I didn’t realise this was the third book in the series, so some of the content was a little confusing. The Odd Sisters storyline isn’t originally a fairy tale though, so I’m not going to comment on it and just focus on Ursula’s part.
The Villain Tales series looks at the motivation and backstory of Disney villains, making them more sympathetic and relatable. In this book, Ursula is Triton’s sister. Their parents wanted them to rule together, putting half their power in Triton’s trident, and the other half in Ursula’s necklace. However, Triton abandoned Ursula when she was very young due to her preferred monstrous appearance. She had no memory of her family and was found by a human fisherman who raised her as his own daughter. When her power began to manifest the humans of the village tried to kill her. Her human father stood in their way, getting torn to pieces so she could escape.
Ursula returned to the village when she was older, getting revenge by turning all the humans into sea creatures. Triton then appeared, claiming he was her brother and that she’d been lost to their family at a young age. She lives in Atlantis, but soon realises Triton only wants to prove she’s unworthy of the throne or kill her. He repeatedly calls her an ugly monster and insists she appears as a merperson rather than her true form. The only one kind to her is Triton’s wife.
The book doesn’t say why Ursula is banished, which is disappointing. All we know is Triton rejects Ursula’s true nature, he believed her human father deserved to die just for being human. Ursula hates Triton mostly for the way he views her human father, but also for denying her a family and her place on the throne. Her hate for him consumes her, driving all her motivations to work against him.
In the end her hate is her downfall. She breaks her contract with Ariel by trying to kill her and Eric, even when she’s already had her revenge over Triton. The idea that anyone could be happy when she’s suffered is too much, and she breaks her own rules.
The book was short, but I liked the background it explored. I would have loved to have seen more scenes of Ursula in the past, when she was in Atlantis, rather than just hearing about it. But in a way this will motivate me more to write my own version to explore it further.
Reference:
Valention, Serina. (2018) Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch, Villain Tales, Autumn Publishing, Disney Enterprises.
The Twisted Tales series are a perfect example of reimagining fairy tale stories. Their focus is to look at well-known Disney movies and ask ‘what if?’. What if this had happened? What if this person wasn’t there? etc. The first one I read was the Aladdin based one, which asked: what if Aladdin never kept the lamp?
In this version Aladdin retrieves the lamp from the Cave of Wonders, but Abu doesn’t get the opportunity to steal it off the disguised Jafar before he traps them underground. It takes Aladdin, Abu and the magic carpet three days to dig their way to the surface.
I was surprised by how dark this version is, considering the book is meant for children. Jafar takes over Agrabah while Aladdin is still trapped in the Cave of Wonders. He kills the Sultan by shoving him off the balcony. He keeps Jasmine imprisoned, wanting to find a way to break magic’s taboo law of forcing people to love and raising the dead.
It’s later revealed that Jafar sacrificed Iago in order to work the spell that identified Aladdin as the diamond in the rough. If you’re not a genie then magic can’t come from nothing and has a price. This idea is explored throughout the story, when they realise Jafar at first is offering food and money to the citizens to win their favour, but later begins rationing it, only handing it out to those who swear loyalty. There is also an inflation issue with the money, which makes Aladdin wonder if something similar has happened before, and the treasures sealed on the Cave of Wonders were the by-product.
Jafar has golems patrolling the city, keeping people in line. He even starts to brand citizens, using his cobra staff to determine whose truly loyal to him and burns a brand into their skin.
Eventually Jafar finds a book, enabling him to raise an army of dead ghouls. He also captures the magic carpet and cuts it into pieces, using them to make himself and some ghouls able to fly. Jafar’s actions are truly horrific in this version of the story, especially the torture and death of the magic carpet. Yet Jafar also mentions he was sold as a slave by his own mother and had to fight for everything he has gained.
The other characters are also morally questioned. Aladdin is a thief. In this version he has two childhood friends, Duban and Morgiana. They fell out years ago because his friends steal more than just food to survive. Aladdin feels he’s morally superior for this reason, but Morgiana challenges him, because they steal to help those who can’t help themselves, and also teach others how to survive life on the streets. Aladdin later admits to himself that, although he doesn’t approve of Morgiana’s ways, it’s her army of street rats/thieves that help save Agrabah. If she’d chosen a different life they wouldn’t have the chance to fight back. He questions what that means about the moral implications of everything.
