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A GRIMM TALE Lucy Ravenhall
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F airytales have been sweeping across cinema screens recently with the release of Red Riding Hood (2011) and Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) and it seems that they have found a place on the television screen as well. Once Upon a Time (2011) and Grimm (2011) have used these fantastical tales to make captivating dramas. These childhood stories we all know so well have remained popular with a wide ranging audience, so what have the creators
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done this time to make them these televisual fairytales distinctive and appealing? Grimm centres on Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli), a police detective who witnesses strange visions where ordinary people temporarily change into frightful creatures. It is soon revealed that he, like his family, is a “Grimm” and must now learn to keep the balance between humankind and the mythological.
The pilot episode opens with a quote taken from the story of Little Red Cap published in 1812 by folktale authors Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm or, as they are better known, The Brothers Grimm: “The wolf thought to himself, what a tender young creature. What a nice plump mouthful…” Opening with a direct quote from The Brothers Grimm their tale continues to be a feature for the rest of the series. Interestingly, the show is an adaptation of an