With spinoff content trending right now, we’d love to see secondary characters from our favorite fairy tale films get their own origin story.
This weekend, another Snow White film is released in theatres. However, it doesn’t actually have Snow White in it. The Huntsman: Winter’s War tells the origin story of the Huntsman from the 2012 Snow White adaptation, Snow White and the Huntsman. It features the Huntsman, his wife, and two feuding queen sisters. It does not feature Snow White.
As shocking as that may sound, it actually makes a lot of sense. How many books have you read, or shows and movies you’ve watched, where you like a supporting character more than the principal character? Probably most of the time. It’s true that sometimes the secondary characters work better with less screen time and development, but there are some we can’t help but want to see more of. Here are six fairy tale origin stories we’re wishing upon a genie and trading our unborn children for in the hopes they’ll come true!
The Chronicles of Narnia
Spanning seven books, there are plenty of characters whose stories we get to see from beginning to end. A character whose origin we don’t get to see, however, is the White Witch, aka Jadis. For those who have read the books, you’ll know that The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is not the first time we see the White Witch. Part of her origin takes place in The Magician’s Nephew, where we see how she came to be in Narnia. But there’s much more to her story.
As told to Polly and Digory in The Magician’s Nephew, Jadis has a colored past that would lend itself perfectly to a movie adaptation. Born into royalty with magical abilities, Jadis begins to practice dark magic which eventually leads to a power struggle between her and her sister. This struggle turned into a war that culminated with Jadis destroying the world.
Villain leads are a popular trend in film and television right now, and it would be awesome to see a film centered around Jadis’ life, to see her childhood, and ultimate descend into evil, ending with the total destruction of the world. Not a typical way to end a film, is it?
‘Frozen’
“How could you have Frozen without Anna or Elsa!?” Shhh, let me explain. I have four words for you. Child Kristoff. Calf Sven. It’d be cuteness overload.
Haven’t you wondered how Kristoff ended up with the harvesters, and why he was eventually raised by the trolls? What happened to his parents? How did he meet Sven? Where did Sven even come from, and where is his family?
There’s potential here for a classic Disney tragic opening, showing the death of Sven’s parents by hunters wanting their fur and antlers. You could even make it a double, with Kristoff’s parents death by drowning, having fallen through the ice when harvesting, or perhaps being buried in an avalanche.
‘Alice in Wonderland’
A plethora of characters inhabit Wonderland, so there’s lots to choose from. Let’s start with the obvious choice.
Arguably everyone’s favorite character is the Mad Hatter. He’s zany and unpredictable, and incredibly fun to watch. But he wasn’t always mad. In Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter was actually quite normal until his friends and family were all killed in a battle. The grief overcame him and he lost his mind. It’d be great to see this whole story unfold in its own film, instead of as a small scene in a larger film.
Another good choice, for almost the exact opposite reasons as the Mad Hatter, is the White Rabbit. The Rabbit is one of the only sane characters in this story. He’s also, apparently, one of the only ones who appears to have a lot going on in his life. Because of the Disney animation, he’s become synonymous with being late, “I’m late! I’m late! For a very important date! No time to say ‘hello’, goodbye! I’m late I’m late I’m late!” Take that phrase and make a film around it. What’s he late for? Why is he late? What exciting things are going on in this rabbit’s life? There’d be a lot of humor too, since the White Rabbit would be exasperated by the ridiculous surrounding him.
‘The Princess Bride’
We want more swashbuckling fun from the Princess Bride universe! And we want it with Fezzik and Inigo Montoya!
Adventures with Fezzik and Montoya would be in the vein of a buddy cop movie. Surely they got up to some trouble before their escapades in The Princess Bride, and surely they were hilarious and fun. And while we’re at it, let’s also see how they met.
While on a mission of his own, Inigo runs into Fezzik. At first they’re wary of each other, and maybe they even dislike each other. Their feudal antics of trying to one up each other are consistently ridiculous, but somewhere along the way they realize how awesome the other is, and start working together. Isn’t that how all bromances happen?
‘Pan’s Labyrinth’
Three characters would lend themselves well to their own spinoff film: The faun and Princess Moanna, and Ofelia’s brother.
The faun could have an origin story explaining how he came to be in the labyrinth, how and why the labyrinth itself was created, and who Princess Moanna was. Maybe Princess Moanna brought the faun into the labyrinth. It would also be interesting to see Princess Moanna rule the underworld, affording us an opportunity to see more of the creepy creatures lurking there.
As for Ofelia’s brother, this would be a future story, not an origin. He’s a baby at the time of the events in Pan’s Labyrinth, and his whole family dies, leaving him to be cared for by a virtual stranger. Presumably he’ll know nothing of his family’s past, but like other stories we’ve seen, something will happen when he reaches a certain age that will draw him into the same world as Ofelia. He’ll have his own tasks to complete, and along the way, he’ll learn the truth about his family.
‘Little Red Riding Hood’
There have been many iterations of Little Red Riding Hood, with various characters, including Little Red, the wolf, a huntsman, Little Red’s mother, and Little Red’s grandmother. In some of these versions, the wolf eats Grandma, but she survives by cutting herself out of his stomach. Oh Grandma, how badass you are! What if Grandma didn’t just come by this survival instinct naturally? What if, in her youth, Grandma was actually a total badass?
Consider this: In the fable we know, wolves are endangered. After all, Little Red only comes across one wolf on her travels through the forest. If we assume this to be true, why would the wolf population be small? Because back in the day, Granny, along with her crew, fought the wolves who were eating the town’s children. This could also explain why the wolf in Little Red went after Red and Granny. He’s seeking revenge for what happened to his ancestors.
‘The Wizard of Oz’
If only there was a story about the Wicked Witch of the West’s origins! What I’d give to see what happened in her past to turn her evil.
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