As someone who loves fairy tales, thank you for this! I have so dearly missed films like La Belle et la Bete, Ever After, The Company of Wolves, Snow White: A Tale of Terror, etc. that give fairy tales (especially darker tales) the respect they deserve rather than cheapening them to what is considered trendy. I think Gretel & Hansel was the most recent adaptation of a fairy tale that I genuinely loved because it respected the original fairy tale and its morals while still doing something new with it by turning it into a nightmarish coming-of-age story. I'd love to see someone do the same thing for Beauty & the Beast.

I also feel like fairy tales don't do well with audience because fairy tales are uninterested in logic. When ever I show fairy tale movies to friends, they point out the plot holes. Yet, those leaps in logic or dream logic are part of the atmosphere of a fairy tale.

I think fairy tale media still exist, but it's now heavily restricted towards a children's audience. Adult audiences only accept fairy tales as long as you play them as horror.

I would argue that Coraline is an excellent example of a fairy tale set in our modern world, elements such as the other mother liking games, and Coraline playing a game for the ghosts and her freedom feel very reminiscent of other fairy tales and myths, which is no surprise since Gaiman loves that stuff lol

I think the work of Miyazaki definitely fits your description of fairy tales, and I've heard people criticize them for exactly those qualities. They defy rational logic for the symbolic, emotional rule of the fairy tale, while still taking themselves earnestly.

So many modern fairytale and fantastical films seem insecure, self-conscious, and just overall afraid to take themselves seriously. If they laugh at themselves first, they defang the mockery and ridicule, but they also defang the story, themes, and emotional resonance they might otherwise have. And by doing so, they discourage people from appreciating them fully, lest we, too, be deemed naïve, childish, and silly. (Many superhero movies do this, too, making fun of themselves to avoid being seen as sincere and therefore cringe.)

Stardust is fantastic and sticks with you. Highly recommend it. As someone who isn’t really into the fairytale as a sub genre of fantasy, this film is a pleasure to watch and does stick with you in a lovely way.

I SO want a big budget adaptation of the Snow Queen. It could be amazing.

Countries like The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Germany make new fairy tale movies every year. They even do co-productions. Sure, while most of those fairy tale movies are usually made for television, they still count. Many of them are actually quite good (Rübezahls Schatz!

Books based on fairy tales are still being released. Maybe we'll see a revival of movies when these get adapted into movies in a few years.

There’s nothing like Tale of Tales out there, so bizarre and brutal just like fairy tales we imagine while reading them. One of my favourite films of all time

‘The shape of water’ I would say is a fairy tale without marketing itself as one, which seems to make people more comfortable. Personally in a lot of fairytale cinema I often feel offput, as it often seems to be very… male gaze-ie, probably also as a lot of the original stories are very misogynistic. But I think it’s interesting that fairytales, characters and aesthetics are SUPER popular in literature still and especially with women yet that hasn’t been converted into cinema at all. Side note: I would recommend more of Neil Gaimans books like ‘neverwhere’ which is so modern fairytale vibes!

The fall (2006 staring Lee Pace) its absolutely fantastic, maybe it fits more in the same category as Pan's Labyrinth cause its two stories at the same time intertwined with "reality", but gives that fairy tale vibes and the visuals are stunning.

Two of my favorite movies are "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya" (2013) and "The Wolf House" (2018). Highly reccomend to anyone that hasn't seen them.

Any fans of Cartoon Saloon here? Their Irish Folklore Trilogy may not be based whole cloth on specific stories, but aspects of many different stories are included, and they DEFINITELY (to me, at least) have a fairytale feel to them. Wolfwalkers is absolutely my favorite, with its still-too-rare focus on female friendship. (I'd love to see some adaptations of those rare fairy tales that focus on sisterhood, such as "Fitcher's Bird," "Biancabella and the Snake," and "Kate Crackernuts.) I also think that "Jim Henson's Storyteller" doesn't get enough love. Granted, the thirty-minute episodes don't get into the more adult, sexual territory of many of the original stories, but they have the aesthetic down pat, and they can be downright terrifying. Furthermore, at least one of them (The Soldier and Death, coincidentally my favorite) has a rather tragic ending.

I love The Company of Wolves, I wrote my dissertation on the works of Angela Carter who was prolific in re-telling fairy tales for the post-modern world. The Company of Wolves was based on The Bloody Chamber series of short stories, I highly recommend checking her out if your interested in the dark, the strange and the slightly erotic.

