Western Animation / A Tale Dark & Grimm

A new old tale

Hansel and Gretel stumble upon other stories fairy tales written by the Brothers Grimm. A Tale Dark & Grimm is a Canadian-American All-CGI Cartoon streaming television series based on the children's books of the same name by Adam Gidwitz.

Once Upon a Time, fairy tales were awesome. We know you don't believe us, you think fairytales are cute and pink and full of fairies. Well, they are not. Real fairy tales are scary. Follow two children as they venture into a dark tale, a scary tale, a strange tale... wait a minute, are you old enough for this? You really think you can handle it? Well, let's find out.

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Tropes:

• Action Girl: Gretel quickly grows to become one. Although she’s more of the strategist between herself and Hansel, she still holds her ground many times and has no problems going up against the dragon later on in the story.
• Adaptational Consent: In the Brothers Grimms' version of "Faithful Johannes", the king kidnaps the princess, and when he proposes, she's hardly in a position to say no to him. The book has the same setup, but at least Lampshades how messed up it is and has them offer to take her home. Here, he is honest about his intentions from the moment they meet, they have a "date" of sorts in which she eagerly agrees to marry him, and then they sail back to his land.
• Adaptational Modesty: In the books, Hansel is at least shirtless as a werewolf and explicitly Naked on Revival. In the cartoon, he's fully clothed as a werewolf and has inexplicable underwear when he's cut out of the wolf skin.
• Adaptational Villainy: Fairytales with the Devil's Grandmother have her help the protagonist. Here, she's as cheerfully evil as he is, and Hansel disguises himself as her instead.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: In the book, the king is described as having dark features like Hansel while the queen is blonde like Gretel. For whatever reason, the show switches the parents around (which messes up the queen's "gold" motif).
• Adaptation Species Change: The second episode is based on "The Seven Ravens," except that the brothers turn into swallows instead (possibly because we already have a Greek Chorus of ravens).
  • The third episode is a pretty In Name Only version of "Brother and Sister," where "Brother" (Hansel) turns into a werewolf instead of a stag.
  • "Faithful Johannes" features three talking ravens. As we learn, William and Jacob were originally humans, and only become ravens after they've fulfilled their role in the story.
• Adipose Rex: The King, Hansel and Gretel's father, is rather portly. Lord Meister is also quite fat, and stands in for the king from "The Devil and the Three Golden Hairs."
• Adrenaline Makeover: After the Time Skip in episode 2, we see that Hansel and Gretel have gotten older over the course of their journey and in the process have donned dirtier but more practical clothes, and Gretel's hair is shorter.
• Adults Are Useless: Many times Hansel and Gretel are forced to take matters into their own hands because the adults in the story are evil, stupid, or too passive to help. Their own parents, the King and Queen, are rather useless themselves and would rather hide than help their kingdom and take care of the dragon problem. Justified with the townspeople brainwashed by the Warlock, who were deliberately subdued, and after regaining their memories, they immediately take action and send the Warlock to his death.
• Affably Evil: The Devil remains cheerful and pleasant even when he is cursing people or sending them to Hell. Mrs. Baker can be considered this as well, since she never drops her bubbly demeanor even while putting Hansel in the oven and revealing she wants to cook the children.
• All for Nothing: In episode 2, Gretel believes it's her fault that the Bauers' boys turned into sparrows and left, and ends up cutting off her own pinky just to open the door to get to them. It's revealed, though, that the boys never blamed her to begin with and simply ran away of their own accord, able to return at any time, therefore proving Gretel's sacrifice unnecessary. She is justifiably angry, having just lost her own finger.
• All-Loving Hero: Despite all the crap they go through, Hansel and Gretel are kind to all and try to help everyone wherever they go. Johannes points this out to Hansel in episode 6, stating that even on the road to Hell, Hansel was still trying to help people every step of the way. For Gretel, her kindness was also what caused the Warlock’s mother to see the error in her evil.
