If you could create a modern adaptation/continuation of a fairy tale/legend, what would you make?

[AGXStarseed]

I remember as a Kid I took a kin to "Hansel and Grettle" because it was my favorite; seeing that it was an allegory for Corporations such as Universal luring us in with Movies and Theme Park Rides and we were like lambs to the slaughter.

I guess you could say something about Universal never sat right with me as a kid. even now.

So yeah, I remember making a cartoon in the mold of Shrek, but instead of a grumpy Ogre he was an alien al'a ALF. and he was called "Zug", who is kind of like my version of Kirby in a way. but what does Zug have to do with Hansel and Grettle? first of all,
I saw the story as a metaphor for Universal because the candy is movies and Theme Parks, and we're their prey by being the common customer as the kids ... and finally
the people at Universal are the witch.

WHAT WERE YOU EXPECTING ME TO SAY DISNEY!?

so yeah, Zug became a part of Hansel and Grettle's family and it took place after the events of the original story; their dad is now single and goes online looking for dates, and the kids are making their own Toys to cope with the fact that their mother got them lost in the woods (or turned out to be the witch) ...


if that wouldn't go too well (god knows it wouldn't since It turned into "The Ring" meets "Nightmare on Elm Street" at some point and my brother said to do this crap on a computer out of fear) then what about the story of the boy in the walnut?

it isn't very popular and exists somewhere in Asia.


did you know that Hans Christian Anderson was autistic?

si! it is Buenos Amigos.

Reminds me a bit of a video game called The Park.

In it, a mother (Lorraine) has to search for her son Callum, who has run off in an abandoned amusement park. As the game progresses, we see that Lorraine is not mentally well due to a lot of stuff that has happened in her life, while the Park itself has a dark past and with more supernatural stuff happening as the game progresses - including with Lorraine been followed by a Bogeyman-type figure.

The story of "Hansel and Gretel" is integrated into the plot, with the game also bringing up the rather creepy fact that in the earliest versions of the tale, the children's cruel mother and the evil witch were the same person.

 

[NoKipAr on the run]

Yeah! like originally the plot was going to be that The witch and their mom were going to be the same person, ri?

and what about that "Boy in the Walnut"?
heard of it, but no one seems to know what I'm talking about!
no one. not a soul.

 

[AGXStarseed]

Borrowing from what I wrote in the "Dragons Are Awesome" thread, The Dragon of Mordiford (also known as Maud and the Wyvern) might be a good folklore tale to make a modern version of.

The original story - taking place in Herefordshire, England - told the story of a poor girl named Maud finding a baby Wyvern; a type of Dragon which has four limbs, with its arms/front legs and wings been connected together rather than separate like the classic European Dragon.
Despite been told by her parents to get rid of it, she takes it to the forest and feeds it milk every day; helping the little dragon grow into an adult and with the dragon imprinting on her - seeing Maud as its mother. Sadly, it grows too big for Maud's milk to satisfy its hunger and it begins to attack livestock and other human beings, with the story having a sad ending as a knight ends up killing the dragon - much to Maud's dismay.

This story got adapted as part of the film Dragons 3D (also known as Dragons: Real Myths and Unreal Creatures), which covered several Dragon stories from mythology. Here's two screenshots from said adaptation:

For a modern version, you could keep some of the same story beats but maybe give it a happier ending; taking elements from Disney's adaptation of Mighty Joe Young about trying to get the Wyvern to a place where it can be protected without upsetting or potentially eating the locals, while having some big game hunters coming along to try and get a rare "trophy".
For those who haven't seen Mighty Joe Young, here's a review of it so you can see what I mean:

 

[Kayla55]

I have an idea for a retelling of Snow White where it turns out that the Queen was never the evil one in the story and the true villain was Snow White who pretended to be sweet and innocent so that she could plot to take over the kingdom and rule it using fear. She earns the nickname Snow Terror and half of the Dwarves must find a way to stop her and save the day.

I'd love to adapt myself to become snow terror, if one acts like a brave witch and emulates having a better faerie tale ending would it one day come true. But I'm a natural dark blond, I just dye my hair so people take me seriously! So maybe I'm not relating to sleeping beauty.
Ironic lesson in life....the tough and evil get ahead, so stop being nimble n weak. I wonder if I became an evil villain....awesome idea

 

[AGXStarseed]

I'd love to adapt myself to become snow terror, if one acts like a brave witch and emulates having a better faerie tale ending would it one day come true. But I'm a natural dark blond, I just dye my hair so people take me seriously! So maybe I'm not relating to sleeping beauty.
Ironic lesson in life....the tough and evil get ahead, so stop being nimble n weak. I wonder if I became an evil villain....awesome idea

I'd rather you didn't become an evil villain. Hopefully without derailing the discussion, I'd say there's enough misery and bad stuff in the world without you jumping onto the pile.

