Shows
Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEpisode 114: Little Thieves by Margaret OwenFinally tackling one of Drew's all time favorites, Matt and Cassie come together to discuss Little Thieves by Margaret Owen, our loosest retelling this era, but a wonderful look at what happens to this story when we focus on and humanize the servant girl who forced the switch. Join us as we discuss intricate world building, incredible enemies-to-lovers banter, a veritable buffet of trauma responses, internalized privilege, and demisexual representation, and the ultimate question for this fairy tale --- does it NEED to have geese???Trigger warnings for this book and episode include physical and...
2025-03-191h 37Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreIn Loving MemoryDrew RothhaarFebruary 16, 1990 - February 21, 2023"To die will be an awfully big adventure."Thank you all so much for being part of our lives the past two years.
2023-02-2205 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 107: The FinaleSadly, we are here to wrap up our final thoughts on Of Slippers and Spindles. Drew and Cassie return for one last episode to explain the sudden hiatus that began in December and has now led to the decision to end the show. In true Of Slippers and Spindles style, we each give three final book recommendations: three retelling novels we wanted to cover on the podcast and are disappointed we didn't get to. But before we go, we celebrate one major goal that we were able to accomplish! Thank you all so much for listening, supporting, and going...
2023-02-0815 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 106: The Wild Swans (1977 Film)Drew and Cassie begin our journey into The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Andersen with a look at the 1977 anime film from Toei Animation. The anime is a pretty straightforward retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's tale, although it takes several cues from Six Swans by the Brothers Grimm as well. We discuss our experiences with anime, Avatar: The Last Airbender, the incredible sound effects, Eliza's tear friends, swans bartering for goods, and more! Join our community! View all of the benefits of joining our Patreon including the Official Of Slippers and Spindles Book Club, exclusive...
2022-12-0748 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 105: Rumpelstiltskin Wrap Up & Intro to The Wild SwansIt's time to tie up one fairy tale and fly into the next one! Drew and Cassie begin by giving their final thoughts on the tale of Rumpelstiltskin, including our ideas on how we would interpret the story ourselves. Then we begin our discussion of The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Andersen, which starts with the story of Six Swans by the Brothers Grimm. We talk through each of these stories and note their differences, and then we finish by revealing the four retellings we will be looking at through December! Join our community! View all of t...
2022-12-0455 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 104: Gilded & Cursed by Marissa MeyerFor our final week of Rumpelstiltskin Month, Drew and Cassie are delighted to be joined by Bethanie from Prince Kai Fan Pod to discuss Gilded and Cursed, the recently-completed YA duology by Marissa Meyer. This duology centers around Serilda, the daughter of a miller who was blessed by the god of fate and fortune and who is known for the fantastical stories she tells. When she comes face-to-face with the dangerous Erlking, her ability to tell stories gets her in trouble when she claims to spin straw into gold. Locked away in his castle, all seems hopeless...
2022-11-302h 18Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 103: Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: Rumpelstiltskin (1982)Drew and Cassie are thrilled to be joined by Kimmy and Ryan from the Aloreing podcast for our third week of Rumpelstiltskin Month! We return once again to Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre to discuss the second episode of the series, Rumpelstiltskin, starring Shelley Duvall herself as the Miller's Daughter. This episode of the show is a relatively straight forward adaptation of the Brothers Grimm story, and though it gets goofy, it doesn't go off the rails nearly as much as some of the other episodes of Faerie Tale Theatre! Along the way, we discuss Shelley Duvall's...
2022-11-231h 17Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 102: Spinners by Donna Jo Napoli & Richard TchenIt's week 2 of Rumpelstiltskin Month, and Drew and Cassie are back to dive into Spinners by Donna Jo Napoli and Richard Tchen. This is the story of two spinners. The first, a man who renames nameless throughout the book, hones his craft at a stolen wheel, crippling his leg, turning a room full of straw into a golden dress for his beloved - and losing her in the process. The second is Saskia, the daughter of a miller, a young girl who teaches herself to craft beautiful, unique yarns. And then the king learns of Saskia's talent...
2022-11-1656 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 101: A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. BunceFor our first week of Rumpelstiltskin Month, Drew and Cassie are discussing A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce. This 2008 YA novel follows Charlotte Miller, a young woman who inherits her father's mill upon his death. Although there are rumors that the mill is cursed, Charlotte has never believed them - but it's hard to deny the bad luck that piles up as workers depart, impossible debts are revealed, and an domineering uncle enters the scene. But then a strange man named Jack Spinner offers to help, and Charlotte finds herself caught up in his...
2022-11-091h 00Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 100: Ask Us Anything!It's our 100th episode! Drew and Cassie celebrate by answering questions sent in by our amazing listeners, patrons, and supporters. We tell the origin story of the podcast and then we dive into the amazingly thoughtful questions you all sent in. We discuss our favorite episodes of the podcast, fairy tales we'll cover in the future, favorite tales from outside Europe, favorite books and TV shows, writing advice, Shakespeare, theatre, and so much more! Thank you all for your questions and thank you for listening!Join our community! View all of the benefits of joining our ...
2022-11-022h 04Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 99: The Princess and the Pea Wrap Up & Intro to RumpelstiltskinIt's time to climb down from the pile of mattresses and start spinning a new tale! Drew and Cassie begin this episode with our final thoughts on The Princess and the Pea, including our disappointment in the presence of the concept of the divine right to rule. As always, we discuss our ideas for how we would like to retold the story ourselves. Then we begin our journey into a new story for November, which is Rumpelstiltskin by the Brothers Grimm. We talk through the plot of the story and the many questions it brings...
