Rewritten fairy tales seem to be the big thing in popular culture these days. A lot of people are really into things like Once upon a Time; Tangled put a new plot spin on an old, simple story; Hollywood just can't stay away from a new spin on a tale.

It really isn't a new trend. One of my favorite books to read growing up was The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig. I remember The Frog Prince -Revisited-, Cinder-Edna, Looney Tunes' various recreations of fairy tales, all right alongside my reading Beatrix Potter and Hans Christian Andersen. I think we are all drawn to the simplicity of the story because we can imagine anything we like into it.

Do you work with fairy tales in your writings? Which ones are your favorites, and what about them most stands out? If you do a rewrite, what do you change about them, and what do you highlight from the original story?

The story I to which I became the most attached growing up was probably Sapsorrow (a variation on Cinderella and Thousand Furs from Jim Henson's "The Storyteller" series). I like little animal friends in my fairy tales, her dress like the stars always enchanted my young mind, and the Straggletag creature fascinated me. I also liked the connections between the ring and the slipper, and the fact that it was not the princess's beauty that won out in the end.

I have to admit, I liked fairy tales because they were so....strange. To this day I love how seemingly random, spontaneous things all tie together in the end.

When I do rewrites, I like to change the settings. Or genderbend them. Or both!

My favorites....wow, hmm..... I like almost all of them.

When I do rewrites, I seem to lean toward using a different character perspective, or deepening the world-building of the plot.

I like the Scandinavian ones. I don't think most of my favorite ones are well known enough that a re-write would make any sense to anyone. If you haven't read the original story, a rewrite is not much fun, except as just another story.

That can still be a fun story though, and often times they still have a distinctly fairy tale feel. Which are your favorites?

I can't remember their names very well.... But one is East of the Sun and West of the Moon. The Three Billy Goats Gruff is too. That one is too short to do much with, though.

Oh, have you ever heard of youtube adaptations? It's where an old book, one that's in the public domain, is adapted into a youtube structured screenplay. Usually there are many changes, it is modernized and youtubized, and stuff, and some of them are cool.

I think if I did a fairytale adaptation, that would be how I would like to do it. It would be so fun to do a speculative story in that form. It would be pretty hard, though... *thinks*

You could still use the Billy Goats Gruff for a more elaborate tale. You can make the solution more complex or give them a history with the ogre, make them fauns or satyrs... Sometimes my rewrites deviate greatly from the original story (like Tangled did from Rapunzel) or crossover with others to make the stories more intriguing as they become woven together.

I have not heard of that; it sounds interesting.

I know East of the Sun and West of the Moon!

Hm.. maybe. It would be hard to keep the parts of it that make it so cool, like the simplicity, and still call it a rewrite. *thinks* I might actually try it... I got some ideas when I was trying to figure out how it would work. *grins*

Aw, cool. *fist bump* Have you seen the illustrations that Kay Nielson did for it?

I rewrote Rapunzel as a 1930s pulpy vigilante story once, with fancy gadgets and everything.

I haven't. o.o I must look them up!
You did? Can I reeeaaaad it?

o.o Yes yes yes.

I'll see if I can still find it.

I like to give them different cultural contexts. Particularly ones such as Rapunzel, Red Riding Hood, and Beauty and the Beast. You can paint a completely new picture of them just by changing the setting to the South Pacific or Ancient Egypt. It's also a great way to grow familiar with cultures while exploring with something familiar.

On the topic: we've had modern twists on stories, but how world something like Rapunzel work in a modern, less than magical setting?

How about working with rewrites as sci-fi or steampunk?

I have a steampunk Cinderella story!

I also did a cyberpunk Sleeping Beauty that dealt with corrupt corporations abducting her since she was an investigative journalist and injecting her with an long-term sedative to keep her out of the way without actually resorting to murder.

So in many cases technology can replace magic to accomplish various goals.

It can play out some interesting contexts too, such as why Rapunzel has such long hair beyond being raised in a tower where her hair was the only way up.

I like it when the fairytales are technologized, however, I like it even better when at least some of the magic is still in it. The magic is one of my favorite parts about fairytales.

But if you don't change the magic, there is not very much to change. Hm.

Well, you can give the magic more life, like they did in Tangled. Because fairy tales are so simple for the sake of being retold, it leaves a lot of room for worldbuilding.