Aladdin accidentally causes the death of Rasoul, who is crushed under a pillar while Jasmine and Aladdin escape the palace. Rasoul is just performing his duty and trying to protect his men from Jafar’s wrath. He is later turned into a ghoul, forced to obey Jafar and hurt the citizens he used to protect.
Aladdin is also seen to resent his parents. His father Cassim left to seek riches and never returned, while his mother always believed Cassim would return, no matter how she suffered and struggled to survive.
Aladdin may seem a little arrogant in this version, but he never lies about his identity. He is always honest about who he is, and so his relationship with Jasmine develops with no pretence involved. It’s more natural. Aladdin is also never tempted with power. When they discuss what to do with the book of magic once they steal it, he immediately wants to destroy it so no one can use its dark magic. Jasmine wants to keep it, both as a way to get revenge for her father’s death, and because she’s convinced the magic can be used for good.
Jasmine’s character struggles with two midsets: revenge and doing what’s best for the people of Agrabah. She begins the tale naïve of the people’s suffering, but quickly realises her father was not a good Sultan. He neglected his people, allowing street rat gangs to exist. She grows as a leader while fighting against Jafar, even killing a newly turned ghoul herself, not shying away from the horrors of war.
Whether Jasmine’s hatred would have won is unclear, because Aladdin’s friend Duban uses the book to kill Jafar. However, as he dies Jafar makes his last wish to erase all magic. The genie loses his power and becomes human. He earlier explained to Jasmine he was once a djinn with a wife, but became a genie to save his people. They were wiped out by humans and he was left stuck in the lamp. The genie mourns his magic, no longer even a djinn, and leaves Agrabah, trying to come to terms with his mortality.
So, even though Jafar is defeated and Jasmine made Sultana, this story’s happy ending is littered with loss. It has very dark, memorable moments that stay with you and consider the smaller details of the moral implications and actions of the world. It is a brilliant example of viewing a fairy tale story differently.
Reference:
Brasswell, Liz. (2018), A Whole New World: A Twisted Tale, Disney, Autumn Publishing, Disney Enterprises.
Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I’ve actually had a few things ready to be typed up for a while. I was suffering from horrible headaches and couldn’t stare at a screen for long before I had to retreat into a dark room. It seems to be easing now, so I’m going to try post the stuff I’ve done over the next few days.
With the latest Poetry Off the Shelf podcast (where Helena De Groot is the producer) I’ve noticed they insert music into the poetry readings to either emphasise the mood, or play it for a while after the reading to help the listener mull over what they’ve just heard. Music isn’t always playing throughout the poems, and I feel this technique is brilliantly done to set the mood they’re after.
Gill explores many themes and issues with fairy tales within her collection Fierce Fairy Tales & Other Stories to Stir Your Soul. Many of these have given me better insight for my own planned work. Her themes fell into two categories for me: ones I was looking for and expecting, and ones I hadn’t really considered and was surprised by.
The themes I was looking for and expected were: different perspectives in fairy tales and different meanings to the stories.
For different perspectives it usually views the fairy tale from an unexpected idea. For example, Gill’s The Red Wolf has Red Riding Hood as the alpha of the wolves, defending the forest against the woodcutter and his allies, who killed her grandmother and is trying to destroy the forest. Boy Lost explores the idea that Peter Pan and Captain Hook were childhood friends/sweethearts. They promised to be together forever, but Peter left for Neverland. Hook’s love turned to hate.
The Stepmother’s Tale gives background and motivation behind Cinderella’s stepmother. She once had love and hope, but was left widowed with two daughters, forcing her to marry again in order to survive. A hard life made her bitter against innocence and she wanted to erase the naïve-ness from others. This is a theme I have explored myself in the past and loved Gill’s version.
