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An enchanting faerie tale anthology film, couched in a biographical story that is somewhat less interesting than the stories themselves, which is perhaps inevitable. There are a lot of stars in a lot of stories -- Russ Tamblyn shows off some of the fantastic aerobic dancing he displayed in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." If only they could have come up with a more worthy opponent for their lovely stop motion dragon than Buddy Hackett (who, on the flip side, makes for an unusual ghost).

The writing is good, and there are a lot of really fun scenes. The Cinerama process is used very effectively (wish I could have seen it on the big screen).

You have to be young at heart to relish the film and I enjoyed the visuals as a child would. You know today that the two brothers wrote on two desks side by side to accommodate the cinerama screen--yet it looks so much better visually. It is not great cinema but good cinema of the sixties.

Of particular note was the Terry Thomas and Bud Hackett sub-plot which might not appear to be great technically but is funny and heartwarming even today. Laurence Harvey as Wilhelm Grimm (it was difficult to note that was the Cobbler as well) and Martita Hunt as the witch were superb. The German locations were ideal. The art direction and the puppet/animation sequences were really topnotch--who cares if there was a car visible in one shot!

In short, this is an ideal film for family viewing and the studios should consider re-releasing it for school viewing. All the kids today know of Snow White and Cinderella, but how many know of the Grimm brothers or of why Cinderella was called by that name? The film needs imaginative marketing to keep the box office jingling...

In summer 2022 TCM is showing the recently extensively restored, full Cinerama image version of the film, which just came out on Blu-Ray. The image clarity and color are excellent, with almost no trace of 3 camera Cinerama distortions. But the movie itself is a mixed bag, with more negatives than positives. Anyone who is moderately savvy about film technique will see that the filmmakers were very limited by shortcomings with the Cinerama process. There are no close ups or medium close ups, everything is shot in long shots or medium shots. The large majority of the film is made up of static shots, where the camera does not move. The camera never moves side to side, only in and out. And there is very distracting fish eye distortion in the interior scenes (less noticeable in the outdoor scenes).

Lawrence Harvey is lively and fun in his role, but Karl Bohm is a liability. And how is it that one brother speaks with a British accent, and the other with a German accent ? The film makes good use of Russ Tamblin's tumbling ability and he shows plenty of playful energy. The women in the cast are given little to do and do it merely adequitely.

The music is a highlight, catchy and light, though to nitpick, the choral arrangements are old fashioned for 1962, sounding more like 1940's Disney (composer Lee Harline scored Pinochio and perhaps one or two other early 40's Disney features).

While it's been encouraging to see a number of George Pal's sci-fi and fantasy classics finally come to DVD, THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM is one of many still waiting to debut in the digital format (along with HOUDINI, ATLANTIS: THE LOST CONTINENT, a complete PUPPETOONS collection, etc..) With Terry Gilliam's new THE BROTHERS GRIMM film in theaters, it would seem like the timing would be perfect for such a release.

Although available on VHS for some time, the tape doesn't do the film justice. GRIMM was shot using the three camera/three projector Cinarama process. With cast and crew members such as Russ Tamblyn (who provided commentary for Pal's TOM THUMB DVD) and stop-motion animator Jim Danforth still around, it would be nice to see Pal's fairy tale film get the deluxe DVD treatment, with the insight of surviving participants giving us a behind the scenes look at the making of the movie.

This is a well made entertaining little movie, told in a wonderful fairytale kind of way and with a great atmosphere, that makes you feel like a child again.

This movie had all the potential to become a real great and classic children movie but unfortunately the movie makes some bad choices. The movie can be seen as 4 in one. It features 3 told fairy tales and then there is the storyline regarding the brothers Grimm themselves. The whole story of the brother Grimm is perhaps not the most interesting told one (especially not for children) and its not as wonderful and fairytale like as the actual fairy tales told in this movie. And the brothers Grimm have written some of the most marvelous and best known fairy tales but yet this movie decides to use some lesser known and less great fairy tales ('The Dancing Princess', 'The Cobbler and the Elves' and 'The Singing Bone'). In my opinion it makes the movie a bit of a missed opportunity. It's not a bad movie now but the whole movie gave the feeling it all could had been more entertaining, humorous filled and a bit shorter. The movie had easily could and also should had ended 15 minutes earlier. The movie now needlessly goes on for too long.

