First, I would like to bring Tolkien into the mix and suggest we read some of his essay " On Fairy Stories". I think we have an idea what we think Fairy Tales are. It's always nice to see what other's have to add. Here is a link to a brief explanation of the essay: http://www.tolkien-online.com/on-fairy-stories.html
Angelbird set out on a quest. A Quest to find the silliest and most utterly ridiculous piece of artistic tomfoolery known to man, woman, child, small animal, and Caterpillar. ( I have heard these are very wise insects and so I am including them in my list of knowing persons. The reader will notice that I have excluded dolls, fairies, nymphs, and smallish magical creatures in this list as trying to find something ridiculous to them is much harder than finding it for the above mentioned characters as I only known a handful of fairies and dolls...well dolls tend to change their minds so often that, when all is said and done, I am not sure I know them very well at all.)
To recap, I am recalling the guidelines through cut and paste that Angelbird so diligently set out:
A Gooseyness Award should be given to anyone or anything who is silly, scatterbrained, or acts in utterly ridiculous manner.
The nominee can be a movie, a book, a character, a picture, a song, etc.
The nominee should be highly entertaining, worth sharing with others.
Fairy-Tale related is a bonus.
After you nominate someone(something)you need to share a description about why they deserve a Gooseyness Award.
If the other person isn't familiar with the nominee, then they should try to read, watch, etc in order to decide yay or nay.
My nominations for the Gooseyness award are as follows:
The Sore Feet Song. I think this song is an excellent contender for the coveted prize of Gooseyness because it is a pretender song-- deceptively serious sounding, the ridiculous lyrics mock the whimsical melody. The irony makes the song ridiculously entertaining.
The next nominee, I think, is a little bit more in line with the fairy tale scheme of things. It's what I would fondly dub " THE ULTIMATE RETELLING OF SNOW WHITE ( and other such tales):
A coming of age tale for a young woman, using all the elements of a fairy tale and playing with the tools of the trade ( magic mirrors are excellent ways to travel through worlds, and magic bean that grants you a surplus of wishes to name a couple), 10th kingdom blossoms in the art of the ridiculous while still telling a very engaging story.
I am very fond of my third nomination as my fiancé introduced it to me. It was a childhood favorite of his and I think, a delightfully captivating story with lighthearted moments. I experienced the animated medium instead of the book medium. Apparently, the animated version was an Oscar nominee!!!!! But the book and illustrations are also captivating in the simplicity. And you are dying to know, aren't you?
http://www.thesnowman.co.uk/home.htm
Raymond Briggs also has a nice website and you can experience the spirit of the book and some of the fabulous music from the animated version. I have included the link for your viewing pleasure.
The final nomination includes two characters from the very quirky book by Martin Millar entitled The Good Fairies of New York: Heather and Morag, two Scottish punk rock band fairies who, after a night of too much Whiskey, wake up to throw up in the apartment of an antisocial, overweight, unpleasant, slob, located in..... New York City. Yes. New York City. Not...Scotland.
What happens there can only end in the bizarre and happy as the fairies try to work good deeds which, inevitably lead to more trouble than good.
A Quirky read. The language is more fun to read than the story. But Heather and Morag take the cake as characters, and certainly are scatterbrained and silly enough for the award. I can't spoil the end, but how much more silly can you be as punk rock band scottish fairies........
I don't know.
Unless you are a punk, rock band...cowboy.
