is a Japanese

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

original video animation (OVA) series of fairy tales and other classic stories produced by Studio Unicorn in 1986. Originally consisting of 10 episodes played both in Japanese and English languages, with the purpose of teaching English to Japanese children. The series was then released by

Saban Productions Saban Entertainment, Inc. (along with Saban International; currently operating under the legal name is BVS Entertainment, Inc.) was a worldwide-served independent American-Israeli television production company formed in 1980 by Haim Saban and S ...

for foreign market, including 4 episodes from Toei's '' World Famous Fairy Tale Series'', for a total of 14 episodes. Ownership of the series passed to

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

in 2001 when Disney acquired

Fox Kids Worldwide ABC Family Worldwide is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Television that is responsible for the operations of the U.S. cable network Freeform. The company was originally formed as International Family Entertainment, a spin-off of the Christian Broad ...

, which also includes

Saban Entertainment Saban Entertainment, Inc. (along with Saban International; currently operating under the legal name is BVS Entertainment, Inc.) was a worldwide-served independent American-Israeli television production company formed in 1980 by Haim Saban and ...

. The series is not available on

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

Episodes

Original Japanese ten-episode release: In the U.S. there were five VHS volumes, totalling fourteen episodes:

Releases

In 1987, the series was originally released on five VHS volumes by Hi-Tops Video. The sixth and final VHS volume was released in 1990, featuring a rerelease of ''The Little Mermaid'' and including ''King Grizzlebeard'' episode from ''Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics'' as a bonus episode. The

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

(a British newspaper) released ''The Three Little Pigs'' and ''Alibaba and Forty Thieves'' on a promotional DVD in 2006. US distributor Digiview Entertainment released ''The Wizard of Oz'' episode as part of their ''Cartoon Craze'' series.

Music

The original incidental music was composed by Masahito Maruyama, and by

Haim Saban Haim Saban (; he, חיים סבן; born October 15, 1944) is an Israeli-American media proprietor, investor, and producer of records, film, and television. A businessman with interests in financial services, entertainment, and media, and an e ...

and

Shuki Levy Shuki Levy ( he, שוקי לוי; born June 3, 1947) is an Israeli-American music composer and television producer. Levy's best known work is soundtrack compositions for children's television programs of the 1980s, such as '' The Real Ghostbuster ...

for the Saban version. Most of Saban and Levy's music was reused in the later TV series ''

Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics ''Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics'', also known as ''Grimm Masterpiece Theater'' (グリム名作劇場 ''Gurimu meisaku gekijō'') in the original version and ''The Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (in Australia and New Zealand), is a Japanese anime antholo ...

''.

References

External links

* {{anime News Network, anime, 7362 1986 films 1986 fantasy films 1986 anime television series debuts Japanese children's animated fantasy television series Television series by Saban Entertainment