Showing posts with label rapunzel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rapunzel. Show all posts
Saturday, April 19, 2008
The Girl in the Tower
Thanks to Fuse#8 for posting Alison Lurie's piece on Rapunzel in The New York Review of Books: The Girl in the Tower.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Rapunzel, Rapunzel
April 10, 2008 update: Elaine Magliaro of Wild Rose Reader has posted an original Rapunzel poem.
One of my favorite Rapunzel renditions
I figured Disney would never try to make "Rapunzel" into a film because of what a sad story it really is. There's a happy ending, but it's not tidily wrapped up: Mother Gothel, the antagonist of the story, is still at large, and somewhere in the world, Rapunzel's parents are still mourning the loss of their daughter taken from them at birth. In an early version of the story, Rapunzel unwittingly reveals her prince's secret visits by asking Mother Gothel, "Why is my dress getting so tight around my stomach?" and in all versions, Rapunzel has given birth to twins by the time the prince finds her again. In both versions, Rapunzel did not have premarital sex-- the text clearly states that they were married in the tower. They married themselves, and I totally buy it. For the purpose of the fairy tale, the device works.
Unbeknown to me before now, Disney has had plans for Rapunzel for years. Despite my misgivings about a lot of Disney films, I'm keen to see an original, newly-imagined fairy tale in The Princess and the Frog. I'm not sure why they're bothering with "Rapunzel," and I cringe to think of what they're going to do to the storyline. (Yes, I'll probably see it eventually, but I reserve the right to grizzle and groan.) Here's to hoping that "The Goose Girl" and "Toads and Diamonds" are unpalatable to the Disney franchise....
Another one of my favorite Rapunzel renditions
One of my favorite Rapunzel renditions
I figured Disney would never try to make "Rapunzel" into a film because of what a sad story it really is. There's a happy ending, but it's not tidily wrapped up: Mother Gothel, the antagonist of the story, is still at large, and somewhere in the world, Rapunzel's parents are still mourning the loss of their daughter taken from them at birth. In an early version of the story, Rapunzel unwittingly reveals her prince's secret visits by asking Mother Gothel, "Why is my dress getting so tight around my stomach?" and in all versions, Rapunzel has given birth to twins by the time the prince finds her again. In both versions, Rapunzel did not have premarital sex-- the text clearly states that they were married in the tower. They married themselves, and I totally buy it. For the purpose of the fairy tale, the device works.
Unbeknown to me before now, Disney has had plans for Rapunzel for years. Despite my misgivings about a lot of Disney films, I'm keen to see an original, newly-imagined fairy tale in The Princess and the Frog. I'm not sure why they're bothering with "Rapunzel," and I cringe to think of what they're going to do to the storyline. (Yes, I'll probably see it eventually, but I reserve the right to grizzle and groan.) Here's to hoping that "The Goose Girl" and "Toads and Diamonds" are unpalatable to the Disney franchise....
Another one of my favorite Rapunzel renditions
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