Interesting post over at Salon.com

Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen in the new Snow White flick

From Emma Mustich over at Salon.com talks to the legendary Jack Zipes regarding the latest crop of fairy tale-inspired films. Be nice if someone bought one of my fairy tales and made it into a movie – I’m just saying! *grumble*

Are dark fairy tales more authentic?

There’s long been a “survival of the fittest” aspect about folklore. Just as animals evolve and become better adapted to their environments over time, stories such as “Snow White” and “Beauty and the Beast” have weathered many centuries, improving — and becoming better suited to contemporary audiences — over the course of their many reimaginings.

These stories have entertained and comforted, spooked and delighted audiences for countless generations. Many who are alive today find Disney’s adaptations of these tales — from “Cinderella” to “The Little Mermaid” — familiar; children reared on the animation giant’s brightly-colored, upbeat and music-saturated films may view the glut of live-action fairy tale film adaptations headed our way — three new “Snow Whites,” two “Sleeping Beauties,” a “Beauty and the Beast” and a “Little Mermaid,” among others — with a curious sort of caution.

A number of these films (which are in various stages of planning and production) have been pitched as “dark” retellings of familiar tales. At this year’s Comic-Con, Charlize Theron likened her “Evil Queen” character in “Snow White and the Huntsman” to a “serial killer” (not a total departure for Theron); the new “Little Mermaid” is based on Carolyn Turgeon’s novel “Mermaid,” which Booklist reviewed using words and phrases like “dark,” “foreboding,” “heartache,” “misery,” “constant pain,” “catastrophic consequences,” “brooding,” “tragic” and “not exactly a cozy bedtime story.”

Ze rest is here.