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A Brief Look at the Brothers Grimm

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How many little girls dream of being Snow White? How much money did Disney’s Tangled make? What little girl hasn’t dressed up as Cinderella or dreamed of meeting her very own prince charming? These popular fairy tales were created by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Their primary motivation when starting their collection of fairy tales was to preserve culture rather than entertain, but entertain is what they did. These fairy tales, and versions of them, have remained popular for a very long time, outlasting most other works of literature. The Brothers Grimm adapted these well-known stories from around Europe to reflect their own personal views, Germanize them and remove some of the more disturbing details of the original stories. In the same way, these fairy tales have been altered again and again to be acceptable to society. Fairy tales similar in theme can be found across the world. The Brothers Grimm versions are the most familiar because their emphasis on German culture and Christian morals is very similar to American culture and values. The adaptability and skillful incorporation of morals and issues considered socially unacceptable in an entertaining story, has allowed the Brother’s fairy tales to last throughout the ages. One of the most popular of the Brothers Grimm’s fairy tales is Snow White. In the original version, the theme was that of a mother-daughter rivalry, but the Grimm brothers changed many elements so that it would more closely reflect their values. In the

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