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Author
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Comment
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Mirjana1
Registered User
(12/29/05 10:51 am)
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Snow Queen - movies and ideas
Last few weeks it just happened I came across two film versions of one of my favourite fairytales, "The Snow Queen."
The first one, newer though, I saw on TV just before Christmas. It was 40 min long (an hour special, with commercials and all) and they were using some special effects so it looked a bit surreal. Now, if they were to do a story, there were so many others, shorter ones they could've done, rather than trying to fit this one into 40 min show. It was really more of an overview of the story, and I didn’t find it very enjoyable. The thing that bothered me to no end is that Kai's (Kh-a-y) name was pronounced as Kay (Kh-e-y).
There is another version, that I came across in a grocery store, so I bought the tape. It is full length feature movie, with Bridget Fonda as the Snow Queen. This one goes on forever, on a very slow pace, and as different stories are weaving through each other, the jumps are too abrupt and sharp, rather interrupting each other than happening simultaneously. I do love costumes though (as a puppeteer, I always look for costume ideas). I haven't read the story recently, so I can’t remember all the details, but I think there are quite a few differences from the original.
I also made a Snow Queen puppet, but am re-thinking it and will try to make it again. I was going for the greenish colour of the ice in mine, but I loved all white look with silver adornment Bridget Fonda was sporting.
Snow Queen is a great character, I want to make a new show where she'll actually be a good but misunderstood character. Frosty is her sidekick, and spoiled and bratty Miss Summer is her opponent. The show will be called "Four Seasons" and feature Vivaldi's music. I am thinking Santa could make special appearance :-)
Pics:
Snow Queen (or Lady Winter, as I call her on occasion)
www.puppetspurple.com/ALL...inter1.jpg
Frosty:
www.puppetspurple.com/ALL...%20low.jpg
Miss Summer
www.puppetspurple.com/ALL...summer.jpg
Mrs. Autumn
www.puppetspurple.com/ALL...mn%201.jpg
Iris, one of the flower children
www.puppetspurple.com/ALL...s%20hi.jpg
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gigi
Unregistered User
(12/29/05 2:58 pm)
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puppets
wow! Those puppets are so cute! What are they made out of?
And it is so pretty. Good Luck.
gigi
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Mirjana1
Registered User
(12/29/05 3:18 pm)
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Re: puppets
Thank you!
The technique is called soft sculpture: Styrofoam carved like a face, then covered with batting, then covered with stocking nylon and needle sculpted (stitched so it gets facial feature). The arms are hollow wire tubes, with wire fingers again covered with batting and nylon, and each finger is posable.
It is lot of work, but these puppets have to be very light, as I hold them above my head.
So far, I actually realized making puppets in one thing, but coming up with a good story is totally another - that is why I like this site so much, I've learned a lot and got such great insight into the fairytale world.
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Nin Harris
Registered User
(1/3/06 2:04 am)
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Re: Snow Queen - movies and ideas
Quote:
There is another version, that I came across in a grocery store, so I bought the tape. It is full length feature movie, with Bridget Fonda as the Snow Queen.
I was not too fond of the Bridget Fonda/Hallmark version - but deviated far too much a la Hallmark. My favourite remains the Faerie Tale Theatre version which I watched years ago. The fairytale itself is much better though :)
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Veronica Schanoes
Registered User
(1/3/06 11:41 am)
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Re: Snow Queen - movies and ideas
Good Gad, yes, I remember that. The Hallmark version goes on forever.
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Mirjana1
Registered User
(1/3/06 12:25 pm)
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Re: Snow Queen - movies and ideas
Just yesterday I found few DVDs from the series of "Faery tale theatre" in local Walmart- I bought Little Mermaid, but they also had "Sleepting Beauty" and "Beauty and the Beast". The DVDs were $5 CAD each!
I still haven't had the time to see the movie.
As for the Hallmark version of the "Snow Queen" - you'd
think such a great story wouldn't need any "improvements"
and additions, but film makers sure know the best!
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JennySchillig
Registered User
(1/3/06 12:55 pm)
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The Faerie Tale Theatre "Snow Queen"
The only complaint I had with the Faerie Tale Theatre version of Snow Queen is...since when is the Snow Queen a benevolent figure? Um, wasn't she supposed to be the VILLAIN?
My favorite version is the Russian-animated version that was dubbed into English with the voices of Tommy Kirk, Sandra Dee, and Paul Frees, with a tacked-on live-action prologue starring Art Linkletter. This version's finally on DVD, but I haven't bought it yet so I'm not sure of the quality. The VHS version I have unfortunately has a reddish tinge.
This same version had other dubs, including an entry in Mikhail Baryshnikov's "Stories from my Childhood" series, but the newness of the voices and music seemed too much of a contrast with the oldness of the animation.
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Mirjana1
Registered User
(1/3/06 5:36 pm)
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Re: The Faerie Tale Theatre "Snow Queen"
I remember that Russian version, and from the time it came out, I was a child. Thanks for reminding me. At the time it wasn't dubbed, it was all in Russian, with subtitles, as in Europe most of the time movies do not get dubbed. It was beautiful, Russian language is such a "fairy tale" language, its melody is very lyrical.
I also remember another Russian animated movie with a Chinese fairy tale. It was about an evil dragon who tormented the people he ruled so he can have all the gold and treasure, and he was shown as a silhouette in the tent, embracing his gold; every now and then a young man would come to challenge him, so to free the people, and dragon would kill each one, and then they would show how: there would be a fight between the dragon and the young man, but shown only as silhouettes, and then if the man slayed the dragon, he'd come into dragon's tent, see all the gold, and embrace it, and his hands would turn into dragon's paws, and he would turn into a dragon himself.
Does anyone know which fairytale that was?
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Writerpatrick
Registered User
(1/4/06 9:41 am)
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Re: The Faerie Tale Theatre "Snow Queen"
I'm not sure of which story it is, but I ran across this page which contains a number of chinsese myths:
www.cdot.org/history/chinese_myths.htm
There is a non-Linkletter version of the Russian "Ice Princess/Snow Queen" available under the Magical Memories title. And as I recall it was only a few dollars.
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