Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics (original) (raw)

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Japanese anime television series

This article is about the Japanese anime. For the collection by the Grimm brothers, see Grimms' Fairy Tales.

Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics
Title screen
グリム名作劇場(Gurimu Meisaku Gekijō)
Genre AdventureFantasy
Anime television series
Directed by Hiroshi Saito
Produced by Takaji Matsudo
Written by Hiroshi Saito, Nobiyuki Fujimoto, Yu Yamamoto
Studio Nippon Animation
Licensed by NA: Discotek Media
Original network ANN (ABC)
English network AU: Nine NetworkNZ: Channel 2TV3UK: Fox KidsUS: NickelodeonZA: TV1
Original run October 21, 1987 – March 30, 1988
Episodes 24
Anime television series
New Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics
Directed by Hiroshi Saito
Produced by Takaji Matsudo
Written by Yu Yamamoto, Nobiyuki Fujimoto, Akira Miyazaki
Studio Nippon Animation
Licensed by NA: Discotek Media
Original network ANN (ABC)
English network AU: Nine NetworkUS: Nickelodeon
Original run October 2, 1988 – March 26, 1989
Episodes 23

Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics, also known as Grimm Masterpiece Theater (グリム名作劇場 Gurimu meisaku gekijō) in the original version and The Grimm's Fairy Tales (in Australia and New Zealand), is a Japanese anime anthology series by Nippon Animation based on the Grimms' Fairy Tales.

Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics adapted several old favorites, taking liberties in some cases. The series also contains many obscure fairy tales, though some of these were removed from later reissues of the volume. Some were eliminated because they originated outside Germany, and therefore didn't appear in the Brothers Grimm's collection of stories, such as Puss in Boots, Bluebeard and Beauty and the Beast. The Worn-Out Dancing Shoes is instead based on a variation of the tale reported by the Brothers Grimm in the notes of the first edition of the book.[1] Most of the tales were presented in one episode, while some stories in the first season were told over two or four episodes for a total of 41 fairy tales. Similar to Andersen Stories (1971), a green-haired female pixie was used as a framing device, though limiting herself to announce the titles and never getting involved with the plot.

The show comprises two series. The first series, known in Japan as Grimm Masterpiece Theater (グリム名作劇場, Gurimu Meisaku Gekijō), aired from October 21, 1987, to March 30, 1988, for a total of 24 episodes. The second series, known in Japan as New Grimm Masterpiece Theater (新グリム名作劇場, Shin Gurimu Meisaku Gekijō), aired between October 2, 1988, and March 26, 1989, totaling 23 episodes. Both series were produced by Nippon Animation with the cooperation of Asahi Broadcasting Corporation in Osaka. It was also localized under the series' English name.[_citation needed_]

The fairy tale anthology was broadcast in the United States by Nickelodeon, in local stations throughout Europe, Latin America, Philippines, Israel, Arab World, New Zealand and Australia.

In Japan, for both seasons, the series used two theme songs; the opening theme, "The Rainbow Bridge" (虹の橋, Niji no Hashi), and the ending theme, "My Town's Merry-Go-Round" (私の町はメリーゴーランド, _Watashi no Machi wa Merī Gorando), were both performed by Ushio Hashimoto. Incidental music used in the Japanese version was composed by Hideo Shimazu. The theme tune and incidental music used in the English dub were both composed by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy. Most of the incidental music was in fact recycled from the earlier VHS series My Favorite Fairy Tales.[_citation needed_]

Limited episodes were produced in NTSC VHS by Saban International and distributed by Starmaker Entertainment Inc. and Hi-Tops Video/Fisher-Price in 1990 and Video Treasures/HGV Video Productions in 1992.[_citation needed_] Those volumes included:

A few episodes were released to a single Region 2 DVD titled "Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics - Volume One" under distribution by Fox Kids and Maximum Entertainment Ltd. in 2004.[2] The episodes included were:

The British newspapers Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror released the following episodes on promotional DVDs:[_citation needed_]

The original Japanese version of the series was released as a 5-disc DVD set in Region 2 with 10 episodes from the series.[_citation needed_]

Despite a large cult following, none of the English dub were released on DVD in Region 1 for many years and only limited episodes (listed above) were released in Region 2. The rights to the English dub (owned by The Walt Disney Company following their purchase of Fox Family Worldwide in 2001) reverted to Nippon Animation on July 19, 2005 (series 1) and March 31, 2006 (series 2).[3]

Discotek Media acquired the rights to release the series on SD-BD.[4] The first volume was released on May 25, 2021, and the second volume was released on August 31 the same year.[5] The releases included both the original Japanese versions of the episodes, along with the English dubs by Saban Entertainment, reconstructed using video from the Japanese version and audio from the dub masters. The Season 1 release included alternative English versions of The Travelling Musicians of Bremen, Bluebeard, and The Naughty Spirit.[6] The Season 2 release included the English versions of The Crystal Ball, The Marriage of Mrs. Fox, The Old Woman in the Woods, The Faithful Watchmen, Mother Holle, The Six Swans, The Spirit in the Bottle, The Iron Stove, The Water Nixie, and The Godfather of Death, which had never aired in North America.[7] The Season 1 episode The Six Who Went Far is incorrectly titled The Six Who Went Too Far in the Discotek release.

Season 1 of the English dub is available on Amazon Prime in the USA.[8]

  1. ^ "Sur La Lune || Twelve Dancing Princesses Annotations". www.surlalunefairytales.com. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  2. ^ "Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics - Volume 1". amazon.co.uk. November 27, 2006. Retrieved December 1, 2009.
  3. ^ "ABC FAMILY WORLDWIDE INC - Securities Registration Statement (S-1/A) EXHIBIT 10.19". sec.edgar-online.com.
  4. ^ Discotek Media [@discotekmedia] (December 14, 2020). "Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics! Coming to SD-BD! Subbed 'and' dubbed" (Tweet). Retrieved February 9, 2022 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ Discotek Media [@discotekmedia] (June 8, 2021). "Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics Season 2! The rest of the series w/ the original dub & Japanese versions on 1 disc!" (Tweet). Retrieved February 9, 2022 – via Twitter.
  6. ^ " ""Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics Season 1 Blu-ray"". Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  7. ^ ""Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics Season 2 Blu-ray"". Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  8. ^ "Watch Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics". Amazon Prime Video.