Once Upon a Different Time…
“On the railway station on the road to Hell
Hadestown
There was a young woman looking for something to eat
And brother, thus begins the tale
Of Orpheus and Eurydice!”
We all grew up on fairy tales. Stories of brave warriors, wise maidens, and fiendish monsters lulled us to sleep. But tastes mature as we grow older. The innocent falls away to reveal flaws and darker implications. Twisted tales are born when authors deconstruct and reconstruct the old stories.
Twisted tales are instantly recognizable stories that have changed. Picture Epic: the Musical reimagining The Odyssey as an off-Broadway show, Maleficent transforming the titular fae into a hero, or Hoodwinked retelling Little Red Riding Hood as a Rashomon-style police procedural. Which ones made our top 5? Let’s find out. Once upon another time…
Scene Select
#5 The Princess Bride
Starring: Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Andre the Giant, Peter Falk
Adapts: The Princess Bride
Country of Origin: United States
Twist: A grandfather tells the story to his grandson
Grandson: “Has it got any sports in it?”
The Princess Bride
Grandpa: “Are you kidding? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles…”
Grandson: “…It doesn’t sound too bad. I’ll try to stay awake.”
Grandpa: “Oh, well, thank you very much. Very nice of you. Your vote of confidence is overwhelming.”
Some twisted tales don’t rely on ancient stories. Fairy tale tropes filtered through new ideas give them enough toys to play with.
Synopsis: An author learns that his favorite childhood story was a boring political satire. He rewrites The Princess Bride as his father told it to him, cutting reams of filler, minutiae, and unimportant subplots while mocking the author’s writing choices.
The summarized story is about Buttercup, a farmer’s daughter chosen to marry Prince Humperdinck. She is kidnapped by mercenaries Vizzini, Fezzik, and Inigo Montoya, to facilitate a war. They are pursued by the Dread Pirate Roberts, a swashbuckling adventurer and once Buttercup’s admirer, Westley. Can he save her from the mercenaries and the murderous Humperdinck?
The Adaptation: The movie reframes the edits as a grandfather telling the story to his sick grandson. The bored kid mocks the tale until he becomes invested and the grandfather makes occasional asides for the grandson’s benefit. Both embody the book’s narrator.
The story segments cut the fluff and world-building even further. The main characters lose their deconstructive edges and resemble modern fairy tale archetypes. Dialogue naturally covers the book’s narration. The Princess Bride also changes the book’s ending, replacing a cliffhanger with the heroes escaping, the lovers reunited, and our redeemed mercenaries primed to become the new Dread Pirate Roberts.
#4 Twisted Tale: Frozen
Starring: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Santino Fontana
Adapts: The Snow Queen
Country of Origin: Denmark
The Twist: Disney happened
Anna: “She froze my heart and only an act of true love can save me.”
Frozen
Prince Hans: “A true love’s kiss. [leans in and sneers] …Oh Anna, if only there was someone out there who loved you.”
Disney’s fairy tale adaptations become box office magic, even when the story is often wildly different. Take Hercules, which has none of his famed Labors and portrays archnemesis Hera as a loving mother. This twisted tale rivals Hercules’ unrecognizability.
The Original Tale: Satan uses a cursed mirror to show the flaws in its reflections. He tries to use it on God, but is smote and the mirror shatters. Two fragments pierce a young boy named Kai, who becomes cold-hearted. The only thing that draws his eye is The Snow Queen, a fairy who kidnaps him.
Kai’s friend Greda goes on an adventure to save him. Her innocence convinces everyone she meets to help her and grants a Disney-esque power to talk with animals. Several challenges lead Greda to the Snow Queen’s castle, where her faith summons a legion of angels to fight the guards. Greda’s love thaws Kai’s frozen heart and they return home.
The Adaptation: Elsa is a princess born with ice powers. Her sister Anna is hurt while playing with her, leading Elsa to isolate herself and hide her powers. Anna grows up lonely, but meets a handsome prince named Hans on Elsa’s coronation day. A sibling argument exposes Elsa’s powers and she flees, unintentionally causing an eternal blizzard.
Anna chases her sister, who is happy with her newfound freedom. Elsa accidentally freezes Anna’s heart during another argument, forcing Anna’s friends to rush her to Hans for a lifesaving True Love’s Kiss. Hans betrays Anna to take control of the kingdom. Elsa is forced to return and Anna sacrifices herself to save her sister from the traitorous prince, an act of true love that thaws her heart, ends the blizzard, and reconciles the sisters.
Fun Fact: Elsa was originally planned to be an antagonist like the Snow Queen, but Frozen’s writers changed the plot after hearing Idina Menzel sing “Let it Go” and transformed her into the main character.
#3 RWBY
Starring: Lindsay Jones, Kara Eberle, Arryn Zech, Barbara Dunkleman
Adapts: Every fairy tale
Country of Origin: United States
Twist: Fairy tale characters are monster hunters
Ruby: “As a girl, I wanted to be just like the heroes in those books and fight for people who couldn’t fight for themselves.”
RWBY “The Shining Beacon”, (Season 1, Episode 3)
Blake: “That’s… very ambitious for a child. However, the real world isn’t the same as a fairy tale.”
Ruby: “Well that’s why we’re here. To make it better.”
This one’s gonna be tricky. Crossovers are common in twisted tales thanks to authors making references or throwing everyone into the kitchen sink. This anime mixes fairy tales and mythology, but without one original tale. So we’ll cover Team RWBY and JNPR’s origins in a lightning round.
