Fairy Tales: A Bridge Across Cultures and Time - Essay Sample

Introduction

Fairy tales and folk tales serve as a means of entertainment and preservation of tradition in society. Fairy tales rose from folk tales. Existing in different cultures and borders, the stories were modified to suit different cultures and purposes giving rise to varieties of versions of a tale. The fairy tales were first written in the 14th century by Neapolitan authors later on in the 18th century French writers adapted the folk /fairy tales who were then followed by the German writers in the 19th century. German writers include Perrault, Beaumont, and the Grimm brothers. Common tales existing today are Cinderella and The Little Red Riding Hood among others.

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Spanning different borders and suited to serve a different purpose, the tales are preserved in written form. However, the dominance of the written form transforms the literature to oral. Besides, the Disney movies change the literature to motion, lucrative pictures causing different effects on contemporary culture. This essay looks at how the fairy/folk affect contemporary culture. Particularly, the essay looks at the Little Red Riding Hood, its transformation to literature, and why it has not been adapted by Disney movies.

How Little Red Riding Hood Transforms From Folktale to Fairy Tale

The Little Red Riding Hood exists in more than 58 editions with some being close to 1000 years older than the versions familiar to us. The fairy tale was first penned by Perrault in 1697 who heard the collections from aristocrats and later on by the Grimm brothers in 1812 another version.

The literature was widely distributed in the 18th century although the source of the fairy tale can't be tracked accurately. These two versions: Perrault and Grimm brothers' version of Little Red Riding Hood is the internationally spread. The tale was adapted into Greek and added to the education syllabus in the 1800s.

With the variations of the story, it was difficult to decipher if the oral traditional version was adapted and intermingled with a literature version. Lack of evidence on the oral traditional version of the story in the society indicates the story's first documentation in literature by an unknown author. The addition of the fairy tales into the educational system as learning tools for spellings and grammar for beginners led to increasing in printed materials dissemination in the society. The popularity of the Little Red Riding Hood made it a popular story in the society in the 19th century told in common places. Although the literature didn't influence the original oral story, the common version of the written version of the story eventually dominated the society transforming the literature version into a fairy tale.

Why Disney Doesn’t Turn Little Red Riding Hood Into a Movie

Today, Wiley Disney company is shaping most of the traditional fairy stories using appealing, lucrative, and motion pictures that allow and influence most cultures. The stories in the Disney movies are traditional stories adapted and modified to suit the present cultural demands. Disney movies chose fairy/folk tales due to their wide appeal to both adults and children to produce various animated films. Due to their familiarity, it is easier to follow along. The common stories available in Disney movies include Perrault's version of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty and Beaumont's version of Beauty and the Beast. The Little Red Riding Hood cartoon featured in Disney in 1922. Despite the title The little red riding hood title in the Disney movies, the plot has very few similarities with the written version of the story by Perrault or Grimm brothers. The original storyline by Perrault and Grimm brothers outlines how Red meets a wicked wolf on her to deliver donuts to her grandmother who disguises her and finally eats her grandmother and causes her harm. Whereas the tale warns the society on talking to strangers, this moral lesson is lost in Disney movies which in both versions have a happy ending.

The different cartoons of this fairy tale are; the little red riding hood who is attacked by a wolf on her way to deliver doughnuts to her grandmother and she is rescued by a man in an airplane fetched by her cat. The second version "the big bad wolf" in the story Red accompanies Fiddler and Piper pig to deliver food. On their way, they meet fairy Queen and Goldilocks who turn to be the big bad wolf. On her escape, the wolf reaches her grandmother's place before her and tries to eat her however she hides in a closet until Practical pig helps her among others. The original storyline has not been adopted by the Disney movies since most cases Disney omits violence and extreme mistreatments to women and girls. Disney movies seek to motivate the theme of family value, the slogan of dreams are achievable, economy, and true love. To manipulate the story of the Little red riding hood needs more effort to be manipulated and suit these themes before it suits the contemporary culture's interest.

Conclusion

In conclusion, fairy/folk tales face continuous modification to suit the contemporary society. The main platform for action today is Disney Movies. Despite the continuous evolution of the tales, little transparency is employed to preserve the stories. The major stories such as Cinderella, Aurora among others are modified to suit the theme of true love, economy, non-violence, and family value among others. Lack of proper modification to suit these theme leads to the tale getting a different plot or being left out altogether by the Disney movies.