The dark origins of Disney fairy tales - Claudia Schwabe (Level 1)

Fairy tales like Cinderella and Snow White were not always for children. Long ago, these stories were very dark and scary. In the early 1800s, two brothers named Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm collected these stories in Germany. They wanted to save old German traditions. In 1812, they published their first book. The stories were for adults. They had terrible events, like parents leaving their children in the woods. People did not like the book because it was too scary. Later, the brothers changed the stories. They wanted to sell more books to families. They removed the worst parts. Bad mothers became evil stepmothers. They added pictures and made the stories safer for children. Over many years, other people changed the stories even more. Today, the fairy tales we know are much happier than the original Grimm stories.