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The Enchanted Screen : The Unknown History of Fairy-Tale Films - Jack Zipes

The Enchanted Screen

The Unknown History of Fairy-Tale Films

By: Jack Zipes

Paperback | 13 December 2010 | Edition Number 1

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In The Enchanted Screen, Jack Zipes looks at the long, illustrious life of fairy tales on film. Decades before Walt Disney made his mark on the genre, Zipes argues that fairy tales were central to the birth of cinema as a mediuma "they offered cheap, copyright-free material that could easily engage audiences not only though their familiarity but also through their dazzling special effects. In this book, Zipes examines the special relationship between fairy tales and cinema, examining how and why so many films have adapted fairy tale narratives, whether directly or indirectly.

Though Disney did not invent the fairy-tale film a " it was the great Georges MA(c)liA]s a " Disney did eventually monopolize the fairy-tale film, and therefore is central to this history of fairy-tale films. Zipes does not dismiss the Disney fairy-tale films or attempt to demonize them. Rather, he seeks to analyze why the Disney approach to fariy-tale films became so dominant, and at what cost.

Of course, the story of fairy tales on film stretches far beyond Disney, and therefore this book encompasses a broad range of filmsa "English and non-English, animation, live-action, puppetry, woodcut, montage (Jim Henson), cartoon, and digital. Zipes guides us through this vast array of films by tracing the adaptations of major fairy talesa "Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan, and many morea "from their earliest cinematic appearances to today.

Essential reading for fairy tale fans and cinema buffs alike, The Enchanted Screen is lavishly illustrated with film stills throughout and features an extensive filmography and bibliography for future viewing and reading suggestions.

Industry Reviews
"Jack Zipes takes us beyond Disney and DreamWorks to the many films that draw on fairy-tale sorcery for their cinematic power. With fierce analytic energy, encyclopedic inclusiveness, and imaginative verve, he enlivens an expansive history that reaches back to Georges Melies's enchantments and ends with the complex grotesqueries of Pan's Labyrinth and Little Otik." --Maria Tatar, Harvard University "The Enchanted Screen is a labor of love and a major work of scholarship, encyclopedic in reach and rich in sustained and detailed thinking. The 'unknown history' of fairy-tale film is lucky to have found such a skilled and dedicated narrator." --Stephen Benson, University of East Anglia Norwich "Last year, Zipes (emer., Univ. of Minnesota) contributed a foreword for Fairy Tale Films: Visions of Ambiguity (CH, Mar'11, 48-3760), a delightful collection edited by Pauline Greenhill and Sidney Eve Matrix. This year, Zipes presents an extensive, well-organized study of fairy tales in the film genre. Zipes's knowledge of films from a wide variety of cultures is admirable. In the silent era, fairy tales provided filmmakers worthy material free of copyright expense. From the 1930s on, the film industry was able to put old wine into new bottles with both color and sound, a la Walt Disney and filmmakers in other parts of the world. Taking a fresh approach to major films, Zipes avoides the heavy use of jargon and instead offers clear, direct commentary on the films themselves and their oral and literary sources ... Zipes gives the reader 10 pages of endnotes, 12 pages of bibliography, 38 pages of filmography, and a thorough index--all in fine print. The influence of this book will extend for decades. Summing Up: Essential. All readers." --CHOICE, June 2011 (R. Blackwood, City Colleges of Chicago)

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