Contents
Children often bring their favorite characters from fairy tales to life in their imaginations, and in some cases they even become wonderful friends. This is due not only to the good imagination of the kids, but also to the talent of storytellers. However, some writers create fairy tale characters based on the character and appearance of real people. In this article we will talk about the prototypes of 10 famous fairy tale characters.
10 Snow White
In the XNUMXth century, Baroness Maria Eva von Bettendorff and Judge Philipp von Ertal had a daughter, Maria: she became their fifth child. A few years later, the girl’s mother died, giving birth to the tenth baby in the family. The baroness’s husband quickly recovered from his grief and soon found himself a new wife, a wealthy widow.
Maria was a very beautiful girl, and her stepmother took a great dislike to her. The woman was already 36 years old, and her beauty inexorably faded, and Mary only blossomed over the years. The stepmother decided to kill her stepdaughter, and the girl found out about it. She ran away from home and took refuge in the miners’ house. When her stepmother died, Mary returned home and lived there until her death. She never got married.
9. Alice in Wonderland
Alice Liddell had several sisters. Lewis Carroll was a friend of the Liddell family and was very fond of playing with the girls, he often photographed them. Carroll often told his sisters the story of a girl named Alice, who found herself in the midst of various adventures. The girls were delighted with his stories and constantly demanded to continue. After some time, a whole series of adventures accumulated, and the author decided to record these stories. The book was given to Alice. When she grew up, the book had to be sold in order to be able to pay the bills.
8. Shrek
William Steig, who wrote about the monster Shrek, who has a terrible appearance and a good heart, wrote off his character from the wrestler Maurice Tiye. He was born in the Urals, in a French family. After the revolution that took place in 1917, his parents decided to return to France. The future wrestler was then 14 years old.
When Maurice was a teenager, his appearance was called angelic, but then she began to change dramatically for the worse. At the age of 19, Tiye was diagnosed with acromegaly: because of this disease, his bones actively thickened and grew (especially in the facial region). A serious illness did not prevent Maurice from achieving great success in sports, but then he still had to stop entering the ring. Like Shrek, Tiye was very good-natured and pleasant to talk to.
7. Robin Hood
There are several versions of the origin of the stories about Robin Hood, but the most reliable of them can be distinguished. The future robber was born in the village of Loxley, in the twelfth century. He was a free peasant. Robin started a small gang when he was young. He was doing robberies in Sherwood Forest. However, the real Robin Hood was not at all as noble as the character written off from him: he simply took money from people, and not only from the rich, and did not give it to the poor.
6. Pinocchio
The person from whom this character was written off, of course, was not carved from wood at all. He wasn’t even a child. Pinocchio Sanchez was a war hero, this man was notable for his small stature. After the battles, he became a cripple: he had no legs and no nose. However, the doctor Carlo Bestulgi made prostheses for him and even a nose insert made of wood. The “wooden man” learned to perform various tricks and began to perform at fairs, but one day he fell from a height and died. If not for the fairy tale of Carl Collodi, today hardly anyone would have remembered the story of Pinocchio.
5. Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh
Alan Milne had a son, Christopher: the author copied one of the main characters of his book from him. The boy was quiet, shy, and Edward the teddy bear was his only friend. Alan Milne did not change the name of the boy, but he named the bear cub differently: in honor of Winnipeg, a bear from the zoo in London. She was very calm, even allowing children to pet her and feed her with condensed milk.
4. Baron Munchausen
This man lived in the XNUMXth century. He was born in the German city of Bodenwerder. Münghausen moved to Russia when he fell in love with a Russian woman. After moving, he began to serve as an officer in the army. When the nobleman nevertheless returned to Germany, he began to tell his acquaintances about the various adventures that supposedly happened to him in the Russian lands. Munchausen’s fantasy was very stormy, and each time his stories were supplemented with new interesting details.
3. Carlson
The prototype of Carlson is not just a real person. Astrid Lindgren wrote off this character from Hermann Goering, a military, statesman and politician of Nazi Germany. Astrid was very sympathetic to the Swedish far-right party and knew Goering personally. He was an ace pilot, as hinted at by the propeller behind Carlson’s back. Outwardly, this character is also very similar to Hermann Goering. Many note that this man, who was very influential in Nazi Germany, was very charismatic and had a very good appetite.
2. Douremard
Surely all the people who read the fairy tale “The Golden Key” remember the seller of leeches Duremar. The person who became the prototype of this character is Bulemard, a doctor from Moscow. Its origin was French. The services of this specialist were very popular among wealthy people. He successfully treated patients with leeches. The doctor often wore a long and tight hoodie that provided protection from mosquitoes while catching leeches. Next to this unusual specialist, children constantly hung around, who teased Bulemard, distorting his last name: “Duremar.”
1. Peter Pen
Michael Davis, who inspired James Barry to create a book about the boy Peter Pan, who never grew old, was the son of the writer’s friends. This child constantly invented various stories, he was sociable, mischievous and inquisitive. Like Peter, Michael was afraid of old age. In nightmares, this boy often saw evil pirates and the terrible Captain Hook. James Barry was very attached to this gifted and cheerful child.