I love Fairy Tales and I wish more directors or screenwriters would give it a crack. Movies like mirror mirror maybe aren't the most "deep" or well adapted, but there is so much artistic value in the fairytale films I love from a craft perspective

A personal favourite of mine is a film called “I am Dragon”. It’s a Russian fantasy romance where the main character gets kidnapped by a dragon, and the story of how they fell in love. So so good! Highly recommend!!

Hearing fairytales aren't "concise" or "entertaining" enough inevitably just sounds like "modern audiences are stupid," to me (which is also my opinion and not a criticism of this video). It's disheartening. : (

Have you ever seen Jim Henson's The Storyteller? All nine episodes are for free on KZfaq with an AI upscale remaster. Marvelous work!

The main problem is that every fairy-tale story is now a derivative of Damsel. Some deconstructive tale on the princess discovering herself usually critizing the tropes while pretending to be doing something original when everybody else is doing it.

As a fairy-tale enthusiast myself, this was a very entertaining and enlightening video on the age of fairy-tales in film!

So many great points! Especially the one about not knowing how to bring the feeling of fairytales from a childhood perspective to an adult one. It's interesting how less serious something is the more "adult" it seems to be taken as, and the more earnest the more it's "for kids." I feel like this says something about society as a whole since even actual kids aren't that interested in fairytale stories anymore. But fingers crossed they make a comeback! 🤞🏾

A big portion of the reason fairy tales have never taken off in cinema is because of the sanitation of fairy tales in the Victoria period. The original stories were so whitewashed that they utterly disappeared from cultural literacy. But I do think the Maleficent films come closer in tone than a lot of other mainstream fantasy movies. The first one is an allegory for SA and finding personal meaning and love after being traumatized and betrayed. If that isn’t a fairy tale theme I don’t know what is. I will also defend Snow White and the Huntsman (although not the shitty sequel) until I’m in my grave.

As a kid I watched a lot of fairytales on German tv channels on Sunday mornings. (I'm dutch) And I loved them. A lot of them were stories you don't hear anymore, which is kinda sad.

Everytime someone declares 'the death' of something it usually precedes an explosion of that thing becoming popular again. I wish people would stop declaring 'the death' of superhero movies because I am genuinely fed up with those and they just won't go away.

I miss the earnestness of fairytale movies too, and that slight creepiness they hold. I've only recently come across your channel and i am so enjoying it! Great to see another verilybitchie fan too, Verity's work is great

Fairytale movies will always hold a special place in my heart, whether it be horror, wholesome, or romantic.💖

Will definitely watch Tale of Tales! I personally love stardust, I had an obsession with the movie as a child haha✨ also I think there’s also the fact that most retold fairytales from the west, are of course, western fairytales- which usually means we’ve been seeing the ‘same’ European historical settings, fashion, and tone for decades. Maybe many people unconsciously feel ‘exhausted’ seeing this over and over again,

4:29 thanks for including this Cinderella movie, it's one of those interesting ones from Czechoslovakia. I'd also recomended to you The Little Mermaid (1976), this movie gave me chills when i was kid

Sadly Like fairytales themselves they have been pushed to the side by modern audiences for being too "sexist", Xenophobic, Scary or sexual for audiences. The tale of tales which actually came from a book of Italian fairy tales would not be done today same with labyrinth, dark crystal and others I mean i love labyrinth but being it deals with a older man who' is actually 350 years( old but portrayed by David bowie who was 35-40 at the time) chasing a girl who is 15 around in ballet tights and who also took baby the movie just would never get made today. But for some reason twilight is still ok despite being its a 114 year old man dating a 17 year old girl and there relationship has many Toxic elements to it? but anyway its sadly becse we live in a culture of fools who can not see the value of fairy tales Fairy tales originally were stories that relayed moral messages and delt with societal issues and religious questions and put them into miniature. Little red riding hood for example is not just a story about do not talk to strangers but if you look at original versions and look very closely you will see its actually a story warning young girls against predatory men . but just a example.

tale of tales absolutely captured me when I stumbled across it on telly. it was sheer coincidance and I couldn't stop watching. but I am german and the children's tv channel I grew up with shows a fairytale film every sunday at 12:00 am. the best ones are always the old ones from the czech republic. they were filmed in the udssr back in the day and got dubbed to german for the gdr (east germany). they are adaptations of more slavic folk lore and can be a bit tripy at goofy. but they are not cinema. they are television. I grew up with a fairytale film per week. so ... I suppose I'm more used to it. and I've even seen one as a grown up that was new and I liked. because the newer ones tend not to get me at all. I just found your channel. I'm now on a bit of a binge and glad that I am. I'm picking up films I haven't seen yet but that will propably be to my liking.

