The image they throw back may not always be the most satisfactory, but for better or worse, it. The brothers grimm are responsible for a lot of these horrific elements, but in some cases, even their incarnations are much nicer than the originals. There is no question that despite their circumstances the grimm brothers were at the top of their game. The gruesome origins of classic fairy tales abebooks. Once upon a time, long before gus gus and prince charming, fairy tales were. Microsoft may earn an affiliate commission if you purchase something. Not for children the brothers grimms fairy tales were not the sweet numbers you. After swallowing the poisoned apple and slipping into a coma, the prince takes snow whites body. Books the eight darkest fairy tales posted by stylist team published 8 years ago.
The true stories behind classic fairy tales huffpost. The pied piper, for example, is believed to be an actual man from 1264 in hamelin, germany. Barries peter pan and vintage childrens books, weve curated a magical list of art and books for the most discerning fairy tale collector. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading grimms fairy tales. Top 10 gruesome fairy tale origins 10 the pied piper. Gruesome origins of favorite fairy tales astral perceptions. The disturbing origins of 10 famous fairy tales flavorwire. Each book in the origins of fairy tales series contains seven different variants of a particular story from all around the world. Disney and other film production companies have sanitized these stories for a modern audience that is deemed unable to cope with something other than a happy ending. History of fairy tales kids books fairy tales lovetoknow. Sleeping beauty first appeared alongside the cat cinderella in basiles pentamerone. In one of the very earliest versions of this classic story, published in 1634 by giambattista basile as.
Fairy tales featured in this series include cinderella, bluebeard, little red riding hood, sleeping beauty, rapunzel, beauty and the beast. When you think of fairy tales, you most likely think of sweet stories heard as a child. Snow white is just 7 years old when the huntsman takes her into the forest with. Gruesome details about your favorite childhood stories. In order to save folk tales and preserve them for future generations, the german brothers grimm collected stories that had been passed from generation to generation. The fairy tale has its origins way back in the 1st century bc where strabos heroine was actually called rhodopis, not cinderella. This list looks at some of the common endings we are familiar with and explains the original gruesome origins. Many of these elements were later dropped to make the stories.
Severely deformed because of the physical labor mining required, they were despairingly referred to as dwarfs. The grimm brothers from germany, and frenchman charles perrault, the collector of the mother goose tales. According to researchers at durham university and the nova university lisbon, the story originated around 4,000 years ago. Rather, good night stories for rebel girls is a collection of 100 illustrated stories, written in the fairy tale format of once upon a time, but each centering on a formidable and extraordinary woman from history or current day.
That woodsman showing up seemed a little like a third act rewrite of a movie due to bad test screenings, didnt it. While today parents love relating their favorite fairy tales to their own children, the dark and often gruesome plot lines of the original stories were intended for adult. The story was very similar to the modern one with the exception of the glass slippers and pumpkin coach. Cinderellas evil stepsisters have their eyes pecked out by birds. Disneys latest animated hit, frozen, offers eyepopping animation, but the plot will be familiar to anyone who knows their fairytalesits based on hans christian andersons 1845 story the snow queen though theres no pop culturesavvy snowman in the originalsorry. The fairy tale itself is full of dark details that were later scrubbed clean. If you know anything about us, you should know this. But this disneyfication of the tales isnt actually new. However, some fairy tales have more recent origins. Be sure to subscribe to the listverse podcast on itunes and rate our podcasts. For the people who dont believe in happily ever after and have a good imagination. This podcast looks at the gruesome origins of ten of our favorite fairy tales from childhood. The gruesome origins of 10 classic fairy tales unbelievable facts. The origins, history, and interpretations of the worlds most famous fairy tales is an invitation to peek into the history of fairy tales and see humanity reflected in them.
The 10 darkest and most disturbing fairy tales culture trip. Barrie and the grimm brothers much preferred a haunting tale over a romantic one, but a few of their most harrowing details have. From original watercolor illustrations of cinderella and disney production cels, to luxe editions of j. Original fairy tales childrens stories and their history. True loves kiss and happily ever afters were childs play for the writers that came before walt disney. Also included in this post is a set of fairy tale play figures. The real versions of the disney fairytales are a little different from the disney movies, and even the tales that we commonly hear. These often stem from true events, albeit watered down in modern times from the more gruesome or uncomfortable historical elements. Kindle edition by grimm, jacob, grimm, wilhelm, publishing, red skull. If you know of any others, be sure to mention it in the comments or if you know of a fairy tale that is just outright gruesome in its original or modern form, speak up. Red riding hoods grandmother meets a gruesome fate, pinocchio calls the police, and the sleeping beautys love story is actually quite horrifying.
