Have always loved the Brothers Grimm stories, their characters are timeless and their stories may have dark elements but they are also enchanting and induce a wide range of emotions for the reader. 'The Fisherman and His Wife' is not one of my favourites of theirs, but it is still a fine story with important and still relevant things to say about greed and its consequences. In popular culture, it should be adapted a lot more as the story is one that should be familiar to everybody.
Which is why it is great that Rabbit Ears Productions' adaptation of 'The Fisherman and His Wife' exists. It is not one of my favourites personally of their series of animated literary adaptations (highly recommended by the way), but it is great in its own way. By the series' standards it is a quite dark and gloomy adaptation, which may surprise fans of animation of fairytale/anti-fairytale stories and some may find it overly-so or not as accessible as other entries in the series. Can understand why, as when a child 'The Fisherman and His Wife's' story didn't strike me as that dark. As a young adult, to me it is not an invalid interpretation, is great on its own terms and deserves a much higher rating here than it's got at the moment.
On my first watch, Jodie Foster's narration didn't quite do it for me. When younger her narration delivery did strike me as too monotone, being somebody that was used to the more tender bedtime story and playful approaches that the rest of the series' adaptations have. On other watches as a young adult, her delivery actually has really grown on me, actually now really like the mysterious edge she gives it and it suits what's going on in the animation and story ideally.
Even better are the drawing and the music. The former is especially striking, with masterful use of silhouette and is more complex than most adaptations in this series. Here the style is more elaborate and ambitious, not just with the silhouette but also the use of colour with the very dramatic colour changes, one of the most striking scenes being the still genuinely scary storm sequence. Complementing beautifully is the music, which is both mysterious and elegant.
The writing is thought-provoking and the Brothers Grimm's prose is very recognisable in detail and spirit. The story is conpelling, apart from some draggy spots in particularly slight parts in the story's storytelling (my only actual issue here with 'The Fisherman and His Wife') and what it says about greed and its consequences is effectively done without being sanctimonious. It handles the original story seriously and maturely, and while the titular characters are true to character the most memorable character in design and how he's written is the fish.
Cocluding, great. 9/10
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