I’m from Germany and we still got a bunch of fairytale movies that are on tv every Sunday and all pretty short. I grew up with them and love them so much but they are catered towards children mostly, still don’t necessarily shy away from the more scary parts of the story!

Seeing as you asked about other cultures in Flanders, Belgium there are a lot of famous Flemish musicals about fairy tales that all recently got reruns. So now you get to see the 3 bigs, snow white and sleeping beauty musicals all over again after 20 years since the original musicals came out!

12:35 will probably be my favourite moment in any video essay for a long time now lol I remember reading that The Wizard of Oz was often considered the first modern fairy tale, or it might have been just the first American one. And the 1939 film was extremely new and innovative at the time, not just for the special effects, but also because it would have been very odd to a 30s audience. They had to fire the first director after only two weeks because he just didn't have the sense of childish whimsy a "fairy story" needed, as they said, directing Judy Garland to act in an airy fairy way. George Cukor was brought on board for a couple of days while they found a replacement, and he realised that Dorothy had to be transparently sincere, and if she accepted the magic of Oz the way children did in fairy tales, then the audience would too. His direction was "Judy, you must always remember you're a little girl from Kansas" And I remember someone else talking about Coraline where they said that in the world of a fairy tale, strange things happen in a very matter of fact way. The queen from Snow White just has a magic mirror that tells her who the fairest of them all is, Rapunzel's hair grows long enough to climb a tower with etc. The Disney Renaissance films did a good job of honoring those things while modernising the stories, but the 2000s and 2010s saw the rise of bad faith criticism complaining about 'plot holes' and things that weren't explained in detail, as well as it being very fun to mock anything that "took itself too seriously". Everything had to be subverted, deconstructed or lampshaded, and so the sincerity that a fairy tale requires couldn't be committed to fully

My personal Joke is that the most accurate Hans Christian Andersen adaptation is Ford Francis Copolla's Bram Stoker's The Little Mermaid. The simple fact is that Fairy Tales are kind of short outside of a few quest based ones that can just be extended and contracted by adding and subtracting episodes. So TV anthology series are often better at handling them than movies are. The best of these are animated ones made in Japan or the USSR. Anthology and vignette based films like Pulp Fiction aren't exactly common. Then there's the massive influence of Carl Jung on screenwriting and Fairy Tale analysis that you'd think would overlap more but don't. A lot of writers think their stories are Fairy Tales just by being Jungian because nobody reads academic articles on folklore so they aren't aware of any criticism of Jung and most folklore classes at American universities are taught by Professors from other fields with no training in folklore studies who are just abusing tenure to lecture about their hobby. If you included Jungian analysis based screenplays as modern fairy tales you'd have a lot more examples of 'modern' fairy tales. The whole 'Manic Pixie Dream Girl' concept is closely related to the Jungian anima which is how most princesses are interpreted in Jungian fairy tale analysis. Though I really disagree that Princess Bride is a fairy tale film in any sense I think that's just a film you like that you've put in the video for the late medieval setting.

Ever After is still one of my all time favorites! I love the realistic quality, like this could have happened but still maintained the magic of the overall story. Plus I love that Cinderella is kind but still is very brave and stands up to her stepmother.

Please for the love of reason WATCH STARDUST. IT'S A NOVEL. BY NEIL GAIMAN. IT'S VERY GOOD. (And reasonably goofy and unserious as needed but the basic fairytale elements are there).

I love those 80/90/00 fantasy-fairytale movies and miniseries: Company of wolves, LadyHawke, 10th kingdom, Snow white Tale of terror, Fantahiro, Leyend, Ever After, la Belle et la Bete, the Fairy Tale Theater----- the StoryTeller is a masterpiece and I wish they'd made at least 10 more seasons. 7/ The problem is when they try to justify or change a fairytale; the more "logical explanations" or "modern thinking/sensitivities" crap you try to sell, the less magical it would seem. I think the abuse of CGI is also a problem - the special effects are better when you mix different types of tecniques like in Pan's Labyrinth.

