The OUT OF THE BOTTLE Genre

In these wish-fulfillment tales, an ordinary hero’s life is changed by magic that either bestows a wish or a power or inflicts them with a curse. Whichever way, this magic changes the hero’s life and makes things difficult. The magic is resolved in the end, but the lesson—the moral of the tale—resonates with the hero… and the audience… forever.

The 3 elements of an OUT OF THE BOTTLE story are:

1) A wish asked for by the hero or another, and the clearly seen need to be delivered from the ordinary.
2) A spell, which we must make logical by upholding “The Rules.”
3) A lesson: Be careful what you wish for! It’s the running theme in all OOTB’s. Life is good as it is.