The Top 10 Best Alternative Fairy Tale Movies
Tired of Disney Flicks? Check Out these Awesome Alternative Fairy Tale Movies!
I’m starting to feel like Disney is overdoing it a bit these days, which is why I wanted to take some time to appreciate some of the finer alternative fairy tale movies out there. Sure, it’s fun watching classic takes on the big screen, but if you’re a fan of storybook-esque fantasy filled films that capture everything we love about fairy tales, then you won’t be disappointed by the ones I’ve managed to pull together for this week’s top 10 list. The movies on this list feature heroic leads, monsters, evil witches, and much more. Rest assured though that while they might have a lot of elements you love from traditional fairy tale movies, but you won’t find any of them in Disney’s massive library of films. As always, I love hearing your feedback, so be sure to leave a comment below about what your favorite movies are from this list!
10. Legend
Most fairy tale movies center around a hero trying to defeat the forces of darkness. The fact that Legend literally has a villainous character named Darkness (Tim Curry) means that it’s pretty much a no brainer entry for this list of alternative fairy tale movies. The Ridley Scott film features a ton of fantasy elements including goblins, elves, and unicorns (oh my). However, like most fairy tale movies, Legend is about a hero fighting the forces of evil to rescue a princess. The movie plays a lot like the classic fairy tale movies so many of us love, though these days it seems like the princesses are a lot more capable of saving the day in Disney movies. Still, if you’re looking for a film with all the classic elements, Legend checks all the boxes.
9. Ladyhawke
Classic fairy tale movies usually have a knight of some sort that sets off to save a faraway land from a terrible evil. Well, Ladyhawke definitely has one of the best movie knights in it, which helped it earn a spot on this top 10 list. Let me assure you that it’s not just another hack and slash sword and sorcery movie though. Ladyhawke is the tale of two star crossed lovers cursed never to be able to be with each other. By day the princess is trapped in the boy of a hawk and by night her lover is trapped in the body of a wolf, thus the two are destined never to embrace each other again. That is until help arrises from an unlikely place when a rogue decides to help the knight and princess to break their curse and save a kingdom from an evil Bishop.
8. Labyrinth
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t get the cult-like devotion that Labyrinth has developed over the years. Sure, it doesn’t get more 80s than David Bowie, Jim Henson, and George Lucas teaming up to create one of the most bizarre alternative fairy tale movies of all time. Still, I was never exactly mesmerized by the film, but I might have been too distracted by Bowie’s codpiece. Still, the film tells a winding and twisting tale of a girl trying to rescue her baby brother from the Goblin King. If that doesn’t scream fairy tale, then I have no idea what to tell you. After all, the film even starts with her finding a book that bridges the real world with the Goblin King’s realm. Best of all, this is one of those fairy tale movies where the girl gets to be the hero.
7. Stardust
Neil Gaiman is one of the greatest fantasy writers of all time. He’s given us modern classics like American Gods, Sandman, and Coraline (which was made into an incredibly creepy stop motion movie). So it’s little wonder that the adaptation of his novel Stardust managed to earn a spot among these alternative fairy tale movies. The film is filled with fantastical elements from sky pirates to enslaved princesses to evil witches. It even has a reluctant hero who takes it upon himself to help save the damsel in distress. It just so happens that this damsel is actually a fallen star that has taken the form of a beautiful woman. The film has everything you could want from a well-written fairy tale, which is pretty obvious considering Gaiman is such a master at storytelling.
6. The Shape of Water
The Shape of Water made a pretty big splash in 2017 with its tale of love between a woman and a… Gill-man? Hey there have been worse romances forced by Hollywood in the past, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned from fairy tales over the years it’s that love pops up in the most unexpected places. Guillermo del Toro weaves an elegant romance between a mute woman who uses ASL and a classic movie monster trapped by a sadistic G-man. The two outcasts form a beautiful bond that soon blossoms into the kind of romance that I’m sure furries dream of. It might not have an evil witch or princess in need of rescue, but that’s what makes The Shape of Water such a perfect alternative fairy tale movie.