Happily Ever After Take Two: Rewriting Femininity in Hybridization Fairy Tale Films

The tradition of fairy tales has evolved drastically over the past five hundred years. At the beginning of the 20th century, fairy tale cartoons became widely popular as an independent medium, as well as introductions to larger films. In 1937, Walt Disney started the tradition of fairy tale cinema with the release of Snow White. Since that time, Disney has released and re-released eleven princess fairy tale films. Critics and parents alike ridicule Disney for its depictions of women as submissive and subservient. Recent films have used fairy tale tropes, without referring to a specific classic tale, in order to ridicule and establish a new image of woman. By simply using the tropes of the tales, the new hybridization fairy tales attempt to rewrite the depiction of femininity as a whole, without the confines of a specific character. Despite the great strides that these films have made , there is still a persistent depiction of women as weak with a lack of agency. DreamWorks\u27 creation of the Shrek quadrilogy provides an example to explore the progress of reworking female fairy tale stereotypes through Princess Fiona, Queen Lillian, Fairy Godmother, and other minor, female characters

(Re)Animating the Horror Genre: Explorations in Children\u27s Animated Horror Films

This project seeks to define the subgenre of children\u27s animated horror film by examining its classification within the children\u27s film genre and its use of generic conventions of horror. While this project does not aim to conflate children\u27s film as a genre and animation as a medium, the scope of this project will be limited to children\u27s animated horror films from 1993 - present day. In order to explore the subgenre of children\u27s animated horror films from 1993-present, I will focus specifically on the following films: Tim Burton\u27s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit (2005), Tim Burton\u27s Corpse Bride (2006), Monster House (2006), Igor (2008), Coraline (2009), 9 (2009), Frankenweenie (2012), Hotel Transylvania (2012), and ParaNorman (2012). These films not only raise questions about children and childhood, but also specifically engage in the generic conventions of horror through various monsters, use of comedy, gender stereotypes, and generic hybridity. By engaging in conversations with the conventions of horror films, children\u27s animated horror film legitimates its status as a horror subgenre, not merely simple children\u27s films