On Tuesday February 23rd mega retailer Fry’s Electronics announced it was immediately suspending operations and permanently closing all of its remaining thirty-one stores. While the announcement was sudden, it was not unexpected: Fry’s had been in a death spiral for many years with many speculating its end. Customers, past and present, turned to social media to share their nostalgia of the former titan of electronics and reminiscence over each store’s unique theme.
My first experience with Fry’s was while living in Phoenix in the early 2000s. At the time I was attending a tech school, working on my Bachelors of Science, and the store was a mecca. Myself and many of my friends would go to the Aztec-themed Fry’s on Thunderbird and get lost in the store for hours. This was the era of PC games still being released in big boxes, and niche music labels such as Mute and Metropolis had albums for sale. I greatly rounded out my KMFDM collection at this Fry’s while plucking up computer games and an occasional part or two for my PC. As a tech student, Fry’s was heaven.
I vividly recall my final purchase at this Fry’s: a copy of Persona 2 on the Playstation in the discount bin, which now goes for 100s of dollars on eBay.
When I moved back to Washington, the Fry’s in Renton became the go-to Fry’s for Michele and I. By this time my interests has shifted: I was knee deep in my masters on film studies. While we didn’t visit this Fry’s as much, (and I unfortunately cannot recall its theme), I was always impressed by its massive DVD section: huge aisles broken into genres. I was able to load up on quite a bit of exploitation and foreign films at this Fry’s that I was unable to get elsewhere.
In the 2010s Michele and I moved to Orange CA and the Fry’s in Anaheim became our home base. Unlike the Renton Fry’s, the Anaheim Fry’s was mere minutes away from our apartment. This Fry’s was to say rather lackluster in its theme, which was NASA and Cape Canaveral. What should be a fairly easy to execute theme, this Fry’s was rather bland and generic. It was also quite empty. I recall the Aztec Fry’s in Phoenix in the early 2000s being filled to the brim with customers, with long queues to get in. The Anaheim Fry’s, 10+ years later, a ghost town. Regardless, it was often our place of preference to pick up a last minute movie, or find a cheap video game. By this time, the movie section was obliterated: the genres all gone and everything condensed to simply “blu-ray.” The music section was practically absent. However, I was able to load up on Skylanders figures extremely cheap.
And thus my history with Fry’s Electronics. What does this have to do with the peplum genre? In the very late 2010s the news really started to pick up traction of Fry’s closing down. There were a plethora of articles about shuttered stores and Fry’s that were entirely empty of product. Directly south of me on the border of Costa Mesa and Fountain Valley was a Roman-themed Fry’s. Not wanting to miss out on seeing this Fry’s before it shuttered, in October 2019 Michele and I went and checked it out. What follows below is a gallery of images I took of the Roman-theme Fry’s, highlighting its many embellishments of antiquity while also documenting a store in decline.
There are a few things to note about this Fry’s. First, its address was on Kalama River Ave, which resonated with me for I grew up in Kalama Washington on the Kalama River. Secondly, this Fry’s was 80% empty. Entire aisles were void of product, which you might get a hint of in these photos. However, all of the Roman statues and faux-architecture was still quite a sight to behold, which is what this gallery focuses on. Much like how we behold the glory of a fallen empire by marveling at its crumbled ruins, one can get a glimpse of what Fry’s would have been like back in its heyday.
Secret Rites is a neo-peplum, mythological comic by Sammy Ward. The one-shot comic was successfully Kickstarted and subsequently published in late 2020. The comic provides an alternate viewpoint of the myth of Persephone and Hades by being told from the point of view of her mother, Demeter. Simultaneously, the comic also not only depicts, but acts as an extension and interpretation of the Eleusinian Mysteries. This places the comic in the same canon as other artifacts of antiquity and paintings that depict the mysterious rituals.
Sincere thanks to Sammy Ward for allowing the following interview about her comic.
Secret Rites cover
Tell us a bit about your background and how you got into art and comics.
I’ve always been creative and enjoyed drawing. My first interest in comics came when I discovered Kabuki by David Mack. I was really interested in how he used different media and how it didn’t follow the typical conventions of a comic book. It opened up the medium to me and I realised it wasn’t all just super heroes.
Tell us more about the catalyst that started this comic, that is when you happened across the Eleusinian Mysteries? What was the big “A-ha! I want to make comic from this!”
The first spark for me was when I did an illustration of Persephone for a drawing challenge back in 2018. I wasn’t following the usual prompt list but drawing deities from different cultures. Persephone is so fascinating as a symbol of life and death as well as being presented as powerful and a victim. When I was researching Persephone I read about the Eleusinian Mysteries. It just captured my imagination in that it was a real mystery so it opened up all these possibilities that I played around with for a while before writing what is now Secret Rites.
