This article was first published on Technorati at http://technorati.com/entertainment/article/the-return-of-our-favorite-tales
It seems that Hollywood has turned back to the original storytellers as the recent fall premieres of Grimm and Once Upon a Time brings our favorite childhood stories back to life, with a twist.
I was always a sucker for a good tale when I was a kid. Most people do not realize that the Brothers Grimm were responsible for most of our modern time fairy tales. Stories such as Cinderella, Snow White and Rumpelstiltskin were all works published by the duo. They have played a role in all of our lives and now Hollywood has brought them to the small screen in some fashion or another.
ABC decided to bring us Once Upon a Time this season to rave reviews. The show is doing better than expected and there is a good reason why. These tales have stood the test of time and ABC has taken them and just advanced the timeline.
In the show the Evil Witch from Snow White has released a “Dark Curse†which has frozen all the fairy tale characters in time and brought them into our modern age where they live in Storyville unaware of who they were. Even the Evil Witch herself does not have clue. There are many signs that only Rumplestiltskin knows who he truly is. The only hope for the curse to be broken is the child of Snow White and Prince Charming who manage to seal their new born baby in a tree which protects her from the curse.
So now we are all part of the story which is well spun and unraveling in a slow and very interesting fashion. The child, Emma Swan has made her way back to the town with the help of the son she gave up for adoption when she was young. We see the modern day fairy tale characters in everyday life. Snow White is a teacher, the Evil Witch is a corrupt mayor and in one of my favorite twists Jiminy Cricket is a psychologist.
The imagery is bright and beautiful and the acting is brilliant as they bring in a stellar cast with Ginnifer Goodwin (Big Love), Jennifer Morrison (House) and the always reliable Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty). In the times we live in now with social media and a struggling economy, ABC supply’s us with the escapism of yesteryear and the tales of our youths to let us reminisce for one hour each week.
If you would like to check it out try ABC Sunday nights at 8pm EST.
NBC on the other hand has taken more to the darker side of the Brothers Grimm with their series Grimm. The twist to this series is that the Grimm family members have always lived with a curse. Our world holds monsters. It always has. The descendants of the Grimm Brothers are the only ones able to see the monsters, but only when the monster’s emotions run higher than normal of course. Nick Burckhardt is a police detective who is unknowingly a Grimm descendant. Nick has just started to see things out of norm and can’t understand why. His Aunt, who he was raised with since the age of twelve, arrives unannounced and has something to discuss with him. It is at this time that he discovers his family’s secret and soon he discovers his and his family’s responsibility to the world, to hunt these monsters and protect us. Unfortunately he and his Aunt are attacked and she falls into a coma. So now begins Nick’s journey and his trial by fire as he has no idea what is happening to him and no access to additional information as his Aunt in currently down for the count.
The show has a darkness to it but is peppered with many humorous moments which are very entertaining. The special effects are well done and there is an air of conspiracy as he does not know who to trust and has to live with the knowledge that he is the only normal human who can see the monsters for what they really are. This makes for great television as he tries to find ways to explain situations rationally that are completely irrational to society’s beliefs. The cast seems strong although there are no notable names. This combined with relying on the Grimm tales to fall back on and NBC may have a surprise hit on their hands.
If you wish tune in, head to NBC Fridays at 9pm EST.
It is nice to see Hollywood turn back to the stories we grew up with instead of going for more action or more sexuality. Hopefully there are more series like this in the works. At least we know the writings behind the concepts are proven. Let’s just hope the networks don’t gum up the works.