Jack’s Fable Unfalsified has Jack’s mum as an abusive parent. Jack longs to be better and kinder than her, giving away their cow to a struggling woman. He climbs the beanstalk to escape the abuse.
Sea-Witch’s Lament explores the sea-witch past, where she and Triton were in love, but he ended up choosing ruling his Kingdom over her. She never recovered from her first love and banishment.
Also Waking Beauty has Beauty lift her sleeping curse by battling the demons in her soul for a hundred years and learning to love herself. The prince isn’t needed to save her.
For different meanings to the stories there’s Gill’s Fairy Godmother, which explores how the fairy godmother is a belief rather than a real person. It comes from the person’s heart and gives them the courage to forge ahead and help themselves.
The Three Times You Rebuilt Your House-Shaped Heart views the Three Little Pig’s houses as a heart being broken. Each time it’s destroyed it’s rebuilt stronger.
There was one of Gill’s pieces that I couldn’t really categorise, but wanted to mention anyway, because it’s a brilliant idea I wish could be expanded on. The Tale Weaver is about a little girl who befriends the monster under her bed. He is a great storyteller and she enjoys his company, but she can see in his eyes he has done some terrible things.
The themes I hadn’t considered before and was surprised by are: the archaic view of fairy tales, the gender stereotyping and the evolution of fairy tales.
There are different examples for the archaic views of fairy tales. Gill’s Whispers from a Wicked Wood questions the unrealistic good and evil nature of characters in fairy tales. People aren’t all good, children aren’t always innocent, and villains may have genuine reasons and understandable motivations for their actions.
In The Old Days explains divorce wasn’t an option in fairy tales. They were given their happy ending and could never change it, no matter how unhappy they were. Once the prince married his wife he no longer had to woo or charm her, because she would never be able to leave anyway. In The Old Days II this is further explored with ways the woman is expected to cope with infidelity and betrayal. She is trapped and must bear it over and over.
Gill tries to counter these ideas with Four Spells to Keep Inside Your Mouth. It argues that the women shouldn’t need a fairy godmother to change their fate, they should use their own words to shape their life. Kiss Of Dread also questions heroines/heroes being pure. It views fairy tales as a person’s future sins that they need to explore and embrace. They are a part of them that can’t be ignored.
The gender stereotyping in fairy tales usually sees women rescued by heroic men. Gill’s Gretel after Hansel points out how Gretel is the one who rescued them, surviving without the help of a man. The Moon Dragon also defies this pattern. The princess is given a choice: to grow up as a perfect daughter and wife, or to be given magic. She chooses magic. She is not guarded by a dragon, she is the dragon. She rejects the prince who comes to save her, declaring she won’t be defined by a male-dominated society.
Gill also explores the default personality fairy tale characters are given. Good to the core but naïve and meek. Princess Plain highlights how cruel and scary women are towards each other, especially if they are prettier. Why Tinkerbell Quit Anger Management looks at how a woman’s emotion and anger can change the world and shouldn’t be ignored or suppressed.
Gill looks at the stereotype for men too. Man Up Hercules looks at the expectations of men and emotions. They are strong, they must ‘man up’ and express only anger, never tears. This leads to many depressive and suicidal situations.
The evolution of fairy tales gives them a modern twist or tries to modernise them. For example, Gill’s The Woods Reincarnated has the forest/woods of traditional fairy tales transforming into modern day settings. Girls need to be street-smart, but don’t always outwit the evil around them. The Trolls looks at the idea of mythical trolls going into hiding and re-emerging as modern day internet trolls to seek vengeance on humans. They continue to impact our lives, whether as real monsters, or through monstrous actions.
Reading Nikita Gill’s Fierce Fairy Tales & Other Stories to Stir Your Soul has given me many themes and ideas to consider for my fairy tales and poetry project. There are more issues to explore than I first realised, and I feel reading more fairy tale poems and academic research will help me identify some of these ideas myself when reading fairy tales. I also want to explore the idea of modernised fairy tales in greater detail.
Reference List
Gill, Nikita. (2018), Trapeze, The Orion Publishing Group Ltd, Hachette UK.
Scribbled Thoughts 