What texts did you use to draw inspiration from?
I’ve read Circe by Madeline Miller which explores Circe’s defiance as a witch and a mother against the Olympians. That defiance was definitely a theme I wanted to use in Secret Rites. I also enjoy listening to a lot of soundtracks whilst working and I find it can be inspiring. The God of War OST has probably been the main one but I also discovered the Hadestown the musical by Anaïs Mitchell whilst creating Secret Rites. It’s a different Greek Tragedy with a modern take but I still found it inspirational in creating the characters for Secret Rites where each one has a selfish agenda.
What texts and resources did you use for research materials?
I found articles by Mark Cartwright and Joshua J. Mark very helpful which led me to discover The Myth of Er by Plato (said to be an initiate himself) which describes the character Er joining the afterlife and then returning to reality. I also came across a talk from Terence Mckenna who was an ethnobotanist and mystic. He discusses the use of Ergot, a deadly black fungus found on wheat and barley with psychotropic properties which was a component in a drink consumed during the ritual. I found the link of this and Demeter being the goddess of the harvest very alluring.
Interior page depicting a scene of the Eleusinian Mysteries
What is your relationship with Greek mythology?
I think my interest in Greek mythology started when I was at school studying Greek playwrights in drama class. It’s not something I’ve devoted loads of time throughout my life but mythology and folklore have always fascinated me. I love reading different stories from all over the world whether it’s the Poetic Edda or Russian fairy tales. That’s my constant go to for books and comics.
Are you into any sword and sandal media?
I do enjoy the 1963 Jason and The Argonauts and [the] 1981 Clash of the Titans. I have a big appreciation for the Ray Harryhausen era of stop motion animation that really captures those stories. I also really enjoy reading Wonder Woman comics, I especially enjoyed the 2011 relaunch written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Cliff Chiangs and Tony Akins. Again, women defying the power and will of the Gods seems to be a favourite theme of mine.
What were some of the biggest challenges you encountered while realizing Secret Rites?
Whilst the actual concept and story came pretty naturally, the script process was challenging as it would change whilst I was creating the art. There are good and bad aspects of being both writer and illustrator. I started illustrating the book in 2019 but my art has changed/improved a fair bit since then so I went back and changed a few pieces I had previously completed. My first comic, Scavengers, is a silent comic so I managed to create a story without having to do any lettering other than the intros which I hand lettered. Learning to letter Secret Rites has been a really fun journey for me though a slow one. Lettering is it’s own art form.
Secret Rites and pin-up art from a Kickstarter package. Photo by Nicholas Diak.
Do you any any successor plans to Secret Rites?
Secret Rites is a one shot so there are no sequels planned. Not to say I wouldn’t be interested in exploring the mythos a little more. I’m very interested in exploring more deities from the Greek pantheon and from many different cultures and religions. I would also like to collaborate more in the future especially with those writing mythology and folktales.
Do you have any upcoming projects on the horizon that you’d like to share?
I worked on some original pieces illustrating winter and Christmas deities which are available from my Etsy store along with my comics. I’m currently working on a comic/zine hybrid which will involve deities but I can’t say much more at this stage, it will include more mixed media in terms of art and will be a lot more experimental.
Band of Warriors is a neo-peplum comic that is currently in the stages of being crowdfunded on Kickstarter. Written by Samuel George London (The S Factor, Milford Green, and Project Hoax), with art by Federico Avila Corsini (Treble, Remitente, and Maranatá) and editing by Nicole D’Andria (Miraculous), the story begins with King Minos at the height of his reign and leads to an epic, adventurous tale that incorporates both Grecian and Celtic mythologies.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what got you into comics.
I only got into comics in 2015 after finding out that the TV show, The Walking Dead, was based on a comic. I bought all the compendiums up to that point and was hooked. After that I discovered Image’s back catalogue and went down a rabbit hole of indie comics. After a year or so, I was inspired enough to give writing a go and luckily an idea came to me in the form of Milford Green, which is best described as a Victorian space adventure. I Kickstarted that in 2018 and have since successfully funded five other comics as well as having a four issue mini-series titled The S Factor published by Action Lab – Danger Zone, which is about the dark underbelly of a superhero dating reality TV show.
What was the genesis of Band of Warriors (BoW)?
My mother has a house on the island of Crete and when I visited there for the first time in 2016 I was enthralled by the history it had, both fairly recently (WW2) and even further in the past, especially the bronze age (3,000-1200 BC). That same year, I visited my wife’s family in Brittany, France. Of course, I had visited them before but this time we visited a megalith which was next to an old tin mine. For those of you not in the know, bronze is made up of copper and tin.
