Fairy Tales can come true...it can happen to you....

While wobbling to work this morning with the hubby, he told me that he will tell our daughter the story of Kolobok, but it will really be a story about me.  I am not sure what was more surprising, the fact that he called me a "yellow spherical being accidentally created as a bread dish" or the fact that I wasn't the slightest bit offended.  Sadly, Kolobok and I do share a similar figure.  This made me think about children's stories...


Most American Fairy Tales involve a princess of some sort, who inevitably gets rescued by her prince and they ultimately fall in love and live happily ever after.  Sometimes the plot has a small twist and the heroine is a cleaning lady (Cinderella), incredibly pale orphan (Snow White) or even a fish (Little Mermaid).  Overall, still the same premise and not overly imaginative.  This got me thinking about my childhood and what I now consider as some of the best Fairy Tales of all time.  After doing some research it was interesting to see how twisted creative Europeans are with their story telling.  Here are some of my favorites:


Karlsson - "a very short, very portly and overconfident man who lives on the roof".  He is mostly known for being extremely good at everything and has the ability to fly by pushing a button in the middle of his stomach.  Usually, he can be found flying into the windows of a little boy, where crazy antics ensue.  I don't know about you, but that story would prompt me to look up flying sex offenders in my neighborhood.  
Nu, Pogodi! - This cartoon follows a wolf, who is trying to catch and eat a hare. While on the surface, this appears to be similar to Tom and Jerry or Coyote and the Road Runner, in reality it is significantly more perverse.  The wolf, is actually a hooligan who eagerly turns to vandalism, abuses minors, breaks laws, and is a heavy smoker. When he isn't busy causing havoc, he can be found figure skating, waltzing, playing guitar or riding his powerful motor bike (into the sunset). This sends another great message to your child: you can break the law as long as you are talented in some way shape or form.
Cheburashka -  is male, has a bear-like body, large round ears, and is about the size of a 5-year-old child. In the tale, he hangs around with a friendly crocodile Gena, who wears a hat and a coat, walks on his hind legs and plays an accordion. He works in a zoo as a crocodile. If that's not weird enough, the antagonist of the story is an old lady (Old Lady Shapoklyak) who is known for carrying around a rat-like creature and singing a song where the chorus states "One won't ever get famous for good deeds".  Now, if that isn't a great lesson to teach our youth, I don't know what is.


Writing this has actually made me feel quite nostalgic and excited about getting to watch all these cartoons again, but this time....with my little girl.