"Long ago, when miracles still happened, there was a magic spell, which opened a gateway to the enchanted land of Simsala. The place were all the fairytale characters really lived. Abracadabra. Simsalagrimm."
—Narrator
Simsala Grimm is a 1999-2000 German cartoon, following the adventures of two creatures: Yoyo and Doc Croc, who transport themselves to fairy tales on a magic book that takes them to one of various stories each episode. Once there, the duo try giving advice to the main character of the story and help them get to their happily ever after.
In 2010 the series was continued with 26 new episodes, which took on other fairy tales aside from The Brothers Grimm tales.
This cartoon provides examples of:
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Lisa and Louise, Beauty’s sisters, are not selfish of Beauty, and didn’t sabotage her relationship towards the Beast, in comparison to the original story of Beauty and the Beast. Although they mock Beauty’s interest of the Beast as Beauty gets married, the sisters do care about Beauty.
- Artifact Title: The third season let go of doing only Grimm fairy tales.
- Badass Adorable: Yoyo is more than happy to stare down wild pigs and wolves. He can also be a case of Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass.
- Bag of Kidnapping: In “The Four Skillful Brothers” the thief brother does this to the Princess to take her back to the palace after distracting the dim witted dragon who took her for companionship.
- Bittersweet Ending: True to the text, "The Little Mermaid" ends with the titular mermaid turning into sea foam, then into a Daughter of the Air. Doc Croc and Yoyo see her off, waving goodbye as her spirit joins a group of other spirits for eternity.
- Break the Cutie:
- Yoyo when he breaks down in tears in the "Singing Soaring Lark" episode.
- Doc Croc in Snow White episode after Snow White ate the poison apple which he a moment earlier declared was safe to be consumed.
- Cartoon Creature: It's unclear just what kind of animal Yoyo is, though it is claimed that he is a coyote. He looks like a tailless fox mixed with a weasel. In the first two seasons, he doesn't have ears, yet he has weasel-like ears in the third season.
- Deadpan Snarker: Yoyo. Doc Croc has his moments, but Yoyo is probably the most prominent snarker in the show.
- Dub-Induced Plot Hole: Doc Croc says he is a virtuoso, but he never is seen playing any musical instrument. This wasn't the case in the original German version, because he is instead a private learner.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Doc Croc has this moment in the Little Red Riding Hood-episode when he realises that the friendly marquise is actually the Big Bad Wolf in disguise.Doc Croc: (checking his book) French dictionary... What was his name again? Louie Loup, let's see. Masculine, meaning wolf. It doesn't help much... Oh good heavens!
- Expy: In "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids", the Wolf's White Sheep son is an Expy of L'il Wolf, the White Sheep son of the Big Bad Wolf in various Disney comics.
- Foil: Yoyo and Doc Croc to each other:
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The feisty, adventurous Yoyo (red) and the nerdy, cautious Doc Croc (blue). Ironically, Yoyo has blue fur, while Croc has red and pink stripes.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Yoyo (manly) and Doc Croc (sensitive)
- Straight Man and Wise Guy: Yoyo (wise guy) and Doc Croc (straight man)
- Getting Eaten Is Harmless: In Little Red Riding Hood Grandmother and Red Riding Hood are both fine after being rescued from wolf's belly. Same goes to the six of the goat kids in episode The Wolf And The Seven Kids.
- Happy Harlequin Hat: Yoyo, though his hat is pure red and combined with a poncho-like garment.
- How We Got Here: The Sleeping Beauty episode starts after Sleeping Beauty and everyone else in her castle have been asleep for a hundred years, and focuses on Yoyo and Doc Croc joining the Prince in his quest to wake her. The earlier parts of the story are told through flashbacks.
- Informed Species: Doc Croc is a "bookworm," but he looks more like a lizard than a worm.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Yoyo. As cocky, sarcastic, and hot-blooded as he is, he's a very caring and kind-hearted character.
- Keet: Yoyo has a very cheerful and childlike attitude.
- Large Ham: Several villains on the show, mostly the Wicked Witch–style ones.
- Lovable Nerd: Doc Croc, who serve as The Smart Guy, whose gentle temperament makes him a Gentleman and a Scholar, and who is also a Lovable Coward at times.
- Lovable Rogue: Yoyo has shades of this, being friendly yet Hot-Blooded and a bit of a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
- Musical Exposition: During the first two seasons of the show, there was a trio of birds that would show up in almost every episode, either explaining to Yoyo and Doc Croc or just the audience what is happening or what to do next.
- Nervous Wreck: Doc Croc because of his stutter and social awkwardness.
- No Body Left Behind: The Evil Queen in "Snow White" vanishes into a blue light after her magic powers are lifted and she ages rapidly.
- No Immortal Inertia: In "Snow White", after the mirror reveals to the Evil Queen that Snow White survived eating the poison apple, she flies into a rage and breaks him with a wooden cane, despite his earlier warning that she'll lose her magic powers if she does the deed, resulting in the queen starting to age rapidly. It's implied that said magical powers had significantly increased her lifespan, as she vanishes into a blue light a few seconds afterwards, only leaving her cloak behind.
- Rich Bitch: Constance from the "King Thrushbeard" episode is a spoiled, arrogant and conceited princess.
- Smooch of Victory: Little Red Riding Hood twice gives one to Yoyo and Doc Croc for saving her and her grandmother from the Wolf's stomach.
- Speech Impediment: Doc Croc has a stutter.
- Taken for Granite: In "Rapunzel", it's revealed that the witch turned Rapunzel's birth parents into stalagmites.
- The Immune: In Snow White, Doc Croc reveals that he can safely ingest poisons that are deadly to humans; they would only give him a stomach ache. He tries to put this to good use by taking the first bite of Snow White's apple to see if it's poisoned or not. Unfortunately, the Queen only poisoned half the apple and Croc bites into the unpoisoned half, so he unwittingly misleads Snow White.
- Unexplained Recovery: Despite being burnt in the oven, The Witch from Hansel & Gretel reappears in The Three Little Pigs. Though it could possibly be just a different witch that also happens to live in a gingerbread house.
- Wicked Witch: Plenty of them. After all, the show is based off Grimm fairy tales. Often, they are Wicked Stepmothers, as well.
- Your Size May Vary: Yoyo and Doc Croc sometimes are small like mice or normal-sized in some scenes.
