Understanding Transmedia Storytelling: Reception and Narrative Comprehension in Bill Willingham’s Fables Franchise

Victoria Lagrange


Abstract
This study explores the reception and understanding of the transmedia ensemble surrounding Bill Willingham’s Fables (2002-2015), a comic series reimagining fairytale characters in a modern setting. Fables expands its narrative across multiple media, including spin-off comics, a novel, and the video game The Wolf Among Us. This research investigates key questions: Can we identify a distinct group of transmedia consumers? What elements of the narrative sustain interest across media? A survey of 58 participants reveals that while most enter the franchise through the comic series, a significant number are introduced via the video game. The findings indicate that Fables fans are highly engaged transmedia consumers, with a majority exploring several parts of the franchise wanting to pursue narrative exploration. This study offers insights into how transmedia narratives are consumed, emphasizing the role of familiar story elements in encouraging cross-media engagement.
Anthology ID:
2024.wnu-1.3
Volume:
Proceedings of the The 6th Workshop on Narrative Understanding
Month:
November
Year:
2024
Address:
Miami, Florida, USA
Editors:
Yash Kumar Lal, Elizabeth Clark, Mohit Iyyer, Snigdha Chaturvedi, Anneliese Brei, Faeze Brahman, Khyathi Raghavi Chandu
Venue:
WNU
SIG:
Publisher:
Association for Computational Linguistics
Note:
Pages:
32–36
Language:
URL:
https://aclanthology.org/2024.wnu-1.3
DOI:
Bibkey:
Cite (ACL):
Victoria Lagrange. 2024. Understanding Transmedia Storytelling: Reception and Narrative Comprehension in Bill Willingham’s Fables Franchise. In Proceedings of the The 6th Workshop on Narrative Understanding, pages 32–36, Miami, Florida, USA. Association for Computational Linguistics.
Cite (Informal):
Understanding Transmedia Storytelling: Reception and Narrative Comprehension in Bill Willingham’s Fables Franchise (Lagrange, WNU 2024)
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PDF:
https://aclanthology.org/2024.wnu-1.3.pdf