2022-10-3043 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 97: Violet Eyes by Debbie ViguiéIt's week 3 of The Princess and the Pea Month! Drew and Cassie return to the Once Upon A Time series of YA books from the 2000s to discuss Violet Eyes by Debbie Viguié. This book centers around Violet, the daughter of a farmer who encounters her kingdom's prince when he is found unconscious in their fields after a storm. The two quickly fall in love - but Richard's parents want him to marry a true princess. Violet soon finds herself competing with princesses from throughout the land in order to prove her identity and character in hopes o...
2022-10-1948 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 96: The Princess Test by Gail Carson LevineIn our second week discussing The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen, Drew and Cassie are taking a look at The Princess Test by Gail Carson Levine, the third in her middle grade series called The Princess Tales. This quick little book centers on Lorelei, a blacksmith's daughter who is born with extreme sensitivity, who falls in love with Prince Nicholas, whose parents want to abdicate their thrones. Nicholas's parents insist Nicholas must marry a true princess and thus put 79 princesses - and Lorelei - through a series of ridiculous tests to determine who is...
2022-10-1243 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 95: The Princess and the Pea (2002)"Never underestimate the power of a vegetable." Drew and Cassie open The Princess and the Pea Month with the 2002 American-Hungarian animated film The Princess and the Pea from Feature Films For Families. We had a bit of a hard time when it came to enjoying this particular film, so we work our way through the story in an attempt to understand a very convoluted plot. We discuss Sebastian's obsession with pea lore, tapestry vs. parchment, bizarre rules of succession, physical indicators of villainy, the stained glass window ghosts, nature vs. nurture, various similarities to other a...
2022-10-0540 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 94: Cinderella Wrap Up & Intro to The Princess and the PeaAre you ready to leave the ball and climb some mattresses? Because it's time for a new tale! Drew and Cassie wrap up their final thoughts on Cinderella, including some themes that we've noticed that have been arising now that we have covered 10 different retellings of Cinderella. Then we begin our new story, The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen. This tale is short and sweet, so we talk through its plot real quick before revealing the criteria for this new tale and which adaptations we'll be looking at through October! Join our community! View...
2022-10-0227 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 92: Bound by Donna Jo Napoli"'My feet are not bound.' 'I noticed,' said the prince." For our fourth retelling in our second Cinderella Month, Drew and Cassie are taking a look at Bound by Donna Jo Napoli. This 2004 book specifically retells the ancient Chinese legend of Ye Xian, reimagining the main character as Xing Xing, a young woman whose circumstances have left her orphaned and living with her cruel and jealous stepmother and half-sister, Wei Ping. We discuss the appropriateness of Napoli as a white author telling this story, the lack of development for the prince, the complicated fa...
2022-09-2147 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 91: Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron"I'm not happy pretending everything is fine when I know it's not." Drew and Cassie return after a hiatus to continue our Cinderella Month with our next book, Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron. This 2020 YA novel imagines a harshly patriarchal world set 200 years after Cinderella's death, in which her story is used to enforce the rules of the world. Our heroine is 16-year-old Sophia, who is about the attend the ball for the first time, and who is desperate to rebel against the world thanks to her love for her best friend, Erin. Sophia e...
2022-09-141h 13Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 90: Disenchanted: The Trials of Cinderella by Megan Morrison"His father wanted him to choose Lavaliere for Prince’s Preference, but he had to talk to Ella."Drew and Cassie are so excited to talk about Megan Morrison's Tyme series but also sad that this is the final Morrison book that has been published! For our second week in Cinderella Month, we are discussing Morrison's Disenchanted: The Trials of Cinderella. This novel is told from three points of view: Ella Coach, a young woman whose mother died in a sweat shop and wants every laborer in the Blue Kingdom to receive fairer treatment; Prince Das...
2022-08-101h 25Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 89: Amazon's Cinderella (2021)"I don't want a life stuck waving from a royal box any more than a life confined to a basement."Drew and Cassie begin our return to the fairy tale of Cinderella by discussing the Amazon Prime movie from 2021 starring Camila Cabello, Idina Menzel, Billy Porter, and more. This jukebox movie musical incorporates songs like "Rhythm Nation," "Somebody to Love," and "Material Girl" while reimagining Cinderella as a young woman who dreams of designing fashion and owning a dress shop. Meanwhile, Prince Robert is struggling with his father's expectations versus his own desires, and soon...
2022-08-031h 14Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 88: Aladdin Wrap Up & Intro to CinderellaIt's time to wish our way out of one fairy tale and into another! Drew and Cassie wrap up their final thoughts on Aladdin, including, and then rather than discussing how we would retell the tale ourselves like we usually do, we suggest ideas of how we would like to see someone else retell Aladdin. Then we take a journey to the past by explaining why we wanted to revisit Cinderella. We discuss the plots of some of the most prominent cultural variants of the story: Rhodopis of Greece, Ye Xian of China, and Vasilisa the Brave of Russia...
2022-07-3144 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 87: Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier"This is all your fault, Jafar." In our final week of Aladdin Month, Drew and Cassie are joined by Cassie's younger brother, Jeffrey, to discuss the 2013 musical Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier from StarKid Productions. This parody of Disney's Aladdin is inspired by Wicked and retells the tale from Jafar's point of view, reimagining him as a well-intentioned advisor to the king who is trying to fix all of the kingdom's problems, but finds himself blamed for them instead. Aladdin himself is a greedy 33-year-old orphan who seeks to take advantage of...
2022-07-271h 20Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 86: Disney's Aladdin"You ain't never had a friend like me!" Disney week came early this month! For our third week of Aladdin Month, Drew and Cassie discuss Disney's 1992 animated film, the 2019 live action movie, the 2011 Broadway musical, and much more! We talk about our personal memories and connections to Disney's version of Aladdin before delving into the plot specifics of the animated movie. Then we talk about the differences made for the live action movie and the Broadway musical, and then we go even further by looking at some of the changes made for Aladdin, Jr. and...
