FYS 1181: From Grimm to Disney: Working Defintion of a Fariytale

Working Definition of a Fairytale

Merriam Webster defines a fairytale as “a story (as for children) involving fantastic forces and beings (as fairies, wizards, and goblins” This is true but very lackluster. A fairytale has imagination, curiosity, excitement, simplistic symbolism and it can bring you back to your childhood. But most of all, a fairytale has magic. They have trite motifs but they are never annoying because fairytales themselves are timeless. This may be a stretch, but Dr. Esa has said the best explanation for a fairytale is the fairytale, so, this timelessness means that it never gets old. For example, in the 1959 version of Sleeping Beauty, the motifs of “love at first sight” and “good VS evil” were used to the extreme. These motifs and many more are used repeatedly, but again, never get old.

Back to my addition to the meaning of a fairytale: “A fairytale has imagination, wonder, excitement, simplistic symbolism and it can bring you back to your childhood. But most of all, a fairytale has magic.” Imagination is to use your thoughts and personal experiences to bring something nonexistent into reality. In Sleeping Beauty, Samson, Prince Phillip’s horse, reacted quite excited when Phillip said he would give extra carrots, oats and other treats when he was on the search for Briar Rose when she was shooed off by Flora, Fauna and Merriweather, her 3 fairy mother like figures. If the movie were live action, you would have to imagine the real horse smiling and being upset, but a little bit of “Disney Magic” and imagination from the animators, Samson had human like facial expressions when he was offered the reward and the reward was taken away from him. Also, when the owl, 2 rabbits and 3 of the birds took Prince Phillip’s hat, cape and boots, Briar Rose did an excellent job imagining that she was dancing with her literal dream prince when it was just the animals.

Excitement is a feeling that makes the reader / viewer wanting more. It also inspires a feeling of curiosity. During the festival for the birth of Princess Aurora, 2 of the 3 fairies got to give their gifts of beauty and song. But before the third fairy could give her gift, Maleficent made a large scene. Before her face is seen through her ominous fog, the viewer is excited and curious to see what happens next. Will she just be mad at someone for something? Will she give her own gift because she came during gift time? Will she kill someone due to her ominous nature? It is unknown and this sense of wonder, excitement and curiosity are part of the heart of a fairytale.

Curiosity is seen in many more ways throughout Sleeping Beauty. A few examples are: Prince Phillip being curious about Briar Rose’s singing. Briar Rose being curious and questioning why Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather, didn’t allow her to meet anyone. The 3 fairies were just as curious as Briar Rose was when Briar Rose said she did indeed meet someone, albeit in her dream. Near the end of the film, when Maleficent mind controlled Briar Rose, she got her to touch the spindle, even after she hesitated, because as the saying goes, “curiosity killed the cat.”

A young child watching Sleeping Beauty, a class of college freshmen watching Sleeping Beauty and an observant professor watching Sleeping Beauty, all see it through different lenses. A rose, a main symbol in Sleeping Beauty takes on multiple meanings. A young child would see a pretty flower that can hurt if touched. A class of college freshmen will see a beautiful flower that could sting if touched improperly, but could be painless if handled properly. The professor would see that the rose is a direct connection to the basis of Sleeping Beauty, Briar Rose. He or she would also see the thorns as self defense from unworthy individuals, but a challenge for deserving individuals. Another symbol in Sleeping Beauty is sleep. Both the young child and class of college freshmen would see sleep as a way to recharge for the next day, but the professor would see it as an escape from reality.

Personally, I’ve never seen Sleeping Beauty, or any of the other fairytale adaptations that Disney made. Sleeping Beauty was a fun watch. I was worried that it was going to be a boring movie about a princess in trouble because they did something stupid and a prince would save her. I was completely wrong. Sleeping Beauty was about how a curse destroyed a girl’s life because she couldn’t have a man to call her own, and how that curse came to be and was destroyed. The first half of the movie flew by just as fast as the second half. It was an enjoyable 75 minutes that made me feel like a kid again. I knew the basic plot of the movie, but so much more was added to spice it up and it was very accurate or directly based off of the original source.

Finally, the most common thing between all fairytales is magic. Not just “hocus pocus” magic, such as Maleficent's curse or when Flora (or Fauna, honestly not 100% sure) and Meriweather changed the color or Briar Rose’s dress. Magic also includes how all of the animals followed Briar Rose when she was singing, and how Maleficent’s crow was more competent then her army of trolls. Magic is the logic, or absence of logic that explains the thing that don’t have a simple explanation.

Yes, a fairytale has fantastical forces and beings, but it also has, imagination, curiosity, excitement, simplistic symbolism a way of bringing you back to your childhood and most of all, it has magic. I hope this is a worthy definition of the term fairytale.