If you’re gazing into a crystal ball to find out the opening day of Into the Woods (spoiler alert: It’s December 25) planning a road trip to Storybrooke, Maine, setting of TV’s Once Upon a Time, or waiting to get your next fix of detective work from NBC’s Grimm, you’ll know one thing for sure: fairy tales are hot. Is it because we’re all yearning for a little fantasy escapism these days? Or is it the wonderful eye-candy made possible by modern special effects? Maybe it’s finally seeing strong female characters after sitting through so many estrogen-deficient superhero movies. Whatever the reason, it's as clear as Cinderella's glass slipper that our entertainment owes a lot to the Brothers Grimm. Although the duo is famous for sharing the classic tales bearing their name, here are five facts that you might not have known about them:
The Brothers Grimm didn’t write the fairy tales.Despite the fact that Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm are often associated with Snow White and Rapunzel, the brothers didn’t actually write any of those stories. In fact, the stories existed long before the two men were born in Germany in the mid 1780s. The fairy tales, in fact, were part of a rich oral tradition − passed down from generation to generation, often by women seeking to pass the time during household chores. But as industrialization took root, local traditions changed and scholars, like Jacob and Wilhelm, began a quest to save the stories from extinction. They interviewed relatives and friends, collecting whatever tales they could, sometimes embellishing them (although they insisted they did not). In 1812, Jacob and Wilhelm published the stories as part of a collection titled Nursery and Household Tales, or what is now referred to as Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
I wish you the best of luck buddy!
