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My Tailipoe series grew out of the Appalachian folktale of the same name, which I read in a book. As mentioned in Part 2.
Here’s an interpretation of the traditional story by digital animator Matt Rogers that I quite like:
https://youtu.be/ygKOF1mEzRs?si=U-TqSWoiprvjwZgw
Folk tales are originally told around campfires and next to bedsides. They are made up on the fly and embellished in the retelling. In this way the tales are spread from person to person, family to family, generation to generation. And eventually gathered into a book by professors of folklore.
This distribution method assures that each tale will have plenty of variations and re-imaginings.
Most versions of Tailipoe include a few key elements: Down on his luck hunter. His hunting dogs. A mysterious creature. The dramatic severing of the tail. Dinner. Retribution by the creature. A jump scare finish!
But some versions take greater liberties. Mark Twain told a reinvention called “The Golden Arm,” which preserved the structure of the tale, but few of the details. Here is a rendition of “The Golden Arm” by the great folk storyteller, Jackie Torrence:
https://youtu.be/DTJJajXPZV8?si=b_EnZ8NFcEpXICPU
What all this has to do with my Tailipoe series, I’ll discuss in the next part.
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Art commissions – contact me at craig@craigboldman.com .
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