Grimms' Fairy Tales Resources

Compiled by folklorist D. L. Ashliman, this is a treasure trove of stuff related to the Grimms. He provides a list of the tales, most of which he translated from the German himself. He also lists their other major publications and describes their chronology. Got bit by the folklore bug? Check out Ashliman's folk texts page for folktales and legends from around the world, including many analogues of tales from the Grimms' collection. For instance, there are about a billion Cinderellas out there. Who knew?

While this site doesn't focus solely on the Grimms, there's a ton of fairy-tale info here, and the Grimms do come up a fair bit (they've got their own section in the annotated tales page). Also, their CafePress store has some pretty cute stuff in it, in case you're in the mood for some merch.

Spoiler: the translators of this early version of the tales, Edgar Taylor and Marian Edwardes, were not super-faithful to the originals. They rearranged the order and only included a small selection. Proceed with caution.

There's a whole lotta cool facts here, ranging from biographical info on the brothers to details about their editorial decisions and the actual identities of their storytellers. Geek out if you dare.

Check out this awesome link to a new edition of the Grimms' fairy tales, featuring tons of beautiful illustrations that were published alongside the tales from the 1870s to the early 1900s.

Individual episodes of this animated show interpret different fairy tales from the Grimms' collection. Dubbed into English and aired on Nickelodeon during 1988-89, this show is hard to get a hold of, ahem, legally (though you can find some of the episodes on YouTube). You'll also find it under the name Grimms' Masterpiece Theatre.

This TV series retells a number of Grimms' tales, with adorable muppets to boot. You'll see "Cinderella" and "All Fur" combined in the episode "Sapsorrow," along with episodes based on other tales such as "Hans My Hedgehog" and "A Tale About the Body Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was."

What happens when a bunch of fairy tale characters from the Grimms' collection run into each other in the woods and all their plots get tangled? Well, a lot of singing and dancing, for one. But also drama and angst. It's a fairly popular show and gets adapted for children a lot, but with some of the more violent parts cut out. Sounds familiar, eh?

The Grimm brothers make an appearance in the frame of the story, when Cinderella's descendent tells them how the story "really" went. Apparently Drew Barrymore was involved.

This is a light-hearted romp through everything that never happened in the Grimm brothers' lives. Portraying them as con artists rather than serious scholars is pretty much the most inaccurate "artistic interpretation" ever. Although, the part about their young lives being spent in poverty was true up to a point, since they were livin' the good middle class life until their dad died.

Joss Whedon's sci-fi suspense mystery show Dollhouse had an episode based on the Grimms' tale "Briar Rose," which featured a reading aloud of the tale to disturbed children in a group home, with a parallel plot showing an FBI agent heroically setting out to rescue the supposed kidnapping victim he imagines as a princess locked in a tower. Both subplots subvert canonical interpretations of "Briar Rose." Yeah, it's a doozy.

Wow, the whole "the Grimm brothers were actually monster-hunters thing" is so original. The show does some interesting things with fairy-tale tropes, but again, don't expect the interpretations to be true to the source texts, other than being all "woohoo—more sex and violence that you'd expect from fairy tales!"

This creative TV series borrows a lot from the Grimms. And then some.

Haven't seen this oldie? Well, it's in the Disney vault, so you're outta luck.

It's a classic. Need we say more?

This version's less creepy than the original tale, but stirring nonetheless.

For a more modern take on the classic Grimms' tale, check out this flick.

It's up to you—who's fairer, Kristen Stewart or Charlize Theron?

We're not sure Julia Roberts can be all that believable as an evil queen, but we'll roll with it.

Okay, so it looks a wee bit melodramatic (and way far off of the original plot), but who can resist a movie with Gary Oldman?

Welcome to the world of computer animation, Rapunzel.

Philip Pullman, of Golden Compass fame, is going to rewrite fifty of his favorite Grimms' fairy tales. We're excited. You should be too.

Maria Tatar, a very cool fairy tale scholar, came out with an annotated version of the collection that's discussed in this article. The illustrations are apparently pretty nifty, too.

You're probably too young to remember the show Rocky and Bullwinkle, but ask your parents: it used to be totally hilarious back in the day. They featured a segment called "Fractured Fairy Tales" which revised some of the better-known fairy tales, including some from the Grimms' collection such as "Rapunzel" and "The Brave Little Tailor." It's irreverent, sarcastic, and filled with slapstick comedy. What's not to like?

Dying to hear these stories out loud? LibriVox is here to help.

This novel retells a Holocaust narrative through the lens of the Grimms' tale "Briar Rose." While not a cheery read, it successfully demonstrates how fairy tales are not all sunshine and puppies, and indeed have deep resonances with tragic human experiences.

A collection of poems based on the Grimms, this is raw, deep stuff that upsets and unsettles a lot of the social assumptions within the original tales.

These short stories reinvent the Grimms' and others' fairy tales by saying, "You thought there was enough sex and violence in fairy tales? Well, think again!" Lushly written and darkly erotic, this collection includes such gems as a vampire Sleeping Beauty and Little Red Riding Hood plus werewolves. It's rated R, so keep the kiddos away.

Ever wonder what the tale of "Hansel and Gretel" looked like from the witch's perspective? This young adult novel explores her motivations and redemption.

This collection of rewritten tales (many of which are based on the Grimms') undermines the assumption that all tales must end in the property-like marriage between a man and a woman.

This historical novel explores the last few months that Jacob Grimm spends with one of his nieces; it's a beautiful if hypothetical reconstruction of the emotional lives of the elder Grimm brother and his family.

This book, by Jack Zipes (that's the same dude who did the awesome translation we used in this learning guide) describes the lives of the Grimm brothers and their impact upon history and literature.

Edited by Donald Haase, a big-hitter in fairy-tale scholarship, this book contains essays on everything from feminist responses to the tales to the use of allusions within the tales.

This book by Maria Tatar explores the darker side of the tales: cannibalism, infanticide, and incest, oh boy! No pulling punches here.

Author Ruth Bottigheimer does a great job of showing how the Grimms' tales ladle out social value, a lot of it by what's considered to be appropriate behavior for each gender. A word of caution: while this book is undoubtedly neat-o, some of Bottigheimer's later work (such as Fairy Tales: A New History) is considered to be on shaky ground by other fairy-tale scholars.

Walter Crane was one of the better-known artists to illustrate the Grimms' tales throughout history. Google him if you don't believe us.

What kind of country has images from the Grimms' fairy tales on their stamps? An awesome one. Check out this Briar Rose Stamp.

Shmoop digs this stamp's take on the big bad wolf.

Here's a famous portrait of the dynamic sibling duo, looking all studious.