Happy 50th Paddington! (and thoughts about anniversaries)

Just a quick note to acknowledge that 50 years ago today that Michael Bond's first book featuring the bear from "darkest Peru" was published. Bond went on to write 13 more books with Paddington, as well as other books for children and adults.

The original Paddington books were illustrated by Peggy Fortnum in black and white, with others, including her niece, adding color. Others provided illustrations for versions of Paddington stories for younger readers, and R.W. Alley illustrated Paddington in the 1990's as well as providing new covers for the original books.

There have been three animated TV series featuring Paddington. The first one from 1975 was different in that Paddington himself was a 3 dimensional character animated with stop-motion, while the backgrounds and other characters were two dimensional. The backgrounds were black and white line drawings. There is a full-length feature film in the works with Paddington done in three dimensional computer animation which will be combined with live action footage.

While not on the same scale of A. A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh, with all of the Disney marketing might behind him, you can still find a wide range of Paddington-licensed products, including games, toys and clothes. According to wikipedia, you can find street vendors selling hand-made Paddington Bear finger puppets on the shores of Lake Titicaca in Peru.

You can read more, and keep up with the latest Paddington news on his official website www.paddingtonbear.co.uk.

Fifty years is an impressive amount of time for a character to remain popular, especially if you look at how many characters are created in children's books alone each and every year. For any character to survive in this day and age, they need to have TV or movie exposure as well. A healthy dose of merchandising doesn't hurt either, but it doesn't guarantee longevity either.

I wonder though, when do we recognize the anniversary of the creator's birth (or death) and when do we focus on the creation's first appearance? Or in some cases do we do both? Who is it that decides - descendants, publishers, copyright and trademark holders, fan clubs, official societies, cities where the person was born or lived? My gut feeling is that those who have the most at stake financially, and the greatest opportunity to make money are ultimately the ones who have the incentive and the resources to organize and publicize these types of events.

Do we need to wait until the author or illustrator is dead, or even dead a certain number of years before we start celebrating them instead of the work? Michael Bond is still alive, which could be why the focus is on Paddington. Should we expect Charles Dickens' festivals in 2012 recognizing his 200th birthday? Where there any events around J.R.R. Tolkien's 100th birthday in 1992? Perhaps Tolkien does or did not have the cultural acceptance that traditional children's or non-fantasy authors have, or we needed to wait until The Lord of the Rings was made into movies for him to achieve this iconic status. Maybe anniversary events in general have only taken off in popularity after 1992.

Does it depend on the scope of the author or illustrator's work , meaning if only one of the the author's works has made any lasting impression on our cultures or society we focus on that? Using Paddington as an example again, Bond created other characters, including a guinea pig named Olga da Polga in a series of children's books and Monsieur Pamplemousse in an adult mystery series, who aren't as well known - so perhaps the focus will always be on Paddington. Peter Pan, James M. Barrie's most well-known creation, had a 100th anniversary in 2004 (which is when the play premiered, not the book in 1911), but I haven't heard of anything for Barrie himself. Maybe in 2043 we will have celebrations recognizing 200 years of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, if someone deems Scrooge and company warrant special notice above and beyond Dickens' other works. I guess we will either have to wait and see, or start something ourselves.

Anyway, make yourself a marmalade sandwich and let me know if you know of any rhyme or reason to these celebrations and what you think of these anniversaries in principle.

Let Your Hair Down

While I haven't avoided reading variations of the the Brothers Grimm Rapunzel fairy tale (first published in 1812 as part of Children's and Household Tales), I have honestly not actively sought them out either.

In my attempts to keep up with books published by authors with Utah ties I read Shannon and Dean Hales' Rapunzel's Revenge (2008).


This graphic novel, illustrated by Nathan Hale (which every single reference you encounter will point out is no relation to the Shannon and her husband Dean) is a fun amalgamation of the Rapunzel story, with Jack and the Beanstalk, as well as other traditional fairy-tale and fantasy elements - all mashed together in a western setting with a various western twists. The Hales actually draw upon many of the overlooked, yet still child-friendly elements of the original fairy tale. The art is good and the layouts varied but easy to follow, although Rapunzel's face is inconsistent. Being a graphic novel, it is a rather quick read.

I get a little hesitant to read some of these modern interpretations of fairy tales where the female characters traditionally have been "damsels in distress" because the authors tend to swing the other way making all the male characters buffoons. This is not the case here - it is a well balanced book.

After reading this western telling of the tale (which I wouldn't be surprised if it is followed by sequels or companion books with similar takes of other fairy tales), I did a little research online. Wikipedia has some interesting tidbits, including a note that the story 'Of Beren and Luthien' in The Silmarillion (1977) by J.R.R. Tolkien seems to draw upon this tale. I didn't know that there is a Rapunzel Syndrome caused by the consumption of hair. Having younger daughters, I knew about the computer animated Barbie version, but I didn't know that Disney was working on a new, animated version with the working title Rapunzel Unbraided due out in 2010. I had forgotten that Rapunzel was in Shrek the Third (2007), and she is a character in Into the Woods (1986 - music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine).

In fact, you can see Into the Woods at the Hale Center Theatre in Salt Lake City from October 1st through November 29th. Click here for more information if you are interested.

Back to my research, I also encountered a new, favorite website for me - www.surlalunefairytales.com. While it has only covered nearly fifty fairy tales so far, for those tales it has the most complete listing of commentaries, illustrations, modern interpretations of, history of, related websites, etc. for those stories. You can even read annotated versions of the stories. Here is the link to the Rapunzel section on Sur La Lune.