When investigating all of this further it turned out that bronze age tin from France and Britain (my own homeland) had been found among bronze age artefacts on and around Crete. This trading relationship between France, Britain and Crete during the bronze age got my imagination fired up and the idea of Band of Warriors began.
BoW was actually the first idea that came to me but I thought the scope of the story was far too big for me to take on as a first time writer. But now that I’ve got a few books under my belt, I thought it was high time I got it out to the world. Honestly, it hasn’t been easy trawling through all the history and mythology surrounding all of those regions to create a coherent story but I think (if I don’t say so myself) I’ve created a rather epic story.
What were your other sources of inspiration for this comic?
To name but a few; 300 (both comic and movie), Kill the Minotaur and Vikings (both comics and TV show) have all inspired BoW. The mixture of mythology, history and action really helped me see that it’s possible.
What texts did you use for research for BoW?
One that really stands out is 1077 B.C. by Professor Eric Cline. The book is an outstanding insight into the era and as an added bonus you watch a lot of his lectures online, which are also massively useful.
What was some of the most interesting things you learned while researching?
One of the most interesting things to me was just how international that time was. There were full on trading relationships from France and Britain to Crete and even to Egypt, Turkey and Afghanistan. It’s incredible to me that over 3,500 years ago this was going on.
There’s a few other comics out there that merge different mythologies: what would you say sets yours apart?
My USP, so to speak, is that I’ve grounded the mythology in actual historical events. Using actual history to try and connect the dots of mythology is time consuming as a writer but I think that it will help the comic shine for the readers.
Do you have any favourite sword and sandal texts?
This might seem vacuous but I really enjoyed the 2014 movie with Dwayne Johnson, Hercules. I thought they did a superb job of merging mythology, history, reality and action. Sure the character development wasn’t great but man was the action awesome.
What is your general thoughts/impressions of the current state of the sword and sandal genre?
I think the sword and sandal genre can be quite one-dimensional and predictable, so I think it’s important that for those of us who are passionate about it think outside the box. Dwayne Johnson’s Hercules was a great example of subverting my expectations from everything being about magic and what not when in reality it was all tricks of the eye and playing into the reputation Hercules and his team had created.
How did you go about meeting/recruiting your artist Federico Avila Corsini and editor Nicole D’Andria?
I met Nicole a couple of years ago through Kickstarter and it turned out she did freelance editing. I then hired her to work on the Milford Green series and she’s been my trusted editor ever since. Federico on the other hand, was through Reddit. A few months ago I put a call out on Twitter and Reddit for an artist to work on a story that involved both Celtic and Greek mythology and after sifting through about thirty artists, Federico stood out. Both his style and work ethic are fantastic, so he’s the ideal artist for BoW.
What were some of the biggest challenges or obstacles you encountered while creating BoW?
My biggest challenge was connecting all the dots and making the story consistent. I actually have one of those cork boards that allows me to see all the storylines side by side in chronological order. I feel like I’m trying to catch a serial killer but it really does help.
Having successfully Kickstarted other projects, what advice do you have for other folks looking to use the medium?
First and foremost, get involved with the community. Secondly, research successful campaigns. Lastly, make sure you triple check your reward and postage costs.
What is the biggest thing you want to accomplish with BoW?
Great question! We’ve got an initial six issue arc sorted but I’d love for BoW to become an on-going series that would be released every three months, direct to the people via crowdfunding. However, that’s only possible if we get the right level of support, so we’ll have to wait and see.
Thank you your time for this interview, any final words?
I’d just like to say thanks to you for taking the time to do this interview and to your readers who have read this interview. I hope you’ve enjoyed it and that you’ll check out Band of Warriors to potentially help support it.
“Hercules’ Self-fashioning on Screen: Millennial Concerns and Political Dimensions” by Jean Alvares and Patricia Salzman-Mitchell
“Warriors, Murderers, Savages: Violence in Steve Moore’s Hercules: The Thracian Wars” by Katherine Lu Hsu
Unfortunately I don’t know which essays within The New Peplum these two essays cite, but as soon as I find out I’ll update the citation page accordingly.
Podcast News
New episode of H. P. Lovecast Podcast Fragments is live. This is the episode we interview Robert P. Ottone. Check it out on Buzzsprout or your podcast app of preference.
Call for Papers
The Call for Presentations for Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference is live. The CFP can be read at the StokerCon 2021 website.
The Call for Abstracts for my collection of essays on neo-medievalism is live. The CFP can be found here.
General Neo-Peplum News
Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
The newest neo-peplum title in Ubisoft’s long running Assassin’s Creed series, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, was released this past Tuesday. Lots of news to round up.
