The 2003 film Big Fish was an amalgam of a number of different American folktales. Directed by Tim Burton, the film uses innovative imagery and cinematography to give new life to old legends. It aims to connect some of the most widely loved folk stories of the United States in a compelling, but realistic story about a man’s life.   The plot centers around the life of Edward Bloom, a traveling salesman known for his tall tales. At the end of his life, he recounts some of the biggest tall tales to his son, which allows his son to connect with him on a deeper level. The film is a series of flashbacks as Bloom tells his son his outrageous stories, and this is where the audience gets an on-depth look at some of America’s most iconic folk stories.

The second folktale from the film I want to add to this collection is the myth of werewolves. As the main character, Bloom, is working at Calloway Circus for the ringmaster Amos Calloway in order to learn details about a young woman Bloom fell in love with. The circus itself is reminiscent of carnie culture that was popularized in the United States, but it is the character of Calloway that is the focus of this manifestation of a folk tale. Werewolves are supposed to be human-wolf hybrids that turn into their wolfen form during the days of the full moon. This is a folk tale that goes back to medieval European traditions but has also been popularized in American culture and traditions as well. After three years of Bloom working with Calloway, he discovers the dark secret that he is a werewolf, which prompts Calloway to give up more information about Bloom’s future wife in order to pay for Bloom’s silence.

The exposition of Calloway as a werewolf was actually quite different than the traditional folklore surrounding them. Yes, Calloway turned into a werewolf on the nights of the full moon, which is when Bloom goes to confront him. The clown even has a gun with a silver bullet ready in case they need it to kill Calloway as he attacks Bloom, which harkens back to the myth of how to kill a werewolf from older folk tales and Hollywood films.

However, Calloway is portrayed more as a pure wolf than as a type of hybrid. In many ways, this makes the myth even more terrifying, because there would be really no way to tell who a werewolf versus a normal wolf was. It is also interesting because throughout the whole film, Tim Burton goes over and above to deliver outrageous looking creatures with impressive computer graphics. Yet, Calloway is just replaced with a real wolf, which lacks some of the fantasy involved in the construction of the other myths. Even more interesting, Bloom pacifies Calloway by playing fetch with him, also demonstrating how this image of a werewolf is more like an energetic dog looking for a playmate than a vicious man-hunter. Bloom later recounts, “it was that night that most things you consider evil or wicked are simply lonely and lacking social tenacity.” I found this an interesting performance of the werewolf folk tale that was probably used as part of the comedy of Bloom’s stories, making them look even more ridiculous than reality. It also helps use the werewolf not as a source of fear, but to promote a moral lesson to nit be judgmental about things you do not understand.

Source:

Burton, Tim. (2003). Big Fish. Columbia Pictures.

One of the more recent television series to utilize folk tales as a vehicle for the plotline is the ABC series Once Upon a Time that first aired in 2011. It brings in a variety of fairytale and folktale characters in an interesting story where fantasy characters are somehow transported into the real world and how the interact with normal society. Its main characters are often from more recent fairy tales, such as the ones that the Disney corporation has remade, but there are some more obscure and odd characters of folk tales that do find their way into some episodes.

Here, the folktale reference is not from ancient Greek, as the last episode; but rather from German folk stories. It is the tale of the children Hansel and Gretel who end up in the candy house of a witch who tries to eat them. The original folktale is quite grim in that it demonstrates how children’s’ curiosity can be life threatening. The witch lures the children in with her cabin made of candy and then imprisons them. She almost pushes them into her oven, until Gretel pushes her in instead. In the series, Once Upon a Time, the characters of Hansel and Gretel are imprisoned by a blind witch after being lured in by the same candy trick as in the folk tales. The witch is blind in the series and the children go through a number of blunders before they can actually escape, which is not described in the folk tale. It is an interesting episode because Gretel is the one who takes control and helps free them both. This is the same as in the original tale but has strong messages about the ability of women in a patriarchal system.

The episode goes further to portray the children as being in a very poor situation. When they escape, they cannot find their father as he has been banished by the queen. Thus, there are clear pessimistic undertones that represent the children in a much more pathetic light. In the folk tale, the children have a mother and grandmother that care for them, and thus they return to more loving homes. It is interesting for the show to perform the folktale with a father figure instead who then cannot support them after their ordeal. Instead, the children’s father is seemingly abducted by the queen, who takes no pity on them. She tells Gretel, “two helpless children, lost and alone. A family torn asunder, such a sad and moving story,” but then has her guards try to capture them. I believe these changes are meant to use the innocent children as another strategy to show the evil nature of Queen Regina, thus furthering the plot for her storyline rather than being true to the actual folktale of Hansel and Gretel.

Source: “True North.” Once Upon A Time. ABC. 2011.

One of the more recent television series to utilize folk tales as a vehicle for the plotline is the ABC series Once Upon a Time that first aired in 2011. It brings in a variety of fairytale and folktale characters in an interesting story where fantasy characters are somehow transported into the real world and how the interact with normal society. Its main characters are often from more recent fairy tales, such as the ones that the Disney corporation has remade, but there are some more obscure and odd characters of folk tales that do find their way into some episodes.

What I want to enter into the collection here is the character of King Midas, who appears in episode six of season 1 of the show. Portrayed by Alex Zahara, the character represents the figure of King Midas in Greek mythology, whose touch would turn objects—and people—into gold. There are various forms of the legend that claim Midas was from different areas all over Greece, but they all have common patterns. King Midas was a greedy king who loved gold, but was still kind and hospitable. When a sick and old satyr was taken to his palace for refuge, the satyr offered to grant King Midas one gift, which Midas quickly responded with the desire to have a touch that turned things to gold. As amazing as this was at first, it soon becomes a burden, as he cannot eat or embrace his loved ones. It is meant to be a cautionary tale about the negative effects of blind greed.

The television show gives greater depth to the character of Midas and reveals just how miserable life is after he is cursed. Not only can he not eat his favorite foods the way he used to or embrace his friends and family, he is constantly the target for kidnappers and robbers who want to exploit his curse for their own profit. Still he has to govern over his kingdom and so wears a massive glove so that he can touch things without turning them into gold. The episode has King Midas throwing an engagement party for his daughter, when the evil queen makes a surprise entrance. Once it is realized that his daughter has helped Snow White escape, the queen arrests King Midas’ daughter. Interestingly, Midas does little to stop the queen, which reflects on the image of the folk character as a weak-minded king. In fact, he even bows to the queen as his daughter is led out by the queen’s guards. His portrayal as a small, weak character that does not effectively govern over his palace reaffirms the image of King Midas as a flawed character. He is weakened by the curse, not enriched by it the way that he would think. The episode thus furthers the moral of the original folk tale by demonstrating greed as a weakness.

Source: “Snow Drifts.” Once Upon A Time. ABC. 2011.