The Enchanted Screen: The Unknown History of Fairy-tale Films

450 Pages·2010·47.197 MB·English

by  Jack Zipes

The Enchanted Screen
“Jack Zipes takes us beyond Disney and DreamWorks to the many films that draw on fairy-tale
sorcery for their cinematic power. With fierce analytic energy, encyclopedic inclusiveness, and
imaginative verve, he enlivens an expansive history that reaches back to Georges Méliès’s enchant-
ments and ends with the complex grotesqueries of Pan’s Labyrinthand Little Otik.”
—Maria Tatar, Harvard University
“The Enchanted Screenis a labor of love and a major work of scholarship, encyclopedic in reach and
rich in sustained and detailed thinking. The ‘unknown history’ of fairy-tale film is lucky to have found
such a skilled and dedicated narrator.”
—Stephen Benson, University of East Anglia Norwich
The Enchanted Screen: The Unknown History of Fairy-Tale Films offers readers a long overdue,
comprehensive look at the rich history of fairy tales and their influence on film, complete with the
inclusion of an extensive filmography compiled by the author. With this book, Jack Zipes not only
looks at the extensive, illustrious life of fairy tales and cinema, but he also reminds us that, decades
before Walt Disney made his mark on the genre, fairy tales were central to the birth of cinema as a
medium, as they offered cheap, copyright-free material that could easily engage audiences not only
through their familiarity but also through their dazzling special effects.
Since the story of fairy tales on film stretches far beyond Disney, this book discusses a broad range
of films silent, English and non-English, animated, live-action, puppetry, woodcut, montage (Jim
Henson), cartoon, and digital. Zipes thus gives his readers an in-depth look into the special
relationship between fairy tales and cinema, and guides us through this vast array of films by tracing
the adaptations of major fairy tales like “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Cinderella,” “Snow White,”
“Peter Pan,” and many more, from their earliest cinematic appearances to today.
Full of insight into some of our most beloved films and stories, and boldly illustrated with numerous
filmstills, The Enchanted Screenis essential reading for film buffs and fans of the fairy tale alike.
Jack Zipes is Professor Emeritus of German and Comparative Literature at the University of
Minnesota. An acclaimed translator and scholar of children’s literature and culture, his most recent
books include Relentless Progress: The Reconfiguration of Children’s Literature, Fairy Tales, and
Storytelling; The Collected Sicilian Folk and Fairy Tales of Giuseppe Pitrè; Why Fairy Tales Stick; Hans
Christian Andersen: The Misunderstood Storyteller; Beautiful Angiola; and The Robber with the Witch’s
Head,all published by Routledge.

The Enchanted Screen
The Unknown History of
Fairy-Tale Films
Jack Zipes
First published 2011
by Routledge
270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.
©2011 Taylor & Francis
The right of Jack Zipes to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark Notice:Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Zipes, Jack, 1937–
The enchanted screen : the unknown history of fairy-tale films / Jack Zipes.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
Includes filmography.
1. Fairy tales in motion pictures. 2. Fairy tales—Film adaptations. I. Title.
PN1995.9.F34Z57 2011
791.43'6559—dc22
2010042961
ISBN 0-203-92749-4 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN13: 978–0–415–99062–2 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–99061–5 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–203–92749–6 (ebk)
It is rare to have great scholars who are also great friends, and so I want to
dedicate this book to Cristina Bacchilega, Don Haase, and Marina Warner,
who have supported my efforts over the years and kept the critical fairy-tale
spirit alivein extraordinary ways.

Table of Contents
List of Figures ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Prologue 1
Part I 5
1 Filmic Adaptation and Appropriation of the Fairy Tale 7
2 De-Disneyfying Disney: Notes on the Development of the Fairy-Tale Film 16
3 Georges Méliès: Pioneer of the Fairy-Tale Film and the Art of the Ridiculous 31
4 AnimatedFairy-Tale Cartoons: Celebrating the Carnival Art of the Ridiculous 49
5 Animated Feature Fairy-Tale Films 82
PartII 113
6 Cracking the Magic Mirror: Representations of Snow White 115
7 The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood Revisited and Reviewed 134
8 Bluebeard’s Original Sin and the Rise of Serial Killing, Mass Murder, and
Fascism 158
9 The Triumph of the Underdog: Cinderella’s Legacy 172
10 Abusing and Abandoning Children: “Hansel and Gretel,” “Tom Thumb,”
“The PiedPiper,”“Donkey-Skin,” and “The Juniper Tree” 193
11 Choosing the Right Mate: Why Beasts and Frogs Make for Ideal Husbands 224
12 Andersen’s Cinematic Legacy: Trivialization and Innovation 252
viii • Contents
Part III 281
13 Adapting Fairy-Tale Novels 283
14 Between Slave Language and Utopian Optimism: Neglected Fairy-Tale
Films of Central and Eastern Europe 321
15 Fairy-Tale Films in Dark Times: Breaking Molds, Seeing the World Anew 349
Endnotes 367
Bibliography 376
Filmography 388
Index 426
List of Figures
1 Burt Gillett, The Big Bad Wolf 28
2 Tex Avery, Swing Shift Cinderella 29
3 Georges Méliès, Cinderella 39
4 Georges Méliès, The Enchanted Well 44
5 Georges Méliès, The Kingdom of the Fairies 45
6 Walt Disney, Puss in Boots 57
7 Max and Dave Fleischer, Little Dutch Mill 61
8 Friz Freleng, The Trial of Mr. Wolf 63
9 Peter Burness, The Fifty-First Dragon 65
10 Brad Case, Prince Charming 66
11 Ub Iwerks, The Brave Tin Soldier 72
12 Lotte Reiniger, The Golden Goose 74
13 Jirí Trnka, The Emperor’s Nightingale 76
14 George Pal, When Tulips Shall Grow 78
15 Lotte Reiniger, The Adventures of Prince Achmed 85
16 Clyde Geronimi, Sleeping Beauty 89
17 Ivan Ivanov-Vano/Boris Butakov, The Humpbacked Horse 92
18 Ivan Ivanov-Vano, The Adventures of Buratino 94
19 Karel Zeman, King Làvra 97
20 Karel Zeman, Krabat 99
21 Paul Grimault, The King and Mr. Bird 100
22 John Korty/Charles Swenson, Twice Upon a Time 104
23 Taiji Yabushita, The White Serpent 105
24 Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away 107
25 Michel Ocelot, Kirikou and the Sorceress 110
26 Max and Dave Fleischer, Snow White 120
27 Walt Disney, Snow White 122
28 Caroline Thompson, Snow White: The Fairest of Them All 126
29 Picha, Snow White: The Sequel 130
30 Walt Disney, Little Red Riding Hood 138
31 Burt Gillett, The Big Bad Wolf 139
32 Friz Freleng, The Trial of Mr. Wolf 141
33 Tex Avery, Little Red Walking Hood 142
34 Tex Avery, Red Hot Riding Hood 143