Disney
Ever wonder what happens to fairy-tale characters when they grow up? Take Hansel and Gretel. They're left in the woods to starve by their parents, are taken in by a witch, have the happiest day of their lives eating an entire candy house, then are imprisoned and need to kill their caretaker before she eats them. I mean, talk about trust issues!
In the newly announced movie Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, the wiley siblings have grown up to be bounty hunters, taking out their childhood trauma on runaway witches. The dark comedy is being modeled in tone after the tongue-in-cheek zombie flick Shaun of the Dead. There's something irresistible about the idea of turning childhood fairy tales into grown-up fantasy. (A dark Alice in Wonderland is also rumored to be in the works.) Here are 5 other films that take a grown-up look at happily-ever-after:
1. Enchanted - This Disney Princess movie morphs from an animated musical into a modern romantic comedy, as magical Amy Adams transforms the mean streets of New York City. Appropriate for kids, but the jokes aim for grown-up giggles.
2. Freeway - Take the story of Little Red Riding Hood, turn the woods into the mean streets of LA, the wolf into a killer pedophile, and the spunky little girl into teen rebel Reese Witherspoon, and you have this bizarro cult classic.
3. The Brothers Grimm - Where did the original fairy tale authors get their ideas? Heath Ledger and Matt Damon play the Grimm brothers as medieval con men, whose gory adventures introduce them to witches, werewolves and magic mirrors.
4. Ever After - Drew Barrymore stars in the "true story" of Cinderella, as a feminist version of the character who outwits her conniving stepfamily and rescues herself -- prince or no prince.
5. The Company of Wolves - There's something about that Red Riding Hood story that brings out the freakiness in filmmakers. (See also: Freeway - above, Snow White: A Tale of Terror and Hard Candy.) This dreamlike fantasy film may be the strangest of all: a collection of wolf stories interspersed with a modern Riding Hood's coming-of-age story.
What's your favorite fairy tale? Chime in below!