Lakeshore records released the soundtrack via Bandcamp.
YouTube cocktail channel How2Drink has created a libation for AC:V called The Horn of Eivorr.
Recorded our interview with Robert P. Ottone over the weekend for H. P. Lovecast Fragements. Episode is now in post-product and will be uploaded on the 15th.
Call for Papers
The Call for Presentations for Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference is live. The CFP can be read at the StokerCon 2021 website.
The Call for Abstracts for my collection of essays on neo-medievalism is live. The CFP can be found here.
General Neo-Peplum News
Sword and Sandal Media Releases
Kino will be releasing a blu-ray of Ulysses (1954, Mario Camerini) on November 17. DVD Beaver has the details on the specs, supplements, and screen captures.
Ubisoft will be releasing Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla on November the 10th across all major platforms. More details can be found at the publisher’s product page.
Peplum Photography
Photographer Ana Martinez has a beautiful photo set called “Olympus” at their website. Thanks to Dannie DeLisle for the heads up!
The photo set reminds me of the “Celestial Goddesses” post over at Lingerie Addict. Check that one out too for a melding of peplum and lingerie.
Rest in Peplum
Scottish actor John Fraser passed away on November 7th. He was in El Cid (1961, Anthony Mann) and the sorta sword and sandal (I’ll allow it for its historic epic sequences) Loves of Three Queens aka The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships (1954, Marc Allégret and Edgar G. Ulmer)
Both Looper and The Cinemaholic have write ups on the Blood of Zeus animated series on Netflix.
While IGN reviews season one of Netflix’s Barbarians.
Rest in Peplum
Legendary actor Sir Sean Connery, iconic for bringing pop culture phenomena James Bond to life, passed away earlier this week at the age of 90. Aside from his portraying Bond, Connery starred in numerous peplum films and TV programs:
An Age of Kings (1960)
Adventure Story (1961)
Zardoz (1974, John Boorman, counting film as sword and planet genre)
Robin and Marian (1976, Richard Lester)
Time Bandits (1981, Terry Gilliam)
Sword of the Valiant (1984, Stephen Weeks)
The Name of the Rose (1986, Jean-Jacques Annaud)
Highlander (1986, Russell Mulcahy)
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991, Kevin Reynolds)
The call for papers officially closed last week. In the week since I’ve given careful consideration to shutter this project. I have informed all folks who submitted abstracts as such.
Introduction
The critical and commercial success of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy ushered in a new era of fantasy-medieval and historic-medieval texts in the new Millennium. These neo-medieval texts were not restricted to the big screen, but in true transmedia fashion, exploded on the small screen, in video games, comics, and a variety of other medias as the genre became popular and hence, lucrative. Nearly twenty years later, depictions of the medieval period, be it authentic or moored in fantasy, remain a dominate component in the greater pop culture, with shows like Game of Thrones, video games like Skyrim, many fantasy-medieval books, young adult comics, and the like.
With neo-medieval texts enjoying heightened popularity, it invites an academic gaze to unearth their importance. What is it about these texts that makes them fascinating, especially considering that they are rooted in the distant past as compared to the new Millennium we are living in? What are the different approaches we can take to make sense of these films, shows, books, etc. which in turn can be used to understand not just our present world, but the future we are going into?
This anthology is looking for shorter-form essays (2.5k – 4k words in length) that aim to explore fantasy-medieval and historic medieval films, television shows, comics, video games, literature, and other works made after the year 2000 that add and expand the genre’s canon. The result would an anthology of 22-28 essays that touch upon a variety of texts with a plethora of academic lenses and approaches, grouped together to support a series of wider topics under the neo-medievalism banner.
Potential Essay Topics
The following is a list of possible (but not comprehensive) topics that contributors could submit on:
Auteur theory on filmmakers and their medieval films/TV shows (e.g. Neil Marshall, Guy Ritchie, Uwe Boll, etc.)
Adaptations of the Matter of Britain
Adaptations/portrayal of historic figures (Robert the Bruce, Robin Hood, Marco Polo, etc.)
Adaptations of fairy tales, stories, and myths
Adaptations of video games (In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale [2007] (and its sequels), Warcraft [2016])
Blending medieval with other genres, such as horror (The Head Hunter [2018]) or sci-fi (Transformers: The Last Knight [2017])
Close readings of specific texts
Colonialism
Covid-19 and plague texts (A Plague Tale: Innocence [2019 video game], The Last Witch Hunter [2015], Black Death [2010])
Currency/economics in medieval video games (Skyrim, The Witcher, Final Fantasy) compared to current economic anxieties
Fan and fandom studies
Gender studies
History of the portrayal of medieval times from the past to the present
Intersectionality
Intertextual analysis
Medieval monsters as metaphors
Monomyth/heroes journey
Non-occidental medieval films:
Indian neo-peplum films: Baahubali: The Beginning (2015), Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), and Veeram (2016 film)
Late-era Mesoamerica films: Apocalypto (2006)
Russian medieval films: Furious (2017)
Chinese historic epics: Hero (2002), Genghis Khan (2018), House of Flying Daggers (2004)
Adaptations of One Thousand and One Nights
Portrayals of religions and nationalities (Vikings, Saxons, etc.)
