Article: What Does NBC's Grimm Look For When Choosing Fairy Tales To Adapt For The Series?

 

I really like that the Grimm producers and writers are talking about how they use fairy tales right now. No matter who is being interviewed - actors, producers, writers or effects and production people - or with regard to which aspect of the series everyone points the way back to the old fairy tales of Grimm and many others.

What would be particularly fun would be to be a fly on the wall as they're sorting through and choosing which fairy tale to tackle next. The Executive Producers of Grimm recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter on the  basic aspects they look for with regard to any tale.

NBC’s new drama series, Grimm, combines the myth of fairy tales rehashed into a police procedural. On every episode, Brothers Grimm descendant, homicide detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli), is charged with protecting others from real life fairy tale creatures, along with his partner, Hank Griffin (Russell Hornsby). There are hundreds of tales to pick from, but the show’s producers and writers have definite needs when it comes to which ones can be adapted for the series.

...The EPs say there are specific characteristics that they look for in the myths that ultimately make it on to the series. Here are four things that make a fairy tale ripe for adaptation.

I'll give you the summary (these are all excerpts - please read full article for complete text and series goodies):

1. Fairy tales that include a crime.“We look for something where there could be a crime and that we can really twist it,” says Greenwalt.  Being a procedural, each episode needs some foul play as its basic story line...  (see article for full text) But not all tales have one, though that doesn’t mean a fairy tale can’t be used. (Emphasis by InkGypsy.)That brings us to characteristic No. 2.

2. The tale lends itself to modernization. ...“There’s something fantastic [there - for example in The Pied Piper episode -] that can translate to our world today, like how would somebody get wronged and want to seek revenge using rats? How would you modernize that story?” says Greenwalt.

3. There’s a character or detail that stands out.“Not all the stories have crimes. But sometimes there’s a character that is interesting enough and other times it’s a setting,” Kouf tells THR...

4. A story can be retold from a different point of view.Many times, the series looks to myths, including popular ones, and tries to re-imagine them from a different perspective. “The Three Little Pigs,” which appears on Friday’s episode, is one example.... (see article for full text) So, it’s the fun of turning a well-known fairy tale on its head.”

I like that we got a sneak peek into one of their scripts-in-progress too. They've chosen the tale and are clearly fascinated by some aspects but are still nutting through the details of how to craft an updating and make it fit the series:

“One story has a bunch of suitors caught in a hedge of thorns,” Greenwaltsays. “And they die and they’re caught in this hedge. And we love the idea of doing the hedge that surrounds the castle that catches all the people that try to get through it. It’s a little tough to figure out how to move that into a modern context without getting too fantastical or too magical, but we’re working on it.”

Of course, if I personally had to choose, it would be hard for me to pick a tale that DOESN'T fit these requirements as explained by the "EPs". ;D But that's possibly just my fairy tale soaked brain. I've spent a lifetime finding the contemporary parallel stories and lessons in almost every tale I've read. LOL

Read the full article with all the insights into how the Grimm team are viewing fairy tales HERE.