Let's get acquainted with the inhabitants of popular children's books closer?
In childhood, the favorite characters of fictional stories came to life in the imagination and often became good friends. Their realism is explained not only by the amazing abilities of fantasy, but also by the skill of the writers of fairy tales, who created heroes, based on the appearance and character of real people.
1. Robin Hood
Prototype: Robin Locksley.
There are several versions of the origin of ballads about a noble robber plundering the rich to help the poor. According to one of the most reliable theories, Robin was born in the 12th century in the village of Loxley and was a yeomen (free peasant). Even in his youth, he built a big gang, which he used in the woods of Sherwood. True, the intentions of the robbers differed from the fairy tales, the cruel young fellows simply looted, and profited absolutely at all. Of course, they did not give out money to anyone.
2. Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh
Prototype: Christopher Robin Milne and the Winnipeg bear.
Alan Milne, it can be said, copied the main character of the stories about the adventures of Winnie the Pooh from his son. Christopher grew up shy and quiet child, and his only friend was a toy named Edward - a bear of the Teddy series by Farnell. The author did not even change the name of the boy, only his companion was named differently, in honor of the bear Winnipeg from the London Zoo. It was so tamed to human attention that local children, including Christopher, often fed the animal with condensed milk and stroked.
3. Alice in Wonderland
Prototype: Alice Liddell.
Lewis Carroll in his youth was friendly with the family Liddell, who brought up several daughters. The writer spent a lot of free time with the children, telling them exciting stories about a little girl who once met a talking rabbit on a walk. When a whole series of adventures was accumulated, Carroll recorded the tales, adding interesting details and new characters in them. He gave the book to Alice Liddell for Christmas, which she, already an adult, sold for fabulous money to pay bills.
4. Snow White
Prototype: Maria Sofia Katarina Margareta von Ertal.
This story began in 1725 when a charming daughter was born to judge Philip von Ertal and his wife, Baroness Maria Eve von Bettendorf, by the way, the fifth in the family. After 13 years, the wife of a large father died during the birth of the tenth child. The judge did not long for a long time, and a year later he married the same "inconsolable", but very wealthy widow, Claudia Helene Elizabeth von Reichenstein. The elderly lady (36 years old) at that time was most angry with Maria. The girl grew older and more beautiful every day, and the beauty of her new father's wife visibly faded. It is not known why Claudia Helena vzelas exactly the fifth daughter of the judge, because in the castle lived many more children from his first marriage, but Maria was constantly getting away from her stepmother. One day the girl learned that her father's wife was plotting to kill her, and fled, settling in a hut of poor miners. The judge's daughter returned home only after the death of Claudia Helena, and lived there until her death in 1796. Married to Prince Maria, of course, did not come out, and in general to visit a lawful marriage she did not happen.
5. Carlson
Prototype: Hermann Goering.
Wild, but pretty ghost with a motor, it turns out, is not just a real man, but also one of the leaders of the Nazi party, the Reichsmarschall of the Great German Reich and the Reich Minister of the Imperial Ministry of Aviation. Astrid Lindgren, the author of Karlsson's fairy tale, was personally acquainted with the pilot-ace since her youth, and very sympathetic to him, as well as the ultra-right party in Sweden. Therefore, Hermann Goering became the prototype of the main character in the writer's works, the books even mention the proprietary phrases of the Reichsmarschall: "I am a man in full bloom", "Trivia is a matter of everyday life". And outwardly Carlson is very much like Goering, not to mention the hint of his profession in the form of a propeller.
6. Shrek
Prototype: Maurice Tillieu.
William Steig, author of children's stories about a huge green ogre with a good heart, created his character, impressed by Maurice Tillieu. This French wrestler was born in Russia, in the Urals. As a child, he was a charming little boy with gentle features, for which he was nicknamed the Angel. But by the age of 17, Maurice had been diagnosed with acromegaly, a disease that caused the growth and thickening of bones, especially the skull. The guy who dreamed of becoming a lawyer had to abandon his aspirations because of constant bullying and ridicule over his appearance. Then Maurice and moved to wrestlers, and on the sports field he achieved tremendous success. Tiye's contemporaries describe him as a strong, kind and agreeable giant with a great sense of humor. Typical Shrek, is not it?
7. Douremard
Prototype: Jacques Boulemard.
The seller of leeches in the fairy tale "Golden Key" in reality was very popular with a Moscow doctor of French origin, named Bulemard. He lived in 1895 and enjoyed popularity among the Russian nobility. The fact is that the doctor practiced exotic at that time method of treatment with the help of leeches, and experiments with them he showed directly to himself. In order not to be bitten by mosquitoes during the catching of "medicines", Boulemard wore a long tight hoodie. The little one, who was always hanging around with a strange doctor, was teasing Jacques Duremar, distorting his name.
8. Pinocchio
Prototype: Pinocchio Sanchez.
If you are already talking about Pinocchio, it is worth mentioning the original of this tale, written by Karl Collodi. The leading character of the children's book, of course, no one cut out of the log, he was not even a child, just a very small growth. The real Pinocchio is a war hero who, after serving in the army, lost his leg and, oddly enough, his nose. Thanks to the efforts of the doctor Bestuldzhi man was able to start a relatively full life, the surgeon made for him dentures in exchange for the lost parts of the body. It was after the meeting with Sanchez and his wooden nose that Collodi came up with the doll Pinocchio.
9. Baron Munchausen
Prototype: Hieronymus Carl Friedrich von Munchhausen.
The most unscrupulous dreamer did exist, he was born in 1720 in Germany (the city of Bodenwerder, Lower Saxony). The arrow of the cupid made the nobleman move to Russia, to the homeland of his beloved wife, where the baron joined the army as an officer. When fate still allowed Jerome Karl Friedrich to return home, during a friendly get-together, he began to tell his countrymen about the incredible and curious adventures that happened to him in Russia. The history of Munchausen, thanks to his wild imagination, was constantly replenished with new amazing details and circumstances.
10. Peter Pen
Prototype: Michael Davis.
The inspirer of James Barry, the author of the fairy tale about a boy who did not want to grow up, and the fairy Dinh-Dinh, became the son of his close friends, Sylvia and Arthur Davis. Little Michael was an inquisitive, mischievous and sociable 4-year-old child, constantly inventing various stories. He was really afraid to grow old and periodically suffered from nightmares, in which there was a terrible sailor (Captain Hook) and evil pirates. Barry was so fond of a fool, that he gave his Peter Pen the smallest character traits and peculiarities of Michael's behavior.