Thomas Robinson and Eliza Heath had three sons,
Thomas (1869-1950),
Charles (1870-1937), and
William (1872-1944), who followed in their father's (and grandfather's) footsteps as illustrators of various sorts. The most widely know was the youngest, W. Heath Robinson, whose
contraptions earned him the reputation as the UK counterpart to the US artist
Rube Goldberg. But the other two brothers are not to be overlooked.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Mar 20, 2013 -
6 comments
Introvert Fairy Tales Once upon a time there was a woman who never lived in a castle, never married a prince, and always did all her own housework.
She also never had paparazzi following her while she was on holidays so they could take topless pictures of her with a telephoto lens and distribute them for public consumption. So there was that.
posted by modernnomad
on Oct 10, 2012 -
66 comments
Red is a dark retelling of Little Red Riding Hood done as a bloody, stylish animated short.
posted by quin
on Apr 10, 2012 -
11 comments
Leslie Slape has been a professional storyteller for more than 20 years. This column will feature some of her favorite short folktales from around the world. Come on, snuggle up in the rocking chair, and get ready for a story. [more inside]
posted by infini
on May 30, 2011 -
8 comments
Fairy-tale author
Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić (1874-1938) has been called the "Croatian Anderson", or more recently the "Croatian Tolkien", and twice nominated for a Nobel, in the 1930s, before she committed suicide. Her most famous fairy-tale collection,
Croatian Tales of Long Ago (1916), was recently adapted as a flash animation, some of which can be
viewed online (flash, pop-ups) in an award-winning site. The
original book in English translation (1923) at Internet Archive includes
some cool artwork.
posted by stbalbach
on Sep 25, 2009 -
9 comments
Something for a kid you know, or your own inner child.
Speakaboos offers online stories with the written word below the illustrations, as if read from a book: fables, nursery rhymes, fairy tales, folk tales, lullabies. You can watch the stories without registering. You will have to sign-up (for free) for the future function of recording your own "that will allow kids and parents to record their own voices reading (or singing!) their favorite story, song, or nursery rhyme."
Christmas stories.
[more inside]
posted by nickyskye
on Dec 15, 2008 -
10 comments
Once Upon a Time - a filmed fairy tale starring baby monkeys lost in frightening trees, a witch, crocodiles, a tiger, a "popotamus" and a lion, and even a "tremendously very bad mammoth." (In French, English subtitles)
posted by madamjujujive
on Nov 16, 2008 -
12 comments
Over 2000 classic tales and fables including
Aesop's Fables,
Bulfinch's Mythology,
Indian "Why" Stories, tales by
Oscar Wilde,
Beatrix Potter,
Rudyard Kipling,
Louisa May Alcott,
L. Frank Baum and
Harriet Beecher Stowe and stories about
Abraham Lincoln,
Robin Hood and
Baron Munchausen. And more! The
folk and fairytale collection is particularly rich, with hundreds of stories from all over the world.
posted by Kattullus
on Apr 1, 2008 -
15 comments
Yes, that is indeed
Mick Jagger playing a Chinese emperor. And those are, in fact, Edward James Olmos, Bud Cort, and Barbara Hershey heading up the supporting cast of
"The Nightingale," a particularly odd episode of Shelley Duvall's ludicrously star-studded
Faerie Tale Theatre. Throughout its early '80s run, the show used dozens of prominent actors to perform the fairy tale standards, including Klaus Kinski and Susan Sarandon in a virtual remake of the Cocteau
"Beauty and the Beast;" Paul Reubens, James Coburn, Carl Reiner, and Vincent Schiavelli in
"Pinnochio;" Helen Mirren and Brian Dennehy in
"The Little Mermaid;" and James Earl Jones and Leonard Nimoy in a Tim Burton-directed
"Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp." The list goes on and on.
posted by Iridic
on Sep 5, 2007 -
34 comments
The Toymaker offers over 40
free paper toys and pretties you can print out (
PDFs) and make yourself, as well as "
Stories to be Told by Firelight" - online versions of author/illustrator Marilyn Scott Waters' children's stories and
lots of
other fun
goodies. For people who have kids, people who know kids, people who
are kids, and people who love papercraft, illustration, toys, and tales.
[more...]
posted by taz
on Jul 24, 2006 -
18 comments
The mystery of Stefan Mart and the 'Tales of the Nations'. "The Tales of Nations" was not an ordinary book that you could buy in a book store, and it's mysterious narrator/illustrator disappeared into the darkness of Hitler's Germany, seemingly without a trace. Learn the background, read the stories, and view all 150 fabulous colour illustrations — "small in size, but strong in expression, each a microcosm packed with action, each a feast for the eyes like a beautifully set jewel".
posted by taz
on Jan 9, 2005 -
20 comments
Little Red Riding Hood's wayward past revealed: "Once upon a time, (the story) was a seduction tale. An engraving accompanying the first published version of the story, in Paris in 1697, shows a girl in her déshabille, lying in bed beneath a wolf. According to the plot, she has just stripped out of her clothes, and a moment later the tale will end with her death in the beast’s jaws — no salvation, no redemption. Any reader of the day would have immediately understood the message: In the French slang, when a girl lost her virginity it was said that 'elle avoit vû le loup' — she’d seen the wolf."
posted by feelinglistless
on Sep 19, 2004 -
32 comments
Fable ...There once was a boy with a mind of his own. Alone in a dangerous world, his destiny, the paths of good and evil... Built like a children's book with tabs that you toggle, choose your path in this gothic tale. The site is a beautifully designed promo for the upcoming xbox game release, but worth a visit for the illustrations and execution alone.
(caveats: flash site that opens in a pop-up window, contains sound.)
posted by madamjujujive
on Aug 3, 2003 -
11 comments
"Theriantropic harridan, what elephantine denticles permeate your oral orifice!"
Minikin Incarnadine Cowl-Titivated Gamine adduced. From Fairy Tales for the Erudite, for those of you who enjoy a good story where the twain exist evermore in felicity and Elysium.
posted by iconomy
on Jan 6, 2003 -
12 comments
Rumplestiltskin gets torn in half, Cinderella's stepsisters get their eyes pecked out, and Snow White's stepmother dances in red hot iron shoes until she dies from exhaustion. These are the original endings to the non-sweetened, and sometimes unsavory,
fairy tales collected or written by
by reclusive librarians Jacob and Wilhelm, better know as
The Brothers Grimm. Their first book,
Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Childrens' and Household Tales) was published in 1812. Several more books, mostly of folk tales collected from willing relatives and friends, followed, some containing
bizarre and
disturbing stories with less than
happy endings. As the
National Geographic Grimm site puts it, "
Looking for a sweet, soothing tale to waft you toward dreamland? Look somewhere else. The stories collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the early 1800s serve up life as generations of central Europeans knew it—capricious and often cruel." Check out the strange 1960
Mp3s and
RealAudio files of some Grimm tales.
posted by iconomy
on Oct 29, 2002 -
26 comments
