Cuentos de los hermanos Grimm

Upon first glance, this little known Japanese series from the 80s might not seem like anything more than a collection of poor low-budget fairy tale adaptations. Grimm's' Masterpiece Theater, however, is a nice surprise. The show's re-tellings of fairy and folk tales are entertaining without feeling rushed or childish, and while they lack the big numbers and beautiful animation Disney adaptations are endowed with, they hold up well enough, never feeling like cheap rip-offs of previous Disney versions.

The episodes cover a wide variety of fairy tales, from familiar stories such as Rapunzel and Cinderella, to less known yarns such as The Seven Swans. While child-friendly, the stories are never dumbed down or clogged with pop culture references and fart jokes. The stories also take few cues from earlier Disney adaptations, making them quite unique.

As to be expected in a low-budget series, the animation is very limited, however, the appealing character designs make up for it with their simplicity and charm. The backgrounds are also quite pleasant to look at.

As for the voice acting and music, they're passable. At points, the actors have to belt out their lines at Mach speed in order to get the lip sync right. The music is forgettable and reused in every episode, but that's more of a nitpick than an actual issue in this case. All in all, this is an entertaining little gem for children. It's nothing out of this world, but it's pretty good nonetheless and strides ahead of the televised garbage kids are exposed to these days.

7/10

For many years, the Japanese animation studio Nippon Animation was very well known for providing anime adaptations of Western literary works. The best example is, of course, the annual "World Masterpiece Theater" serials ("Anne of Green Gables," "Tom Sawyer," "Little Women," "Little Princess Sara" and various others), but that's far from the only example. The show known in North America and shown on Nickelodeon as "Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics" was actually two different series ("Grimm Masterpiece Theater", 1987-88, and "New Grimm Masterpiece Theater," 1988-89) shown in Japan on TV Asahi and redubbed and reedited for U.S. distribution by Saban International. While it wasn't one of Nippon Animation's more popular or well-known series, it has been shown in various European countries as well as the U.S. and is remembered fondly by many who saw it as children, including myself.

This charming anime stands out from the massive crop of animated fairy-tale adaptations on the market due to its production values. Nippon Animation had high standards at the time, and it shows - faces are expressive, there's lots of attention to detail in even minor movements, and the backgrounds are beautifully done. Even with the budgets of TV animation in the late '80s, the show never looks chintzy or sloppy, even though there are scenes (particularly when the narrator is speaking) that do remind us that there WAS a budget (a still frame rather than actual animation). One thing that can be distracting if one is watching this as a series is that the show used four or five character designers, so the character designs and art styles vary widely from one episode to another. But of course, this is an episodic series (few stories cover more than one half-hour episode, with a few exceptions, most notably "Snow White") and meant to be viewed as such, so others may not find this as much of an issue.

Saban's dub is mostly good, but not perfect. The voice acting is very good, and many of the voices will be familiar to those who have watched "Robotech," "Tenchi Muyo!," "Outlaw Star" and "Pokemon" among other shows. The dialogue is often written quite awkwardly, however, as was probably necessary to match the lip flaps. The score by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, replacing the original music by Hideo Shimazu (which can still be heard in some other foreign dubs, i.e. the German version), is pleasant enough but recycled a bit too frequently, and Shimazu's original beautifully orchestrated score is superior. On the other hand, there are some short songs in a few episodes (i.e. "Jorinde and Joringel" and "The Six Who Went Far") - though this isn't really a "musical" anime - which are quite nicely sung despite occasionally cutesy lyrics. Another memorable moment is when the Big Bad Wolf in "Little Red Riding Hood" breaks into a rap... no kidding.

Which brings me to another of the charming things about this series - the occasional sight gags and in-jokes. One example can be found in the "Briar Rose" (Sleeping Beauty) episode. Look closely at the invitations the witches receive and you'll see they are written in Japanese Romanji in Olde German-style text! (This was kept in the dub, by the way.) Also, one of the other reviewers mentioned the lack of fart jokes in this series. There actually IS a fart joke in the original version of "Jorinde and Joringel" which was cut from the English dub. If you can find the German dub online, watch it and you'll see what I mean. LOL! It's a quite different treatment than the "World Masterpiece Theater" series which were usually quite serious.