Portrayals of bodies (such body builders and muscular heroes)
Race portrayals (example: white characters in Eastern settings such as The Great Wall [2016])
Semiotic analysis
Surveillance/panopticon in scrying magic: Lord of the Rings films
Temporal texts (time traveling): medieval in modern times or modern times in medieval
Torture porn genre in movies with medieval torture scenes: Red Riding Hood (2011)
Vernacular film theory
And others
List of Media Texts
Below is a list of media titles (from films, TV, comics, games, etc.) that could potentially fit into the neo-medieval formula. This list is by no means complete, but it is presented to give title examples that fit within this genre and to inspire creative ideas on topics to write about. The below list contains titles that are historic-medieval, fantasy-medieval, and medieval combined with other genres.
Films
Black Death (2010)
Dragonheart: A New Beginning (2000)
Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer’s Curse (2015)
Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire (2017)
Dragonheart: Vengeance (2020)
The Head Hunter (2018)
The Hobbit trilogy (2012-214)
The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016)
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)
Last Knights (2015)
The Last Witch Hunter (2015)
Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003)
Maleficent (2014)
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019)
Robin Hood (2010)
Robin Hood (2018)
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
Television
Britannia (2018-present)
Cursed (2020)
Deus Salve o Rei (2018)
Game of Thrones (2011-2019)
The Hollow Crown (2012, 2016)
Knightfall (2017-2019)
The Last Kingdom (2015-present)
The Letter for the King (2020)
Marco Polo (2014)
Miracle Workers (season 2)
The Name of the Rose (2019)
Robin Hood (BBC) (2006-2009)
The Witcher (2019-present)
Literature
Ascendance Series (Nielsen)
Codex Alera (Butcher)
The Kingkiller Chronicle (Rothfuss)
Ranger’s Apprentice (Flanagan)
Sabbath (Mamatas)
Sands of Arawiya series (Faizal)
A Song of Fire and Ice series (Martin)
Throne of Glass series (Maas)
The Witcher series (Sapkowski)
The Wrath & the Dawn (Ahdieh)
Comics
Berserker Unbound (Dark Horse)
Birthright (Image)
Cursed (Simon & Schuster)
A Game of Thrones (Dynamite)
Lady Castle (Boom!)
Nimona (web comic)
Northlanders (Vertigo)
The Witcher (Dark Horse comics)
Video games
Assassin’s Creed series
Chivalry: Medieval Warfare (2012)
Crusader Kings series
The Cursed Crusade (2011)
Fable series
The First Templar (2011)
Game of Thrones (2012)
Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series (2014-2015)
Kingdom Come: Deliverance (2018)
A Plague Tale: Innocence (2019)
Stronghold series
The Witcher series from CD Projekt Red
Music
Dungeon synth music
Adventure/power metal bands like Blind Guardian and Keep of Kalessin
Again, the above list is not comprehensive, but to illustrate a general idea of titles from different media that could fit into this essay collection.
Project Timetable
This anthology has not yet procured a contract, but will be submitted for consideration to Peter Lang Publishing to be part of the Genre Fiction and Film Companions series. The following a proposed timetable to realize this project:
February 28, 2021 – Deadline for abstract submissions
March 7, 2021 – Notification of acceptance
March 14, 2021 – Submission of preliminary table of contents to Peter Lang Publishing for consideration for their Genre Fiction and Film Companions series
If rejected, submit to alternative publisher, repeat process
If accepted, distribute style guide to authors
+ Five months after publisher acceptance – Chapter drafts are due
+ Four months – Chapter revisions are due
+ One month – Submission of manuscript to publisher
Drafts and revisions are strongly encouraged to be submitted before the deadlines.
Abstract Submission Information
Please submit your abstract(s) of roughly 500 words along with your academic CV/resume and preliminary bibliography to the email address below before February 28, 2021. Please use an appropriate subject line when submitting – have it contain the phrase “medieval submission.” I will confirm each submission via email within 72 hours. I will also accept multiple abstract submissions.
This CFP is open to all academics and scholars. Underrepresented scholars researching this genre are greatly encouraged to submit.