The Last Unicorn is my favorite film of all time. I've craved a movie that makes me feel the same way that The Last Unicorn does, but with the film industry being what it is now I don't think I'll ever see a piece of art that speaks to me like that again. When I was little I used to hope for a live action adaptation, but now I hope no one ever touches it again. (Maybe Guillermo Del Toro.....)

ooooh! this is so up my alley! I was in my full fairytale era earlier this year. It had been creeping up in December and January but it was my personality in February. I read a Hans Christian Andersen collection, Brothers Grimm stories, and East of the Sun & West of the Moon. I rewatched Donkey Skin, Three Wishes For Cinderella, and The Red Shoes. (I didn't get to rewatching Cocteau's La Belle et la Bete.). And for first time watches: The Slipper and The Rose, Perinbaba (The Feather Fairy), How To Wake A Princess, The Prince and the Evening Star, The Snow Queen (1957), and both the Russian and Czech 1976 films of The Little Mermaid. And others. The Czech version is one of my new favorite movies

I think a collective reckoning where producers of note take on a mantra of “Fuck them kids” might be the only thing that can bring bizarre but heartfelt, compelling, and entrancing fairytale movies back. “We” decided around 15 years ago that fairytale movies were just for kids and so started creating fairytale media that was totally sanitized of a few major fairytale themes, namely sex. Sex, depending on the circumstances and the perspectives at play, is exactly like you described fairytales to be, “simple and dreadful”. I’m sorry, but if you get rid of any and all story elements involving or relating to sex, you’re removing a central reason as to why these tales have stuck around for so long in the first place.

I think the Green Knight is one of the best recent fairytales it has magic and teaches a lesson. For me it was really inspiring and I hope we get more films in the same vain in the future!

Seeing A Cure For Wellness in the wild is wild. What is wilder is for it to be considered as a fairytale. I really wasn’t expecting it but I 100% see it now. Great vid btw!

As the only person in my friend group who enjoyed The Green Knight, I'd say that one is a fairytale.

Tigers are not afraid is such an underrated movie i’m glad to see it here

I've realized in recent years that fairy tales really are my favorite kind of stories. Both my favorite book and favorite show are deeply rooted in love for old fairy tales and classic stories in literature and ballet and telling something entirely new with them. When I watch movies from the 90s or 2000s like Penelope or Ella Enchanted or Stardust or even the first Barbie films or stuff like Aquamarine or Coraline I feel such love and connection to those films I don't get with other stories. I miss stories not set in modern times, I miss stories that are simpler in execution but because of that their main goal shines so brightly. Lots of fairy tales and fairy tale inspired stories work I think because they don't focus on a bunch of concepts nor only one genre, they focus on telling a specific story about one message and don't worry about it being only a romance or only action or only thriller and that really elevates them for me. Idk I could write an essay about my love for fairy tales but I definitely am painfully sad that fairy tale film has all but died in the last 10 years. Fairy tale literature is very much alive so maybe like others have said it will resurface in film when those novels start getting adapted but for now I will always go back to my favorites from the 2000s lmao (Also as for my favorite fairy tale show and book: Princess Tutu is an anime about fairy tales coming to life in a German town, and a duck who becomes a girl to save a prince, all while taking place mostly at the towns Ballet academy. It's beautiful and poignant and a love letter to fairy tales and famous ballets and really tackles free will vs fate in a extremely meaningful and relatable way. Monstrous by MarcyKate Connolly is a middle grade fairy tale novel that was originally written as a ya, and I say this just so people know it is 100% something anyone of any age can enjoy. I read it as a 13 yr old and loved it and I read it 5 times in the last year as a 22 year old and loved it. It's a love letter to fairy tales and especially Frankenstein, about a girl who's resurrected with monster parts with the sole goal of saving a kingdom haunted by a wizard, who makes the young girls of the kingdom sick and whisks them away. She's tasked with saving those girls, all while wishing to kill the wizard who commits these crimes-and killed her former self. Its a story that grapples with nature vs nurture, with identity, with redemption... it's beautiful and simple and full of love. I highly recommend both. But other novels I've read in the last year that are super fairy tale vibes imo::: The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (a classic but I had to include it bc it is a great lil hidden gem about a mouse who wants to be a human princess' knight) The Forest of Stars by Heather Kassner (middle grade but imo gorgeous and so good, about a girl who can float searching for her father at a circus full of other people with interesting magical abilities, not pure fairy tale but very in line with fairy tale like stories imo) The Hanging City by Charlie N. Holmberg (also not a pure fairy tale but a fantasy romance that I think has many fairy tale elements in its execution albeit a more modern vibe to it))

