Encyclopedia Britannica: Fairy Tales From Around the World

Apparently, the Chileans are not quite the party animals that the French are: in their version of "Cinderella," Maria (the Cinderella character) is not magically transformed into Ms. GQ in order to cut the rug at the local court disco; uh-uh, Maria goes to church. In this 3-volume animated series, classic fairy tales are compared with their multicultural counterparts. We watched the first volume, which features a trio of "Cinderella" tales followed by three "Hansel & Gretel" stories. In addition to the classic French version popularized by Perrault (interestingly, although the program doesn't mention it, the first recorded instance of the tale comes from China), and the Chilean rendition, there's a Nigerian variant in which the fairy godmother is--amphibian lovers take note--a frog. In "Hansel & Gretel," the classic Brothers Grimm version has a pair of waifs abandoned by an evil mother (changed to a stepmother in the film) in a forest that has not been graced with major freeways and road signs. The children, as we all know, meet up with a rather unfriendly hostess who proclaims--in the video--"what I want is children stew" (so effectively, it might be a little scary for very young kids). The other two renditions hail from Syria and the Philippines (where the witch is actually a female monster, but not, as far as we could tell, Imelda Marcos). Amiably hosted by Pat Morita, and featuring a spiffy computer-animated introduction, the other volumes in the series explore "Sleeping Beauty" and "Rapunzel" (Vol. 2), and "Beauty & the Beast" and "Rumpelstiltskin" (Vol. 3). A very good addition to children's collections. Recommended. Aud: K, E, P. (R. Pitman)