 

[Kayla55]

Aspoesterjie means cinderella, wow, I never stop learning. Anyway if we were to adapt paintings from olden days and adapt these to images used as aurora and blond Cinderella then we would get a very vivid portrayal of the past.
The most noticeable thing about this portrait, she doesn't have blue eyes, so obviously borrowing more Gothic ladylikness than mentioned.
Google earliest Dutch portraits and find fair blond girls but rounded faces, rather on plump side. Just like most movies, very very incorrect.

Van der Weyden was preoccupied by commissioned portraiture towards the end of his life[1] and was highly regarded by later generations of painters for his penetrating evocations of character. In this work, the woman's humility and reserved demeanour are conveyed through her fragile physique, lowered eyes and tightly grasped fingers.[2]She is slender and depicted according to the Gothic ideal of elongated features, indicated by her narrow shoulders, tightly pinned hair, high forehead and the elaborate frame set by the headdress. It is the only known portrait of a woman accepted as an autograph work by van der Weyden,[1] yet the sitter's name is not recorded and he did not title the work.

Although van der Weyden did not adhere to the conventions of idealisation, he generally sought to flatter his sitters. He depicted his models in highly fashionable clothing, often with rounded—almost sculpted—facial features, some of which deviated from natural representation. He adapted his own aesthetic, and his portraits of women often bear a striking resemblance to each other.[3]

 

[Kayla55]

Before living with Germans and after....my word and Dutch never even survived slavery....

 

[AGXStarseed]

Okay, now I'm confused.

 

[Kayla55]

Okay, now I'm confused.

To be specific the true aurora princess would have melanin to prove she sees less sunlight, so hair would have Pheomelanin pigment (reddish colour), her skin as white as snow and probably blue eyes (lack of pigment)

Its like the DNA tests for piece Brosnan confirm (a skin tone not sunkissed in Cyprus) and darker blue in eyes similar to changes in reindeer....the more blue less absence of pigment which allows more light in, full absence would be red eyes!!)
By DNA testing we can assertion which portraits were of genuine origin and which were mixed and say exactly who looked like what!!

 

[Kayla55]

Well the basic plot is that the Queen is actually really kind and sympathetic towards her people and she does a very good job at keeping peace throughout the land and other kingdoms to the point there is no real conflicts with each other. The people unfairly hate her because she was the King’s second wife and no one knows or understands that Snow White must stay within the castle while wearing rags as it is the only way to suppress her evil side which includes the ability to use dark magic. The asking of the Mirror about being the “fairest” is also taken out of context and she was really asking if there was anything that a ruler of neighboring kingdom was unhappy with and how to solve any possible conflicts. Snow White spreads the rumors about the Queen being an evil witch. Well eventually Snow White escapes and tricks three of the Dwarves into serving her while the others refuse to do so and leave. Eventually the remaining Dwarves kill the Queen and Snow White becomes Queen who then starts to commit horrible deeds and kill innocent people to make everyone obey her out of fear which is why she becomes known as Snow Terror. The Prince also disappears and the four Dwarves that weren’t persuaded to join the evil side must find a way to save everyone and stop Snow Terror.

Snow White in the Huntsman is most passive, I think it's because evil queen banished the new found slave colonies and it's a theme because people look up to strength, as I always noted in life, they vote for popular person, the strength. Snow White ends up wondering all alone and idea is correct, without friends we are nothing.
Eventually the colonies become tired of the greed and false ideas that capitalists would ever care and try to banish the witch....but time will tell if yet again evil and power will triumph.

 

[AGXStarseed]

Another idea I had was a continuation of The Little Mermaid (the book version).

In the original book, the little mermaid (who I'll just call Ariel for the sake of convenience) still saves the prince and brings him to shore - with the prince been found and "rescued" by a girl from a nearby Temple who is later revealed to be a Princess from a neighbouring Kingdom who was sent to the Temple for her education.
Ariel, meanwhile, learns from her Grandmother that humans live a shorter lifespan than Mermaids - Mermaids living for 300 years - but that they have an "eternal soul" while Mermaids turn into sea foam when they die.

In love with the prince and wanting a soul, Ariel visits the sea witch and gets the potion to become human in exchange for her voice - although the conditions are that if the Prince falls in love with her and marries her, she'll indeed remain human and get a soul as part of his will flow into her. However, if she fails and he marries someone else, she'll die with a broken heart and turn to sea foam.
Additonally, while she'll be able to dance amazingly, every step she takes will feel like she's walking on sharp knives. (Ouch!)