One of the reasons that I don't think I ever really liked the basic story is that I couldn't understand why Rapunzel didn't figure out she could use her hair to escape herself since she did let the witch and prince use it to climb up the tower. I guess we could give her the benefit of the doubt since she was raised by a person who might not have let her develop these capabilities for deductive reasoning, but she managed to figure plenty out on her own once the witch cast her out.

OK, lets accept the fact that Rapunzel just didn't make that connection. This makes the prince a complete and utter cad. He should have figured it out. If you read the original version he only suggests that each time he visits he brings a little silk and eventually they will build a latter so she can escape.

In the sanitized version, the witch discovers Rapunzel has been seeing the prince because one time after bringing the witch up Rapunzel comments off-handedly that the witch is not as easy to lift up as the prince. In the original version, Rapunzel off-handedly remarks to the witch that her clothes are getting tight around her waist. Yes, Rapunzel was pregnant meaning that the young, handsome prince was keeping her up in the tower so he could take advantage of her and her naiveté. Yet no one ever complains about the princes' behavior or intentions in this fairy tale.

That being said, enjoy these family-friendly video versions of Rapunzel:

Ray Harryhausen did an 11 minute stop-action animated version back in the 1940's



Jay Ward's Fractured Fairy Tale version on the Rocky & Bullwinkle Show (1959+)



Lastly, Kermit the Frog reported on the breaking Rapunzel story from Sesame Street.

Brisinger Launch

With the release of Brisinger (2008) last week, I have been asked what I think about Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle. I only read Eragon (2003), the first book and haven't had much desire to read any of the others.

While I was impressed that Christopher was 15 or so when he wrote it, the story just didn't intrigue me. I would suppose if I were younger and had not read Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings or Anne McCafferty's Dragonriders of Pern novels, or seen Star Wars (1997), I would have found the characters, world, and ideas interesting. Since I have though, there weren't any surprises or real originality so I didn't continue with the series.

Besides the derivative nature of story, I have one other complaint. Keep in mind that I have read, seen and enjoyed plenty of books and movies that push credibility and I believe I give authors quite a bit of slack - but I still expect some internal logic. I bought the magic, history, etc. in Eragon except that Eragon himself was able to not only learn to write his own language in the space a a few weeks, but also other languages. I have studied languages and I just could not accept that a person could become proficient in either in such a short time. Perhaps I missed the explanation, or it was cleared up in the second book.

It is heartening that the Inheritance Cycle is getting so much attention with midnight releases and all. I wish Christopher great success. Maybe someday I will catch up on the series (I do understand his writing has improved and I would hope the story has started to incorporate more original ideas - even Terry Brook's The Sword of Shannara (1977) is a retelling of The Lord of the Rings and look were it has taken him), but for now there are just too many older stories I haven't read and new, original ones coming out.

Cabinet of Wonders: Evil, Incarnate

In Cabinet of Wonders: Evil, Incarnate, Heather McDougal present ideas and illustrations related to how storytellers use negative physical characteristics to represent evil. and what it says about us.

It is not often you can read references to Leonardo da Vinci, Heath Ledger as the Joker, the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, and Beowulf, as well as works by William Shakespeare, Frank Herbet, Neil Gaiman, Lemony Snicket, and Charles Dickens among others - all in one discussion.

While you are there, check out some of her previous, facinating posts.

Daedalus Books

One of my favorite sources for books, DVDs and CDs is Daedalus Books. Selling remainder books, their quantities may very limited on some titles, but their prices are unbeatable. Add to that a flat fee of $5.95 for shipping regardless of the quantity, and it can be hard to pass up their offers.

I just received their latest catalog, and here are some items that fit in the scope of this site. I have included a link to the page on their site if you want to buy it. Unless noted, the books are hardback. (Typically I put the original date the book was published or movie was released in parenthises after the title, but in this case the year represents the date this particular edition was published.)

Zathura (2002) written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg - it was made into a movie in 2005. Van Allsburg also wrote and illustrated Jumanji and many other children's book.
List Price $18.00 Daedalus $4.98

The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary (2006) by Peter Gillever, Jeremy Marsahll & Edmund Weiner
List Price $25.00 Daedalus $5.98

Shadowplay: The Hidden Beliefs and Coded Politics of William Shakespeare (2005) by Clare Aquith
List Price $26.95 Daedalus $6.98

Shakespeare Well-Versed – A Rhyming Guide to His Plays (2004) by James Muirden
List Price $12.00 Daedalus $3.98

Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl, Illustrated by Quentin Blake - the author and original illustrator of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches, James and the Giant Peach, The BFG and many other books.
List Price $15.95 Daedalus $4.98

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Based on the Original Book by C.S. Lewis (2004) retold for readers and listeners 4 to 8 by Hiawyn Oram, illustrated by Tudor Humphries
List Price $16.99 Daedalus $4.98

The Picture of Dorian Gray (2000) by Oscar Wilde, illustrated by Tony Ross - annotated for readers 12 and up (paperback)
List Price $17.99 Daedalus $3.98

The Wind in the Willows (1969) by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Robert J. Lee (paperpack)
List Price $4.99 Daedalus $2.49

C.S. Lewis: Beyond Narnia (2006) DVD
List Price $14.98 Daedalus $6.98

Pinocchio, the Boy (of Incognito in Collodi) (2002) written and illustrated by Lane Smith - the illustrator of The Stinky Cheese Man, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, and The Time Warp Trio series, among others.
List Price $16.99 Daedalus $1.98

The Happy Hocky Family Moves to the Country! (2003) written and illustrated by Lane Smith
List Price $16.99 Daedalus $3.98

While you are there, feel free to check out their other offerings. I bet you will find something else you will like.