Fantasy films

Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction films and horror films, although the genres do overlap. Fantasy films often have an element of magic, myth, wonder, escapism, and the extraordinary. Prevalent elements include fairies, angels, mermaids, witches, monsters, wizards, unicorns, dragons, talking animals, ogres, elves, trolls, white magic, gnomes, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, demons, dwarves, giants, goblins, anthropomorphic or magical objects, familiars, curses and other enchantments, worlds involving magic, and the Middle Ages.

Subgenres

Several sub-categories of fantasy films can be identified, although the delineations between these subgenres, much as in fantasy literature, are somewhat fluid.

The most common fantasy subgenres depicted in movies are High Fantasy and Sword and Sorcery. Both categories typically employ quasi-medieval settings, wizards, magical creatures and other elements commonly associated with fantasy stories.

High Fantasy films tend to feature a more richly developed fantasy world, and may also be more character-oriented or thematically complex. Often, they feature a hero of humble origins and a clear distinction between good and evil set against each other in an epic struggle. Many scholars cite J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' novel as the prototypical modern example of High Fantasy in literature, and the recent Peter Jackson film adaptation of the books is a good example of the High Fantasy subgenre on the silver screen.

Sword and Sorcery movies tend to be more plot-driven than high fantasy and focus heavily on action sequences, often pitting a physically powerful but unsophisticated warrior against an evil wizard or other supernaturally endowed enemy. Although Sword and Sorcery films sometimes describe an epic battle between good and evil similar to those found in many High Fantasy movies, they may alternately present the hero as having more immediate motivations, such as the need to protect a vulnerable maiden or village, or even being driven by the desire for vengeance.

The 1982 film adaptation of Robert E. Howard's ''Conan the Barbarian'', for example, is a personal (non-epic) story concerning the hero's quest for revenge and his efforts to thwart a single megalomaniac—while saving a beautiful princess in the process. Some critics refer to such films by the term Sword and Sandal rather than Sword and Sorcery, although others would maintain that the Sword and Sandal label should be reserved only for the subset of fantasy films set in ancient times on the planet Earth, and still others would broaden the term to encompass films that have no fantastic elements whatsoever. To some, the term Sword and Sandal has pejorative connotations, designating a film with a low-quality script, bad acting, and poor production values.

Another important subgenre of fantasy films that has become more popular in recent years is contemporary fantasy. Such films feature magical effects or supernatural occurrences happening in the "real" world of today.

Films with live action and animation such as Disney's '' Mary Poppins'', '' Pete's Dragon'', '' Enchanted'', and the Robert Zemeckis film ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' are also fantasy films although are more often referred to as Live action/animation hybrids (2 of those are also classified as musicals).

Fantasy films set in the afterlife, called Bangsian Fantasy, are less common, although films such as the 1991 Albert Brooks comedy ''Defending Your Life'' would likely qualify. Other uncommon subgenres include Historical Fantasy and Romantic Fantasy, although 2003's '' Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'' successfully incorporated elements of both.

As noted above, superhero movies and fairy tale films might each be considered subgenres of fantasy films, although most would classify them as altogether separate movie genres.

Fantasy movies and the film industry

As a cinematic genre, fantasy has traditionally not been regarded as highly as the related gee of science fiction film. Undoubtedly, the fact that until recently fantasy films often suffered from the "Sword and Sandal" afflictions of inferior production values, over-the-top acting, and decidedly poor special effects was a significant factor in fantasy film's low regard.

Since the early 2000s, however, the genre has gained new respectability in a way, driven principally by the successful adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' and J.K. Rowling's '' Harry Potter'' series. Jackson's ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy is notable due to its ambitious scope, serious tone, and thematic complexity. These pictures achieved phenomenal commercial and critical success, and the third installment of the trilogy became the first fantasy film ever to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The ''Harry Potter'' series has been a tremendous financial success, has achieved critical acclaim for its design, thematic sophistication and emotional depth, grittier realism and darkness, narrative complexity, and characterization, and boasts an enormous and loyal fanbase.