2022-07-202h 15Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 85: The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury"Oh, my naive thief. Love is rarely a choice.” For our second week of Aladdin Month, Drew and Cassie are discussing The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury. This 2016 YA novel casts Zahra as the protagonist, a jinn who has been trapped for five hundred years until her lamp is found by a young man named Aladdin. As Aladdin makes his three wishes and Zahra receives an opportunity to earn her freedom, the two characters find themselves falling into a star-crossed love. We talk about the novel's jinn lore, reinterpreting Aladdin's laziness as trauma, Pinterest, the "mak...
2022-07-1352 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 84: Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child: Aladdin (1997)Drew and Cassie begin Aladdin Month with the Aladdin episode from HBO's Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child featuring the voices of B.D. Wong, George Takei, Joan Chen, and more. This series from the 90s reset classic fairy tales into alternate cultural settings, although for Aladdin they kept the Chinese setting from the original story. We discuss Aladdin as a dreamer instead of just lazy, the combination of the magician and the vizier, using the lamp as a lamp, the lack of actual wishing involved, the movie Holes, and much more!
2022-07-0631 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 83: The 12 Dancing Princesses Wrap Up & Intro to AladdinIt's time to dance our way out of June's story and make a wish to start July's story: Aladdin! Drew and Cassie wrap up our final thoughts on The 12 Dancing Princesses, and Drew shares some thoughts on the reasons he doesn't care for the original story while Cassie helps sort through these ideas. As we discuss our own ideas for how we would retell the tale, Drew connects The 12 Dancing Princesses to a different, perhaps more beloved, story, and Cassie goes into detail about "Deliverance," her version of the story that she's been hinting to throughout the month. Then...
2022-07-031h 01Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 82: Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses (2006)"I could dance forever and ever and ever."In our final week of The 12 Dancing Princesses Month, Drew and Cassie are joined by Drew's sister, Daurie, to discuss perhaps the world's most popular retelling of the story, the 2006 film Barbie in The 12 Dancing Princesses. Barbie plays the role of Genevieve, the 7th of 12 sisters whose father decides they must learn to be "proper princesses." When their instructor begins to suck all of the joy out of their lives, the 12 princesses find a magic portal to a secret world where they can dance to their hearts' content. We...
2022-06-2956 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 81: House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig“Nights like this were meant to be shared, remembered, and talked about for years."The 12 Dancing Princesses Month continues as Drew and Cassie take a look at the popular 2019 YA novel House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig. This book follows Annaleigh Thaumas, the sixth of twelve sisters, who lives a sheltered life at her family's stronghold in Highmoor. The four eldest Thaumas daughters have died over the last few years, and rumors are spreading that the family is cursed. As Annaleigh's remaining sisters begin to sneak out every night to attend glittering ba...
2022-06-2248 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 79: Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George“She was, surprisingly, an exquisite dancer." We journey into Week 2 of The 12 Dancing Princesses Month with one of Cassie's favorite fairy tale retellings of all time, Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George. Cassie loves this book and was pretty anxious to hear what Drew's opinion would be after reading it for the first time! Set in the fictional kingdom of Westfalin, this YA novel from 2009 remains faithful to the original story while digging deeper to answer the many questions the fairy tale raises. Galen is a young soldier returning from war and Ro...
2022-06-081h 05Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 77: The Frog Prince Wrap Up & Intro to The 12 Dancing PrincessesIt's time to let one story croak and dance into a new tale: The 12 Dancing Princesses! But first, Drew and Cassie wrap up their final thoughts on The Frog Prince. We acknowledge some of the similarities between this month's books and movies, we read a listener email about Iron Henry, and we discuss our thoughts on how we would adapt the story. Then we move on to our next fairy tale! We talk through the plot of The 12 Dancing Princesses, then we reveal our criteria and which books and movies we'll be looking at throughout the month of June!
2022-05-2949 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 75: Water Song by Suzanne WeynIn our third week discussing The Frog Prince, Drew and Cassie are looking at Water Song by Suzanne Weyn, the 10th book in the Once Upon A Time YA series from the early 2000s. This book sets the story during World War I and follows Emma, a British socialite who has found herself isolated in her family's mansion along the warfront in Belgium. A soldier named Jack seeks refuge from a gas attack in Emma's well, and soon the two find themselves confined to the house by German soldiers. They must fake a marriage as they also...
2022-05-1843 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 74: Transformed: The Perils of the Frog Prince by Megan Morrison"Lose yourself to be found. Transform to be transformed." Drew and Cassie are revisiting their favorite fairy tale series, the Tyme novels by Megan Morrison! The third book, Transformed: The Perils of the Frog Prince, follows Prince Syrah of the Olive Isles, an arrogant young man who makes a wish that backfires and turns him into a frog! A sudden, deadly plague descends upon the people of Yellow Country, and as a small creature, Syrah finds himself privy to a lot of crucial and private information. He soon finds himself playing detective, trying to discover t...
2022-05-111h 04Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 72: The Wizard of Oz Wrap Up & Intro to The Frog PrinceIt's time to tap our heels together three times to leave Oz behind and splash our way into a new fairy tale: The Frog Prince! Drew and Cassie wrap up their final thoughts on The Wizard of Oz, including discussing why adapting Oz seems to elude authors and reading an email from a listener explaining a gap in our knowledge about The Wiz. Before we leave the Yellow Brick Road behind, as we do every month, we discuss our own ideas about how we would retell Oz (although, of course, Cassie already has)! Then it's time to move on...
