Friday 12 November 2010

Friday is for Fairytales: Top 5 Fairy Godmothers

This is a meme hosted by me every Friday.



My post today is about: Top 5 Fairy Godmothers

Fairy godmothers often prove to be a crucial presence in a fairy-tale. They are usually motherly creatures who bestow gifts upon their godchildren/charges, but sometimes they are also up to no good. They are definitely interesting magical creatures, acting as benefactors to humans, and that is why I chose to pick my five favourite fairy godmothers.

1. Cinderella (Disney): the fairy godmother makes Cinderella’s great wish come true. Cinderella is not allowed to go to the royal ball, but the fairy godmother appears in the garden of her family’s house and makes it happen. She changes Cinderella’s appearance by providing her with a beautiful gown and everything that comes with it (including a pair of glass slippers), she turns the mice into horses, the horse into a coachman, the dog into a footman and a pumpkin into a carriage. Although the spell has a time limit, Cinderella can attend the ball, looking like a princess. This fairy godmother makes a good-hearted young woman’s dreams come true, which makes her a good and memorable figure.

2. The Princess and the Frog (Disney): Mama Odie is a 197-year-old blind Voodoo lady of the Bayou. She helps Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen morally, as she helps them both realise that what is really important is not always what you want, but what you need. She shows them the right path and is quite a motherly figure. She uses good voodoo to fight dark voodoo magic, with which she also saves Tiana and Naveen physically. She is also called “The Fairy Godmother of the Bayou”. She is truly good and loving and is perfect for being someone’s fairy godmother. In the end, she even marries the happy couple.

3. Sleeping Beauty (Disney): The princess Aurora doesn’t have only one, but three fairy godmothers: Flora, Fauna and Merryweather. Flora gives her the gift of beauty, Fauna the gift of song and Merryweather the gift of life, as before Merryweather had the chance to bestow a gift upon Aurora, the evil fairy Maleficient cursed the girl to die at the touch of a spinning wheel on her sixteenth birthday. Merryweather counters the curse by saying that Aurora will simply fall asleep until being awakened by a kiss. Merryweather gave her the greatest gift of the three fairies. But they are all her guardians. They care for her in secrets, away from the castle, so that Aurora can be safe from the curse. They also help the prince who saves Aurora and frees her from the spell. The three fairies are definitely a good company to keep.

4. The Rose and the Ring (William Makepeace Thackeray): The fairy Blackstick gives her two goddaughters a ring and a rose, which have the power to make their owners beautiful, but that spoils the characters of her goddaughters. The fairy sees her mistake and decides that it is not good to give her godchildren everything they desire, but something that might shape their characters. So, when a prince and a princess become her next godchildren, she gives them “a little misfortune” as her gift, which shapes and strengthens their characters through hardships and proves to be a great gift in the end. So, Blackstick helped her godchildren morally.

5. Shrek 2: the fairy godmother in this animation is up to no good, but she is so unique that I had to include her on my list. She doesn’t do good; she is bad. She is a conniving woman who uses even blackmail and murder to get what she wants. The thing about her is that she looks like a benevolent grandma, as opposed to looking evil like Maleficient from Cinderella. This is fairy also has her own son, Prince Charming and they plot together to get the throne by Charming marrying Princess Fiona. She is bad, but I like her because she is also very fun. Still, I wouldn’t wish to have her as my fairy godmother. I think she serves as a good example that one cannot rely on someone’s physical appearance.

5 comments:

The Insouciant Sophisticate said...

I feel bad for Cinderella's fairy godmother that she doesn't get a name; great list!

Blodeuedd said...

A little misfortune, yeesh, I'd never speak to her again even if i learnt from it

Anonymous said...

great list. #4 makes me think of the fairy godmother in E.D. Baker's The Wide-Awake Princess (sleeping beauty's younger sister) where the fairy sees that the other gifts are not to good moral advantage so she gifts the younger sister with gift of no magic (magic can't be used for good or bad on her), but she only makes that initial appearance. I love that the one in shrek is continually and deliciously bad.

I don't really comment, on your fairytale fridays, but I do enjoy reading them.

~L

Jan von Harz said...

Another great post, I think almost every little girl wishes they had a fairy godmother, I know I did. Although today's youth might not see them as wonderful thanks to Shrek, another reason why Shrek is such a unique one of a kind fairy tale.

Unknown said...

Oh yes...how I wish I had a fairy godmother. Someone to make sure I actually had one good hair day a week or something.

I love the fairy godmothers in Sleeping Beauty. I feel a desperate need to go and watch some Disney now.