Nicholas Diak is a pop culture scholar of neo-peplum and sword and sandal films, industrial music, synthwave, exploitation films Italian genre cinema, and H. P. Lovecraft studies. He is the editor of The New Peplum: Essays on Sword and Sandal Films and Television Programs Since the 1990s (McFarland, 2018) and the co-editor of Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Modern: Critical Essays (McFarland, 2020). Along with Michele Brittany, he co-created and co-chairs the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference and co-hosts the H. P. Lovecast Podcast. He has contributed articles, essays, and reviews to numerous journals, academic anthologies, magazines, and websites.
From the various television and filmic depictions of Hercules to movie adaptations of the Percy Jackson young adult novels, representations of Greek deities and mythology have been an important staple of pop culture. Sometimes this is in the form direct adaptation, other times it is homage or reinterpreting characters or other elements of the lore. Regardless, the inspiration from these myths and deities is ever present and analysis and study of such usage in different media is quite manifest.
Persephone
There is one line of media though that has not quite had such a reconsideration in regards to its incorporation of Greek mythology, and that is the Silly Symphonies series of cartoons from the early years of Disney. The Silly Symphonies were a line of seventy-five cartoons that were produced from 1929 to 1939 and made outside of Disney’s Mickey Mouse canon. The cartoons provided an avenue for Disney artists and writers to experiment with images and music and to try new animation techniques. Early entries in the Silly Symphonies line were mostly narrative free, with an emphasis on atmosphere and music with singing and dancing animals or anthropomorphic objects. As time went on, the Symphonies got more complex, adding narratives culled from fairy tales, nursery rhymes, story books, and Greek mythology.
There are five entries in the Silly Symphonies run that either retell or incorporate elements of Greek mythological antiquity: “Hells Bells” (1929), “Playful Pan” (1930), “King Neptune” (1932), “The Goddess of Spring” (1934), and “The Golden Touch” (1935). The first, “Hells Bells,” takes place in a Christian-centic version of the Underworld, in which the three-headed dog Cerberus makes an appearance. The villain of this short is a variation of a devil character who revels in feeding his imps to Cerberus. His downfall comes at the short’s end: while in pursuit of one of his imps, he is tricked into falling off a cliff and into a ravine of flames. The second, “Playful Pan,” begins with the nature god Pan manifesting in a forest, playing his pipe to the area’s flora and fauna. Two dancing clouds accidentally discharge a bolt of lightning, which starts a forest fire. Pan uses his pipe playing to coerce the dancing flames into a forest pond, though much of the forest has been destroyed. “King Neptune” centers on pirates who spy mermaids playing on rock outcroppings. In their lust, they kidnap one of the mermaids, which causes retaliation from all sorts of aquatic life. King Neptune, who spends the bulk of the short incapacitated by being tied up by the pirate ship’s anchor and chain, breaks free and commands the sea to batter the ship. He gleefully jumps on the ship, sinking it. The mermaids proceed to adorn themselves with the pirates’ loot. “The Golden Touch” is a retelling of the Greek myth of King Midas, with an altered setting of the Middle Ages, though Midas anachronistically consumes a hamburger at the cartoon’s conclusion. Midas is gifted with the golden touch by a gnome named Goldie, but soon discovers he cannot eat or drink because of this ability. He offers up everything he owns to be rid of the Golden Touch.
King Midas in “The Golden Touch”
In addition, there are also four Silly Symphonies that retell a few of Aesop’s fables: “Grasshopper and the Ants” (1934), “The Tortoise and the Hare” (1934), “Three Little Wolves” (1936), which contains elements of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” and “The Country Cousin” (1936) which is adapted from “The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse.” However, these Silly Symphonies fall outside the scope of this essay.
Of greatest concern, in regard to its depiction of Greek mythology, is the Silly Symphony “The Goddess of Spring.” This short is an extremely condensed version of the myth of Hades (referred to as Pluto in the various paratexts for this cartoon and thus go forward in this essay) and Persephone. It begins with Persephone sitting on her cornucopia throne as various forest creatures, flowers, and elves dance about her. Soon the sky darkens and a small hill erupts into a pillar of fire as Pluto and his entourage of imps burst up through the ground and absconds with Persephone back to Hades. Pluto places Persephone onto a throne and crowns her his Queen as the populace of Hades sing and dance. Above ground, the world of eternal spring has now given way to winter, with the forest animals huddling for warmth and the elves longing for Persephone to return. Back in Hades, Pluto attempts to make the sullen Persephone happy by offering her riches. When this does not work, he asks her what it would take to make her happy. She replies that her desire is to return back to the upper world. He agrees, on the condition that she must spend half of the year in Hades and the remainder of the year in the upper world. Persephone is over joyed at the compromise and returns to the upper world, which blooms back into spring. The outro song elaborates how the nature of spring and winter came to be.