2022-05-0151 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 71: Wicked by Gregory Maguire, Winnie Holzman, and Stephen Schwartz"Are people born wicked? Or is wickedness thrust upon them?" We're nearing the end of the Yellow Brick Road! For our final week in The Wizard of Oz Month, Drew and Cassie discuss Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire as well as the 2003 Broadway musical adaptation with a book by Winnie Holzman and music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, originally starring Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth. Wicked follows the story of Elphaba, a young woman who was born in the land of Oz with g...
2022-04-272h 19Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 70: The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005)"There's only room for one diva in Oz, and that is MOI!" Drew and Cassie are here to discussing the third Oz adaptation of the month, the 2005 TV film The Muppets' Wizard of Oz starring Ashanti, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie Bear, Pepe the King Prawn, and many more Muppets and humans alike! This particular adaptation begins in a modern-day Kansas, where Dorothy dreams of becoming a big star by joining the Muppets Tour. When the tornado drops Dorothy in Oz, she finds herself in a land entirely inhabited by Muppets - even h...
2022-04-2044 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 68: The Wizard of Oz (1939)"Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" We are starting The Wizard of Oz Month with the classic 1939 film starring Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Billie Burke, Frank Morgan, and Margaret Hamilton. Drew and Cassie start by revisiting their personal connections to this nostalgic musical film before talking through the plot that has been majorly streamlined from L. Frank Baum's original novel. We talk through many of the smart and fun changes the movie makes, like expanding the Kansas scene and swapping out the silver shoes for ruby slippers. We t...
2022-04-061h 22Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 66: Disney's Peter Pan (1954)“When there's a smile in your heart, there's no better time to start…” It's Disney week! We're talking about Disney's 1953 animated classic version of Peter Pan, featuring the voices of Bobby Driscoll, Hans Conried, and Kathryn Beaumont. Drew grew up on this movie and, unsurprisingly, it holds a special place in his heart. Cassie, on the other hand... is not a fan. It was a long journey for the Disney company to figure out how they were going to retell J. M. Barrie's play and novel, so we discuss some of the history behind the movie...
2022-03-231h 26Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 64: Peter Pan (2003)"I do believe in fairies! I do! I do!" Drew and Cassie are here to gush over the 2003 film adaptation of Peter Pan starring Jeremy Sumpter, Jason Isaacs, and Rachel Hurd-Wood! This film knows that Wendy is the protagonist and focuses on the underlying romantic tensions between Peter and Wendy in some beautiful and unique ways. We talk about the movie's incredible soundtrack, a generation's crush on Jeremy Sumpter, adaptation vs. retelling, Barrie's vision for a film version of Peter Pan, the many wonderful performances from the three leads as well as Carsen Gray, Ludivine S...
2022-03-091h 44Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 63: Peter Pan (1954, 2000)"Just think of lovely things, and your heart will fly on wings..." Drew and Cassie are joined by Leah from YA Book Chat to discuss the 1954 musical version of Peter Pan! With music and lyrics by Jule Styne, Mark Charlap, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Carolyn Leigh, the original Broadway production starred Mary Martin as Peter Pan and Cyril Ritchard as Captain Hook. An adaptation of this production was televised in 1955, 1956, and 1960. Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby would eventually claim the role of Peter, and famously played the role on stage for over four decades. For t...
2022-03-021h 48Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 62: Alice in Wonderland Wrap Up & Intro to Peter PanIt's time to leave the rabbit hole behind and fly off to Neverland! Drew and Cassie give their final thoughts on Alice in Wonderland and its place in history before moving on to our next story, Peter Pan by Sir J. M. Barrie. This is by far the longest and most complex story we've looked at so far, so we work our way through the story's plot, along the way discussing Barrie's unique writing style, Peter as the embodiment of childhood, the rich details of the novel, the parallels between Captain Hook and Mr. Darling, the intentionality of symbolism...
2022-02-271h 38Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 61: Disney and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (1951, 2010)"I give myself very good advice... but I very seldom follow it." Drew and Cassie are joined by Drew's sister-in-law, Emily, for our final week talking about Alice's Adventures in Wonderland! First, we talk through the 1951 animated film, then we take a look at the 2010 live action reboot directed by Tim Burton, starring Mia Wasikowsa, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Anne Hathaway. We discuss the universal inclusion of the Tweedles in Wonderland, the cut song "Beneath the Laughing Sky," the new character of the Doorknob, the Disneyfication of The Walrus and the C...
2022-02-231h 34Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 60: Heartless by Marissa Meyer"Off with their heads!" For this week's special Valentine's episode, we are looking at Heartless by Marissa Meyer! Drew and Cassie are joined by Bethanie A. Finger from Prince Kai Fan Pod, the Marissa Meyer Book Club Podcast to discuss this 2016 YA prequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Heartless follows Catherine, a young woman who wants to open the finest bakery in Wonderland, but is being held back by her duty to her family as well as an impending -and unwanted - engagement to the King of Hearts. When Cath encounters Jest, the han...
2022-02-161h 42Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 59: Alice in Wonderland (1999)"When I used to read about fairy tales, I never thought I would end up in the middle of one." For our second week of Alice in Wonderland Month, Drew and Cassie are taking a look at the 1999 TV film starring Tina Majorino, Whoopi Goldberg, Miranda Richardson, Martin Short, Ben Kingsley, Gene Wilder, and many, many more. This adaptation of the Alice story sticks very faithfully to the original Lewis Carroll book, but also adds a few Looking-Glass characters and introduces a lovely framework that gives meaning to Alice's journey. We discuss the movie's strange u...
2022-02-0939 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 58: Alice (2009)"Believe it or not, we are in your head!" Things are getting curiouser and curiouser as we begin our Alice in Wonderland month! In this episode, Drew and Cassie discuss Alice, the 2009 TV min-series from Showcase and Syfy starring Caterina Scorsone, Kathy Bates, Andrew Lee-Potts, Matt Frewer, Colm Meany, Philip Winchester, and Tim Curry. This Alice is a contemporary judo instructor, and her Wonderland is reimagined as a dystopia injected with elements of sci-fi and fantasy. Alice finds herself wrapped up in plot to take down the Queen of Hearts, who has been kidnapping people f...
