Hey, Jenn (though anybody can answer, really)

[conuly]

When it comes to fairy tales...

Do you want the GOOD kind, where the parents abandon their kids, and the witch eats children and locks Hansel in a cage and is eventually hoisted on her own petard? Or the wussy kind where the kids innocently get lost and the witch turns the kids into gingerbread decorations?

The GOOD kind, where Granma gets eaten and the wolf gets chopped into bits? Or the dull kind, where Granma hides in the cloest and the wolf runs away?

The GOOD kind, where the Queen wants to eat Snow White, and ends up dancing in iron slippers? Or the strange kind, where the girl leaves for some unknown reason?

*waits*

Comments

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

Hmm... I've always had difficulty with fairy-tales in general, because they were more plot-oriented than character-driven, if that makes any sense. So I'll be the lone weirdo to say "I didn't want either kind, I liked traditional fantasy-fiction early on." ;-)

The versions I had of fairy tales as a child were a middleground between what you listed above, incidentally. (They all pre-date Disney, in any event.) The children were dumped in the woods by their parents, then killed the witch by sticking her in the oven and baking her to death... The grandmother escapes safely while the wolf is killed... I don't think Snow White was in the collections I had, but it could have been one of the tales I avoided. :)

[conuly]

1. That makes sense.

2. Yeah, the sweetening of fairy tales has been slowly going on for years.

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

If it wasn't for the fact that my family might notice and get angry, I'd send you the old ones we have for you & the kids... I think they pre-date the 1950s. (My extended family was big on sharing. :-)

BTW, I tried looking for the Sit-and-Spin -- my mother said it's out there, we didn't give it away, but we haven't found it just yet. (Our garage is essentially a warehouse of old toys, clothing, etc. still.)

[conuly]

I hope you find it. I'd pay... really shitty money to have it.

[interactiveleaf.livejournal.com]

It's not just you. I'm sitting and reading this thread while discussing it with my BF, and he just said essentially the same thing. He adores traditional fantasy fiction, and, ironically, our child-free house is filled with children's books and toys--but the only fairy tales are in the pop-up books that he collects.