When it comes to Silly Symphonies, “The Goddess of Spring” is not as regarded, revered or analyzed as other entries in the series, especially when compared to “The Skeleton Dance” (1929), “Three Little Pigs” (1933), and “The Old Mill” (1937). What interest is expressed about “The Goddess of Spring” is usually confined to it being a proving ground to capture realism and to create believable animated characters in anticipation for Disney’s first feature length film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937, David Hand).1 During this time, in order to improve on their cartoons, artists at Disney had taken to studying models2 along with lessons in anatomy.3 In “The Goddess of Spring,” animator Les Clark’s sister Marceil acted as the model for Persephone.4 The end result of “The Goddess of Spring” was perceived as a failure,5 with Persephone being deemed as “too rubbery to be realistic,”6 but the experience still imparting invaluable knowledge to studio hands in trying create realistic cartoons.
“Rubber arms” on Persephone
If only taken from a technical standpoint, then “The Goddess of Spring” may be perceived as a failure. However, taken as a faithful and humble adaptation of Greek mythology, then the cartoon surpasses expectations. Of all the Silly Symphonies, and even in regard to other mainstream forays into animating Greek mythology, “The Goddess of Spring” stands out as one of the few instances of such an earnest and sincere adaptation.
Part of this success can be attributed to the Symphony being a condensed version of the Persephone and Pluto myth rather than plucking core elements and characters and placing them within other narratives (as was done with “King Neptune,” “Hells Bells,” and “Playful Pan”) or attempting to instill outside messages or subversion. John Grant decrees that both Persephone and Pluto in the cartoon are rather “cypherish”,7 but the opposite is true. The animated short is overtly attempting to be a retelling of the Greek myth and nothing more. This is in stark contrast to the majority of other Silly Symphonies of the era, which coincided with The Great Depression. The Silly Symphonies were populist fare,8 with Disney and his company’s “social and ideological values” pervading the “structure, characters, and narratives of these films.”9 Nowhere is this more obvious than with “The Golden Touch.” While the gist of the story captures the core elements of the Greek myth, (anything the king touches turns to gold), it is first and foremost “aimed at a Depression audience,”10 given social significance by Walt Disney to show the “evil[s] of mere moneymaking, the danger of an individual’s overreaching his moral grasp, the false happiness accruing to mere wealth.”11 This is not to say that the end product is not without value or without imparting wisdom from the myth, but it does show that the purpose of “The Golden Touch” was primarily to advance Disney’s populist ideas rather than to have the myth stand on its own. On the other hand, “The Goddess of Spring” is pure storytelling, and while there are many variations of the myth documented and recounted, this Silly Symphony definitely captures the real heart of the story and conveys it to an audience in a palpable format of rich Technicolor and RCA sound.
The other reason for this cartoon’s success is due to the depiction of its setting and the characters. The realism that Disney was striving for caused “The Goddess of Spring” to be tempered in regard to how cartoonish or exaggerated it was. Instead of being over the top, this short is greatly subdued, with the characters and environment being depicted in a more serious fashion. Merritt and Kaufman argue that “The Old Mill” was the first Silly Symphony meant to be taken seriously12 but it could be argued that since “The Goddess of Spring” was striving for an earnest retelling of the Greek myth, complete with realistic depictions, that it should be regarded serious as well. Comparing and contrasting “The Goddess of Spring” with its other Greek mythological inspired Silly Symphonies counterparts yields astounding results.
Persephone and Pluto
For example, the depiction of Hades between “The Goddess of Spring” to that in “Hells Bells” is staggering. While both are portrayed as cavernous, full of lakes of fire and denizens who sing and dance, the realm in “Hells Bells” is much more malevolent. In “Hells Bells” there’s actual violent activity as spiders are immolated, snakes feast on bats, imps are fed to Cerebus and the devil character perishes into a lake of fire. Conversely, in “The Goddess of Spring,” there is actually no violent activity. The imps keep Persephone’s elves at bay, but do not attack them. In this version of Hades, no one perishes and no one is tortured. What can be surmised from this observation is that the underworld as pictured in “Hells Bells” is purely for punishment, as per a more Christian perspective, (in alignment with the expected audience), while the underworld in “The Goddess of Spring” leans more toward a realm as the place where souls go to die, distancing itself from Christian hegemony. While places like Elysium and the Asphodel Meadows are certainly not depicted, it would not be farfetched to surmise that they could exist in this incarnation of Hades in “The Goddess of Spring.”