2022-02-021h 13Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 57: The Snow Queen Wrap Up & Intro to Alice in WonderlandIt's time to let the snow melt away and head down the rabbit hole - and through the looking glass, too! Drew and Cassie are back from hiatus to give their final thoughts on The Snow Queen and, as always, talk about our ideas for how we would retell the tale. Then we begin our discussion on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. Cassie gives us a fascinating glimpse into the importance of Carroll's works in the history of children's literature before we discuss our opinions on the original Alice books. Then we...
2022-01-261h 00Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 56: Disney's Frozen (2013)"The lack of resemblance to The Snow Queen never bothered me anyway." Look, we like Frozen. But is it a retelling of The Snow Queen? Drew and Cassie are here to sort it all out! Disney's 2013 animated film tells the tale of Elsa, a princess who is about to be crowned queen, but is also grappling with hiding her secret magic powers of ice and snow. These secret powers have estranged Elsa from her sister, Anna. But when Elsa's powers come to light, she flees, and Anna must journey up the North Mountain to try t...
2021-12-291h 36Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 54: Robbergirl by ST Gibson"Loving something doesn't mean that you own it." It's a very special episode!! For the first time in six and a half years, Drew and Cassie were together in-person, and we got to record this episode sitting at the same table in the same room! This week we're talking about our third adaptation of The Snow Queen, Robbergirl by ST Gibson. This retelling is unique in a couple ways, primarily because it shifts perspective to that of the robbergirl, here named Helvig. When Helvig and her band find a young woman named Gerda in the f...
2021-12-1543 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 53: Hallmark’s Snow Queen (2002)"If you wake me up during the summer, I'll make you suffer." This week, Drew and Cassie are joined again by Cassie's brother, Matt, to talk about Snow Queen, the 2002 Hallmark mini-series starring Bridget Fonda, Chelsea Hobbs, and Jeremy Guilbaut. This version recasts Gerda and Kai as young adults who fall in love when Kai is hired to work at Gerda's father's hotel. Their romance is interrupted by the arrival of the Snow Queen, who spirits Kai away to force him to piece together a magic mirror, sending Gerda on a journey through the domains o...
2021-12-081h 27Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 51: Into the Woods Wrap Up & Intro to The Snow QueenIt's time to let the curtain fall on Into the Woods and start to get icy! We start off by working through some final thoughts on Into the Woods, including discussion of the musical's ultimate message, our feelings on design concepts of the show, and a few extra personal experiences we forgot to mention. This all culminates in our assignment for the month: fancasting our dream versions of Into the Woods - you won't want to miss our legendary ideas for who should play the Witch, Cassie's clever casting for the stepsisters, or Drew's choice for Granny/Cinderella's Mother...
2021-11-2858 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 50: Into the Woods - The CriteriaIt's our 50th episode! We're here to “stop and take stock,” just like Cinderella did while standing there stuck on the steps of the palace. In this next episode about the 1987 musical Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, Drew and Cassie take a look back. As part of our podcast's premise, we traditionally set criteria each month in order to compare the various fairy tale retellings. Since Into the Woods includes four separate fairy tales, we pulled the criteria from the our previous months covering Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, and Jack and the...
2021-11-2442 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 49: Adapting Into the Woods - Disney, Broadway Junior, and Hudson Talbott"People make mistakes. Fathers, mothers, people make mistakes…" Our journey through Into the Woods continues! This week, Drew and Cassie look at how Into the Woods has been adapted in a few different ways. First we break down the 2014 film starring Meryl Streep, James Corden, Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick, and Chris Pine. We discuss the adaptations between mediums in general, Disney's changes to the Narrator and the Mysterious Man, the changes to important songs like On the Steps of the Palace, giving away plot twists too early, Johnny Depp as the Wolf, the bri...
2021-11-171h 59Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 48: Into the Woods - Act II"Once upon a time... later..." This week, Drew and Cassie are joined by Cassie's brother, Matthew, to explore the deconstruction of fairy tales in Act II of Into the Woods. In Act I, the Baker and his Wife collected the cow as white as milk, the cape as red blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold. They successfully lifted the curse on their house and now they have a baby, as they've wished for so long. Now, they are living "happily ever after," as are Cinderella, Jack, Little R...
2021-11-102h 15Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 47: Into the Woods - Act I"Do you know what you wish? Are you certain what you wish it what you want?" Have we said "we're excited" enough yet? Probably, but we're going to say it approximately fifty more times. Drew and Cassie are joined by Drew's sister, Daurie, to work our way through the complexities of Act I of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Into the Woods. This 1987 musical tells the tale of a Baker and his Wife who learn that their next-door neighbor, a Witch, was once wronged by the Baker's father and so she placed a spell on t...
2021-11-032h 09Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 46: Jack and the Beanstalk Wrap Up & Intro to Into the WoodsThis month we're mixing it up! Rather than focusing on various retellings of a specific tale like we usually we do, we're spending the entire month of November on just one retelling! In this episode, we start by wrapping up our final thoughts on Jack and the Beanstalk by recapping some of the recurring ideas that we found throughout the various retellings we looked at in October. We also discuss how Cassie and Drew would each retell Jack and the Beanstalk - and Drew comes up with his on the spot. Then we finally start our journey into the...
2021-10-3149 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 45: Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story (2001)"All the wealth, all the power, everything we have springs from the greed of your ancestor." In the final week of Jack and the Beanstalk month, Drew and Cassie discuss Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story. This retelling is a 3-episode mini-series from Hallmark that aired in 2001 and features an all-star cast that includes Matthew Modine, Jon Voight, Mia Sara, Vanessa Redgrave, Richard Attenborough, JJ Feild, Jonathan Hyde, and Daryl Hannah. Modine plays Jack Robinson, a wealthy man living in contemporary New York City who soon learns that he is the last descendant of the Jack f...