All through this video I was wondering if you would touch on The Shape of Water. I can see someone else has mentioned it in the comments too. It’s automatically where my mind goes when I hear the term Modern Day Fairytale. Such a beautifully done film. I also think a lot of modern day fairytales have transition back to the horror genre, which is quite apt really when you think about it as that’s where they mostly originated. As you say, most fairytales were warnings way back when. Could you call something like The Babadook a modern day fairytale? Then there’s films like The Hole in the Ground or Unwelcome.

The Soviet Union had some brilliant fairy tale adaptations during the time of its existence. Some of the really good ones were Morozko, Maria the Wonderful Weaver, Golden Antlers, Ilya Murometz (although that film can be easily called epic fantasy due to its high quality), Sadko (which was promoted in America as Sinbad for some weird unknown reason) and Kingdom of the Crooked Mirrors.

As a fairytale enthusiast, there is a lot to unpack here. First of all love a cure for wellness glad you included it. However I think it’s important to note that there are some moments of humor in this movie as well as some of the other films you enjoyed the difference is that they are dry. And well Americans can struggle with connecting with a dry sense of humor. American storytelling in general has a sarcastic tone to it however that does not mean it is not to be taken seriously like you assume. On the contrary, movies like shrek initially became popular because American adults took it seriously because of its sense of humor. Although it might seem difficult to see that now because of all of the memes and the um interesting sequels. Overall I think this is just a problem of cultural differences 😅. Secondly, I don’t think fairy tales are gone just being resold in a different packaging. Captain America is essentially Cinderella and practically every celebrity sells themselves as a Cinderella figure, ie someone who comes from tragedy but with a little luck meets the right person at the right time and becomes an ideal successful version of themselves. I mean the American Dream is a Cinderella story. Also Pans Labyrinth, Coraline, the wizard of oz (yes the movie) and the Sandman comics(and I assume show) are all very popular fairytale stories structurally. They utilize power of 3 which can be very important in a fairytale story (ie 3 tasks, 3 objects, 3 baba yagas, etc). The number 3 pops up a lot in fairytales. A fairytale is also very traumatic in nature if there is a the happy ending, it is the reward for overcoming the psychological journey. It is different than fantasy(which I would argue some of the examples you showed are fantasy with a fairytale aesthetic) in that fantasy is more character driven, whereas fairytales are more plot driven. Also I think your judgement of red riding hood is clouded by the rotten tomatoes score. It is important to note that that movie came out in the 2010s where femininity tended to be demonized and masculinity tended to be romanticized. It is very much a female perspective film. The love interests are not simply attractive men but are personifications of her struggles. One being her inner desires, while the other being societal expectations. There is a reason she ends up on the outskirts of the town once she rejects the expectations of her mother and society. Also it makes sense a female demographic would be drawn to the who done it aspect of the film, given how popular crime podcasts are amongst them. 😆. There is so much to analyze but I simply don’t have the space. Also the brothers Grimm is very much an American fairytale based around European imagery. Once again the humor can be a bit sarcastic but once again that does not mean it is not to be taken seriously. Seems a bit off I know but we Americans can get confused or view something as poor taste when it does not have that sarcastic sensibility. Also the love triangle makes sense here because both of the brothers represent the male ideas of womanhood. Jacob romanticizes women and Wilhelm sexualizes women. It is important to note that the camera does not do this to Angelika just the men who’s character arch is to learn to humanize her and thus women. Monica bellucci is a reflection of how the men can idealized or objectified women. She is only defeated when their previous perceptions crumble and they humanize her. There is a reason the one man who refuses to change his viewpoint on women is still a bad guy. I can go into better detail but simply do not have the time or space. Overall, fairytales are very psychological and should never be taken at face value. Different cultures will have different values in their storytelling and will highlight things differently. Context always matters. And just because it has Snow White in the title does not mean it follows a fairytale structurally.

