Once Upon a Brothers Grimm (1977)

Truly Dreadful Film

Disturbing yet enthralling

Charming and brutal

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

I'm guessing I saw this 1977 TV movie one time when it was first aired on CBS. Which puts me at age 6 or so. "Once Upon a Brothers Grimm" made a huge impression on me, though I didn't see it again for another 25 years. What stuck most in my memory was the very strong premise: the famous Grimm brothers are on a long journey when their carriage halts outside an enchanted wood, through which their driver refuses to travel at night. They carry on without the driver, become separated in the woods, and stumble through a number of famous fairy tales. (Remember that this came a full decade before Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods.") And the sequence that stayed most vivid in my memory over the years involved the 12 dancing princesses and the swan princes. It was certainly one of the sparks that gave me a lifelong interest in fairy tales.Looking at it now, 30+ years since it was made, the film carries a lot of late 70's baggage. It has a number of those peculiar stars of the era recognizable--to kids who grew up then--by their appearances on the Muppet Show or their voice work in the Smurfs. And, yes, there's a faint haze of Hollywood Squares about the production. However, look past that, and there is something worth preserving. As the leads, Dean Jones and Paul Sand are a great duo. Jones, as always, sells his scenes 100 percent, and Sand matches that with true gusto. Probably the most noteworthy appearance of a supporting actor is that of Teri Garr, as a princess seeking a princely frog. To contemporary eyes, the film goes a bit off the rails a few times, but never more so than during Chita Rivera's surreal solo. But, in fact, most of the musical and dance numbers are surprisingly well conceived and executed. For kids 8 years old and under--assuming they haven't been ruined by the production standards of modern TV and film--this should remain a unique treat.

I remember watching this film on TV one very cold February afternoon in the mid 80's and was very impressed. I taped it for my children who were in school at the time because like all kids they loved music and fairy tales and the fact that this was the main formula of the film I knew it was going to be a winner with them. I lost count of the number of times they enjoyed this lovely film throughout their childhood years. The magic and colour of the characters and stories was enchanting. I have recently purchased it on DVD to give to my son as a surprise for his 30th birthday so he and his young daughter can enjoy it together in the years to come.

I used to watch this all the time on Disney...old Disney. I remember kind of scaring me as a kid, but i really, really liked it. The characters were all so amusing. I wish they would play stuff like this all the time; for example, rodger's and hammerstein's cinderella, alice in wonderland and rosebud. Oh! and how can I forget Avonlea? I get excited just about thinking of those old movies and such. I wish Disney wouldn't show the crappy shows they have on there now, i hate them. Whatever happened to paying for it? It was much better when you had to--back in 1990. haha. I'd give anything for them to play all the old shows or make like an "disney at night" program specifically for them. that would be fantastic.

I saw this film a while ago, and it still holds strong in my memory as a very good movie. While it is obvious that this film is meant for children, there is no reason that adults (children of all ages) cannot enjoy this film. There are several silly and cheesy moments, from the costumes to the dialogue (i.e. really really bad jokes), even to the acting. However, in this case the good outweighs the bad. One of the most remarkable thing about this film is that most, if not all, of the fairy tales mentioned are set in some way to music and/or dance. To see these fairy tales come to life in this way is remarkable. I would definitely recommend this film to every child I know...and even to a few adults.