Once upon a time, a pair of brothers stumbled across a storytelling formula and created one of the best genres for filmmakers, TV show developers, and games makers to delve into and create wonder and mystery. The fairytale has kept generations rapt; Cinderella lost her glass slipper, Snow White was awoken with true love’s kiss, and Jack scrambled down that beanstalk with the golden goose. Given that the stories are ones we know and love, the exciting thing about fairy tales is how they are brought to life in new and interesting ways.

A Modern Take on a Classic

The success of TV shows like Grimm (2011-2017), which featured a homicide detective keeping balance between the real world and the fairytale world and saw a steady rise in viewers in the coveted 18-49 category (17% between Seasons 3 and 4) and Once Upon a Time (2011 – present), shows the pulling power of the fairy tale in modern day culture. The latter, which sees a curse transport the characters of fairytales into a mysterious Maine town called Storybrooke, and is currently in the process of a creative cast shake-up, averaged 4.5 million viewers in its latest season. Both shows are successful because they take familiar content and turn it on its head with a very modern day twist, to which the audience is receptive.

All Thanks to Disney

Disney also has a hand in keeping fairy-tales alive. As well as the animated classics, Cinderella was released again in 2015, while Beauty and the Beast got the live-action treatment in 2017, achieving a worldwide gross of $1,262,886,337. Plus, Disney has a Snow White retelling and a spin-off, featuring Snow’s sister, Rose Red in the pipeline, while The Little Mermaid is set to splash onto screens in 2018. These reboots of classics will appeal to a newer generation and allow fans of the originals to reconnect with the stories they love. There will also be a renewed interest in the fairy tales genre itself. The fan excitement from the announcements shows that the audience is extremely amenable to the concept of fairy tales – and the sporadic cinematic offerings are kept alive through interaction with fairy tales through other media.

Digital Fairy Tales

Indeed, fairy tale media does exist outside the cinematic adaptations – especially so in the digital age, which blends the classic tales with modern technology. For example, app developer Good Effect’s Fairy Tale app allows users to devise their own fairy tale and record their own voice into it to narrate it. While Betway Casino’s array of casino slot games Gnome Wood and Goldwyn’s Fairies allow players to interact with fairy tale content in a very modern way – the casino game. The interaction between the traditional fairy tales and the modern digital ways of interacting with franchises and content show that fairy tales – Disney or otherwise – are still a part of everyday life, despite such great technological advances.

Indeed, Stephen Sondheim’s fairy tale-inspired musical Into the Woods was given the big screen treatment in 2014, starring Meryl Streep. The film features Jack, Rapunzel, Cinderella, and Red Riding Hood all heading off into a dark and dangerous forest for various reasons, and sees the various fairy tale characters cross paths. The film did well, grossing $203,502,372 worldwide. The musical elements of the film have only just been a concept that filmmakers can do well and effectively.

2013 saw Bryan Singer bring Jack and the Beanstalk to life in Jack the Giant Slayer too. However, his efforts to turn the whimsical story on its head to focus more on the grotesque world of the giants didn’t do as well and only achieved an aggregate score of 55% on Rotten Tomatoes. Most of the negative reviews cite the reliance on special effects, which goes to show that developers are utilising technology to tell old stories.

One of the most alluring aspects of the fairy tale is the fact that fans know exactly what to expect from the story. With the critique of plot removed, the audience allows itself to go with the story and become immersed in the magical world the characters inhabit. Fairy tales are universal and, as such, everyone feels as though there is one that speaks to them, so they are intrigued whenever anyone attempts to adapt a story they feel they are already a part of.