So glad to see some more positivity towards A Cure For Wellness! I absolutely loved that movie, it was gorgeous and eerie and it blows my mind how many people hated it.

I absolutely adore fairy tales, always have, and it was just a wonderful bonus to see you mention and talk about “Tale of Tales,” which hit such a perfect spot for me when I first watched it and makes me sooo happy. 🖤 So many new recommendations from this video too! I very much agree that it's an utterly tragic idea that fairytales will continue to fall "out of fashion" and by the wayside. The idea of these kinds of stories being too simple or too outdated for modern audiences saddens me greatly, but I can only hope that such things are just cyclical. Perhaps there will be a revival and people will fall back in love with them again!

You must watch the fall 2006 !! It’s amazing , the costume and the fantastical nature behind it is so beautiful 😍 watched it along with tale of tales and I love both . ❤ and yes! a cute for wellness is so good ! I enjoy watching how weird and stage yet captivating it is

I've always loved fairy tales. As a child I exhausted all of the fairy tale books in my local library, I remember hunting down fairy tales from all over the world to get my fix. I would only read the original stories (I hated what Disney did by removing macabre and dark elements). I loved these films, especially Tale of Tales. It's sad that the genre is so overlooked. Often we perceive it to be a children's genre which isn't necessarily the case. I think we don't really know what to do with the genre, I think Disney has changed our perception of fairy tales and watered it down alot. Hopefully film makers can still see the potential to explore the genre more. Would love another Tale of Tales. P.S: There is a difference between fairy tales and fantasy (although there is alot of overlap). Hoping that we don't continue to drown fairy tales in too many fantasy tropes to make it more "appealing" for adults.

I hadn't heard of tale of tales until I began this video, so I paused this and just watched it and oh my gosh. A stunning film!!

Can’t believe u didn’t mention the never ending story! Been my favorite fairytale movie since I was a kid :)

Finally I see a KZfaqr describing the real nature and essence of fairy tales! After watching a couple reviews on Disney films ,I was kinda surprised that most people nowadays can't really process how oral traditions and cultural symbolisms worked a d we end up with "how pathetic ,she got saved by a man!" type of criticism and activist.

A few years ago, Germany made a tv series called Sechs auf einen Streich. It's an anthology of various fairy tales, not just the Grimm's. It's mainly aimed at young children, but the quality is very good. Each tale has it's own aesthetic, with interesting costuming and setting. I found a version translated in French. I am not sure if an English version exists but I would recommend it.

Each of your videos is like.... exactly what I want to listen to someone talk about 😌💝 Thank u!!!

Cinderella is the only cinematic Disney Remake! It looks magical, and the story and characters are well-adapted!

if you haven't read the short story "snow, glass, apples" by Neil Gaiman I highly recommend it. it's a re-telling of snow white but made gritty and dark without being crass or shocking. i read it in high school and its haunted me ever since. also i think part of the death of fairytales is both societal and internalized misogyny but that's a whole other kettle of fish. loved this video

This is an amazing topic - so interesting!! Thanks for covering :) can’t wait to see what you do in the future

And now we've got Damsel on netflix... Which really reminded me of Tales Of Tales, great potential but terrible script and costuming...

Loved the video. It's such a shame that these sorts of movies aren't made so frequently as they are definitely my favourites. You mentioned half the movies on my "guilty pleasures" list. The most recent film I've seen that might fit the bill of a semi-modern fairytale is Lisa Frankenstein. Similarly to the others, it's "flopped" and gotten mediocre reviews, and I can't find anything bad about it at all.

I watched stardust all the time as a kid and it still holds up today. Such a unique story, it's one of my all-time favourites and just so much fun! BTW I stumbled across your channel the other day and absolutely love your content. Such awesome stuff, I look forward to seeing more!!

your level of journalistic/essayist integrity and thorough research is really flawless! i also luv how you film your essays: i feel like i'm just hanging out with you in your flat and listening to you tell me your views on films... you're really good at this, DON"T QUIT!

Giambattista Baslie and as well as other storytellers of obscure fairytales and dark fairytales which haven’t been adapted into film or television yet or not often enough would be excellent for abstract visual storytelling in this century, think “Donkey Skin” 2015, “Tale of Tales” 2015 “Bearskin” 1986, “The Company of Wolves” 1986, “Frau Holle” 1963, “The Feather Fairy” 1985, “Snow White and Rose Red” 1979 and “Bluebeard” 2009.

