The International Fairy-Tale Filmography, The University of Winnipeg
The decorative banner art is by Nikki Pilgrim using film stills from Martin Scorsese's film Hugo, based on the work of Georges Méliès.

Welcome, welcome to the International Fairy-Tale Filmography

Jack Zipes

Ever since the great Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès stunned audiences with his extraordinary fairy-tale films at the end of the nineteenth century, and ever since Walt Disney commodified and homogenized fairy-tale films in the twentieth century, there has been an avalanche of sanitized (like Disney) and experimental (like Méliès) fairy-tale films throughout the world.

Indeed, you might even think that all these extravagant films form a gigantic battle over the designation "fairy-tale" film, that is, which fairy-tale film tells the truth, and what exactly is a fairy-tale film. We are here, we hope, to help you with your research and also your viewing pleasure, and to help you to decide for yourself whether it is more invigorating to follow the Méliès tradition or the Disney tradition. Let us know if we are helpful, and please let us know whether we have missed films that should be included in our filmography.

-Jack Zipes

© Copyright 2024 - Pauline Greenhill, Kendra Magnus-Johnston, Jack Zipes