I took the same images i used in the books to make little figures that kids can use to reenact the stories of the fairy tales themselves. Margarete grew up in bad wildungen, where her brother used small children to work his copper mine. A man arrives dressed in clothes of pied a patchwork of colors and offers to rid the town of the vermin. Grimm, jacob, grimm, wilhelm, publishing, red skull on. Top 10 gruesome fairy tale origins you may be surprised to learn about the original endings of your favorite fairy tales. However, many fairy tales and the legends behind them are actually the diluted version of uncomfortable and gruesome historical events. The piper rid the town of rats, and after the elders refused him the.
Grimms fairy tales, originally known as the childrens and household tales german. Almost every classic fairy tale you know includes some gruesome, disturbing, or macabre plot element in its original form. When i was a kid i had a book with a 100 old stories, and they were mostly original, so the mutilation story is actually the first i ever heard. Cinderella can be traced back to china in 9th century a. This tale dates back to the tudor era, with gruesome details like the king ordering a bishop to be hung, drawn, and quartered. However, almost all of these stories have a dark and gruesome original version. The gruesome, gory and grownup original versions of our bestloved fairy tales. Top ten most gruesome fairy tale facts the writerly. Your favorite disney movies have pretty gruesome origins. O nce upon a time, long before gus gus and prince charming, fairy tales were brimming with murder and torture. The disturbing origins of 10 famous fairy tales sleeping beauty. Features the dark origins of the grimms fairy tales. In order to understand the history of fairy tales, readers need to be aware of for whom original fairy tales were really written.
Recently adapted into 2009s the princess and the frog, the original grimm fairy tale is, unfortunately, far less sentimental and romantic than its modern. Disney had us believe that the prince recognized ariel in the end and they lived happily ever after. In the tale of the pied piper, we have a village overrun with rats. Below is a collection of horrifying details that disney chose to leave out of all of these bookfairy taleplay adaptations. Here are 11 unbelievable stories behind your favorite fairy tales. Let us take a look at the top 10 dark origins of disney fairytales.
If you can believe it, the brothers grimm actually made this story a lot nicer than it was when. It includes an indepth introduction to the fairy tale genre itself, as well as the folkloric provenance of the fairy tale. Early versions of classic fairy tales had some grim content such as torture, rape, and cannibalism. These days, companies like disney have sanitized them for. Top 10 dark origins of disney fairytales wonderslist. These are perfect little short fairy tales for your little ones. I love that this book features all the tales in their entirety. The version of this tale that most of us are familiar with ends with riding hood being saved. The hidden meanings behind fairy tales drama start. Fairy tales of the past were often full of macabre and gruesome twists and endings. Gruesome origins of favorite fairy tales fairy tales of the past were often full of macabre and gruesome twists and endings. I was horrified to find that the origins of many of my favorite disney movies had much more gruesome details that disney completely left out. Child abuse even more shockingly, much of the violence in grimms fairy tales is directed at children.
The gruesome origins of childrens fairy tales grimm feature. The original tale of happy and bubbly ariel is much gory and darker about the selfsacrifice for love. If there is one thing fairy tales have taught us, it would certainly be a happy ending. The gruesome origins of classic fairy tales cinderella. But thanks to brands like disney, the fairy tales children grow up with today scarcely resemble their darker origins. The big change they made to this one was the ending.
While were all familiar with the disneyfied versions of fairytales, the familyfriendly movies leave out some of the darker and more gruesome details from the original novels and fairytales. Disney has been going steady for ages, telling little children stories based on old fairytales, albeit loosely so. These were largely oral folklore, based on actual gruesome events. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Every fairy tale ends with a happily ever after, right. The tale was one collected by the brothers grimm in the 1812 edition of childrens and household tales. But lighter interpretations were needed to actually sell books, so the brothers grimm turned to the fairy tales of frenchman charles perrault ogden, 2014 and what we now call the fairy tale was born. The first edition contained 86 stories, and by the seventh edition in 1857, had 210 unique fairy tales. Upon learning of snow white from her magic mirror, the queen orders a huntsman to collect snow whites liver and lungs for a grisly meal. I created a printable set of mini fairy tale books for kids. Most modern versions of fairy tales come from two sources. While today parents love relating their favorite fairy tales to their own children, the dark and often gruesome plot lines of the original stories were intended for adult audiences, not youngsters. Putting a new twist on an enduring legend is, of course, nothing new. Five dark and gruesome fairytales behind classic disney.