View Full Version : Why was Hollywood obsessed with fairy tales for movies?


Hawkee
03-31-2022, 04:13 AM
Back in the day when family oriented movies were wholesome and entertaining I noticed that in family oriented animated films and live action films the most popular films were based on fairy tales and I have never figured it out. Is it because fairy tales are easy to make movies out of or is it because fairy tale movies drew more attention to movie fans? Take for example I noticed that Snow White is a hugely popular fairy tale in movies and since Disney released Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs in 1937 Snow White became a popular fairy tale to make dozens of movies out of. And with the release of Sydney White which was a teen comedy based on Snow White and Snow White and The Huntsman it tells me that Snow White is still a popular fairy tale of all time. A second fairy tale that is also popular is Cinderella and there has been countless versions of movies based on Cinderella as well such as the Drew Barrymore romantic film Ever After A Cinderella Story. What I wish they could do is make a movie based on The Frog Prince or have a fairy tale where a princess becomes friends with an enchanted dragon and you can tell that those kind of fairy tale movies would be huge if Hollywood were to make them
Bestie

GentlemanJim
03-31-2022, 10:35 AM
Just my opinion, but I think it's mostly a matter of money, and the creators hope for an "easy kill"

If you've got an historic nursery rhyme that has wide spread familiarity, and you have a movie studio and production company at your disposal.....being the one to transform the printed page into celluloid (or magnetic tape) might be just a matter of connecting the dots.

Plus, there might be a bit of ego involved, the producer believing they can do a better job telling the story than the original author. Abstractly, I am reminded of when it was popular to create X rated flicks using fairy tale themes. People who remember the original, would come to the X rated version, just to see the adaptation.

I think that there is similar interest in mainstream content.

Telling the Wizard of Oz story from the perspective of the ghetto.....stuff like that.

GentlemanJim
03-31-2022, 10:46 AM
In that same spirit, there are NOT many recent movies that I have particularly enjoyed.

One movie I found to be an exception was "Once Upon a Time...In Holywood"...even going so far as to spoof the fairytale genre.

The alternate ending to a widely known, real world story, I thought was brilliant. Something for people to say "hey, have you seen THAT?" And I understand that Quentin Tarantino is now writing a book, further developing the main character of the movie...into an over-arching life story...

Why? well I'd guess for the money, same as Snow White.

Of course

happyjoy
03-31-2022, 10:55 AM
Tarantino has become the exception to almost every generalization involving modern film.

GentlemanJim
03-31-2022, 01:58 PM
Tarantino has become the exception to almost every generalization involving modern film.

Off Topic, but I almost suspect that Tarantino made this movie as a "peace offering" of sorts to the Hollywood elite, trying to gain favor.

Almost like he was saying "Yeah, I've been producing decadent garbage for decades, and that's made me into an outcast, so here's a peace offering. Let me share the pain that once tormented this entire city. And revised history into an "everyone can now live happily ever after" type moment.