As we are creating an opening to a modernised fairytale it is important to do some research on fairy tales. I started my listing all the fairy tales I has enjoyed and remembered from my childhood.

Existing Fairytale

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The ones I came up with were Peter Pan, Aladdin, Rapunzel, Snowhite, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Little Mermaid and the Beauty and the beast. I noticed that all of the fairy tales I could remember has been re-produced from old tales by Disney. So really our aim was so create a Disney style film however using a low budget. Realistically on a schools budget we could not make a major blockbuster like Disney films however we could create an independent film with the treatment as good as a Disney one.

I decided then to conduct some research into common themes and codes and conventions of a fairytale. Here is a list i derived :

1) A good fairytale includes aspect of magic or luck.
2) Always a battle between good and evil and to reassure the audience good normally prevails.
3)Normally, fairy tales hold a moral or message such as patience is a virtue.

Settings
Fairy tales often take place in :
1) enchanted forests
2) castles
3)gardens
4)mystical made up lands

Characters often used
1) The innocent and trapped little girl.
2) A fairy god mother
3) The evil step mother
4) The handsome prince.

I then started to look at modernised fairy tales as a whole and analyse them :

Enchanted

A Cinderella Story


Fairytale Research - Morals

Beauty and the Beast


The moral in the Beauty and the Beast is looks can be deceiving. The problem in this story is that the character (Beast) was once a handsome prince however, a curse was placed over his kingdom after refusing to help can old lady in which she turned him and everything else in the castle into thing they don't want to be for example, there is a candle, a clock, a teapot however, the prince received it worse as at twenty he is trapped as a beast. The resolution of the story contrives from Belle being able to look further than physical appearance as eventually falls in love with the beast and the curse is lifted. As the main audience for this film is young children though it has many audiences the purpose of the film is the convey a message to the film which in this film shows that looks can be deceiving, in addition by the prince getting cursed by the old lady also makes children scared of being horrible to others.


Cinderella

The main moral in Cinderella is good things will come in time and overall matches our narrative best. The problem with in the film is that Cinderella is trapped by her evil step mother however also the fact that Cinderella is of a lower class than the prince which is frowned upon still today. Cinderella suffers self esteem issues and can only confide in her mice friends and fairy god mother. Th resolution of the story brought together by Cinderella sneaking off to the ball after her fairy god mother dressed her up. There she dances with a prince however, has to get home as the clock strikes twelve. A clever sub-plot of her losing her glass slipper is used and the prince tests every girl in the town to see whether the shoe will fit. Her two ugly step sisters fight endeavouring to fit their fat feet into the shoe. It is not until the handsome prince notices Cinderella in her rags and edges her on to try on the shoe. It fits and the two get married and fall in love allowing Cinderella to escape the clutches of her evil step mother. The story teaches the audience that if you wait long enough and try hard enough something good will come.



The Little Mermaid
The Little mermaid does not live on the land she lives in the sea with her father Tritan, she has a wits, beauty and song all under her name and the evil Ursula is jealous of this. One day Ariel goes of floundering with Flounder against her fathers wishes where she sees a boat in trouble. On the boats is Eric, who struggles with the conditions of the sea and knocks himself out. The mermaid helps him by taking back to shore and she sits there watching him until he wakes. This is where we encounter the problem in the story Ariel has now fallen in love with Eric however, the two are completely different species Eric cannot live in water and Ariel cannot live on land as she has a tail. So when tempted by Ursulas bargain of taking Ariel's voice in exchange for legs she excepts. The resolutution of the story ends when Ariel gets her beautiful voice back and marries Eric. The moral of this story is a simple one, don't talk to strangers.


Snowhite

The moral again in this story is don't talk to strangers. The problem in the story is that Snowhite's step mother wants to be the fairest of them all but Snowhite is bless with the best looks. The step mother cannot accept that the magic mirror tell her "Snowhite is the fairest of them all" The resolution of the story is that the evil step mother who turns herself into a witch in an attempt to get Snowhite to eat a posioned apple is killed by the forest animals and Snowhite is awakened by true loves kiss.


Possible Modern Fairytale Ideas

Idea 1 - Inspiration taken from Snowhite
An older sister looks after her seven brothers and sisters in a council house. However, with so many children bills cannot be paid and the baliffs want to take away some of the famillies stuff leaving them with next to nothing. Her luck is changed when she falls in love with a social worker and they get married solving the famillies financial problems.

Characterisation
-The Baliffs act like the bad in this story taking on the role of the witch in the orginal story.
- The seven children play the seven dwarfs in the orginal.
-The social worker become true love.
- The older sister becomes Snowhite

Feedback and Evaluation
This is a good idea as it is a comtemporary version of society using sterotypical lower class issues which lower class face such as social services and depbt problems.

Idea 2 - Inspiration from Cinderella
A young boy falls in love with an actor, and they instantly fall in love although her two evil step brothers prevent her from marrying the boy because he is of a lower class. So they family decide to leave the country pulling their sister away from the boy, However, she leaves a letter to her lover explaining the situtation and her rushes to her house to catch her before she leaves for the airport. However, it is to late she has already gone. Fortunenately, she forgets her passport and has to return home to a rather reluctant boy at the door and the two share true loves kiss.

Characterisation
- The boy takes a Cinderella type role of lower class and social status.
- The girl becomes the prince role.
- Her brothers play the evil step sister role.