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A storytelling app set up by actress Kara Tointon has re-written some of Britain’s most well-known fairytales because they are said to be ‘inappropriate’ for today’s generation.
The app Tell, which was created by the mother-of-two Strictly winner and three friends during lockdown, has collaborated with Durham University Professor of Anthropology, Jamie Tehrani, to rewrite 80 fables for its audience.
The move comes after a survey by lighting company Twinkly revealed that more than 40 per cent of Generation Z – those born from 1997 to 2012 – think traditional fables are ‘inappropriate’ while 89 per cent believed they perpetuated ‘old-fashioned stereotypes’.
Now the app has tweaked the ending of Grimm’s fairytale The Frog – and renamed the tale The Frog Princess – so that the Princess – not the Prince – ends up as a frog.
‘There once was a Princess in a faraway land, who was rather spoiled,’ the story starts. She makes a deal with a frog to live in the palace after he rescues her favourite gold ring from a deep pond.
A storytelling app set up by actress Kara Tointon (pictured in January 2023) has re-written some of Britain’s most well-known fairytales because they are said to be ‘inappropriate’ for today’s generation
But, when he hops onto her pillow, she loses her temper. ‘Right, I’ve had it!’ said the Princess and picked up the frog and threw him against the wall as hard as she could.
‘At that moment there were two flashes and two bangs and lying on the ground, where the frog had been, was a Prince. The Princess was nowhere to be seen. But there in the bed was a lady frog with a rather confused expression.’
The 19th century author Hans Christian Andersen, who wrote The Princess and the Pea, might equally be surprised that his fable about a prince trying to find a royal bride by testing her sensitivity to a pea, has been modernised.
In the new version, there is no sign of a prince. Instead, Bethany and her adoptive parents move into the castle with the King and Queen and become a blended family.
Both Charles Perrault’s fables Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty have also been rewritten to appeal to modern audiences.
When the Prince proposes to Cinderella, she says: ‘Slow down a minute, your highness. Don’t get me wrong, I am very pleased to see you again. But let’s face it. We hardly know each other.’
And, when the Prince wakes up the Princess in Sleeping Beauty – without a kiss – and asks her ‘My dear Princess. What are your wishes?’ she retorts: ‘Give me a minute. I only just woke up.’
Co-founder Marius Jensen, Kara’s ex fiancé, said: ‘My mission is to change the face of storytelling. Stories were traditionally passed down from generation to generation, passing on wisdom and entertainment.
The app Tell, which was created by the mother-of-two Strictly winner and three friends during lockdown, has collaborated with Durham University Professor of Anthropology, Jamie Tehrani, to rewrite 80 fables (pictured The Frog Princess) for its audience
Both Charles Perrault’s fables Cinderella (pictured) and Sleeping Beauty have also been rewritten to appeal to modern audiences
When the Prince wakes up the Princess in Sleeping Beauty (pictured) – without a kiss – and asks her ‘My dear Princess. What are your wishes?’ she retorts: ‘Give me a minute. I only just woke up.’
‘But many of the classics were penned two centuries ago. Now the world has moved on. Families want more relatable stories that speak to our modern lives and modern challenges.
‘Many people complain that fairytales need to be re-written, but nobody has put pen to paper until now. Gone are the days when it was ok to have Snow White stuck at home cleaning, while the men she lived with went to work.’
However, Toby Young, founder of the Free Speech Union, said: ‘I remember reading fairytales to my children and being annoyed that the father figures, whether in Snow White or Cinderella, are always deadbeats, incapable of protecting their daughters from their wicked stepmothers.
The 19th century author Hans Christian Andersen, who wrote The Princess and the Pea, might equally be surprised that his fable about a prince trying to find a royal bride by testing her sensitivity to a pea, has been modernised. The new version, pictured
‘But I wasn’t so arrogant as to rewrite them. I knew these stories contained a deeper wisdom that was passed on from one generation to the next and had withstood the test of time.’
According to Tell, the oldest fairytale can be traced back 6,000 years, 5,500 years before the invention of printing, and 4,000 years before paper was created: Beauty & the Beast is 4,000 years old and Jack & the Beanstalk is 5,000 years old.
Tell is available to download free from the Apple App Store and Google Play.
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