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The List - 8 Reimagined Fairy Tales

I love seeing Princess Tutu as #1. It's one of my all-time favorites and is indeed richly rooted in fairytales.

I don't think it belongs in the top 8, but Madoka actually references "The Little Mermaid" too.

spoiler[ Like "The Little Mermaid", Sayaka makes a contract and sacrifices her normal life for the boy she loves. The boy does not return her feelings nor is he aware of her sacrifice. Instead he falls in love with someone else, Hitomi. (In "The Little Mermaid" the prince marries another princess.) Heartbroken, Sayaka disappears, instead of transforming into sea foam like the mermaid, she turns into a witch. (Although there is a TON of water imagery in episodes 8 and 9 when this all happens.) Her witch form (Oktavia) has a mermaid's tail. There is also the silhouette of a mermaid in a windchime before Madoka and Kyouko enter Oktavia's labyrinth. This might be pushing it, but in "The Little Mermaid", the mermaid is given the chance to save her life if she kills the prince. Kyouko tells Sayaka she should break Kyousuke's legs and make him helpless if she wants to save herself.]

The guy even thought that The Little Match Girl was a happy and heart-warming story. (Sorry, I teach a couple courses on fairy tales...)

Speaking of Andersen, wasn't there an anime of his story "The Snow Queen" at some point?

here-and-faraway wrote:

I love seeing Princess Tutu as #1. It's one of my all-time favorites and is indeed richly rooted in fairytales. I don't think it belongs in the top 8, but Madoka actually references "The Little Mermaid" too. spoiler[ Like "The Little Mermaid", Sayaka makes a contract and sacrifices her normal life for the boy she loves. The boy does not return her feelings nor is he aware of her sacrifice. Instead he falls in love with someone else, Hitomi. (In "The Little Mermaid" the prince marries another princess.) Heartbroken, Sayaka disappears, instead of transforming into sea foam like the mermaid, she turns into a witch. (Although there is a TON of water imagery in episodes 8 and 9 when this all happens.) Her witch form (Oktavia) has a mermaid's tail. There is also the silhouette of a mermaid in a windchime before Madoka and Kyouko enter Oktavia's labyrinth. This might be pushing it, but in "The Little Mermaid", the mermaid is given the chance to save her life if she kills the prince. Kyouko tells Sayaka she should break Kyousuke's legs and make him helpless if she wants to save herself.]

The whole anime isn't based on it, though, just Sayaka's story. I think that's why it isn't on the list.

Scariest clown has gotta be Mad Pierrot for sure. I've seen some of the other clowns, like Piedmon and Penchinon (do all evil clowns names begin with a "P"?), but most of the other clowns listed seem to have a line where they're probably stop kicking the dog. Mad Pierrot does not have that basic understanding, so he's gotta be the creepiest imo.
Was Hisoka on that list? He'd have to be the most awesome, I like not knowing what sides crazy people might be on!

Yeah, Princess Tutu would have to be the #1 spot on this list. Part of it being that it just reimagines so damn many fairy tales. Part of this is that so many ballets were of course based on fairytales. It does: The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Coppelia, Giselle, Cinderella, La Sylphide, Scheherezade (1001 Nights), A Midsummer Night's Dream (ok, that's a play). Anyway, it does a lot, and is handy enough to name most of the episodes after whatever ballet it's borrowing from that episode. And of course, it uses them all just perfectly. And music from other things, like Carnival of the Animals, Pictures at an Exhibition, On the Blue Danube, it's just epic. I'm sure most people on the forums have seen it, but it never hurts to tell those who haven't to see it.

Kohii wrote:

Black Rabbit is up so high because people overrate "Problem Children". Also, it was a weak list of candidates, other than Usagi. Now, if the list had been "Favorite bunny... girl", then Mikuru would've taken the (carrot) cake.

Black Rabbit is a humorous, intelligent character. Mikuru is notably lacking in depth (and not actually a rabbit).

I'm sure they're merely prejudiced because 'Princess Tutu' is a feminine name, and society teaches men to attach negative connotations to femininity. Which is silly because it's a brilliant fairy tale, a brilliant piece of metafiction, and a brilliant subversion of the tragic story structure; a masterpiece. About as a silly a reason to not watch it as not watching 'Bebop' cause one's afraid it has rap in it.

Ha Ha yeah he was a pretty devout Christian to put it lightly. I guess the religious undertones make it hard for me to fully enjoy a lot of his stories beyond a historical context. The Grimm's brothers aren't much better for me.

The Little Match Girl is still a very painfully sad story to me.

I have a hard time with them too - "The Snow Queen" and "The Shadow" are my big exceptions. (Dreading what Disney has done to the former with "Frozen"...although once I get over it, I'll probably enjoy it.) The Grimms are easier for me to take because their stories are actual folklore - stories culled from oral narratives that have counterparts in other cultures. Sure Wilhelm did some serious editing between the 1811 and the 1857 editions - mostly taking out the sex and adding violence; you can see the differences in the two

it'd follow Princess Tutu in the "not doing so well in sales" department. Probably.

As an example and a challenge for the (heterosexual) women out there; try imagining you going out on a date on a public place, and your significant other/date prospect shows up in a dress -- or, even better, a ballet tutu -- how many of you would find that charming? (Counter to running screaming out of whichever dating spot you chose and blacklisting said man for all times in the future?)

Just want to point out that while Princess Tutu didn't do well at first, word of mouth actually changed that. I am pretty sure Princess Tutu was definitely a success for ADV in the end.