Fairy-tale fever

Angelina Jolie's Maleficent hits cinemas tomorrow, soon to be followed by a conga-line of fave fables.

May 28, 2014 06:00 am

If the massive success of Frozen is any indication, audiences are still in the mood for a little "once upon a time".

Of course, Frozen is a cartoon and Disney has always done a bang-up job turning fairy tales into breathtaking animated films.

Their live-action fairy tales have also been popular, if not quite so beloved.

Alice In Wonderland raked in over a billion dollars worldwide, but left critics and audiences indifferent.

Oz The Great And Powerful brought in half a billion, but is not remotely as special as its forebearer The Wizard Of Oz.

Aside from the Disney efforts, there have been a lot of other films trying to jump on the fairy tale bandwagon in recent years - Mirror Mirror, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Jack The Giant Slayer, Red Riding Hood.

None of them lived happily ever after.

FAIRY DUST?

Now, with Maleficent kicking off the second wave of the fairy-tale movie trend, Disney might finally have a box-office winner that people actually adore.

Angelina Jolie stars as the titular character in this adaptation of the classic fairy tale Sleeping Beauty.

This time, the story is told from the villain's POV.

If you haven't caught fairy tale fever just yet, here's a closer look at Maleficent and the other childhood fantasies following close on its heels.

INTO THE WOODS (OPENS DECEMBER 2014)

ORIGINS: Created by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, the award-winning stage musical Into The Woods debuted on Broadway in 1987.ADAPTATIONS: It has been performed in countless high schools and community theatres across the US.

NEW BEGINNING: Talk about an all-star cast. The movie version helmed by director Rob Marshall sees Meryl Streep as a witch who sends a baker (James Corden) on a quest to collect magical totems from Cinderella (Anna Kendrick) and other fairy tale characters. But what we really hope has bite is Johnny Depp's appearance as The Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood.

Snow White And The Huntsman, starring Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth, did pretty well, but Stewart's dalliance with its director Rupert Sanders ended up putting the franchise in limbo.

MALEFICENT (OPENS TOMORROW)

ORIGINS: The original story of Sleeping Beauty was first published way back in 1697 by French author Charles Perrault. The Brothers Grimm published their own version in 1812. Copycats.

ADAPTATIONS: There have been many film versions, the most famous being the Disney classic from 1959.

NEW BEGINNING: Maleficent is a massively expensive film, with its budget reported to be in excess of US$200 million (S$250 million). Fortunately, it looks as if all that money was well spent. There are opulent sets, lavish costumes and magnificent creatures. Jolie looks perfect as Maleficent, a dark fairy who seeks vengeance against a king by cursing his beloved daughter Aurora (Elle Fanning).

CINDERELLA (OPENS MARCH 2015)

ORIGINS: First published in 1634 under the name Cenerentola by Neapolitan soldier Giambattista Basile, it was later picked up by Charles Perrault and the Grimms.

ADAPTATIONS: While there have been a number of adaptations, Disney's 1950 animated version is most memorable.

NEW BEGINNING: Directed by Kenneth Branagh, this mother of all underdog stories stars Downton Abbey's Lily James as Cinderella and Richard Madden from Game Of Thrones as Prince Charming. Downton meets GoT? Exciting.

PAN (OPENS JULY 2015)

ORIGINS: Peter Pan first appeared in the fantasy novel The Little White Bird (1902) by JM Barrie, who later turned Pan's story into a successful stage play.

ADAPTATIONS: Steven Spielberg's Hook (1991) was a bummer. Disney's animated Peter Pan (1953) wasn't. The Tinker Bell DVDs have also been fun though the 2003 live-action Peter Pan was just okay.

NEW BEGINNING: This story of an elf boy's adventures stars unknown child actor Levi Miller in the title role, along with Hugh Jackman as the pirate Blackbeard. Joe Wright directs, British supermodel Cara Delevingne will reportedly play a mermaid, but no word on who's Tinkerbell.

THE LITTLE MERMAID (IN PRE-PRODUCTION)

ORIGINS: This beautiful story was first published by Dutch author Hans Christian Andersen in 1837.

ADAPTATIONS: Disney's animated musical version from 1989 kicks all kinds of butt.

NEW BEGINNING: All we know so far is that director Sofia Coppola is determined to make a live-action adaptation. If you want to know what we might be able to expect, check out the parody Sofia Coppola's Little Mermaid at the humour website Funny Or Die.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (IN GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S HEAD)

ORIGINS: First published by French author Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve in 1740.

ADAPTATIONS: Too many to count. Disney's 1991 musical became the first animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. There's also a TV series starring Kristin Kreuk. And let's not forget Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer in the 2011 modern high school take Beastly.

NEW BEGINNING: This is one of those projects that sounds too good to be true. Mexican director Guillermo del Toro is determined to bring the story to the big screen with Emma Watson in the lead role. Talks are still underway. Fingers (and claws) crossed.