Once Upon a Brothers Grimm (1977) is a musical

Musical film

The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...

 children's fantasy film

Fantasy film

Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...

 directed by Norman Campbell

Norman Campbell

Norman Kenneth Campbell, was a Canadian composer, television producer, and television director best known for co-writing Anne of Green Gables - The Musical....

. It follows the Brothers Grimm

Brothers Grimm

The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...

 as they make their way to a king's palace with their fairy tales. It was originally released for TV

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

. It won two Emmys at the 1978 Primetime Emmy Awards

Primetime Emmy Award

The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...

 and was nominated for another three.

Plot

Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm

Wilhelm Grimm

Wilhelm Carl Grimm was a German author, the younger of the Brothers Grimm.-Life and work:...

 are traveling to a king's palace to present him with their fairy tales. Their carriage driver refuses to take them into the woods because they are said to be enchanted. Not wanting to miss their audience with the king, the brothers buy the carriage from the driver and travel into the woods alone. Placed under the enchantment of the woods, the brothers begin to encounter a wide range of characters that exist in their tales, including Snow White

Snow White

"Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...

 and Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault or Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm is a classic fairytale involving a beautiful princess, enchantment, and a handsome prince...

 among many others.

List of Grimm Fairy Tales referenced in the film

• Snow White
• Sleeping Beauty
• Town Musicians of Bremen
  Town Musicians of Bremen
  The Town Musicians of Bremen is a folktale recorded by the Brothers Grimm. Despite the title of the fairy tale, the characters never actually arrive in Bremen...
  
  
• The Golden Goose
  Golden Goose
  The Golden Goose is a fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm .-Story:The hero is the youngest of three brothers, given the nickname Dummling. His eldest brother is sent into the forest to chop wood, fortified with a rich cake and a bottle of wine. He meets a little gray man who begs a morsel...
  
  
• Hansel and Gretel
  Hansel and Gretel
  "Hansel and Gretel" is a well-known fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. Hansel and Gretel are a young brother and sister threatened by a cannibalistic hag living deep in the forest in a house constructed of cake and confectionery. The two children...
  
  
• Little Red Riding Hood
  Little Red Riding Hood
  Little Red Riding Hood, also known as Little Red Cap, is a French fairy tale about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. The story has been changed considerably in its history and subject to numerous modern adaptations and readings....
  
  
• Rumpelstiltskin
  Rumpelstiltskin
  Rumpelstiltskin is the eponymous character and protagonist of a fairy tale which originated in Germany . The tale was collected by the Brothers Grimm, who first published it in the 1812 edition of Children's and Household Tales...
  
  
• The Six Swans
  The Six Swans
  The Six Swans is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. It is tale number 49. Andrew Lang included a variant in The Yellow Fairy Book. It is Aarne-Thompson type 451: the brothers who were turned into birds...
  
  
• The Twelve Dancing Princesses
  The Twelve Dancing Princesses
  "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" is a German fairy tale originally published by the Brothers Grimm in 1812 in Kinder- und Hausmärchen as tale number 133...
  
   (or "The Shoes that were Danced to Pieces")
• The Frog Prince
• Cinderella
  Cinderella
  "Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
  
  

Cast

• Dean Jones as Jakob Grimm
• Paul Sand
  Paul Sand
  Paul Sand is an American comedic actor.-Background:Sand was born Paul Sanchez in Santa Monica, California, the son of Sonia Borodiansky, a writer, and Ernest Rivera Sanchez, an aerospace tool designer. His father was Mexican and his mother of Russian descent.-Career:At the age of 11, he started at...
  
   as Wilhelm Grimm
• Arte Johnson
  Arte Johnson
  Arthur Stanton Eric "Arte" Johnson is an American comic actor. Johnson was a regular on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. His best-remembered "character" was that of a German soldier with the catchphrase: "Verrrry interesting, but...['stupid', 'not very funny', and other variations]".-Early life:Johnson...
  
   as Selfish and Mean
• Terri Garr as Princess from "The Frog Prince"
• Ruth Buzzi
  Ruth Buzzi
  Ruth Ann Buzzi is an American comedienne and actress of theatre, film, and television. She is especially known for her performances on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In from 1968 to 1973.-Early life:...
  
   as Queen Astrid

Awards

Once Upon a Brothers Grimm was nominated for five Primetime Emmy Awards in 1978 and won two of them.

Wins

• Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming (Bill Hargate, costume designer)
• Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming (Robert Checchi, set decorator; Ken Johnson, art director)

Nominations

• Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming (Larry Abbott, makeup; Tommy Cole
  Tommy Cole
  Tommy Cole is an American make-up artist, a former actor and singer who is still best known for having been a Mouseketeer.-Early life:...
  
  , makeup; Michael G. Westmore
  Michael Westmore
  Michael George Westmore is an American make-up artist best known for his work in various Star Trek productions, including Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and four feature films.Born in Los Angeles, California, Westmore is the son of Monte Westmore,...
  
  , makeup)
• Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming (Jerry Greene, video tape editor)
• Outstanding Children's Special

See also

• The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm
  The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm
  The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm is a 1962 American 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...
  
  (1962)
• The Brothers Grimm
  The Brothers Grimm (film)
  The Brothers Grimm is a 2005 fantasy Adventure film directed by Terry Gilliam. The film stars Matt Damon and Heath Ledger in an exaggerated and fictitious portrait of the Brothers Grimm as traveling con-artists in French-occupied Germany during the late 18th century...
  
  (2005)