Brothers Grimm

The brothers Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm were German scholars dedicated to the publication of folk and fairy tales producing original and revised works.

With a vast collection of over 200 tales, there is plenty to choose from with particularly famous tales being examples such as Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Repunzel. Yet, I intend to refrain from these more established tales to avoid preconceived modern concepts allowing for my own unique visual interpretation without retracing familiar ground. Effectively, this will grant me the opportunity to explore a wide array of imaginative themes to interpret a Grimms’ tale in a completely unique way. The act of visually translating a fairytale into a science fiction, horror or comedy is an exciting prospect that will result in an enjoyable and challenging process.

Thus, I have begun to read a number of Grimms’ fairytales to find one that I will find most engaging to work from for this entire project. Here are number of Brothers’ Grimm tales which I have read which vary greatly in length.

The Wonderful Musician – A tale of a musician luring 3 animals, a wolf, fox and hare, before trapping them and luring a human companion to defend him

The Skillful Huntsman – a locksmith trains as huntsman, slays 3 giants rescuing a princess. Where the king is deceived and rewards the one-eyed captain the princess’ hand in marriage. She refuses suffering the troubles of peasant life before the return of the huntsman who reveals the truth and later ends in marriage as the one eyed captain proclaims his own sentence to be ‘torn to pieces’.

Little Brother & Little Sister – Little brother & sister leaves their wicked aunt, where the brother is transformed into a deer who attracts the King’s huntsmen. After pursuit, the King marries little sister to the jealously of the aunt and her own daughter, who plots against the newly wed Queen. Plot ensures, queen becomes a ghost before returning back to life where the evil aunt daughter are sentenced to death

King Thrushbeard – A king’s daughter refuses the hand of all suitors before suffering hardships being forced to marry a peasant who is King Thrushbeard in disguise.

The Twelve Huntsmen – A prince has promised to marry another as his father’s death wish. His lost fiancée serve the new king as a huntsman with the 11 other women, who continually deceive the new King to be men. After discovering his lost fiancée as one of his huntsman, he breaks his father’s promise and marries his fiancée.

Bearskin – A veteran soldier returns from war with no other skill or talent. He confronts the devil who offers him riches on the condition that he does not wash, cut his hair and wear a bearskin for 7 years. He agrees, using the money for good and returns to this former self later marrying the daughter of the man he aided.

More tales can be found here and here.

Ideally, I am looking for tale with a range of characters and settings to draw upon, as well as an interesting story. At this stage of the project, I have not yet chosen which tale to design from, but am keeping a select few in mind.

Adams, Richard. (1981). Grimm’s Fairy Tales. London. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Rackham, Arthur. (1973). Grimm’s Fairy Tales Twenty Stories. London. William Heinemann.