2021-10-271h 11Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 44: The World Above by Cameron DokeyAll right, friends, this is a fun one. Drew and Cassie are here to duke it out over a disagreement that has lasted many years! This week's retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk is The World Above by Cameron Dokey. This is the last book in the Once Upon A Time book series, which ran from 2002-2010 and retold various fairy tales as written by different authors. Cameron Dokey's take on the Jack tale focuses less on Jack and more on his sister, Gen, who goes on her own adventure. This version is based on the tale as written b...
2021-10-2053 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 43: Crazy Jack by Donna Jo NapoliThis week, we return to one of the queens of fairy tale retellings, Donna Jo Napoli. Her reimagining of the Jack and the Beanstalk tale, Crazy Jack, came out in 1999 and focuses on a Jack who is dealing with the trauma of losing his father. When a handful of beans provide a possible clue to his father's disappearance seven years ago, Jack can't stop himself from chasing the truth. Drew and Cassie discuss the romanticization of farming, the introduction of women in Jack retellings, our general opinions of Napoli books, the hazy presence of magic, rainbows, and...
2021-10-1350 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 42: Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)"Fee, fi, fo, fum, Ask not whence the thunder comes For between heaven and earth is a perilous place Home to a fearsome giant race." For our first week of Jack and the Beanstalk Month, Drew and Cassie are here to talk about Jack the Giant Slayer! This 2013 film has an all-star cast including Nicholas Holt, Eleanor Tomlinson, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane, and Bill Nighy. Along the way, we discuss beanstalk violence, Sisters of the Never Sea, fear of heights, fear of depths, the portrayal of royalty in fairy tale retellings, the...
2021-10-061h 07Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 41: Little Red Riding Hood Wrap Up & Intro to Jack and the BeanstalkIt's time to let Little Red skip off into the woods and climb into the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk! Drew and Cassie give their final thoughts on Little Red Riding Hood, including how they have interpreted the story in their own writing. Then we work our way through an examination of October's tale, Jack and the Beanstalk. Plus, we reveal the criteria for Jack and which retellings we'll be watching and reading! Join our community! View all of the benefits of joining our Patreon including the Official Of Slippers and Spindles Book Club, e...
2021-10-0353 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 40: Hoodwinked (2005)"What big ears you have!" "All the better to hear your many criticisms with." It's episode 40! Drew and Cassie are here to talk about this week's retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, Hoodwinked! We discuss this movie's shockingly star-studded including Anne Hathaway, Glenn Close, Patrick Warburton, Jim Belushi, David Ogden Stiers, and Andy Dick. We take a look at the way the movie plays with its non-traditional storytelling format and unique take on each of the Little Red character tropes. Plus, we reveal which fairy tale we will be discussing in October! J...
2021-09-2943 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 39: Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge"Whatever creature you turn into, whatever form you take, I won't let go of you." In our third week of Little Red Riding Hood Month, Drew and Cassie discuss Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge. We once again find ourselves asking the question, "What does it take to count a book or movie as a true adaptation?" This novel, purported to be "inspired by" the story of Little Red, focuses on Rachelle, a young woman who finds herself struggling to save her world while also trapped in a classic YA love triangle. We discuss our strong f...
2021-09-2243 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 36: Intro to Little Red Riding HoodWe're back! After our hiatus, Drew and Cassie return to the podcast full time! September's fairy tale is Little Red Riding Hood, so we discuss the history of the tale and break down some of the major differences between the most well-known versions as recorded by Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm. If it's been a while since you've read them, you may be surprised at the endings to these stories! We also detail our criteria for the retellings and reveal which film and book adaptations of Little Red we will be looking at this month! Plus we've got p...
2021-09-0142 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 35: Snow White Wrap Up & Life UpdateWe're not fully back, but we're briefly back! Since we've been on hiatus since February, Drew and Cassie give an update on how our lives have changed over the past few months, and then we give our final thoughts on the retellings of Snow White we looked at so long ago. We discuss Disney's influence on the tale's prevalence in our culture, thoughts on some adaptations we didn't discuss in February, Cassie issues an important apology, and as always, we share our ideas on how we would like to retell Snow White! Join our community! View all o...
2021-07-2138 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 34: Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)"Some day my prince will come..." Well, today is "some day" and this episode is your prince! We recorded this episode back in February, and extenuating circumstances delayed it's release, but it's finally here! You can enjoy Drew and Cassie's debate once again as we disagree on Snow White's personality but agree that the sequence where the Evil Queen rushing down the stairs with her cape billowing is excellent. In addition to the 1937 animated film, we also discuss the stage adaptation that was produced for the MUNY in St. Louis and then filmed at Radio C...
2021-07-071h 31Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreAn Important AnnouncementOf Slippers and Spindles is taking an indefinite hiatus while Drew deals with some health issues. We hope to be back with you soon.
2021-02-2401 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 33: Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust"If the love you for anything, it will be your beauty." In the third week of our Snow White Month, Drew and Cassie are here to discuss Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust. This 2017 novel switches perspectives between two characters: Mina, who learns that her magician father replaced her true heart with a heart of glass and eventually ascends to the role of queen in a kingdom of eternal winter, and Lynet, her stepdaughter, who is shocked to learn that she is a clone of her father's dead wife, created by the same magician u...