The devil in “Hells Bells” and Pluto in “The Goddess of Spring” are also quite different. In “Hells Bells,” the devil is rendered entirely in black and nearly featureless save for a menacing, drooling maw eager to drink molten milk. He delights in feeding his imps to Cerebus and gives chase to one that wants to avoid this fate. On the other hand, Pluto in “The Goddess of Spring” shows elements of being a sympathetic character. While his actions of kidnapping Persephone can be analyzed in a myriad of lenses and thus falls outside the scope of this essay, he is none-the-less being shown at the cartoon’s conclusion of having traits of empathy and caring. He genuinely wants Persephone to be happy, and his actions are far more multifaceted, more “real” than his one-dimensional counterpart in “Hells Bells.”
In regard to Persephone, comparing her depiction to the mermaids of “King Neptune” also illustrate a major difference. The mermaids are naked without being naked, meaning their upper torsos are sometimes rendered with breasts and sometimes without. Their faces are blank slates and they look almost indistinguishable from each other. Persephone, on the other hand, is meticulously detailed, from her hair to her eyes. Never before has a mythological figure been represented in such a detailed fashion, which is especially impressive due to the technological limitations of animation during the era. Outside of paintings and other representations that have survived antiquity, here is an image of a bonafide goddess, being shown to an audience in a vernacular they can understand and appreciate. Comparing both Pluto and Persephone to other Silly Symphony characters of antiquity, such as King Midas and King Neptune, with their outlandishly large potbellies and exaggerated cheekbones, only fortifies the notion that Persephone in “The Goddess of Spring” is as real as it gets.
For the industrial minds at Disney, “The Goddess of Spring” was perceived as a failure and the cartoon is typically relegated to a footnote in the journey to realize Snow White. However, as illustrated above, when altering the criteria of success from a technical standpoint to a storytelling and adaptation standpoint, “The Goddess of Spring” is quite successful, especially in regards to its depiction of mythological characters and its ability to convey stories of antiquity in an earnest and realist fashion. Eschewing the aesthetics of typical cartoon escapism, “The Goddess of Spring” was the first retelling of Persephone and Pluto’s story in a filmic format. In subsequent years, Persephone would be appropriated to sci-fi fare, such as being used in The Matrix films, Firefly and the Percy Jackson films and books. While it is amazing to see homage to the myth still circulating and inspiring folks, it is comforting to know that her and Pluto’s representation and myth remains preserved in “The Goddess of Spring.”
End Notes
1. Russell Merritt and J.B. Kaufman, Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series (Glendale, CA: Disney Editions, 2016), 153.
“The Goddess of Spring.” Directed by Wilfred Jackson. 1934. On Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Burbank, CA: Buena Vista Home Entertainment, DVD. 2001.
The CFP for the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference (year 4!) for the 2021 StokerCon is live at the StokerCon website. Please consider submitting!
HP Lovecast Fragments
The next episode of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast will be a fragments episode. We will be interviewing author Kathleen Kaufman, whom we had the honour to interview last year on the Scholars from the Edge of Time show.
Exotica Moderne
Issue 9 of Exotica Moderne will be published next month. This issue will have my write up of the Severin Films release of Horrors of Spider Island. The cover art of the new issue looks like this:
General Neo-Peplum News
Netflix is releasing an anime-styled animated series called Blood of Zeus. Release date is October 27. The trailer is on YouTube, or you can see it embedded here:
Emily Anctil’s essay “Not a Bedtime Story: Investigating Textual Interactions Between the Horror Genre and Children’s Picture Books” from Horror Literature From Gothic to Post-modern: Critical Essays has been referenced in Children’s Literature Association Quarterly Fall 2020 Vol 45 No 3.
McFarland Book Sale
McFarland is doing their yearly October sale for their horror books. If you use the code “HORROR” (without the quotation marks) you will receive 40% off the order from now until Friday, October 16. There are numerous horror books I am a part of that you can purchase: Horror in Space, Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Modern, and Uncovering Stranger Things. If you want to support my academic endeavors, purchasing copies of Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Modern benefits me greatly.
New Episode of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast
New episode of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast is now online. In this episode Michele and I talk about two short stories from the Swords Against Cthulhu anthology: “Modu” by Mark Sims and “The Sword of Lomar” by Jason Scott Aiken. The episode has been added to the podcast appearance index.
General Neo-Peplum News
The book, Xena: Their Courage Changed Our Worldwas recently published by AUSXIP Publishing. The large book is a collection of essays from the Xena fandom and the impact of the show on their lives. The book can be ordered from the AUSXIP web store or Amazon in a variety of formats: e-copy, soft cover, hard cover.
Per Deadline, Netflix looks to be developing a live action Conan the Barbarian series.