• Ambiguously Gay: The Devil. He is rather effeminate in manner and dress, speaks in a higher voice, and is voiced by the openly gay Adam Lambert.
• Anti-Villain: The King and Queen, while still selfish and cowardly, genuinely love their children and only chopped off their heads to bring back Johannes.
• Anyone Can Die: For a show (allegedly) meant for kids, quite a few characters are killed off, including Hansel and Gretel themselves in the very beginning. Needless to say, no one is safe — with the possible exception of the ravens, and even then it's only a definite maybe.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: Subverted. The King and Queen cut off their children's heads for their own selfish reasons, but still love Hansel and Gretel and want nothing more than to explain themselves and patch things up with them. Lord Meister is a haughty narcissist who unintentionally sells Hansel to the Devil after losing a bet, but is really not evil and even returns later in the story to help Hansel and Gretel fight the dragon.
• Art Shift: Normally animated in CG, the show will occasionally have short scenes in 2D animation, usually for moments that would be more gruesome in CG, such as the Warlock's death and Lord Meister's servants cutting open the wolf. The Sun and Moon are also animated in 2D.
• Asshole Victim:
  • Mrs. Baker falls to her death and is later shown being tortured in Hell for her misdeeds. Considering she literally baked children into pies, she deserves it, although Hansel does feel some pity for her.
  • The Warlock gets dumped into a pot of boiling oil and snakes and dies moments later. After all that he’s done in his life, no one feels the slightest speck of sympathy for him.
  • The Devil ends up trading places with the ferryman, whom he cursed in the first place, and getting trapped in the boat until someone eventually frees him (which will not be for a very, very long time).
• Ax-Crazy: Mrs. Baker, who literally bakes children into pies and eats them.
• Back for the Finale: Many characters from earlier in the series reappear to join Hansel and Gretel's army, namely Mr. Bauer and his sons, Widow Fischer, and Lord Meister.
• Back from the Dead: This is a common trope for the series. Hansel and Gretel have their heads cut off by their parents and are brought back to life moments later by the golden thread sewn into their necks. This happens in the very first episode and instantly sets the tone for the rest of the show.
  • Hansel becomes a wolf beast in episode 3 and is killed by Lord Meister's hunting party. In the next episode, he emerges as a human from the wolf's skin, alive and well again.
  • Johannes is turned to stone for telling the King about the steps he took to prevent the curse, a fate the Devil included in the curse should anyone be told the truth. Overcome with grief, the King and Queen are able to bring him back, but at the cost of cutting off their own children's heads.
  • The King himself has his head chopped off in the final episode, which frees the dragon that had been controlling him. After killing the dragon, the children sew his head back on with the golden thread, and the magic in their tears allows him to be brought back to life.
• Badass Bookworm: Gretel, who uses quick thinking and cleverness in tricky situations. Hansel shows his own strength in this area as well, successfully deceiving the Devil himself and escaping from Hell all on his own in episode 7.
• Balloon Belly: Hansel and Gretel get these after Mrs. Baker stuffs them with food.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing:
  • The Handsome Young Man, who appears noble and kind at first and is beloved by the town, is revealed to be a warlock who uses his charms to lure in young girls and take their souls to power his golden twine. Not only that, he erases the townspeople’s memories and gives them only MORE reasons to like and trust him. Once the town’s memories are brought back, the people waste no time giving him due punishment.
  • Mrs. Baker, who looks like a sweet, motherly woman and gives the children all the food they want. It turns out, though, that she's only fattening them up so she can bake them into a pie.
• Black Comedy: So. Very. Much. All the disturbing and depressing content you read on here is mostly Played for Laughs, and makes the darker jokes in Shrek look like Disney films in comparison.
• Blind Without 'Em: The Devil cannot see well without his glasses, something Hansel uses to his advantage when trying to escape Hell.
• Bloodless Carnage: The series has some downright gruesome moments of violence, such as Mrs. Baker's death by impalement, Gretel chopping her own finger off, etc..., mitigated only by the lack of blood.
