisters maim their own feet to fit into the shoe, but everytime the prince is riding away with one of them, the birds warn him and he discovers blood in the shoe.

So, as you can see, there's enough difference to really do something with the story.

The only adaptations of the Grimms' take so far, though, have been in Germany itself.

(The Disney film is distributed in Germany under its English title, and not the German name for the story. Conversely, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty have German titles that are the same as the names for the stories themselves.)

The only adaptations of the Grimms' take so far, though, have been in Germany itself.

Um, doesn't Into the Woods count? Because that description fitted ITW!Cinderella's situation in that movie quite snugly...well, minus the alive dad. (And yes, I'm aware that ITW was a Broadway musical first.)

It's still incredibly rare, however, to see any adaptations of the Grimms' version outside of Germany. There's maybe one or two, and Into The Woods isn't really an adaptation...

edited 31st Dec '15 7:36:43 AM by Aldo930

Sleeping Beauty is actually closer to the German version than the Perrault version, so no need to change the name. Plus, it is mostly based on the ballet either way, which in turn is mostly based on the Russian version.

there are three visits before she looses her golden (not glass) shoe the third time because the prince had ordered to tar the steps. Also, the step mother orders her to sort out lentils out of the ash to keep her busy while the family is at the ball, but she is calling the birds to help and they do the work for her. And yes, the sisters maim their own feet to fit into the shoe, but everytime the prince is riding away with one of them, the birds warn him and he discovers blood in the shoe.

And there's your reason as to why that version doesn't get adapted faithfully all that often. It's too convoluted, and it depends on a fair amount of Plot Induced Stupidity and repetition (much like the Queen visiting Snow White several times and Snow being idiotic enough as to fall for it every time).

Edit: Okay, yeah, that Snow was only seven after all, but do you think that will ever make it into a Hollywood movie?

edited 31st Dec '15 1:16:28 PM by NapoleonDeCheese

Not true. The real reason is because it's obscure outside of Germany. It was that way before the Disney film and it was that way after.

As I said, the only adaptations of the Grimms' version are either made in Germany or as part of something where the makers are trying to be true to the Brothers Grimm.

Though even in Germany it's not always the case. I can recall reading about one adaptation that has the fairy godmother from the version everyone knows, but keeps the stepsisters chopping off their feet from the Grimms' version.

edited 31st Dec '15 1:29:45 PM by Aldo930

No, Germany or not, it's still kinda clunky as a story to work in a film narrative if adapted faithfully.

A modern audience would just shake their heads and go "Oh, come on, it happened AGAIN?"

edited 31st Dec '15 1:30:26 PM by NapoleonDeCheese

It could be done somewhat akin to what Walt did with Snow White. Most of the changes he made were to make the plot work better, and otherwise it's faithful to the Grimms' text.

It really depends on how you do it...I remember one adaptation in which Aschenputtle turns up in silver at the first evening and at the second, all woman in turn up in silver, too, and she turns up in gold.

Though the most famous version in Germany is actually this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%99i_o%C5%99%C3%AD%C5%A1ky_pro_Popelku

And with "most famous" I mean "shown multiple times around Christmas, has an own museum in the castle where it was shoot and there are people marrying in the style of this movie".

Though in this one they replaced the "three times at the ball" with the Prince encountering Aschenbrödel two times beforehand in different clothes.

I think you could get away with doing it twice, at the very least; three times may be stretching it a little too much, but then again, once probably wouldn't work too well either.

It's all really up to the scriptwriter to figure out how to make it work.

Various Disney/Pixar (and other) movies chip in to sing the most emotionally complex and meaningful song of all time.

Couldn't it have been "Crawling In My Skin"?

EDIT: Here's something I wanted to post here - the live action reference model for Captain Hook in Peter Pan was none other than his voice actor, Hans Conried...

edited 12th Jan '16 7:13:27 AM by Aldo930

Hah, I wish we could've the footage of him acting so exaggerated. At least we have the pictures.

If you want to see Hans Conried being one of the greatest ham actors who ever lived, check out The 5000 Fingers Of Dr T; he's the main villain in it and he proves that that title is well deserved...

That sounds like something Captain Hook would actually sing.

The sad thing is that the film would have gotten him somewhere more than being a bit player/character actor had it not been a huge flop - mainly because nobody in the 50s knew what the hell to make of it.

But thankfully he left his mark on the voice acting world, not only as Captain Hook but as Snidely Whiplash as well...

Holy shit, Dr. Seuss wrote that movie!

This was the only live action movie he was involved in, so unlike the two live action abominations Universal made, it's good.

And it does feel like a Dr. Seuss book come to life - one cowritten by George Orwell. There's a whole subtext of fascism, Freudian psychology and nuclear war to the film that's very evident when you watch it.

It was simply so offbeat from normal film expectations that it flopped, but nowadays it's become a cult classic, and a classic of kids' movies, up there with Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory.

I honestly feel that Dr. Seuss is incredibly underrated as far as writers go. His books were written with children as the audience, and yet they're still wonderfully perfect books to read for all ages. The Lorax has to be his magnum opus. Seriously, I remember finding that book in 3rd Grade in my teacher's bookshelf, and I almost started crying after I got done reading it. I still tear up a bit when I'm reading it.

The mark of a good children's book is that you can read it to your kid and enjoy it yourself and not want to throw the book in the fire.

There are some authors who are terrific at this. Seuss was one of them. So was Maurice Sendak, cranky old gay Jew that he was.