The Elves and the Cobbler or The Shoemaker and the Elves is an often copied and re-made story about a poor shoemaker who receives much-needed help from elves.

The original story is the first of three fairy tales, contained as entry 39 in the German Grimm's Fairy Tales

Grimm's Fairy Tales

Children's and Household Tales is a collection of German origin fairy tales first published in 1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the Brothers Grimm. The collection is commonly known today as Grimms' Fairy Tales .-Composition:...

under the common title "Die Wichtelmänner". In her translation of 1884 Margaret Hunt chose The Elves as title for these three stories.

It is Aarne-Thompson type 503*: Helpful Elves. It is also a migratory legend, type 7015.

Plot summary

There are variations depending on the rendition of the story.
A poor shoemaker and his wife need money to pay the rent. He gives away the last pair of shoes he has to a needy lady. He has leather to make one more pair of shoes. Elves come in the night and make a pair of shoes which he sells for more than his asking price the next day. He uses that money to pay the rent, buy food and more shoe leather. He feeds a poor traveller.
The elves come the next night and make 2 pairs of shoes with the additional leather. He gives away one pair to a needy person and sells the other pair to a referral from the first customer who is immensely satisfied.
He buys leather for 3 shoes, and stays up to find the elves making the shoes. The shoemaker and wife make clothes for the elves the next day, and the elves are pleased to find clothes, and continue making shoes. They all live happily ever after.

In popular culture

Tex Avery

Tex Avery

Frederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...

 adapted the story for his 1950 MGM

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio

The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio was the in-house division of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture studio in Hollywood, California during the Golden Age of American animation, responsible for producing animated short subjects to accompany MGM feature films in Loew's Theaters...

 cartoon short The Peachy Cobbler.

The 1956 Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...

 cartoon short Yankee Dood It

Yankee Dood It

Yankee Dood It is a Warner Brothers Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short released in 1956 and directed by Friz Freleng and written by Warren Foster. The title is a pun on Red Skelton's famous "I Dood It" line from the Mean Widdle Kid routine....

, is based on this fairy tale, with Elmer Fudd

Elmer Fudd

Elmer J. Fudd/Egghead is a fictional cartoon character and one of the most famous Looney Tunes characters, and the de facto archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheon . His aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring...

 as the King of industrial Elves. 150 years after this fairy tale took place, he visits the shoemaker to retrieve the elves he has employed, while also imparting the virtues of mass production capitalism to him.

In the Due South

Due South

Due South is a Canadian crime drama series with elements of comedy. The series was created by Paul Haggis, produced by Alliance Communications, and stars Paul Gross, David Marciano, and latterly Callum Keith Rennie...

 episode, "The Deal", Det. Ray Vecchio

Raymond Vecchio

Detective First Grade Raymond "Ray" Vecchio is a fictional character in the television series Due South. He is a detective with the Chicago Police Department, serving with the 27th Precinct. The character is portrayed by actor David Marciano.-Character:...

 vaguely recollects this story when discussing a poor cobbler with his partner, Constable Fraser

Benton Fraser

Constable Benton Fraser is a fictional character in the television series Due South. He is a constable of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who works in the American city of Chicago, Illinois as Deputy Liaison Officer. He lives in a dangerous neighbourhood at the fictional address of apartment 3J...

.

In Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love

Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love

Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love was a comic book limited series published by Vertigo Comics in 2009 and 2010, and set in the world of Fables. The story portrays Cinderella as a secret agent, performing missions on behalf of Fabletown...

, a spinoff miniseries

Miniseries

A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...

 of the Vertigo

Vertigo (comics)

Vertigo is an imprint of the American comic-book publisher DC Comics. Its books are marketed to a sophisticated audience, and may contain graphic violence, substance abuse, frank depictions of sexuality, profanity, and controversial subjects...

 comic-book series Fables

Fables (comics)

Fables is a comic book series created by writer Bill Willingham, published by DC Comics's Vertigo imprint beginning in 2002. The series deals with various characters from fairy tales and folklore – referring to themselves as "Fables" – who have been forced out of their Homelands by "The...

, the shoemaker appears as an employee in Cinderella's shoe store, while the elves are the builders and suppliers of the store's inventory.

Muppet Classic Theater

Muppet Classic Theater

Muppet Classic Theater is a program featuring The Muppets that was released direct-to-video on September 27, 1994. It consists of six stories from the fairy tale tradition, all performed by the Muppet characters and narrated by Rizzo and Gonzo. They were previously the main characters in The Muppet...

 had a version where a shoemaker (Kermit the frog

Kermit the Frog

Kermit the Frog is puppeteer Jim Henson's most famous Muppet creation, first introduced in 1955. He is the protagonist of many Muppet projects, most notably as the host of The Muppet Show, and has appeared in various sketches on Sesame Street, in commercials and in public service announcements over...

) faces ruin until his livelihood is saved by a group of philanthropic entertainers (The Elvises) who, naturally, make only blue suede shoes.