The Original Tales: Little Red Riding Hood brought sweets to her grandmother and was saved from the Big Bad Wolf by a huntsman. Snow White was hunted by an Evil Queen for being more beautiful than her. Belle was the wise beauty in love with a bestial prince. Goldilocks wandered into the home of three bears and was scared off after touching their stuff.
Jeanne D’arc was a famous martyr who cross-dressed to fight the British at God’s command. Invincible demigod Achilles fought in the Trojan War. Thor was the Norse God of Thunder, spirited and bold. Hua Mulan dressed as a man to take her ailing father’s place in a war.
The Adaptation: Several teenagers study to become Huntsmen and fight the creatures of Grimm. Ruby Rose is Red Riding Hood as a scythe-wielding sniper. Weiss Schnee is targeted for being the heiress of a corrupt megacorporation. Blake Belladonna runs from her past as a terrorist in an abusive relationship with her mentor. Yang Xiao Long embodies Goldilocks, leaping into danger before she looks.
Team JNPR are the opposite genders of their inspirations, who had all cross-dressed. Jaune Arc starts out as an incompetent everyman before growing into a paladin. Pyrrha Nikos is considered invincible, but dies after an enemy’s arrow pierces her heel. Nora Valkyrie has Thor’s exuberance and more empathy than he ever had. Lie Ren represses trauma from seeing his father die to a Grimm.
The Teams are far from the only adaptations. Others include Aesop’s Fables being embodied by elite Huntsmen called the Ace-Ops, Pinocchio becoming female android Penny, and an incarnation of Poseidon who’s terrified of water. The bad guys have their own inspirations, so check out our retrospective of RWBY’s villains.
#2 Twisted Tale: Wicked
Starring: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum
Adapts: The Wizard of Oz
Country of Origin: United States
Twist: The Wicked Witch is the hero.
Munchkin: “Glinda, is it true you were her friend?”
Wicked
Glinda: “…Yes. [Munchkins gasp] That is, I did know her. Our paths crossed at school…”
The easiest twisted tale is one where the villain takes the lead. You can show how they made the choices that sealed their doom or rewrite the whole story to make them the hero. Head over to a theater, movie or stage, to witness the story of a wicked witch and her green roommate.
The Original: A farmgirl named Dorothy is caught in a tornado and lands in the magical realm of Oz. Her house lands on the Wicked Witch of the East, giving Dorothy a hero’s welcome from the Munchkins she had terrorized. The Witch of the West tries to claim her sister’s magic Ruby Slippers, but Good Witch Glinda gives them to Dorothy and sends her down the Yellow Brick Road to find the Wizard of Oz.
Dorothy joins forces with a brainless Scarecrow, heartless Tin Man, and The Cowardly Lion. The Wizard orders them to kill the Wicked Witch in return for sending Dorothy home. They succeed, but learn that The Wizard had no real power. Glinda also tells them that Dorothy could have returned at any time. Dorothy goes home to Kansas, content with two counts of murder and deposing Oz’ rulers.
The Adaptation: Elphaba is an outcast for her green skin and magic. She enrolls in Shiz University and is assigned vain Galinda as a room mate. They slowly shift from rivals to friends as they get to know each other. Elphaba pines for foolish Prince Fiyero while her sister Nessa has her heart manipulated by a Munchkin named Boq.
Elphaba learns that Oz’ intelligent animals are suffering from ethnic cleansing. She petitions the Wizard of Oz for help, but learns that he caused racial tension to unite the Munchkins against a common enemy. Elphaba steals a grimoire and escapes to become a freedom fighter while the Wizard brands her a Wicked Witch.
#1 Shrek
Starring: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow
Adapts: Shrek!, Fairy Tales
Country of Origin: United States
Twist: The ugly, crass ogre is the hero.
Donkey: “So where’s this fire-breathin’ pain in the neck, anyway?”
Shrek
Shrek: “Inside, waiting for us to rescue her.”
Donkey: “I was talking about the dragon, Shrek!“
You knew this was going to be number one. It wasn’t the first movie to flip the script on classic fairy tale tropes, but Shrek did it best and kicked off a long line of imitators.
The Original: A fire-breathing ogre named Shrek is forced out of his home to wreak havoc. He rampages through the countryside until a fortune teller promises a donkey will bring him to the castle of a hideous princess.
Shrek finds the castle and sets a knight on fire to get in. He’s almost scared off by a hall of mirrors’ reflections, but perseveres and meets the princess, who is uglier than him. They fall in love and spend their lives terrorizing everyone else.
The Adaptation: Shrek is a non-fire breathing ogre who enjoys his privacy. Fairy tale figures invade his swamp after being displaced by the racist Prince Farquaad. Shrek leaves to make him take them back while a fast-talking Donkey tags along.
Shrek and Donkey are sent on a suicide mission to find Princess Fiona for Farquaad to marry. They rescue her from a dragon, but Donkey discovers that Fiona is cursed to become an ugly ogre at night. Shrek and Fiona fall for each other and break the curse with True Love’s Kiss, permanently making Fiona an ogre. Farquaad is eaten by Donkey’s new lover, the dragon, allowing the fairy tale characters to return.
Which twisted tale would you tell your kids at bed time? Are there even stranger ones than these? Tell us in the comments.
Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.
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