A type of film, made primarily for children, based on fairy tales of either popular folklore or classical literature and usually involving princes and princesses, a quest, a battle against physical and/or spiritual danger, and a victory which garners a reward of love. The majority of Disney's animated classics have been based on fairy tales of popular culture (Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Peter Pan) or have adopted the fairy tale style (both The Little Mermaid and The Lion King are full of the conventions of the form). Many of these tales such as Cinderella have been filmed several times over. A good deal of fantasy films are told in the fairy tale style, starting with "Once upon a time..." and ending with "...they lived happily ever after." Even post-modern takes on fairy tales such as The Princess Bride tend to stimulate the imagination and evoke nostalgia for the bedtime story (the introduction of narrative storytelling for many a filmgoer); the stories of far away lands, beautiful princesses, brave heroes, and fantastic adventures is often the perfect complement to the imaginative escapism and visual artistry of movies, explaining the never-ending fascination with fairy tale films. |