At the Chessmen Museum all your fantasies come true. How? Because of all the Fantasy chess games, cartoon heroes, Harry Potter, little Diddle sheep and assorted monsters and amazing creatures. Why is Fantasy so popular though?
Fantasy has been around forever. Supernatural phenomena were ‘explained’ using the human imagination. Stories about dragons and other types of monsters have also been around for centuries. Apart from the medieval setting these elements are a significant part of the Fantasy genre. Old myths that contain the same elements, such as the one that stars Beowulf, the tenth century warrior that defeats the monster Grendel, are not considered modern Fantasy.
This new genre didn’t exist until the 1850’s. From those years onwards, writers consciously created mythical worlds for the sake of the story and not to explain mysterious natural phenomena. For a long time literature was the most important source of fantastical stories. Authors explored new territories with children’s books (Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll in 1865) or stories with a hint of horror (Dracula by Bram Stoker in 1897). Readers absolutely loved the human like creatures and fantasy worlds created by the writers. This type of stories inspired later Fantasy writers such as the famous Tolkien, who invented the Hobbits.
Film makes Fantasy a star
The movie industry has made Fantasy bigger than nineteenth century writers could ever have imagined. Stories such as Peter Pan were first published as books but didn’t gain massive fame until they were brought to the big screen. Walt Disney Pictures was a key element in this development. Cartoons created by Disney often got a sequel with real life people. Back to Peter Pan: James Barrie introduced this boy to the world on paper, in 1902. Disney animated the story about Peter Pan and Wendy in 1953 and in 1991 Steven Spielberg’s Hook, starring flesh and blood actors, made its way to cinemas. After 110 years this special world full of fantasy figures is still hugely popular.
Fantasy worlds not only appeared on the big screen but also in other forms. Comics were the vehicle of superheroes from the 1930’s onwards. In times of crisis and war people liked to read about better worlds inhabited by heroes and strange creatures, even though they weren’t real. The film industry would then shoot the cartoon characters to fame. Heroes such as Batman, Spiderman and Conan the Barbarian all made their way to various movies and to this day still star in the blockbusters.
Apart from books, movies and comics there are many other possibilities of encountering Fantasy figures: they star in musicals, TV series, cartoons, board games –chess included of course-, toys and other products. Literature should not be underestimated though; it is still immensely popular, as is proved by the recent publication of many Fantasy books, the Harry Potter series occupying the top ranks of the bestseller lists.
Fantasy 2.0
Computer games may be another cause of the extreme popularity of Fantasy. The computer is the ultimate medium for the creation of miraculous creatures and bizarre beasts in magical surroundings. Whether it’s Japanese Manga games or Dungeons & Dragons from the United States, the designs have no limits. Online computer games are the most common hobby among young people for a reason. Producers of these games would like to keep it that way (worldwide, the game industry makes over fifty billion dollars a year) and develop one computer game after another, each one more astonishing than its predecessor.
If you don’t like virtual Fantasy and prefer living a real life experience, there are Fantasy festivals for you all over the world. People who share this hobby attend these festivals dressed in extraordinary costumes to emerge themselves in their dream world for a while. Is that taking things too far? Then come and visit the Chessmen Museum. There are plenty of Fantasy games in our collection.
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