There have recently been a bunch of ultraviolent makeovers of classic children’s stories. Some are schlocky horror fun. And some are just dreadful. Pinocchio Unstrung looks like promisingly gory twist on Carlo Collodi’s already scary tale, while THE BRIDE! was a painfully bad attempt to update Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
230 – Every Literary Reference in Star Trek VI
Star Trek VI is *so* loaded with literary references that I had to divide my thoughts into two parts. I previously talked about the Shakespeare references in the play, but this time I’ll do a speedrun through ALL of the literary references in this film — and there are a lot! See if you can guess the one I missed, though.
229 – Let’s Read Inappropriate Nursery Rhymes
When researching the first published books of nursery rhymes, I found some hilariously inappropriate entries. Well, by modern standards, anyway. Please enjoy these silly, violent, and scatalogical poems. If you share them with your kids, don’t say I didn’t warn you if you find yourself in the principal’s office getting told off.
If you’d like to watch the full livestream including listener comments, you can find that here:
228 – Star Trek VI is a Shakespeare Play!
This episode comes from my recent livestream about Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and its Shakespearean influences.
The plot is a real-time metaphor for the end of the Cold War, highlighting larger-than-life personalities and critical historical moments in a way that Shakespeare did when writing his history plays. Klingon costumes are based on Elizabethan fashions, telling viewers exactly who each character is using only clothing. And the famous dinner scene both honors the original meaning of Hamlet and recontextualizes it in fascinating ways.
227 – Fireside Fairy Tale: Vaselesa the Beautiful
Join me by the fireside to hear the story known as the “Russian Cinderella,” which is funny and strange . . . and has the most unusual fairy godmother I’ve ever heard of.
This translation of the Russian fairy tale “Vaselesa the Beautiful” was done by Edith M. S. Hodgetts. Mrs. Hodgetts was born in Russia, though I could not discover the year. As a teen or young adult she moved to England, where she died in 1902. Her most famous book was Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar (1890), and the first story in it is “Vaselesa the Beautiful,” in which the Russian Cinderella meets Baba Yaga in the woods, is given the world’s most unusual flashlight, and manages to beat the odds with her especially helpful doll.
Other translations will spell the main character’s name as “Vasilisa” or render the title as “Vaselesa the Fair.” These are translator’s choices. I have preserved the original spelling and punctuation from Mrs. Hodgetts’ book so you can see how she wrote her version.
226 – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a Shakespearean Epic
Star Trek is what first introduced me to Shakespeare, and I wanted to visit the most Shakespearean of all Star Trek productions, which is Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
This film is Shakespearean in its structure, characters, plot, and themes, and can be a great way to introduce kids to some truly epic literature.
This episode is a trimmed down version of a livestreamed episode that I did. If you want the full version of that with live chat comments, you can watch that here:
225 – I Hate Wuthering Heights
If you like Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, that’s fine. Just keep it far away from me, because I DON’T BRONTË. If you also don’t Brontë, you can get yourself a Wayne’s World style wall plaque from my Teespring Store:
I also share my latest Fireside Fairy Tale, which is my own contribution to the Little Red Riding Hood Tradition. Please enjoy “Little Red Head: A Hillbilly Fairy Tale.”
Please Let the He-Man Movie Be Good
Only fellow 80’s kids can understand the potential this film has to make our dreams come true or break our hearts. This is such a big deal that I felt it warranted appropriate attire — the She-Ra costume I made for last Halloween. (My youngest kid asked me why I was dressed as Angel Head Superman. Sigh.)
224 – Fireside Fairy Tale: Grimm’s Little Red Riding Hood
Join me on a pleasantly mild winter evening to toast a marshmallow and share my translation of “Rödkappchen,” or “Little Red Cap,” the German version of Little Red Riding Hood as collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in Kinder- und Hausmärchen, their 1812 collection of fairy tales.
This version is interesting because it has an alternate ending, in which you learn not to mess with a German grandma.
You can also get the commentary-free version of this tale on my storytelling channel:
223 – Starfleet Academy is Anti-Star Trek
“What does Star Trek have to do with children’s literature?” you might be asking. Quite a lot. Star Trek introduced me to Shakespeare, and it’s been a franchise that mattered quite a lot to nerdy kids for 60 years now. The new TV series, Starfleet Academy, is aimed at teenagers. It failed to hit the mark, and here is my dorky rant complaining about that.