As the story goes, the Prince does indeed meet the Princess who "saved" him and marries her instead. In an attempt to get Ariel back, her sisters trade their hair to the Sea Witch for a blade; telling Ariel that if she uses it to kill the Prince and Princess, she'll turn back into a mermaid and be able to rejoin them.
Ultimately, Ariel is unable to bring herself to do it as she sees that the Prince and Princess are genuinely in love; giving the knife back and selflessly giving her blessing to the Prince and Princess before allowing herself to turn to sea foam.
However, thanks to her selflessness and her determination to earn an immortal soul out of love, she instead becomes a "Daughter of the Sky" (a Sylph) and joins others like her; the book ending with them explaining that she has been given the chance to earn a soul of her own - and one day ascend to Heaven - by doing good deeds for humanity for 300 years.


So, how would a continuation work?
Well, the original Little Mermaid story is said to take place somewhere between the years 1700 and 1750 from what I've read. Fast forward 300 years and it brings you to somewhere between 2000 and 2050 (with us been close to the middle of those two points as it's 2023), so you could easily make a TV series about Ariel approaching her last few years/decades of doing good deeds for humanity.
Depending on how you want the story to go, you could have her befriending a guy who can see her/sense her presence and so can interact with her - this maybe going further if you want it so that when she does gain a soul, she is turned into a human so she and her friend can be together; either just remaining as friends or maybe getting married and having a family of their own.
(After all, just because she's earning a soul doesn't mean that she has to go to Heaven immediately after she gets it).

 

[Metalhead]

LOTR but Isildoor is kicked into the fires of Mordor with the ring and everybody leaves happily.

 

[Mr. Stevens]

LOTR but Isildoor is kicked into the fires of Mordor with the ring and everybody leaves happily.

You almost got your wish:

 

[AGXStarseed]

In regards to fairy tales getting brought to the modern day, apparently this movie is a thing. No surprise, it's an Asylum movie so it's very cheap.
(Be aware, this video has some swearing in it and spoilers for the film. Also, this video was made in 2015 so some things may appear dated).

Avengers Grimm

 

[Ella Spell]

Beauty and the Beast

I need to know what books she got and if their children were fuzzy.

 

[AGXStarseed]

Beauty and the Beast

I need to know what books she got and if their children were fuzzy.

Reminds me of this anime where a girl falls in love with a Werewolf, with her having two children with him:

 

[Ella Spell]

I'm not into wolves, but Beasts are always good.

 

[AGXStarseed]

I'm not into wolves, but Beasts are always good.

You might like this then:

 

[AGXStarseed]

I'm thinking of Little Red Riding Hood, but these can go several ways. A rough idea for this one:

Horror flick set in the modern day, but the actors resemble their fairy tale counterparts only in spirit. The "wolf" isn't an actual wolf here, but he does share the characteristics - predatory, creepy in a subtle way and cunning. In this one, Little Red Riding Hood, however she's portrayed - I'm thinking a red hoodie here to set her apart - is the one who does away with the "wolf" for good.

She was left with no choice here, having been trapped against her will, and everyone else had been blind to the fact that the wolf had already claimed many victims in the past. The odds seemed to be in his favor here...or were they? Before the local authorities could pick up on what was going on though, she had already gathered the courage to fight back against this monster and finally put an end to all of this.

If anyone wants to add some more details to this one, go for it. If I get any more ideas, I'll post them here.

For a modern version of this, I've had two other ideas;
The first been with this version of "Red Riding Hood" discovering a stray dog - the dog been a Czechoslovakian Wolfdog, Tamaskan or other wolf-like breed - that is blamed for causing the death/disappearance of livestock along with injuring several people, with the dog's similarity in appearance to a wolf doing it no favours in that regard.
As a result, it falls to the girl to keep the dog safe and help "tame" it and find out whether or not the dog is really the culprit or something else is really going on - in which case she must prove that her "wolf" is innocent.

The second (keeping some of the fantasy element) would be in set in modern-day Ireland, with "Red Riding Hood" discovering that the man looking after her Grandmother as her carer is in fact among of the last of the Irish Werewolves; the Irish variants of Werewolves said to be dangerous but also defenders of children and the most vulnerable members of society. As such, it makes sense why this one is a carer for Red's Grandmother.
Sure enough, Red befriends the Werewolf and eventually meets more of his family - including forming a friendship/potential love interest with his child, who is around her age. However, after an incident involving one of the werewolves transforming to fight some thugs (which is recorded and uploaded to YouTube/social media by a bystander), the area is flooded by various fame-seekers, religious groups and other individuals with darker plans for the werewolves.
As such, it falls to Red to find a way to help the werewolves - either by helping them flee or trying to find a way to ensure their protection so Ireland doesn't face another wolf genocide.

 

[NoKipAr on the run]

I am currently in the middle of writing a comic about a Robin hood spoof starring Prehistoric animals. Can I get a witness?