• Book Ends: A literal example; the series begins with the book “A Tale Dark and Grimm” opening, and ends with the ravens closing the book, having just finished reading the story to a group of children.
• Bowdlerise: Despite emphasizing that this will be the real, bloody version of the fairy tales, the show has some cases of this:
  • In the original "Faithful John" story, John needed to draw blood from the Queen's right breast to save her life. Here, Johannes has to bite her lip to draw blood.
  • In the Grimms' version of "The Robber Bridegroom", the title villain is a serial killer who cannibalizes his victims. Here, he merely turns them into birds. However, there is precedent for a wicked magic user who does this in Grimms' collection: the witch from Jorinde and Joringel.
• Brains and Brawn: Between the two protagonists, Hansel is the Brawn and Gretel is the Brains. Hansel will normally resort to action or brute force, while Gretel is more strategic and guile.
• Brainy Brunette: Hansel has dark skin and hair, and proves to be quite resourceful in episode 7 when tricking the Devil.
• Break the Cutie: Hansel and Gretel are realistically left scarred and heartbroken after learning what their parents did to them, and their decision to run away from home is completely justified.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Hansel and Gretel finally confront their parents for what they did when they return to the kingdom in episode 8. The King and Queen are slow to give them the answers they deserve, but finally admit their reasons.
• Catchphrase: Greta constantly says "This is fine" even, scratch that, especially when things are definitely not fine.
• Card-Carrying Villain: The Devil, who uses loaded dice and delights in cursing, tricking, and torturing people.
• Cassandra Truth: Gretel, after learning about the Warlock's true nature, attempts to tell the town, but because they have no memory of the girls the Warlock has taken, the townspeople just think she's crazy. Only when she shouts out the names of the forgotten girls do the townspeople start to remember.
• Character Development: Hansel and Gretel undergo quite a bit of this over the course of the series, learning many valuable lessons during their travels and gradually coming to accept all parts of themselves, the good and the bad.
• Child Eater: Mrs. Baker, as per the original fairy tale.
• Composite Character: Given that the series adapts many fairy tales, Hansel and Gretel fill the role of their protagonist in addition to their original namesakes. It helps that most of these characters weren't named in the original tales.
  • Gretel is combined with the peasant girl from "The Seven Ravens" in the second episode, the sister in "Brother and Sister" in the third episode, the miller's daughter from "The Robber Bridegroom" in the fourth through the sixth episode.
  • Hansel is combined with the brother from "Brother and Sister" in the second episode and the miller's son from "The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs" in episodes four through six.
  • Both are combined with the King's children from "Faithful Johannes".
  • Lord Meister is combined with the King in "Brother and Sister" and the Miller from "The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs". His also accidentally selling his kid to the devil is similar to the miller in "The Girl Without Hands."
  • Compared to the book, Lord Meister combines the hunter who killed werewolf!Hansel and the lord who adopts him afterward. The ravens also combine the ravens from the book with the Lemony Narrator, as well as the servants Jacob and Wilhelm.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: The only way to kill the Warlock is to boil him in a pot full of oil and snakes. But his crimes were so horrendous that when it happens nobody sheds a tear for him, not even his mother (though she does still look sad over it).
• Curse: Oh, so many. It's kind of the Devil's thing.
  • The Queen, Hansel and Gretel's mother, was cursed so whoever loves her will have horrible things happen to them. Indeed, Johannes ends up dying trying to protect the King and Queen, and then Hansel and Gretel have their heads chopped off and run away, leaving Grimm to be terrorized by a dragon in their absence.
  • William and Jacob were cursed to become ravens if they ever ended up telling anyone about the queen's curse. Since Johannes overheard them talking about it, they unintentionally fall victim to their curse and end up turning into ravens.
• Dark Is Not Evil: The Handsome Young Man, who wears all black clothes but otherwise appears to be a kind and decent gentleman. Subverted. He turns out to actually be a case of Dark Is Evil, though, when the truth about him is revealed.
