Welcome to the latest run-down of the past three fairy tales in my Re-Draw series. I hope you’ve been enjoying all of the illustrations and blog posts so far; make sure you’re following the Puddles of Ink Instagram to catch my daily uploads and all of the behind the scenes information. I’ve created a Highlight which I update regularly, so if you want to know which art supplies I’ve used and see some of the process behind the pieces, make sure you take a look at it!
If you’ve missed any of the blog posts and need to catch up then don’t worry - here’s the briefest of run-downs:
If you’re in need of some background information on the project, or want to know about The Queen of Riddles, The Frog Prince or The Seven Wives of Bluebeard, click here.
If you want to know more about Thumbelina, Jack and the Beanstalk or Godfather Death, then this is the post you want.
Or if you just missed Saturday’s post which covers The Princess and the Pea, The Spindle the Spool and the Needle, and Oh: The Tsar of the Forest, then check this one out.
I think that’s all of the housekeeping taken care of for now. I hope you’re excited and ready to dive into the next three tales because this selection happens to be especially magical!
Cinderella
I said in my Instagram post that I was sure that this fairy tale, probably more-so than all the others, requires no formal introduction. However, I feel like that’s pretty unavoidable given that this entire entry is about its many different adaptations. If you’d like to read the version by the Brothers Grimm click here, although it should be said that in their original version Cinderella is referred to as Aschenputtel, but that name doesn’t appear in this translation. If you’d like to know some of the key differences between this and the 1950 animated Disney film, you might enjoy this article on Bustle and, in a less informative but far more random article on Vogue, you can check out a run-down of some of the best Cinderella GIFs - these totally brightened up my morning!
It wouldn’t be right to talk about Cinderella without giving a few honourable mentions to early origins of the story. There are, however, hundreds of variations and to go through them all here would be impossible to do well, so I’ll mention as many as I can that are relevant and will work on some more in-depth posts for the future - comment down below and give this post a like if that’s something you’d want to see! If you can’t wait that long, I’d advise you to check out the Wiki page for a decent frame of reference, and investigate the versions that intrigue you the most from there.
It seems generally agreed that the earliest record we have of the Cinderella story comes from the Ancient Greeks (or the Romans, depending on the source), titled Rhodopis. Taking place in Egypt, a slave girl - Rhodopis - is bathing in the Nile when an eagle sent by Zeus swoops down and steals her shoe, dropping it onto the King’s lap. It’s a really intriguing read about a woman who was apparently real, but she existed too early on for the story to actually be biographical. There’s no wicked step-family in this one, but it’s so fascinating to read and learn about a story that’s so different and yet so familiar at the same time. Roots of the Cinderella story can also be traced back to the Qin and Han Dynasties of China (221-206 BC and 206-220 AD respectively) in the form of Ye Xian. This is another really interesting article about it with some useful reference material, if you’re interested in reading more about different interpretations and plot features; for example, Ye Xian’s magical protector doesn’t come in the form of a fairy Godmother, but as a very large fish instead!
In terms of versions closer to the adaptation we’re more familiar with, Giambattista Basile’s Pentamerone is the collection that houses Cenerentola - the adaptation of Cinderella that inspired Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm to create their own re-tellings. Indeed, Perrault is responsible for some of the most iconic features of the fairy tale, such as the glass slipper and the Fairy Godmother, and the Brothers Grimm featured the gory scene where the step sisters are so desperate to wed the Prince they mutilate their feet in order to get the shoe to fit. But without Basile’s initial document, these versions may never have come to pass.
The Flying Trunk
From the extremely well-known to the slightly more obscure, The Flying Trunk is one of Hans Christian Anderson’s magical tales that I discovered in 2018. It follows a man who, having squandered his inheritance, has only a few shillings, his dressing gown and some slippers left to his name. He is given a trunk and, having gotten inside it, is transported all the way to Turkey where he encounters a prophecy, a Sultan and his daughter. If you want to find out what happens to him and whether this ends happily or more morosely, then make sure you have a read of it here. You can also listen to a Librivox recording of the tale on YouTube. Interestingly, the Tivoli Gardens amusement park in Copenhagen created The Flying Trunk ride in 1993, which takes you through 32 of Hans Christian Anderson’s most treasured fairy tales - it looks amazing! If you’ve been, please let me know what it’s like because I’m seriously thinking about putting it on my list of places to go!
I’m a lot happier with this illustration now that I’ve re-worked it; the original had a lot of issues and I just wasn’t happy with it. You’ll have to read the story to the end to know the significance of the imagery I’ve used, but I think it also works as a stand-alone visual to draw you in. What do you think?
The Little Mermaid
Another timeless classic, The Little Mermaid fits into the category of fairy tales I find difficult to fully hop on board with, but I know it’s loved by so many people so I wanted to include it. Hans Christian Anderson captures the innocence and beauty of a young mermaid who, after glimpsing life above the ocean longs for something worlds apart from her own life. If you want to read about the possible links between this tale and Anderson’s own predicament of unrequited affection and portrayal of queerness in his work, this article on Book Riot is a good starting point. So many scholars, folklorists and historians have debated and analysed this fairy tale to try and decipher why Anderson apparently created such a tragic story with an ending that is far from happy…or is it? It would seem that, irrespective of which version of the story you’re most familiar with, everyone has their own interpretation of whether it ends happily or not.
Personally, I don’t think much of it can count for a happy story; our heroine feels trapped and longs for a soul, gets sold a dream that ends up breaking her heart, and after compromising an integral part of her identity she still meets a sad end. I think my piece illustrates that trapped reality, and also doesn’t romanticise her plight - I don’t think suffering should be justified simply because you’re allowed to experience love, however briefly, along the way. If you want to read the story yourself then click here, and let me know your thoughts - especially if you’re a fan of the story - I’d love to hear an alternative view! This article is a good read if you want to see how Disney adapted the story and some of the challenges the crew faced, and this one (a personal favourite) gives a run-down of the “best, worst and weirdest” adaptations of the tale!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this latest foray into the tales behind the illustrations of my Re-Draw Project. Make sure you’re following me on Instagram for DAILY uploads, and leave me any fairy tale recommendations in the comments below! I have 9 spaces available for the zine, so any suggestions are very welcome!