The Magic Flight

Tim Burton Exhibition

The Design Museum, London

Recently, I saw the Tim Burton Exhibition which took me through the journey of his early work, collaborations with other creatives and some of his more personal artwork. I found the work with the puppet makers, Ian Mackinnon and Peter Saunders exciting. Stop motion animation has been great fun to explore. I know my attempts are incredibly basic but here’s a folktale, using my needle-felted figures, about a world of fantasy and magic.

There was once a prince who loved to gamble. There wasn’t anyone in his father’s kingdom who could beat him so when he was challenged by an old man, he felt very confident. The old man set the rules; whoever won could ask anything of the loser and it would have to be done, if not, the loser would die. The old man won and to the Prince’s horror, he was given a year and a day to find the old man’s home otherwise he would die. The old man, who was really a magician, vanished.

On the King’s advice, his son set out to search for the magician’s home. He travelled for many, many months but no one had heard of the old man he was looking for. One day, he came across a cottage with an ancient man sitting outside. The Prince told him he was looking for the old man who had beaten him. The ancient one nodded and said he knew who he was but didn’t know where he lived. He had an older brother who lived two hundred miles away. He might know the answer. The ancient one slowly went into his cottage and returned carrying some slippers and a ball. The Prince was told to put on the slippers and roll the ball. They were magic and would take him quickly to the brother. When he arrived, he was to roll the ball and they would return to the ancient man.

The Prince followed these instructions and arrived to find a man much older than the ancient one. He too said he didn’t know where the home was but his brother who lived four hundred miles away might know. The Prince was loaned another set of magic slippers and a ball and the same instructions.

When he arrived at the brother’s cottage, he found an incredibly old man about a thousand years old. He said he didn’t know where to find the home but he did know where the old man’s three daughters bathed. There was a lake where they came, disguised as swans. They would remove their swan coverings and swim. If the Prince took the swan cover with the blue feathered wing, he might be able to trade it to know where the magician’s home was.

It was just as the Prince had been told. The daughters flew away except the one who couldn’t find her swan covering. She said she couldn’t take him to her father’s home but she gave directions. The Prince returned her feathers and she immediately flew away.

He walked and walked and walked and walked until he came to a river which he crossed easily but the second river seemed more difficult. He remembered the daughter had warned him about it’s appearance and said it was as easy to cross as the first. Feeling he had nothing to lose, he bravely entered the waters and found that she had told the truth. On the other side of this river he could see a castle. This was the magician’s home.

The magician could not believe it when he saw the Prince standing in his castle’s doorway and suspected he had received special help. The Prince was served appalling food and given a terrible bed but the daughter with the blue wing used her own magical powers to temporarily transform the food and bed. The Prince received her strict instructions not to let the magician know he had been fed, slept well and was certainly not to tell him who had helped.

In the morning, the Prince was ordered to build an enormous mansion with hundreds of rooms, all richly furnished. He had one day to complete this otherwise he would die. The daughter told him not to worry as she would help him. She took a container and as she opened it, thousands of tiny fairies flew out and began to build. By the next day, the mansion was ready.

The magician was angry. The next morning, the Prince was taken to a lake and told to drain it by the next day. Again, the daughter asked the fairies and the task was done and the Prince saved. The magician by this time suspected his third daughter had fallen in love with the Prince and was helping him so when the third task of cleaning the stables that housed his two hundred horses and finding a missing golden needle in the waste was achieved, he told the Prince he could choose one of his daughters to be his wife.

Each daughter was brought before the Prince, each covered so she couldn’t be easily recognised. The Prince chose the daughter with a small blue thread tied to her little finger. They were married but the magician hadn’t given up. He planned to kill them at the wedding feast but they secretly threw away their poisoned wine. Taking two speedy horses, they fled from the castle that night.

Discovering they had tricked him, the magician put on his magic, seven league boots. Starting slowly at first, he chased after them, gaining on them with his giant strides.

The new Princess took a twig from her horse’s ear and threw it behind her. It grew into a great forest. The magician had to get an axe and cut himself a path through. Then he continued running until he had nearly caught up with them again.

The Princess took a small stone from her horse’s ear and threw it behind her. Immediately an enormous mountain appeared. The magician had to take a pick axe and channel a path through it. Soon he was behind them again.

This time the Princess took a bead of sweat from her horse’s nose and threw it behind her. It became a huge wave which gushed towards the magician. This time there was nothing he could do to make a path and so he drowned.

Free at last, the couple travelled together until they finally reached the Prince’s home. The Princess wanted to be received with honour so sent the Prince ahead to tell the King about her and all she had done to save her husband. She warned him not to let anyone kiss him. If that happened then he would instantly forget all about her.

As the Prince approached the palace, his dog came bounding towards him, jumped up and licked his face. In that moment the Prince forgot everything about his wife.

When the Prince didn’t return the Princess found a job as a maid. She waited until there was a splendid celebration for the Prince’s return. Everyone was invited. Each guest brought a gift, be it just a song or a story which they offered to the royal family. The Princess brought two birds, a male and a female. She placed them on the floor with some seed and everyone watched. The female bird made everyone laugh as she started to tell the male bird how badly he had treated her by forgetting how she had helped him find the castle, fed him, built a mansion, drained a lake, cleaned a stable, found a gold needle and rescued them from the magician.

Something in the Prince’s memory stirred and he remembered his wife and all she had done because she loved him. He embraced her and introduced her to his father. From that moment on, everyone treated her with honour.

I like that Tim Burton has used folk tales in his work. This folk tale has many variations. The one I have retold here is based on a Scottish version. I hope you enjoyed it.

Thank you for reading my December Blog. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.