2021-02-1754 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 32: Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)"Lips red as blood, hair black as night, bring me your heart, my dear, dear Snow White." This week, Drew and Cassie are joined by Maggie and V from the I Met You On LJ podcast to talk about the 2012 film Snow White and the Huntsman starring Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, and Chris Hemsworth! We discuss the film's strengths and weaknesses, world-building, bird imagery, Jupiter Ascending, the miscasting of the dwarfs, Countess Erzsébet Báthory, women in power through history, map hopping, The Matrix, a breakdown of Snow White's big speech, the twist on th...
2021-02-101h 59Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 29: Disney's The Little Mermaid (1989)"Watch and you'll see, someday I'll be part of your world!" It's Disney week, and Drew and Cassie are here to battle it out! We break down the story, characters, music, and more of Disney's 1989 animated film, and explore further into changes made for the 2008 stage adaptation. We discuss the incorporation of Broadway-style storytelling, Triton as a father figure, Disney characters with Shakespearean names, updates to Ursula and Eric's characters for the stage musical, the Little Mermaid Extended Universe, Disney sequels, theme parks, dinglehoppers, and who is more annoying: Scuttle, Olaf, or Jaq...
2021-01-271h 56Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 25: Beauty and the Beast Wrap Up & Intro to The Little MermaidIt's time to close the book on Beauty and the Beast and dive into The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen! We first discuss our main takeaways from Beauty and the Beast and how we would like to retell it as writers ourselves. Then we break down the original story of The Little Mermaid, including discussion of birthday buddies, the tale's true ending, the time Drew played the Prince, Cassie's pattern of twisting her ankle on Wednesdays, and the beginnings of what is sure to be a month-long debate about the nature of the Sea Witch. Plus find out...
2021-01-031h 02Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 24: Disney's Beauty and the Beast (2017), Part 2"Now I know she'll never leave me, even as she runs away..." We're back for Part 2! In the second helping of our conversation about Disney's Beauty and the Beast, we break down the 2017 live action reboot, the movie's presence in the theme parks, and our adaptation criteria. This time we talk about changes both big and small, character revisions, the yellow dress, the novelization, French characters who speak with British accents and apparently don't know French, object design, Gaston stomping cabbages, new curse specs, the mistakes made with the revision of Lefou, symbolic choreography, Evermore v...
2021-01-011h 23Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 19: Beauty by Robin McKinley"He cannot be so bad if he loves roses so much." Beauty by Robin McKinley is one of the first modern fairy tale retellings as we know them today, so there's no better way to start our Beauty and the Beast Month! Truly, this novel helped shape the genre that this podcast is all about. Drew's friend, Laura, joins us to talk about this formative adaptation of one of her favorite tales! Along the way we discuss the importance of names in this novel, the strength of Beauty's characterization, and much more. Plus, we drool o...
2020-12-021h 25Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 18: Rapunzel Wrap Up & Intro to Beauty and the BeastIt's time to say goodbye to Rapunzel for now and hello to Beauty and the Beast! Drew and Cassie give their final thoughts on the adaptations of Rapunzel we looked at this month and as always, offer some ideas on how we would retell this story ourselves. Then we jump right into the history of Beauty and the Beast and summarize the fairy tale as we know it today, offering plenty of commentary on the way. We also reveal the five adaptations of Beauty and the Beast we will be exploring throughout the month of December! Join o...
2020-11-2959 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 17: Disney's Tangled (2010)"Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine..."We are joined again by Drew's sister, Daurie, to talk about her favorite movie, Tangled! We discuss the Disneyfication of the Rapunzel tale, Cassie's out-of-the-box first time watching this movie, Daurie's friend who had to ban the movie from her house, real-life lantern launches, Percy Jackson, 20th Century Fox's Anastasia, anonymous penpal stories, and so much more. Plus, we reveal the fairy tale we will be discussing in December! Join our community! View all of the benefits of joining our Patreon including the O...
2020-11-251h 27Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 16: Zel by Donna Jo NapoliIn the third week of Rapunzel Month, we head into the Swiss Alps in the 1500s to discuss Zel by Donna Jo Napoli. This literary retelling of the tale dives into the psychology of not just Rapunzel but also the prince and witch characters by alternating perspectives through its text. This novel was fascinating to cover, because it was one of the first fairy tale retellings for both Cassie and Drew! Plus this week you'll experience Drew coming up with a conspiracy theory about a goose, and you'll hear the tragic tale of Cassie's elementary school first l...
2020-11-181h 00Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 14: Grounded: The Adventures of Rapunzel by Megan Morrison"'Look around you as you as you travel,' she said. 'Listen and be willing to hear. Because the Redlands itself is at steak, prisoner child, and when it is threatened, so is Tyme.'" We launch Rapunzel Month with an exploration of the first book in the Tyme series, Grounded: The Adventures of Rapunzel by Megan Morrison. Rapunzel meets Jack the Beanstalker in this remarkably creative retelling full of magic, fairies, witches, giants, adventures, kidnappings, reunions, redemption, incredible world-building, complex relationships, and a jack tournament. Cassie and Drew spend the hour gushing over their l...
2020-11-041h 07Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 12: Disney's Sleeping Beauty & Maleficent"They say if you dream a thing more than once, it's sure to come true." In the final week of Sleeping Beauty Month, Drew and Cassie explore two adaptations of the fairy tale from the Walt Disney Company. First up is the 1959 animated feature, including discussion of the fairies as the true leads and the pronunciation of the word "homage." Then we examine Maleficent, the 2014 live action reimagining of the original film starring Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning, which differs in major ways and delves into some deeper themes and concepts. And at...
2020-10-281h 18Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 10: Spindle's End by Robin McKinley"We may not like it, but we need human friends, because we have human enemies whether we will or nay." After a struggle spanning multiple decades, Cassie has finally managed to swindle Drew into reading Spindle's End by Robin McKinley. As we continue on into the second week of Sleeping Beauty Month, we discuss the clever ways in which McKinley breathes life into this tale while simultaneously twisting and maintaining the story's origins. We discuss the book's relationship dynamics, the permeation of magic through the story, and much more, plus Cassie sheds light on the n...
