Fairy Tale and Film

Ella Enchanted
(Tommy O’Haver, 2004) 
as ‘fluff entertainment that adds a touch of feminism to make it more 
fashionable’ (2011: 186), yet negates its many progressive features, 
including a feisty heroine who breaks her own curse of obedience, 
as well as breaking traditional rules in saving an imperilled prince. 
Far from relying on intervention from a fairy godmother, Ella (Anne 
Hathaway) creates her own destiny, fuelled by a liberal political 
mission to bring justice to a hierarchically divided kingdom, and 
(in pointed contrast to 
Ever After
, which Zipes also commends) she sees 
her aspirations become a reality.
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158 
Fairy Tale and Film
Film-makers have clearly drawn inspiration not only from ‘classic’ 
fairy tales but an array of writers who have subjected them to scrutiny 
over the years, adopting various devices such as a backstory that alters 
our understanding of events or characters, or updating the plot to elicit 
new meaning, albeit with variable results. Although many waste the 
chance to truly skewer expectations, some more inspiring revisions are 
also apparent, including female protagonists given a wider set of aspira-
tions than wooing a prince, just as male counterparts have experienced 
notable rewrites as caring, communicative figures: changes that reflect 
differing expectations that are attributable, in part, to feminism’s influ-
ence. What is regarded as radical or experimental will inevitably divide 
critics, yet we should seek to avoid simplistic claims and be attentive 
to the diversity of fairy tale inflected narratives, especially attempts to 
appeal to a more discerning audience, including some evident attempts 
to please women. Recent releases from Disney affirm the near-ubiquity 
of postmodern traits today, as well as the differing uses they have been 
put to in revising classic tales. 
Alice in Wonderland
(Tim Burton, 2010) utilises 
Beauty and the Beast
and 
Malefi cent
screenwriter Linda Woolverton, together with a director 
renowned for his ‘reimagined’ fantasy films, to tell a new version of the 
tale, although one that remains curiously derivative. The design resem-
bles cult computer game 
American McGee’s Alice
,
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the heroine’s dreams 
of ‘Underland’ and the suggestion that she may be mad are reminiscent 
of Disney’s equally dark 
Return to Oz
(Walter Murch, 1985), and there 
are additional references to 
The Wizard of Oz
, particularly Alice’s task to 
restore order in her dream-world by overcoming an evil female. Turning 
the heroine into a dragon slayer (killing the ‘Jabberwocky’ to depose 
the hated Red Queen and reinstate her sister as ruler) is a novel twist, 
inventively using a Tenniel illustration from 
Through the Looking Glass
(1871) to rewrite the depicted hero as Alice (in chainmail), making her 
more a participant than an observer. However, the story is scant, effects 
take precedence, and the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) is the sole charac-
ter with any depth in what is ultimately a hollow enterprise. Various 
references are made to Burton’s previous films: the trademark twisted 
tree (
The Nightmare Before Christmas
), an arranged marriage (
Corpse 
Bride
), a fantasist father (
Big Fish
), a thwarted love story between the 
heroine and Depp’s Hatter (
Edward Scissorhands
) and the Red Queen’s 
alliance with her villainous henchman (
Sleepy Hollow
), yet the result 
is an unsatisfying mess. Even in seeking to provide a ‘feminist’ twist – 
having Alice decline marriage in the closing frame and become an 
apprentice in the company her father founded – this is let down by 

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