''Simsala Grimm'' is a German

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

, consisting of stories based on fairy tales by the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

, and other notable authors. The series was created by André Sikojev, Stefan Beiten and Claus Clausen, and co-producted by Greenlight Media AG,

Norddeutscher Rundfunk Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR; ''Northern German Broadcasting'') is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, M ...

, Hahn Film AG,

Millimages Millimages is a French independent animation studio based in Paris which develops, produces and worldwide distributes high quality family entertainment on all media. In 2016, Millimages has been nominated for an International Emmy Kids Award ...

and Magma Films Ltd.

Synopsis

In each episode of the series, one of the famous classical fairy tales is told in the magical land of Simsala. The local characters Yoyo and Doc Croc move between the storyteller and the episode cast, which they tend to help or at least inspire. Each episode begins with Yoyo and Doc Croc as toys on a shelf brought to life by a magical book.

Characters

Main

*Yoyo (German: Hubertus von Lerchenfeld, English:

Nigel Greaves Nigel Greaves (born c. 1960) is an English actor. He has had several roles in television over the years, including a rude waiter in Tales of the Unexpected (A Man With A Fortune),his longest-running role was in ''The Kids from 47A''. He also app ...

) – An adventurous, joyful, brave and mischievous blue dormouse-like creature. He wears a red hood shoulder piece with two dangling bells. *Doc Croc (nicknamed Crocy; German: Jörg Stuttmann, English:

Nigel Pegram Nigel Pegram (born 22 November 1940) is a South African-English actor and voice artist. He is best known for playing Eric in ''Robert's Robots'' (1973–1974), Group-Captain Ruark in ''Get Some In!'' (1977–1978), Sir Reginald in ''All Dogs Go ...

) – A bookworm, a red-pink lizard. He wears glasses and a yellow hat, and carries a yellow bag with him. He is kind, timid and smart. It also appears as if Doc Croc has a slight stutter in his voice. * Storybook (Märchenbuch; German: Bert Franzke, English: Erik Hansen) – the book that brings Yoyo and Doc Croc to life and takes them to the land of Simsala. In the first season, it has portraits of the brothers Grimm in the hardcover. Both Yoyo and Doc Croc often argue as Yoyo is brave and willing, but unwise and Doc Croc is sometimes overcautious, yet intelligent. Both of them also seem to disrespect the storybook, as it usually takes them to a bad place when they are landing.

Recurring

*Birds - Three clothed birds appear in numerous episodes of the first season, often providing/singing advice or insight to Yoyo and Doc Croc. *Mice - Three clothed mice appear in numerous episodes of the first season, often providing advice or insight, sometimes even help, to Yoyo and Doc Croc.

Episodes

Season 1 (1999-2000)

Season 2 (2010)

Broadcast

''Simsala Grimm'' premiered on

KiKA KiKA (contraction of ''Der KinderKAnal von ARD und ZDF'' ARD and ZDF">ARD_(broadcaster).html" ;"title="he Children's Channel of ARD (broadcaster)">ARD and ZDF]) is a German free-to-air television channel based in Erfurt, Germany. It is man ...

in Germany on November 1, 1999, and ended on July 21, 2000. It was later renewed for a second season, which premiered on December 6, 2010, and ended on December 31 of the same year. The English version of the series premiered in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 2001 on ABC Kids, and later on

RTÉ2 RTÉ2 is an Television in the Republic of Ireland, Irish free-to-air television channel operated by public service broadcaster RTÉ. It was launched in 1978 as the Republic of Ireland's second television channel. History In the 1970s, the Iri ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. In addition, the first season of the series was distributed on DVDs in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 2004, under the name "''The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm''". A third season was announced in 2019. Remastered versions of the previous seasons were produced as well, and were released on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

in March 2021 in Germany and the United Kingdom, with the German version in particular releasing in theaters starting October 28, 2021. On November 7, 2021, a series of

radio plays Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

was announced for an early 2022 release, with the first episode, based on ''

The Seven Ravens "The Seven Ravens" (German: ''Die sieben Raben'') is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 25). It is of Aarne–Thompson type 451 ("The Maiden Who Seeks Her Brothers"), commonly found throughout Europe. Georgios A Megas col ...

'', releasing on February 11 on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

Deezer Deezer is a French online music streaming service. It allows users to listen to music content from record labels, as well as podcasts on various devices online or offline. Created in Paris, Deezer currently has 90 million licensed tracks in i ...

, and

Napster Napster was a peer-to-peer file sharing application. It originally launched on June 1, 1999, with an emphasis on digital audio file distribution. Audio songs shared on the service were typically encoded in the MP3 format. It was founded by Shawn ...

Proposed film adaptation

In 2002, Greenlight Media partnered with Berlin Animation Film and John H. Williams of

Vanguard Animation Vanguard Films & Animation, often named only as Vanguard Animation, is an American production studio founded in 2002 by producer John H. Williams and Neil Braun. The studio has offices in British Columbia, Canada and Ealing Studios in London, E ...

to produce a film adaptation that would have been known domestically as ''

Happily N'Ever After ''Happily N'Ever After'' is a 2006 computer-animated family comedy film directed by Paul J. Bolger, produced by John H. Williams, and written by Rob Moreland. It is inspired by fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen and is ...

'', which would have revolved around Cinderella's stepmother taking over the land of Simsala. The film would have starred

Andy Dick Andrew Roane Dick (born Andrew Thomlinson; December 21, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, musician, and television and film producer. Known professionally as a comic, his first regular television role was on the short-lived but influential ...

as Yoyo, and

Wallace Shawn Wallace Michael Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, playwright, and essayist. His film roles include Wally Shawn (a fictionalized version of himself) in '' My Dinner with Andre'' (1981), Vizzini in ''The Princess Bride'' (1987), ...

as Doc Croc, with the additional voices of

Freddie Prinze Jr. Frederick James Prinze Jr. (born March 8, 1976) is an American actor, television & film producer and screenwriter. He has starred in films such as ''I Know What You Did Last Summer'' (1997) and its sequel ''I Still Know What You Did Last Summer' ...

Sarah Michelle Gellar Sarah Michelle Prinze ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American actress. After being spotted at the age of four in New York City, she made her screen acting debut in the television film ''An Invasion of Privacy'' (1983). A leading role on the te ...

George Carlin George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American comedian, actor, author, and social critic. Regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of countercul ...

and

Sigourney Weaver Susan Alexandra "Sigourney" Weaver (; born October 8, 1949) is an American actress. A figure in science fiction and popular culture, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Gram ...

. By 2003, Grenlight Media would sell its interest in the film, and while the film did get released in 2007, all connections to the series were removed from the final project. In March 2019, with the celebration of 20th anniversary of the series, Greenlight Media announced that it signed a deal with Fabula Media Group to produce animated feature film based on the show, as well as the third season is in development.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1990s German television series 2000s German television series 2010s French television series 1990s animated television series 1999 German television series debuts German children's animated adventure television series German children's animated fantasy television series French children's animated adventure television series French children's animated fantasy television series English-language television shows German-language television shows Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming Television shows based on fairy tales Animated television series about mammals Fictional coyotes Animated television series about reptiles and amphibians Fictional lizards Animated television series about birds Animated television series about mice and rats Television series about witchcraft