Once upon a time there were two brothers by the names of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. They lived in Germany in the 1780’s and grew up to become one of the most famous folk tale writers. We know their tales, but people only really know the Disney versions of these stories. The Grimm brother’s had more gruesome and gore-like tales of Cinderella, but why were these adventures so horrifying and how did Disney alter the fantasies to make them more appeal to a bigger audience? This is the story of how the Brother’s Grimm showed their culture though a fairy tale. All the tales by the Brother’s Grimm “were not meant for children” (4). It was “the romantic movement in Germany” (2) that started the brother’s on their journey to gather all the folk tales …show more content…
In the Brother’s Grimm version, Aschenputtel is not a sad, depressed maid that hates life. Instead, she “...sorts everything out herself, and considering that her pragmatism involves a magic tree [and] some enchanted birds... its seems that she isn’t actually an emotionally neglected kitchen maid, but a talented witch” (5). That’s right, a magic tree and birds. Rather than having a fairy godmother that sings to turn a pumpkin into a carriage, when her father goes on a business trip, Aschenputtel “asks for a simple twig” (5). “She then plants [the twig] on her mother’s grave and waters it with her tears” (5). The tree is the actual “fairy godmother” that grants Aschenputtel’s wishes. Nevermind mice, Aschenputtel has an army of birds by her side. Not only did the birds help her with her chores, but they also sealed the fate of Aschenputtel’s two stepsisters in a more gruesome way. The stepsisters tried to make the tiny gold slipper fit with “one cut[ting] off her big toe, [and] the other a bit of her heel” (5) which left the shoe “filled with blood” (5). No one noticed their action, except the birds. The “soldier's” sang to the prince about how the slipper was “filling with blood” (5). Even after they cut off their body parts to get glory, they insisted on walking Aschenputtel down the aisle during the royal wedding. The birds did not approve of this