The bar for the cinematic fairy tale was set by Jean Renoir's La Belle et La Bete, in the 1940s. I also enjoy the darker version Panna et Netvor, from the Czech Repubic, and I Am Dragon, from Russia. The Company of Wolves is fantastic.

I just had to comment that i’ve been binging your content and i love it. i enjoy your tone when talking about things, i enjoy your genuine interest/appreciation for these films and how well you articulate your words. you’ve peaked my interest in a few films i’ve never even heard of. it’s hard to find creators into such niche subjects, yet you fell right into my recommended. love your videos!! looking forward to watching everything you come out with!!!! :)

16:09 that just triggered such a deep response in me like a sleeper agent, I haven't heard anyone say click click slide in 15 years probably

Fairy tales mean EVERYTHING to me. I have dedicated myself to studying them, retelling them, both on screen and tv and trying to understand them. I've never had an issue with illogical stories. I love discovering different variations. And I think, deep down, we all do, because somewhere, there is a "market" (I hate that word) for these stories, there is a wish to see them on screen. It's just so sad that people need everything to be "believable", "REALISTIC"... Basically, it all comes down to the eternal "reality overload" and "this is reality and there is no alternative" that have been established as the new world order, which is clearly wrong. Maybe it's time to see the assault on imagination and sensibility as a REAL issue, as much as any other real life problems.

I wish we had more traditional fairytale films! Great video and you're amazing queen ❤

I always thought that Darren Aronofsky movies have some fairlytale vibe. Also watch "the fall" with Lee pace, great film with fairytale in it.

I dont know if it counts but You Wont Be Alone really blew me away, even though it seems to lean aesthetically into horror and less so into fairytale, it sort of explores the classic human and inhuman dynamic in the uneasey curious way you find in fairy tales. So i comsider it so, it gives me the vibes in its blend, and i highly recommend it.

I recently watched November with my husband, and it was probabaly one of the weirdest and charming fairytale/folk horror movies I have seen in awhile. It’s a collection of Estonian folk stories (from a book I believe) and is filmed in black and white. I don’t really know if either of us truly knew what was going on, but it was a fun and charming watch.

Ugh such great insight! It’s a shame dvd sales can’t be relied on anymore, sometimes incredible films are a box office flop but a huge dvd success. Fairy tales deserve their space in modern cinema! It’s also disheartening that people aren’t giving into the suspension of disbelief, letting their child like imagination run wild for the span of a couple hours. I love fairy tales, they take a level of sincerity, imagination and humility to understand and appreciate.

I wonder if they can ever do Count Silvernose. I also remember growing up with Jim Henson’s The Storyteller. Edit: I Am Dragon! That's the movie I was thinking about!

Highly recommend you watch you are not alone as a folk horror fairy tale esque movie. It’s AMAZING

I love the cure for wellness! I watched it with my sister when I was in middle school and we really liked it. I always thought it to be a sci-fi psychological thriller, but now I understand how it could be a modern fairytale. I didn’t know it was not well received! Might give it a rewatch as it’s been so long since i’ve seen it. great video 💕

I'd never heard of Green Snake but was able to rent it through interlibrary loan (only one copy in the entire state). Wow. I have rarely seen such a purely fantastical film. Few films go all out on fantasy like this one does, creating a place where anything can and does happen, and this one, to its advantage, doesn't bother trying to ground itself in reality or subvert any tropes. Some would call the effects bad or cheesy, but I thought they worked perfectly with the film's tone and world. Great recommendation.

Can we consider some of the Studio Ghibli films as Fairytales? I think of Spirited Away, Howls Moving Castle, and The Cat Returns as quintessential animated fairytales. Even Totoro, A Whisper From The Heart, and Kiki’s Delivery Service can involve similar themes while still staying pretty grounded in slice of life.

Anyone else intersted in creating a list of fairy tale movies worth watching? After watching this video I want to explore this genre a bit more.

It's interesting to think about Cure for Wellness as a fairy tale because I always saw it as such a great gothic horror, or even really original take on vampires. But I suppose that gothic themes and fairy tales have a lot of similarities so it makes sense. I always said that Gore Verbinski caught a bullet for all of us to make such a gorgeous film :DD It reminds me of the way how Crimson Peak was received, but probably worse. When I noticed that you added some clips from the Czech Cinderella, I think that you could really like The Third Prince. It stars the same actors as Cinderella and has such an incredible dark fairy tale atmosphere. And it's quite easy to find it with subtitles. I feel like most people know about Cinderella or Panna a netvor but not this one.

