Last year at the Long Beach Comic and Horror Con, I was introduced to an animated version The Grimm Fairy Tales. They were doing a kickstarter campaign at the time and have since met their goal! Their panel at Comikaze started off with a humorous warning by Jon Schnepp, the series/film’s director, who made it clear this animated project was not for kids by swearing up a storm. Pretty much, “if you don’t like swearing and violence, get the f**k out!” Only a couple of people left the room and the rest of us laughed at the effective warning.
I said series/film because currently The Grimm Fairy Tales has one pilot episode but they would love to make more episodes or work on a feature. They are currently looking into getting on a network with either the series or a film. Animation costs money and being with a network would be a big step for this project. It did seem like Schnepp would prefer a series because “TV has so much freedom…Make what you want and more.” Another benefit of doing a series he pointed out was that you can do what many of us already do via Netflix, binge watch. Who doesn’t love watching episodes back to back to back?! Also, a series would provide the opportunity to do many more stories utilizing the tons of material available (Zenescope‘s “Grimm Fairy Tales” comics recently released issue 75!).
The “heart of it is very similar to the comics,” said Joe Brusha in regards to the animated The Grimm Fairy Tales. Several different artists/animators worked on various parts of the story and characters. If, and when, they continue the series, new and old artists will be incorporated just like the pilot. The art style does vary from the comics but it still has that sex appeal. The animation for the pilot is somewhere between stop motion comics and Archer. Schnepp mentioned how he had control over the style choice and they chose that particular method (effectively digital puppetry) because it was “economically the best way to do it”; though he would have wanted a more fluid style. After watching it, however, I think the style aids the comic book aspect of the show. I don’t personally care much for motion comics but this had a cool style unto its own.
A common problem they have run into is that most people assume since it is animated that it is for kids, or if they said no, it is an adult cartoon then people assume it is porn. No, this is a cartoon made by adults for adults. Schnepp recalled the inception of the project as he just wanted to “make something for adults that I would want to see.” If you like cartoons for adults like Heavy Metal, Fire and Ice, Wizards, etc. then you need to check out The Grimm Fairy Tales!
Check out the trailer below to get a feel for the show!