2020-10-141h 28Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 9: Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: Sleeping Beauty (1983)"Do I dare to awake you to reality?" This week, Drew and Cassie themselves break down as they break down the Sleeping Beauty episode of Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre. This television episode from 1983 features an all-star cast, including Bernadette Peters, Christopher Reeve, and Carol Kane, but oh boy, does this script go off the rails! Cassie has to lead Drew through several portions of this one because he has no idea what's going on. We discuss virtuous characters in a script full of inappropriate jokes, a character named Squire Tuck, a villain who is d...
2020-10-0752 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 8: Cinderella Wrap Up & Intro to Sleeping BeautyWe're fleeing from the ball and heading into a tower wrapped in thorns! In the first-ever monthly Sunday Bonus Episode, Drew and Cassie conclude Cinderella Month with final thoughts and observations, and Drew confesses his first and only missed stage entrance which just so happened to be in a play that brought together multiple versions of Cinderella from across different cultures. Before we leave Cinderella behind, we each talk about versions of Cinderella that we have written ourselves! Then, we launch Sleeping Beauty Month by tracking its history through the Italian, French, and German reincarnations of the...
2020-10-0450 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 7: Disney's Cinderella (1950, 2015)"A dream is a wish your heart makes..." In the final week of Cinderella Month, Drew and Cassie discuss Disney's versions of Cinderella! First we talk about the 1950 animated feature and its two sequels, and in the second half we gush over the incredible live action reboot from 2015 starring Lily James and Cate Blanchett. Then we go on to talk about Cinderella's presence in the Disney theme parks, and even more! We find cinematic parallels, break down important and poignant moments, and admired Richard Madden's alarmingly blue eyes. Perhaps most importantly, Drew reveals a surprising c...
2020-09-301h 48Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 6: Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998)"A bird may love a fish, seniore, but where would they live?" Cinderella Month continues as Drew and Cassie discuss the 1998 blockbuster Ever After, starring Drew Barrymore and Anjelica Huston. This week, we discuss how this film brilliantly addresses the plot transgressions of the original fairy tale as it gives its Cinderella new agency, develops a narrative for the prince, breathes life into the stepmother's motivations, and casts the one and only historical Leonardo da Vinci in the role of the fairy godmother. Plus, you can enjoy our complaints of historical inaccuracy in Hollywood!
2020-09-231h 13Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 5: Cinder by Marissa Meyer"She was a cyborg, and she would never go to a ball." Cyborgs and androids and Roombas, oh my! What happens when you replace the famous glass slipper with a robotic foot? Cinderella Month continues as Drew and Cassie discuss the first book in The Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder by Marissa Meyer. We talk about the ways in which this retelling takes the tale back to its Chinese roots while also projecting forward into the sci-fi future, the clever dynamics and parallels between this Cinderella and her prince, our favorite nods to the French version o...
2020-09-1649 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 4: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella"Impossible things are happening every day!" In the second week of Cinderella Month, Cassie and Drew are joined by Drew's sister, Daurie, to talk about the musical adaptation of the fairy tale by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. We examine the ways this classic musical has evolved the years, from Julie Andrews's performance to Brandy Norwood's and more. Hear about the choices Cassie made as a fairy tale enthusiast when she directed the show, Daurie's experience playing Queen Constantina, and how the stepsisters traumatized Drew as a child! Join our community! View al...
2020-09-091h 14Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 3: Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine"'My gift is obedience. Ella will always be obedient. Now stop crying, child.' I stopped.” Cassie and Drew break down the first retelling of Cinderella Month as we gush over the novel Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine and critique the infamous movie adaptation starring Anne Hathaway and Hugh Dancy. Is the novel the best Cinderella adaptation of all time? Is the movie version even a Cinderella retelling? Plus, which Shrek character does Heidi Klum parallel as Brumihlda the Giant? Join our community! View all of the benefits of joining our Patr...
2020-09-0357 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 2: Intro to CinderellaThey say a pair of shoes can save your life, just ask Cinderella... or Cendrillon... or Aschenputtel or Cinder-Maid or Rhodopis or Ye Xian or Tam or Cenerentola or any of the many heroines dating as far back as the first century A.D. who fit the profile of the young woman who rises above her station thanks to the loss of a piece of footwear. Drew and Cassie kick off Cinderella month by discussing the basic elements of this classic tale, comparing the differences of the two most popular versions, and revealing which book and film...
2020-08-2742 minOf Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and TheatreEp. 1: Once Upon A TimeIn Of Slipper and Spindle's inaugural episode, Drew and Cassie discuss the origins of their friendship, their introductions to fairy tale retellings, and the reasons they love fairy tales so much! Along the way, they also reveal their favorite fairy tales, explore what exactly is the difference between myths, legends, fables, folk tales, and fairy tales, and set up the mission and future format of this podcast! Join our community! View all of the benefits of joining our Patreon including the Official Of Slippers and Spindles Book Club, exclusive polls, monthly bookmarks, Zo...
2020-08-2638 min
Second ChancesNancy Linehan Charles Erupts, Interrupts, and Disturbs the PeaceNancy Linehan Charles is a fireball of funny bravery with a resume that rocks. In her 40's, she drank unstoppably and got sober after realizing that she was screwing up her life. She's been sober now for 32 years. At age 49, she came to Hollywood. She has appeared in more than 70 films and television programs as well as stage productions. At age 71, she was arrested for doing Shakespeare in the street and refusing to leave. Six months ago, she had a Shakespeare line tattooed on her body. At age 75, she jumped out of an airplane. Along the way, Nancy learned t...
2018-02-251h 02