why so many movies about folktales?

two reasons i think:
a) it’s much easier to sell something people already know about (same reason for all the movies based on old TV series), and…
b) we’re at the point technically where we can make movies with fantasy elements without looking totally fake.

I was just reading an old article about the Coraline musical:

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/interview-the-creators-of-coraline

I think the last paragraph kind of sums it up:

In Coraline’s epigraph, Gaiman quotes G.K. Chesterton on why we believe in fairy tales: “Not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten.” The stage version has a moral too. In this quintessentially theatrical world, there’s a tacit argument for resourcefulness, imagination and valor. “We put four new numbers in last week during the day, and did a preview at night,” says Silverman, about to dash back with notes for the cast. “Jayne will turn to me right before she goes onstage and quote the show: ‘Be wise, be brave, be tricky.’ And every time, I think: Exactly!?”

Might I also point out that because they are in the public domain, there no need to pay author royalties to tell a story everyone is familiar with.

Classic folktales really capture the imagination, and the story and character simplicity.

Hollywood just seems to scratch the surface, regurgitating the familiar tropes. There’s numerous stories in Grimm’s Fairy Tales that are great fodder for cinematic storytelling, without omitting the gruesome and darker aspects like Cinderella or Snow White.

The Lone Ranger is not folklore; it was a work of fiction that may have become mythic over time. King Leonidas is not a folk character; he is an actual historical figure (about whom not much is really known) whose story, again, has gained mythic character for some. And, as others have noted, aspects of Snow White have re-entered the public domain (as is also the case, I think, with the upcoming Sleeping Beauty film). So, there is money in them thar’ folk tales, which Walt Disney taught us with Cinderella, Snow White, etc.

That said, aspects of folk stories are universal. Robin Hood, King Arthur, Siegfried are both larger than life, but also primal in some way. The same may be true of some modern stories which may become iconic and part of the pantheon of folk myths: Luke Skywalker, Buffy, James Kirk, Jean Luc Picard. And of course, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.

You may not be able to find out in a studio film, but it’s really easy to see what kind of folk myth Luke Skywalker has become. Just go to Google and type “Luke Skywalker fan fiction.” You can also find fan films online, some of them approved by Lucasfilm.

I don’t read a lot of fanfic, but if you read the stories based around Harry Potter or Twilight, you’ll probably find a folk mythology as elaborate and complex as the stories derived from Greek and Roman myths.

I think storytellers of all types have been telling roughly the same stories and so we can’t blame all unoriginality on Hollywood as much as on the limitations of the human brain and interests. The trick is always how a story is told then what the story is.

I also think folktales appeal to film-makers for two reasons.

The first is that a folktale is concise. There is no agonising need to work out what to include and what to cut, the whole story is there in it’s entirety and can be adapted and filled with detail easily.

The second is that a folktale is often comes from an oral tradition and so in it’s written form is told in a transparent style, an almost style-less style. This is originally for the storyteller to add as they wish but has the added bonus that with the exception of a few simple emotions, everything that is told happens on the surface. This simple, surface-based way of telling a story is far easier adapt to the visual and time-limited medium of film then a complex novel where the reader spends many hours with the characters.

I believe it’s actually a misquote. Gaiman said, years after the book was published, that he wrote the epigraph from memory and forgot to check the phrasing. That hasn’t stopped me from quoting it on a regular basis.

I like movies based on folktales because, while I’m watching them, I believe that dragons really do exist. I secretly think–in spite of all the evidence to the contrary–that magic is not only possible but useful in everyday life. Even if dragons don’t exist, there’s a tremendous need for imagination, resourcefulness, and valor. The flood of folktale movies makes me really happy, because–in my opinion–those values aren’t emphasized nearly enough in the real world.