Childhood does not exist without fairy tales.  Fairy tales speak to a child’s imagination and curiosity.  They are the seeds of creativity, passion, and morality.  The beauty of fairy tales is that they can paint a life lesson in a world of possibility.  

I grew up with all the classic fairy tales, and I learnt most of them from watching Disney.  Some of my favourites were Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid.  Imagine the shock I faced when I learnt their original stories.  

Disney didn’t come up with Cinderella

Most Disney movies you know and love actually originated from gruesome fairy tales written by the Brothers Grimm.  Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were academics, philologists, researchers, lexicographers and writers from 19th century Germany.  They were known for collecting and publishing folklore.  These two essentially made all the fairy tales you grew up with popular.  

A dark past

Born in the town of Hanau in Germany, the brothers mainly grew up in Steinau, a nearby town.  It was really sad that their father passed away when they were only around ten years old.  Their father’s death and the resulting poverty affected the brothers for a long time.  Perhaps this had something to do with their interest in dark storytelling.  

Folklore legends

The Brothers Grimm became leaders in researching German language and literature, especially folktales.  In fact, they created a system for organizing folk stories that became the foundation for folklore studies.  Ultimately, together they published a large body of literature and a historical german dictionary.

Not so family friendly

While the original Grimm’s Fairy Tales were extremely gruesome for today’s standards, Walt Disney managed to adapt many of them into lighter and happier, family friendly films.  I am so happy that the Disney version of Cinderella doesn’t include Cinderella having her feet cut off, and her stepsisters being blinded by birds.  

I wonder what folktales would be without the Brothers Grimm.  If they hadn’t pursued their passion, would our favourite Disney movies still exist?  Would all of our cherished classic fairy tales be a part of our childhood? 

Sources:

“7 Disney Movies Based On Deeply Disturbing, Horrifying Books.” Zach Seemayer, 10 Apr. 2015, zachseemayer.com/2014/12/03/7-disney-movies-based-on-deeply-disturbing-horrifying-books/.

“Brothers Grimm.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Oct. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_Grimm.

“Fairy Tales: Disney Didn’t Tell It This Way…” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 22 Oct. 2011, www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/fairy-tales-disney-didnt-tell-it-this-way-2123553.html.