Ok you NEED to watch Stardust! It was actually a really beautiful movie and a wonderful story.

What a lovely video!! I actually wanted to see A Cure For Wellness when it came out, but never did because of the poor reviews+ a friend didn’t like it. Will definitely give it a chance when I’ve got the time. As for fairytales in cinema- I agree that big budgets tend to be needed to pull off the otherworldliness of the settings and so they’re not green lit as often, but I think they’re seen as an especially big gamble for the same reason adult animation is; their association with Disney/being “for kids” turns off general audiences. When I show someone a show like Arcane, they are always surprised by how much they like it because the general audience’s idea of animation is either Bluey or Family Guy, with no real push from studios to correct that.

Good points all around! The fantasy stories that aren't loaded with irony typically opt for a very grounded and realistic presentation

I think some modern fairy tale adaptations haven't appealed to me because of the overuse of (sometimes bad) CGI that can end up looking a bit cheesy? Practical effects used in movies ~50 years ago feel really special and more "real" which really enhances the genre vs super shiny and smooth effects. Pan's Labyrinth is a great example of practical effects (makeup, prosthetics) used along with CGI to create a fantasy world that also looks like it could be real. I would love to see more practical effects used in folk tales and folk horror!

Thank you for talking about a cure for wellness, I remember being so excited about that movie when it came out. I haven’t seen it since but I really should! ❤

I'm obsessed with this video as someone who had a huge hyperfixation on fairytales especially fairytale movies !!

I'd actually say that Stardust is a GREAT modern-made fairytale. The story teaches a lesson as classic fairytales usually did, and it doesn't shy away, at all, from creepy, dark elements. (Casual familial murder, kidnapping, witches trying to eat hearts in order to stay young forever, etc.) The magic of the world feels chaotic and tricksy. If you're not careful with it, or you don't understand how it works, it will work against you. The magic isn't explained - it just is. It's a part of the world, naturally, and the people of the world have grown with it and understand it, even if we, the audience, don't. And it has FUN with it. Granted, the love story feels a bit modern, similar to Ever After, but the movie as a whole feels like a love letter to fantasy and classic fairytales. As someone who also absolutey loves Pan's Labyrinth (specifically because it has a dark fantasy, fairytale vibe that normal modern movies never get right) I think you'd get a bit of a kick out of Stardust as well. It just makes my inner storyteller happy, and I can never recommend it enough. 😊❤

Stardust is worth a watch. I think it has the new/classic feel and balances well the entertaining/funny bits with some of the dark warnings of the past. Feels old and new at the same time the way that EverAfter did for me. And I wanted to like red riding hood, too! It's too bad it was poorly executed from the story perspective. Not dark enough to be a fairy tale and not fun enough to be a modern hit 😅

There’s the Norwegian film (and its sequel) called The Ash Lad. Bloody weird, got all sorts of creepy trickery in a forest, and morals.

I’d count Penelope and The Fall. Underrated gems.

The last great fairytale adaptation I saw was Pablo Berger’s 2012 Blancanieves! Its a visual feast!

Some modern fairytale films that I think were excellent are Judy and Punch (2019) dir:Mirrah Foulkes has a real fairy tale darkness. I was also thinking about George Miller’s Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022) and La Llorona (2019) dir:Jayro Bustamante, a Guatemalan horror/fairytale film that is also fantastic.

Calling a cure for wellness a fairytale hits so hard . It’s been so hard to explain how it feels other than “surreal” “abstract” but neither of those feel right but it’s a fairytale , so simple but so hard to find that truth

I think my issue with Cure for Wellness was that it hinted at the supernatural, but then the “monster” ended up being non-supernatural in nature, so some of the apparitions seen in the movie don’t really make sense in the end. However, I finally watched it after falling down a rabbit hole of international bathing and sauna traditions and it was cool to see those being referenced!!

Suspiria (1977) is also a "modern fairytale" in my opinion

I’m a huge fan of fairytales, especially Angela Carter, and I personally think analog horror is one of the modern forms fairytales take.

This touched me deeply.