  • This however gets played straight with the Mysterious Figure AKA Johannes who may look like an evil sorcerer with a dark cloak, but is actually on the side of the heroes.
• Deadpan Snarker: The ravens, mainly William.
• Deal with the Devil: Anyone who makes a bet with the Devil over a dice game agrees that if they lose, the Devil gets something in return, which usually ends up being a curse. And the Devil always cheats.
• Disney Death: Hansel dies in the third episode at the hands of Lord Meister's servants who have been hunting him, leaving Gretel distraught. However, he comes out of the wolf's body alive in the next episode, making whether or not he was really dead ambiguous but ultimately unimportant.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Hansel and Gretel literally have to go through Hell and back to learn about the cruelties of the world and figure out what to do. Not everything is perfect in the end, and it comes with a lot of sacrifice, but ultimately they are able to free their kingdom from the dragon, reconcile with their parents, and at least start to build a happy, stable future for themselves.
• Extreme Omnivore: Dotty, a raven who apparently shows interest in eating humans.
• Fake Memories: The Warlock has imbued the townspeople with false memories of good deeds he has done for them so they can trust rather than suspect him. He has gone a bit overboard with this, as one person apparently thinks he's the reason the sun rises.
• Family-Unfriendly Death:
  • Mrs. Baker is visibly impaled on a candy cane.
  • The Warlock dies in a pot of boiling oil and snakes, and we're treated to several seconds of him struggling in the pot before succumbing to his fate.
• Flaming Devil: The Devil, who isn't super glamorous, but still acts rather flamboyantly.
• Forced Transformation:
  • William and Jacob were cursed by the Devil to become ravens and narrate the story of the children, only able to turn back into humans when the story has ended. By the end of the series they have accepted being ravens, acknowledging that the true story may never be over.
  • In episode 3, Hansel is consumed by greed and becomes a wolflike creature, unable to control his urge to kill. While in beast form, he is killed by Lord Meister and his servants, and only becomes human again when they cut open the wolf and Hansel comes out of it, looking like a normal boy. In episode 9 it's revealed that he still has some control over his beast side and can get a boost of strength from it.
  • The Bauer boys turned into sparrows and flew away from home, believing their father was rejecting them. However, they easily turn back into humans and return home after explaining the situation to Hansel and Gretel.
  • The King, as revealed in the last episode, has been turning into the very dragon that's been ravaging the kingdom, but having no memory of it afterward. The children are able to dispel the spirit of the dragon inside of him, but only after cutting his head off.
• Foreshadowing: In a rather clever use of the trope, the king actually gives away one of the biggest plot twists of the final episode — in fact, the first thing he ever says in the series is a direct spoiler. However, it's said in such a casual way, in such a different context, and in the midst of so many other, more immediately important things, that the audience would be hard-pressed to even remember it at all when the last episode rolls around and the plot twist happens: His first spoken line in the series is "I'm the dragon!" At the time he's just playing with the kids, but as the final episode rolls around, it's revealed that he is indeed the dragon... the dragon that's been terrorizing the kingdom for some time is actually the king, who is under a curse.
• Gingerbread House: Mrs. Baker lives in one.
• Gory Discretion Shot: There are several moments of this, as the story frequently takes dark turns but never shows any gruesomeness onscreen. Averted with Mrs. Baker, whom we see impaled on a candy cane, although there still isn't any blood shown.
• Grimmification: The series is based on the Adam Gidwitz novel, which as the title implies, is a darker, more elaborate twist on the original Hansel and Gretel story. Although inverted at times. The story with the Warlock is based on "The Robber Bridegroom." While the original outright killed his victims, here, they are merely turned into doves and are eventually restored.
• Half-Identical Twins: Hansel and Gretel were born at about the same time, making them twins, but they also look very different and have greatly differing personalities.
• Haunted Castle: The Warlock lives in one, not to mention one in the middle of the woods.
