On Being Your Own Product Placement
Back in November of 2011, I wrote a short post called Once Upon A Very Grimm Time at Echelon Explorations in which I said, of Once Upon A Time, "There seems to be some connection to Disney and Barbie, based on the costumes, characters and commercials."
Well, color me perceptive if uninformed, because OUAT is a Disney production. It is rather amusing to see the Disney Princesses in their Disney Princess dresses, although I'm desolate that Maleficent didn't look a bit like Gloria Swanson and had a cutesy-tootsy unicorn for a pet instead of a massive, fire-breathing dragon.
Hi. I'm scary. And disturbingly hot.
I like the little "Easter eggs", like Dr. Hopper having a Dalmatian named Pongo, but I find the idea of Jiminy Cricket somewhat disconcerting. Now Gaston has come to town. Gaston, or, as my mother says, "A made-up made-up person," meaning a character inserted by Disney as opposed to a character originating in the the fairy tale. I told her I'm waiting for Pocahontas to show up.
Not that I'm complaining. Disney Studios can plug itself in its own production all it wants to, especially when Robert Carlyle is in it. In fact, I do a bit of the same thing, myself, kindasorta.
I have these books, EEL'S REVERENCE (not about eels) and FORCE OF HABIT, and I've written short stories, "Line of Descent" and "By the Book", respectively, set in the same worlds. I have several books in process in the Spadena Street mystery series, and I've written short stories about characters in them.
As Disney knows, why have a platform and then not plug your own product? Er, I mean, it's very hip to be self-referential. Yeah, that's what I meant.
WRITING PROMPT: Outline a story in which characters from two different fairy tales come together.
MA