Overall, one of the finest adaptations of fairy tales I've seen. Despite the slight imperfections in the dub, I find these equally as enjoyable as anything Disney did. 8.5/10.

As a fan of Japanese Animation - or Anime to the initiated - I found this gem when it was airing on Nickelodeon back in the day (mid-to-late 80's). Happened to be bored out of my mind, as well as being sick, and wanting to watch something different.

I was ill with the flu that day and was kept home from school. I was surfing and happened to see the animation style and watched it. Being a fan of Voltron (Beast King GoLion), I was intrigued by the style. "Hmm...cute," I thought.

Easy to tell it was geared for little kids, but I did not care as I was unwell and just wanted to fall asleep to something that gave me that cozy feeling. It worked. The stories did somewhat hold true to the original stories from many generations back when they were first written.

A good installment for bringing the classics to younger children.

Two of the main reasons for seeing 'Grimm Masterpiece Theater' (aka 'Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics') are if one is a fan of animation, or anime, and if one loves folk tales/fairy tales. That won't be the case for everybody though. In my case, they were my two main reasons, as a lover of both animation and folk/fairy tales since forever. Anybody who likes either or both will find a lot to like about 'Grimm Masterpiece Theater'.

My introduction to 'Grimm Masterpiece Theater' was through seeing the series' version of 'Cinderella' by chance when watching various animated fairy tale adaptations online, with no prior knowledge of the series or where that version of 'Cinderella' came from. That immediately got me interested in seeing as much of the rest of the series as possible and have not regretted it since. 'Grimm Masterpiece Theater' may not quite be a masterpiece or a classic. At the same time, there is very little if anything grim about it. Actually found it a pleasant surprise and anybody wanting something different from the big animation studios or see lower-budgeted animation or both is very likely to get a lot of pleasure out of it.

If there is a frequent criticism, it is agreed that the music, outside of the lovely theme songs, doesn't always fit and doesn't add or enhance what's going on and instead feels like it belonged elsewhere. As a result of the recycling, it also feels repetitive which is a shame because on its own it's not bad at all.

At times, the voice acting is a touch over-compensated, either in tone of voice, speed or both.

However, considering that the budget was not large, the animation is not bad at all. Some sloppiness in synchronisation at times, but the attention to detail in the backgrounds, expressive character movements and facial expressions, atmospheric colours and reasonably smooth character designs that don't look ugly generally is more than credible and actually an example to all lower-budgeted animation. The theme songs are pleasant and accompanied by well designed intros/outros. The writing flows well surprisingly well, and makes neither mistake of being childish or complicated. It's easy to understand for younger audiences while having something for people older but wanting some childhood nostalgia.

37 (with 'Snow White' being a four parter and 'The Frog Prince', 'Puss in Boots' and 'Cinderella' two parters) folk/fairy tales are adapted, despite the title there are a wide variety adapted here instead of just the Grimm Brothers, and pretty much all are treated with remarkable respect, with a lot of the material being recognisable. Some are not quite as dark as the original stories, but some of the series do get dark yet not in a way that's too scary. The stories are treated seriously as well as respectfully, without being morose. There is also humour though to lighten the mood, and the humour here is well-timed and is not just amusing but doesn't resort to distaste or childishness. The "good" characters are likeable and charming, while the comedy relief characters are fun and the villains hissable without it being too overt. There are imperfections with the voice acting, but enough of it is expressive and fit the characters.

Concluding, very interesting and well done. Look out for it. 8/10

So fun fact, this anime is truly a classic in Colombia, because shortly after it premiered it has been broadcasted every sunday morning to this day almost non-stop in one of the country's main networks. Many generations now (me included) have grown up with it and kids continue to do so, people know the stories, the main theme and try to sing along in a sort of made up japanese; I would say some might not be aware this is japanese animation (first anime for many then?).

Surely the distribution rights must be affordable, but in my book, it speaks a lot kids and adults alike keep watching year after year even when it only has 48 episodes. Most sundays you get up and put it on, after all, it's the #1 comfort series for us, and as the episodes run along, you know it is indeed sunday, you have tamal, bread and hot chocolate for breakfast and think "everything is fine, life is nice". Nostalgia at its finest.