• Heel–Face Turn: The Warlock's mother changes her ways after experiencing Gretel's kindness, and seeks to put a stop to her son's evildoing rather than continuing to stand by and help him.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Hansel, in beast form, allows himself to be killed by Lord Meister’s hunting party to save Gretel. Johannes, as well, lets himself be turned to stone just so he can tell the king the truth about the curse.
• Heel Realization: The Warlock's mother has one after Gretel shows her kindness for the first time, finally realizing how wrong she was to let her son do horrible things and never try to stop him. After this, she helps Gretel escape and gives her the information needed to stop her son.
• Hitchhiker Heroes: The two protagonists, having run away from home, are constantly moving from place to place.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: The ferryman can never leave his boat unless he gives up his pole to someone else, thanks to the Devil’s curse. By episode 7, the Devil is tricked into taking the pole from him and ending up trapped himself.
• Hypocrite: Lord Meister enforces strict "rules" for Hansel to follow, one of which is not leaving the manor after dark. Later in that episode, he breaks that very rule, which Hansel acknowledges as being hypocritical.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Mrs. Baker, who falls from her roof and gets impaled on a candy cane.
• Important Haircut: By the second half of episode 2 Gretel has evidently cut her hair, symbolizing her becoming braver and more capable.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Johannes looks exactly like his voice actor, Jonathan Banks, which was likely intentional.
• Insult Backfire: When told that he smells like "burnt hair and chimneys," the Devil just says "Oh! Thank you."
• It's All My Fault: Gretel convinces herself in the second episode that the turnip farmers' children all went away because she, a girl, came to the house, and is overcome by guilt to the point of sacrificing one of her fingers just to get the boys back. When it turns out it was all just a misunderstanding and the boys never resented her in the first place, she is understandably upset.
  • Hansel blames himself for nearly killing Gretel when he was a beast, and despite missing her terribly, believes it's best that they never see each other again. After a few episodes, they are reunited and forgive one another.
• Killed Off for Real: After being brought back to life once already, Johannes dies a second time in episode 8 and finally gets to rest in peace.
• Lampshade Hanging: The ravens are very aware of how dark the story can get. "Whoa whoa whoa. You can't tell that part of the story, William, there are kids out there!"
  • At one point, Dotty refers to Gretel and says, "Every time she says 'This is fine,' it never is! Doesn't she know what that means?"
  • The stars in the enchanted pond acknowledge that magic is "weird."
• Lemony Narrator: The ravens narrating the story are incredibly sarcastic and frequently lampshade the events happening.
• Missed Him by That Much: In Episode 4, While Gretel still thinks that Hansel is dead, they both miss each other. Due to the latter practicing archery while his sister is riding a cart in the background.
• My Friends... and Zoidberg: When the Bauers take Hansel and Gretel in, they admit that they've always wanted a daughter...and Hensel seems alright, too. Hansel looks understandably annoyed.
• Mythology Gag: The series adapts several Grimm Fairy Tales, but also pulls elements from the ones they didn't fully adapt.
  • Lord Meister accidentally selling his kid to the devil, by being tricked into thinking he was giving up something worthless is similar to the miller in "The Girl Without Hands".
  • The Warlock being killed by being boiled in a cauldron of oil and snakes was the same fate of the wicked mother-in-law from The Twelve Brothers, another Grimm's fairy tale.
• No Name Given: The Warlock is only ever referred to as "the young man."
• Obviously Evil: Mrs. Baker fools the children pretty easily into thinking she has good intentions, but to the audience, it's very obvious she's unhinged.
  • Jacob actually lampshades this, calling out William for needlessly trying to build tension when everybody knows she's evil.
• Obviously Not Fine: Gretel constantly says "This is fine" even when things are very clearly not fine.
• Offing the Offspring: The King and Queen do this to Hansel and Gretel in the very first episode by chopping off their heads, but it's subverted in that they never mean to fully kill them, bringing them back a few moments later by sewing their heads back on with golden twine. In fact, the only reason they did it in the first place was to bring back Johannes and never wanted to hurt their children in the first place. Doesn't stop their decision from being any less rash or selfish, though.
