The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm
The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm is a 1962 American fantasy film directed by Henry Levin and George Pal. The latter was the producer and also in charge of the stop motion animation. The film was one of the highest-grossing films of 1962. It won one Oscar and was nominated for three additional Academy Awards. Several prominent actors—including Laurence Harvey, Karlheinz Böhm, Jim Backus, Barbara Eden, and Buddy Hackett—are in the film.
Plot
The story focuses on the Grimm brothers, Wilhelm and Jacob, and is biographical and fantastical at the same time. They are working to finish a history for a local Duke, though Wilhelm is more interested in collecting fairy tales and often spends their money to hear them from locals. Tales such as "The Dancing Princess" and "The Cobbler and the Elves" are integrated into the main plot. One of the tales is told as an experiment to three children in a book store to see if publishing a collection of fairy tales has any merit. Another tale, "The Singing Bone", is told by an old woman in the forest who tells stories to children, while the uninvited Wilhelm secretly listens through an open window. The culmination of this tale involves a jeweled dragon and features the most involved usage of the film's special effects.
Awards
Cast
- Angelo Rossitto
- Arnold Stang
- Barbara Eden
- Betty Garde
- Beulah Bondi
- Buddy Hackett
- Cheerio Meredith
- Claire Bloom
- Dallas McKennon
- Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel
- Hal Smith
- Ian Wolfe
- Jim Backus
- Karlheinz Böhm
- Laurence Harvey
- Martita Hunt
- Mel Blanc
- Oskar Homolka
- Otto Kruger
- Pinto Colvig
- Russ Tamblyn
- Terry-Thomas
- Walter Rilla
- Walter Slezak
- Willy Reichert
- Yvette Mimieux