The history of beloved fairytales like Beauty and the Beast goes back many generations. As the world evolved, some fairytale classics went from the oral tradition to the pages of a book to finally the big screens. A lot of these tales were first animated adaptations, and with time, live adaptations followed, as seen in recent remakes like Cinderella and The Lion King.
While some adaptations stayed true to the original story, some tweaked the stories to match current times. The changes — some small and others monumental — create stories that are new but with familiar undertones so the old ones aren’t completely forgotten.
Ella Enchanted (2004)
Ella Enchanted is loosely based on a book of the same name, which draws inspiration from another favorite fairytale, Cinderella. Where Cinderella meets her Prince Charming at a ball and gets her happy ending following the glass slipper search, Ella from Ella Enchanted stumbles upon the prince trying to escape his fan club.
The film details her journey as she tries to track down her fairy godmother, who gave her a “gift” that makes her have to obey every command she’s given, when falls in love with the prince. The combination of a somewhat modern setting and elements of the magical original story makes the movie different enough to enjoy it as something new without losing the nostalgic feel of the classic tale it’s based on.
Enchanted (2007)
Before she was the Woman In the Window, Amy Adams starred as a princess-to-be in Enchanted — a live-action movie that parodies elements from several Disney fairytales. Starting out with animation, the story follows a prince who’s set to take over the throne from his stepmother once he finds true love and marries. After the prince meets Giselle and proposes to marry her, the Queen pushes her into a well, which transforms her into a live-action form of herself in New York.
The movie has fairytale elements, like an evil queen and a charming prince. But going forward, it pokes fun at those, like the logic of marrying someone after meeting them once. In the end, the girl doesn’t get the traditional Prince Charming, but everyone is happy nonetheless. It’s a light-hearted romantic comedy that ticks most boxes for fairytale lovers, even though some elements of the movie are somewhat bizarre.
Alice In Wonderland (2010)
The film draws inspiration from the books Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, as well as the animated film version of the same name. The original stories are about a girl named Alice who discovers another world when she falls into a rabbit hole.
While Alice In Wonderland starts out similarly, it gradually veers off, changing old characters and adding new ones, plus a somewhat convoluted plot that may have done more harm than good to the story. The movie changed Alice’s trip to Wonderland from a sightseeing adventure to a high-stakes, action-packed battle. Critics praised its visual mastery as well as the bold, unique portrayal of Alice as a warrior in the final battle against the Jabberwocky.
Red Riding Hood (2011)
Red Riding Hood is loosely based on the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood and her encounter in the woods with a wolf who later eats her and her grandmother. A woodcutter saves them from the belly of the beast and all’s well that ends well.
In the 2011 adaptation, Little Red Riding Hood is not so little anymore. She lives in a village, along with her family, that has become an unfortunate target of a werewolf. Red’s family dynamics and the nature and identity of the wolf are some of the biggest changes to the story, giving it higher emotional stakes. The movie makes the story darker and throws in a love story that the original didn’t have.
Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
In the original story, Hansel and Gretel are two siblings abandoned by their father in the woods at the behest of his second wife because of dwindling food provisions. While wandering in the woods, they come across a cabin made of all kinds of yummy treats and are lured in by a cannibalistic witch.
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters is set years after the siblings killed the witch and escaped. As adults, they became famous witch hunters. The movie changed some plot points in the original story about the sibling’s parentage and even throws in a plot twist about their mother taking it to dark depths that the fairytale wouldn’t dare venture. In a way, the dark story provides a thrilling conclusion to an old story.
Maleficent (2014)
Sleeping Beauty’s story is one that many are familiar with. After pricking her finger on a spindle as per the curse set by an affronted fairy who wasn’t invited to her ball, the princess falls into a deep slumber. Her only chance of waking is if a prince gives her true love’s kiss. As with most fairytales, this one ends with a prince kissing her awake and they live happily ever after.
Maleficent put a spin on the story, focusing mostly on the dark fairy who casts the curse and giving her a backstory and stronger motivation for her action. Like Cruella, it is an origin story of one of Disney’s well-known villains. Unlike in the original story, the audience is sympathetic towards the villain and rather root for her in the end.
Into The Woods (2014)
The lives of several fairytale characters, including Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, and Jack all intertwine in this musical production. In addition to featuring an impressive cast, which includes Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick, James Corden, Chris Pine, and Johnny Depp, the film brings together a number of fairytale classics into one, rhythm-filled plot.
Where the original fairytales run separately and end happily, Into The Woods goes beyond. The characters are left to deal with the dire consequences of their actions and the story becomes quite dark. Apart from the entertaining acts, delightful music, and likable characters, the film also leaves the audience with a lesson, heeding them to be careful what they wish for.
The Little Mermaid (2018)
As far as adaptations go, The Little Mermaid ventures quite far from the fairytale which inspired it. The classic fairytale tells the story of a little mermaid who falls in love with a prince after saving him and makes a deal with a sea witch to trade her voice for human legs so she can spend time with him on land.
The film, on the other hand, is about a reporter and his niece who meet a mermaid and rescue her from a circus. The setting and plot are completely different from the original story, and unfortunately, that seems to have worked against the movie, as it received lower ratings from audiences and critics alike.
Mulan (2020)
Mulan combines the storyline from the animated film as well as the old poem it is based on to create a story that’s fresh in some ways while remaining familiar for those who treasure the old classic. Some characters were missing from the live-action film, others were added to the story.
While some elements of the movie made it more realistic, which made sense for a live-action depiction of the story, other changes and additions made it a little historically inaccurate. As a result, it received some negative reviews from fans who preferred the original.
Cruella (2021)
Based on the character from a 1950s novel, The Hundred and One Dalmations, Cruella tells the story of the titular character and how she became Cruella de Vil. The film is set in a modern era, beginning with Estella’s birth and showing her transformation to Cruella.
As the film is set up to be a prequel, it provides a backstory to how Cruella got her name. Unlike the original story and several adaptations of the villain, Cruella isn’t obsessed with stealing Dalmatians and making coats out of their fur — not yet, anyway. Instead, she’s set up as a formidable foe in a war of fashion and it doesn’t seem likely that she’ll descend into the dognapping villain from the original stories.
