Kinda random...favourite Fairy Tales

[Wonderlicious]

Since there seem to be so many fairy-tale obsessives around (or general fantasy), I have a question for thee...which of the classic fairy tales (as in actual stories, not adaptations by Disney or anyone else for that matter) are your favourites? Some of mine are...

Cinderella
The Little Mermaid
Jack and the Beanstalk
Little Red Riding Hood
The Snow Queen
The Fir Tree
Dick Whittington
Aladdin
Snow White
The Ugly Duckling
Tom Thumb
Hansel and Gretel
The Princess and the Pea

I also obviously like many novels/stories that are arguably extended fairy-tales (Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, A Christmas Carol, The Wizard of Oz etc)

[Disneykid]

Let's see, in no particular order (except Cinderella)...

Cinderella
Sleeping Beauty
Snow White
Little Red Riding Hood
Rapunzel
The Princess and the Pea
The Snow Queen
Thumbelina
The Little Mermaid
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Hansel and Gretel
The Frog Prince
Aladdin
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
The Tortoise and the Hare

Funnily enough, even though Beauty and the Beast's one of my favorite Disney films, I'm not too wild about the original fairy tale. John Canemaker summed it up best: "two people having dinner." I also like, as Joe said, fantasy novels that have since been classified as fairy tales such as Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, Pinocchio, and Peter Pan.

[Wonderlicious]

Funnily enough, even though Beauty and the Beast's one of my favorite Disney films, I'm not too wild about the original fairy tale. John Canemaker summed it up best: "two people having dinner."

Great minds think alike! That's also a feeling of mine. I think the fact that no antagonist of sorts in the original tale is actually where the faults of it lie, also the fact that in the tale, the relationship between the Beast and Beauty comes across as slightly stale.

Also, I updated my first post, adding three or four to the list.

[Prudence]

Cinderella is my absolute favorite fairy tale in all its forms, minus one terrible adaption. *cough* Brandy *cough* I have written numerous reports on different aspects of the tale, and the story of Cinderella has led me into studies of history, creative writing, and psychology.

[Disney's Divinity]

Cinderella ~ I always love the adaptation where its Cinderella's [deceased] mother who gives her the dress she wears to the ball (from the tree over her grave). Yeah, strange, but I liked it.

The Little Mermaid ~ Although it's much different than the Disney movie, I've always loved the original version just as much. The only thing I never understood was why mermen/maids weren't given souls to begin with.

King Thrushbeard ~ It's a rare tale by Brothers Grimm that's about a haughty princess learning her lesson. Although it comes off a bit sexist at times, it was a good story overall.

I would say Hansel and Gretel, too, except I always hated how the stepmother was made out to be the evil one when it was the biological father who left the children in the forest.

[UmbrellaFish]

Cinderella
Thumbelina
Snow-White and Rose-Red
Jack and the Beanstalk
The Frog Prince
The Little Match Girl
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
The Seven Swans

are my favorite fairy tales. To tell the truth, I really don't enjoy Han Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid. I guess, growing up with a version of the mermaid who ends up happy, and then reading the version about a mermaid who ends up dead certainly changes your perspective. I wouldn't say it was one of my least favorites, though.

[Lazario]

Wow, I think I might need a re-fresher course in what "is" and "isn't" a Fairy Tale, but... I'll say my favorite childhood stories and hope most if not all are fairy tales. If they're not, whatever.


Hansel and Gretel is a favorite. Always has been always will be. I think it's my favorite.

Also, I like:

Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Jack Frost
Little Red Riding Hood
Taily-po
Bony Legs (or the Hut That Stood on Chicken Feet)
The Three Little Pigs
The Green Mist

there are more, but I can't quite think of more.

[Mooky]

I'm bumping this thread for my own selfish reasons ... I'm looking for a title of this beautiful fairy tale I read years ago. I tried Googling the keywords but with no luck. From what I recall, it's about a young man who's in love with this wealthy girl but her father and brothers aren't very fond of him, so they kill him and decapitate him. Then they put his head in a flower pot and a rose bush grows out of it... or something like that. I remember it being very similar in style to something Hans Christian Andersen or Oscar Wilde would have written... Any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Oh, and to stay on topic, some of my favorites are (in no particular order):
- Beauty and the Beast (Perrault's version)
- Sleeping Beauty (Grimms' version)
- Cinderella (Grimms' version)
- The Little Mermaid
- The Snow Queen
- The Little Match Girl
- The Wild Swans
- The Swineherd
- The Nightingale and the Rose