Classic fairy tales aren't exactly woke. After all, for every woman's journey that begins with "once upon a time," there's usually a quest for romance that ends with "and they lived happily ever after."
Still, it's fun to imagine what our favorite heroines could accomplish if they weren't so busy searching for Prince Charming. That's where Fabled comes in. The new Refinery29-produced anthology seeks to upend patriarchal race, sexual orientation, and gender norms of classic fairy tales by putting its so-called "princesses" in unusual and ultimately empowering situations.
"Anodyne,” the first episode of the series, which will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival later this month, imagines a reality in which Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz and Alice from Alice in Wonderland meet after being committed to a mental health facility.
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Repeatedly told that their fantastic worlds exist only in their minds, Allie (Zosia Mamet) and Dee (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) bond over their shared creativity and ambitions that go beyond society's base expectations.
Written and executive-produced by Evan Jonigkeit and Zosia Mamet (who stars as Alice), the first installment was directed by Once Upon a Time's Jennifer Morrison, who knows a thing or two about giving fairy tales a healthy reality check.
Check out the trailer below:
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