Okay, I wanted to do this...

[agilebrit]

Remember the CatsCurious Fairy Tale Contest? I've been thinking about doing an entry for that, especially since one of the panels at LTUE gave me fodder for doing so.

And then I read The Tinder Box, by Hans Christian Anderson. And, boy, I almost typed "Angerson" there, and how Freudian is that? Because, dude had issues, man. I remember liking this one as a kid, but now? Not so much.

Seriously, the first thing the protagonist in this story does is whack off a witch's head with a sword, which just seems harsh, since all she asked him to do was what he agreed to in the first place. And then the last thing he does is kill the judges, councillors, and the king and queen by "toss[ing] them many feet high in the air, so that they fell down and were dashed to pieces." And the princess is apparently not disturbed at all by this and goes off and marries this guy, and they live happily ever after. Even though he's got obvious anger issues and scary scary dogs. Pit bulls ain't got nothin' on these critters.

Yeah, I got nothin' funny for this one, folks. Creepy, maybe. Not funny. And this is a story for kids? Daaaaammmmn.

Comments

[lady-moriel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, fairy tales are...pretty creepy, generally speaking. I mean, the original Cinderella? Ew.

I've been trying to figure out something for that contest too, especially since I've had a Snow White retelling in mind for ages, but said retelling 1) probably isn't funny and 2) isn't from Snow White's POV. So, no joy there, I guess. I don't really know how to write funny, is the thing...

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

And that deadline is sneaking up fast. Along with the deadline for Writers of the Future...

AUGH.

[malabud.livejournal.com]

Well, kids have always liked stories in which people die or otherwise get their dire comeuppance. I have nieces and nephews who have utter disdain for Disney, but then really enjoy a story wherein the villain gets eaten by a bear. ('Course, I also have a niece who watches Disney's Cinderella every single day. *sigh*) I think there's a reason that all the original Grimms' fairy tales are, well, rather grim.

(Yes, this comment is two weeks late. Can you tell I'm trying to catch up on my flist?)