Following the success of these ventures, Hollywood studios have greenlighted additional big-budget productions in the genre. These have included adaptations of the first, second, and third books in C. S. Lewis' ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' series and the teen novel ''Eragon'', as well as adaptations of Susan Cooper's '' The Dark Is Rising'', Cornelia Funke's ''Inkheart'', Philip Pullman's ''The Golden Compass'', Holly Black's '' The Spiderwick Chronicles'', Nickelodeon's TV show ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', and the '' Fantasia'' segment (along with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's original poem) ''The Sorcerer's Apprentice''

Many fantasy movies starting in the 2000s, such as ''The Lord of the Rings'' films, the first and third ''Narnia'' adaptations, and the first, second, fourth and seventh ''Harry Potter'' adaptations have most often been released in November and December. This is in contrast to science fiction films, which are often released during the northern hemisphere summer (June–August). All three installments of the '' Pirates of the Caribbean'' fantasy films, however, were released in July 2003, July 2006, and May 2007 respectively, and the latest releases in the ''Harry Potter'' series were released in July 2007 and July 2009. The huge commercial success of these pictures may indicate a change in Hollywood's approach to big-budget fantasy film releases.

Screenwriter and scholar Eric R. Williams identifies fantasy films as one of eleven super-genres in his screenwriters’ taxonomy, claiming that all feature length narrative films can be classified by these super-genres. The other ten super-genres are Action, Crime, Horror, Romance, Science Fiction, Slice of Life, Sports, Thriller, War and Western.Williams, Eric R. (2017). ''The screenwriters taxonomy : a roadmap to collaborative storytelling''. New York, NY: Routledge Studies in Media Theory and Practice. . . P. 21

History

Fantasy films have a history almost as old as the medium itself. However, fantasy films were relatively few and far between until the 1980s, when high-tech filmmaking techniques and increased audience interest caused the genre to flourish.

What follows are some notable Fantasy films. For a more complete list see: List of fantasy films

1900–1920s

In the era of silent film, the earliest fantasy films were those made by French film pioneer Georges Méliès from 1903. The most famous of these was 1902's '' A Trip to the Moon''. In the Golden Age of Silent film (1918–1926) the most outstanding fantasy films were Douglas Fairbanks' '' The Thief of Bagdad'' (1924), Fritz Lang's ''Die Nibelungen'' (1924), and ''Destiny'' (1921). Other notables in the genre were F.W. Murnau's romantic ghost story '' Phantom'', ''Tarzan of the Apes'' starring Elmo Lincoln, and D. W. Griffith's '' The Sorrows of Satan''.

1930s

Following the advent of sound films, audiences of all ages were introduced from 1937's '' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' to 1939's '' The Wizard of Oz''. Also notable of the era, the iconic 1933 film ''King Kong'' borrows heavily from the Lost World subgenre of fantasy fiction as does such films as the 1935 adaptation of H. Rider Haggard's novel '' She'' about an African expedition that discovers an immortal queen known as Ayesha "She who must be obeyed". Frank Capra's 1937 picture '' Lost Horizon'' transported audiences to the Himalayan fantasy kingdom of Shangri-La, where the residents magically never age. Other noteworthy fantasy films of the 30s include '' Tarzan the Ape Man'' in 1932 starring Johnny Weissmuller starting a successful series of talking pictures based on the fantasy-adventure novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs and the G. W. Pabst directed '' The Mistress of Atlantis'' from 1932. 1932 saw the release of the Universal Studios monster movie '' The Mummy'' which combined horror with a romantic fantasy twist. more light-hearted and comedic affairs from the decade include films like 1934s romantic drama film '' Death Takes a Holiday'' where Fredric March plays Death who takes a human body to experience life for three days and 1937s '' Topper'' where a man is haunted by two fun-loving ghosts who try to make his life a little more exciting.

1940s

The 1940s then saw several full-color fantasy films produced by Alexander Korda