Fractured Fairy Tales: Rumpelstiltskin (1959)

Friends, being Saturday I felt it was the perfect time for another Toon In offering – I thought perhaps a classic Fractured Fairy Tales offering was in order. In this case for today we have Rumpelstiltskin, which originally aired in November of 1959 and happens to feature the voice work of Edward Everett Horton (Arsenic and Old Lace) as the narrator, in addition to Daws Butler (The Banana Splits) and June Foray (DuckTales). Fractured Fairy Tales was of course produced by Jay Ward Productions for the Rocky and His Friends television show for ABC. I am sure you have seen one or two of these before, classic fairy tales presented with a humorous twist – maybe I should say even modernized in some cases?

In this Fractured Fairy Tales adaptation of the fairy tale – the Miller’s Daughter whose name is Gladys dreams of becoming incredibly famous. This is where Rumpelstiltskin makes his appearance, not as just a little man or Goblin with fabulous powers but as a public relations manager. As this short has a running time of a little over five minutes in length, they’ve skipped the part in the original tale where Rumpelstiltskin aids the young Girl/Woman three times. Instead opting to go straight from earning her fame for her ‘supposed’ ability to spin straw into gold and then aiding in securing her the King as a Husband and the title of Queen. Thanks to a signed contract, after the birth of the King and Queen’s firstborn child – Rumpelstiltskin shows up to collect the infant. Like in most versions of Rumpelstiltskin, the Queen has three days to attempt and learn the name of the little man before the baby is handed over. Having said that, unlike the original fairy tale – everything has a decidedly comedic bent.