| Alt Name: | The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm The Adventures of Yoyo and Doc Croc |
| Country: | GermanyFrance (Season 2) Ireland (Season 2) |
| Num Seasons: | 2 |
| Num Episodes: | 52 |
| Language: | German (Season 1)English (Season 2) |
| Runtime: | 25 minutes |
| Network: | KiKA/NDR/ARD (Germany)ORF eins (Austria)RTÉ2 (Ireland)ABC Kids (Australia) |
Simsala Grimm is a German animated children's television series, consisting of stories based on fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and other notable authors. The series was created by André Sikojev, Stefan Beiten and Claus Clausen, and co-producted by Greenlight Media AG, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Hahn Film AG, Millimages and Magma Films Ltd.
In each episode of the series, one of the famous classical fairy tales is told in the magical land of Simsala. The local characters Yoyo and Doc Croc move between the storyteller and the episode cast, which they tend to help or at least inspire. Each episode begins with Yoyo and Doc Croc as toys on a shelf brought to life by a magical book.
Both Yoyo and Doc Croc often argue as Yoyo is brave and willing, but unwise and Doc Croc is sometimes overcautious, yet intelligent. Both of them also seem to disrespect the storybook, as it usually takes them to a bad place when they are landing.
Simsala Grimm premiered on KiKA in Germany on 1 November 1999, and ended on 21 July 2000. It was later renewed for a second season, which premiered on 6 December 2010, and ended on 31 December of the same year.
The English version of the series premiered in Australia in 2001 on ABC Kids, and later on RTÉ2 in Ireland. In addition, the first season of the series was distributed on DVDs in the United States in 2004, under the name "The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm".
A third season was announced in 2019.[1] Remastered versions of the previous seasons were produced as well, and were released on Amazon Prime Video in March 2021 in Germany and the United Kingdom,[2] with the German version in particular releasing in theaters starting 28 October 2021.[3] On 7 November 2021, a series of radio plays was announced for an early 2022 release, with the first episode, based on The Seven Ravens, releasing on 11 February on Spotify, Deezer, and Napster.[4] Afterwards, a second episode, based on The King's Son Who Feared Nothing released on 17 May 2023, a third episode based on The Courageous Flute-Player released on 20 October 2023, a fourth episode based on The Elves and the Shoemaker released on 17 November 2023, a fifth episode based on The Queen Bee released on 15 March 2024 and a sixth episode based on The Thief and the Merchant released on 14 June 2024.[5]
See also: Happily N'Ever After. In 2002, Greenlight Media partnered with Berlin Animation Film and John H. Williams of Vanguard Animation to produce a film adaptation that would have been known domestically as Happily N'Ever After, which would have revolved around Cinderella's stepmother taking over the land of Simsala. The film would have starred Andy Dick as Yoyo, and Wallace Shawn as Doc Croc, with the additional voices of Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, George Carlin and Sigourney Weaver. By 2003, Grenlight Media would sell its interest in the film, and while the film did get released in 2007, all connections to the series were removed from the final project.[6]
In March 2019, with the celebration of 20th anniversary of the series, Greenlight Media announced that it signed a deal with Fabula Media Group to produce an animated feature film based on the show, as well as the third season is in development.[7]