Geekery Part Deux (For the PT 10th Anniversary)

[opalescentegg]

When, exactly, do the events of “Princess Tutu” take place? Depending on which fanfic you read or which fanart you view, it could be anywhere between the turn of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st.

However, I believe that there are enough clues, both shown and implied, that the likely general timeframe of “Princess Tutu” can be

Comments

[moonshadowmagic]

Interesting and a lot of research! I hadn't realized about A Midsummer Night's Dream-- I'd been thinking of Cinderella and Romeo and Juliet as the latest works represented, due to Prokofief's music. However, I had it placed in the present day also on the basis of the Duck Suit (middie shirt, shorts, clunky shoes-- not before the late '60's, but anytime since) and-- in the 'party' thrown by Pique and Lillie-- Groucho glasses (plastic) and especially 2- liter plastic bottles of drink, which came along only in the late 1970's. And the genealogy. The boys' bell- bottoms and white shoes are also a 1970's look. But in fashion, once it comes, it will cycle 'round again in 20 or 25 years-- and it has. For something like a school, of course, the uniform might be set for a decade or two just because designing new ones costs money or no one remembers that it might be nice to update the look.

I had totally ignored fashion with Drosselmeyer. He wears a costume, not clothing. Head canon: it might be fun to have his death on Hallowe'en 1892 or '93, whichever it was that Tchaikovsky died.

Another thing to consider is something I remember about The Phantom of the Opera-- when producing the musical, the ballet was specifically matched to the style of the 1870's, before the Russians had so much influence. The ballet in Princess Tutu seems to me to be in the current style, although I'm no real judge.

Of course, it all goes out the window for writing. I set two of mine vaguely pre- WWI, just because I thought the distance in time gave more scope for the action. Mostly I don't really specify, I just use whatever's convenient...

[opalescentegg]

Thanks for the compliment! I actually wasn't aware of A Midsummer Night's Dream either until I happened to come across the information in something I was reading. I also thought about adding observations about Ahiru's non-uniform outfit, the Groucho glasses, the school uniforms, and even what Paulo wore in ep6 (it looked like a T-shirt, sweatpants, and sneakers). I even had notes for some of it, but the essay itself got to the point where I couldn't add things like that in without making the entire piece clunky and confusing.

I also thought the same thing about the boys' school uniform. The shoes, especially, remind me of something right out of "Saturday Night Fever"!

Your head canon sounds fun, too, and I totally approve!

[moonshadowmagic]

For the past several weeks I have been following the "Mark Watches" Princess Tutu posts. In a post for an episode showing Fakir researching fiction- writing, someone posted not only a translation but discovered that the page was a quote from a work on stories, and that the quote referred to The Neverending Story (1979- ish.) So, the series takes place post- publication of that critical work (the title translated to something like The Book of 1,000 Books.)

aaarrrrgh! Wonderful catch!

[opalescentegg]

I remember seeing that post too! The (German) Amazon.com page for the book gave its publication date at 2002, so I guess that means that the series takes place in the early 21st century--which actually makes a great deal of sense, but it's still a little mind-boggling.