• Off with His Head!: Hansel and Gretel have their heads cut off in the very first episode, and later in the series the King has his head cut off as well, which releases the dragon that had been controlling him.
• Older Than He Looks: The Warlock is only ever called "the young man" and appears to be barely older than a teen, but his mother reveals that her son is actually hundreds of years old, using the magic of girls' souls to stay young.
• Once Upon a Time: Every episode starts with the phrase.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: In the third episode, Hansel is consumed by greed and becomes a werewolf creature, unable to control his urge to kill. While in beast form, he is killed by Lord Meister and his servants, and only becomes human again when they cut open the wolf and Hansel comes out of it, looking like a normal boy. But later in the ninth episode, it is revealed that he still has some control over his beast side and can get a boost of strength from it.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Apart from the convincing makeup and horned headdress, Hansel looks nothing like the Devil's grandmother when trying to masquerade as her. Fortunately for him, the Devil can't see without his glasses, and mistakes Hansel for his grandmother anyway.
• Perpetual Frowner: Mr. Bauer only ever wears a frown on his face, to the point that his wife has to paint on a smile.
• Precocious Crush: Gretel clearly develops one on the Handsome Young Man, who is older than her, although by how much is unclear.
• Really 700 Years Old: The Warlock, who has used the magic of girls' souls to keep himself young.
• Rags to Royalty: Inverted. Hansel and Gretel, the prince and princess of Grimm respectively, willingly run away from home and briefly live as peasants in different places.
• Running Gag:
  • Widow Fischer saying "I'm a widow!" whenever the Handsome Young Man is around.
  • Dotty forgetting William and Jacob weren't always humans.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Hansel and Gretel get along very well, but are also not all the same. Gretel is more thoughtful and cautious while Hansel can be impulsive and does not always think things through. In many situations, they balance each other out.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Hansel takes after his mother while Gretel looks more like her father.
• Sweet Baker: Mrs. Baker seems like one to Hansel and Gretel, baking sweets and living in a house made of candy but to the audience, it is instantly clear she’s actually crazy and murderous.
• Sweet Tooth: Hansel, Gretel, and their parents all have a taste for chocolate cake, and the twins are more than happy to live in a house made of candy.
• Trademark Favorite Food: For the royal family, it seems to be chocolate cake. Johannes is also fond of chocolate cake too.
• Trailers Always Spoil: In the official Netflix trailer for the show, there's a split-second shot of the Warlock removing a girl's heart. Even though it's a 2D silhouette, viewers can still tell it's the same character as the Handsome Young Man, defeating the reveal of him actually being evil the whole time.
• Vague Age: It's unclear how old the Handsome Young Man is supposed to be, at least physically. He appears to be in his mid-to-late teens, making him closer to Gretel's age, but is apparently old enough to be married (or convince someone they're married to him) and get hit on by middle-aged women like Widow Fischer. He is revealed to be hundreds of years old in actuality, but that doesn't take away the question of: How old do the townspeople think he is?
• Villain with Good Publicity: The Handsome Young Man, or rather the Warlock, turns out to be Evil All Along, but no one in the town suspects him because he's erased all their memories of the girls he's taken, and replaced them with fake memories of him performing good deeds for the town. Therefore, when Gretel tries to tell them all the truth, no one believes her.
• Voluntary Shapeshifter: The Warlock seems to be able to manipulate his appearance at will, given that he scares Gretel at one point with fangs and glowing eyes, only to turn back to normal a moment later.
• Walking Spoiler: The entire show is full of spoilers in every episode since each one represents a different story. You can't even get five minutes into the show without getting hit with the first major spoiler, which is the King and Queen chopping off their children's heads, and kicking off the plot.
• Wham Episode: Episode 8 can be considered this, as we finally learn the backstory of the children's parents, including their mother's curse, Johannes dies, and Hansel and Gretel return to their home kingdom at last to confront their parents.

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