The fairy tales are definitely the best told parts of the movie. They flow well, have a fun feeling and atmosphere all over it and all makes you forget your worries for a while. It's kept all perfectly childish and it ensures that it never ever becomes too scary for the young ones.

The movie is filled with some wonderful and lovable characters and they're being played by some good actors. Laurence Harvey and Karlheinz Böhm aren't really believable as brothers, mostly because of their looks and very different accent of course but they're still of course good actors. Some supporting roles are there for Terry-Thomas, Buddy Hackett and Billy Barty among others.

The movie was made filmed in 3-camera Cinerama. Cinerama is the trademarked name for a widescreen process which works by simultaneously projecting images from three synchronized 35 mm projectors onto a huge, deeply-curved screen. So a technique that works only in cinemas. On the small screen it just doesn't look good and it looks like the images on screen are cut in 3 parts but back then movies just weren't made for home release of course.

The movie is good looking. Deliberately campy with its fairytale sequences and good and realistic in its 'real world' sequences. The sets are all nice (Oscar-nom) and so are the costumes (Oscar-win). The stop-motion effects in the movie are all fair looking but it's nothing too impressive really. Wasn't Ray Harryhausen available for this movie?

Good entertainment, for the whole family.

7/10

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Fictionalized (?) account of the brothers Grimm (Laurence Harvey and Karl Boehm)--their lives and loves. Three of their fairy tales are dramatized.

"The Dancing Princess" stars Russ Tamblyn, Jim Backus and Yvette Mimieux. It's cute but there's a dance sequence that goes on much too long. However there is a long coach ride which makes full use of the three screens in Cinerama and provides some fantastic scenery (even on TV).

"The Cobbler and the Elves" stars Harvey and includes a little Puppetoon (stop motion animation) sequence. It's OK for the kids.

"The Singing Bone" has Terry-Thomas and Buddy Hackett fighting a very bad stop-motion animation dragon. As with the first two, it will appeal to kids.

This film must be seen in the Cinerama format--that was a short-lived process in which three screens were used to project a full picture along with three projectors running. The triple screens are used effectively all throughout the film--I can't imagine this working in a pan & scan format. Luckily, Turner Classic Movies always shows it in that format.

It's perfect family entertainment except for a few minor quibbles--at 129 minutes it's a bit too long; there are too many (bad) songs; the dances could be cut and the stop-motion animation is stunningly bad.

Still, it's beautiful to look at, the cast is very good (except for Boehm) and the whole picture has a playful quality about it. Also I've never seen Laurence Harvey so animated and full of life!

Worth catching--in wide screen only.

The Grimm brothers, Wilhelm (Laurence Harvey) and Jacob (Karlheinz Böhm), are working on the local Duke (Oscar Homolka)'s history. Wilhelm is more interested in collecting fairy tales from the locals but Jacob is more concerned about the Duke's work. Greta Heinrich (Barbara Eden) is a fan of their writing. The movie does show "The Dancing Princess", "The Cobbler and the Elves" and "The Singing Bone" as the stories are told by characters in the movie.

The 3-camera Cinerama looks beautiful and I can only imagine the visuals coming from all sides. I remember watching one of the travelogs in my childhood. The story itself is rather boring. Nothing is particularly memorable except for Buddy Hackett and Terry-Thomas. At least, they are funny. The leads don't stand out especially with the way the movie is shot. It's not the best use of the format. When the movie uses the format effectively, it looks marvelous. The story itself also lacks drama. They are probably better off making a shorter movie with one of the Grimm's tale and try to maximize the visual aspects. It is a cinematic oddity and worthwhile to see.

Maybe it's because I grew up with this movie, and am stuck in that age, but I have always found this to be a special and magical movie experience. It was especially so on the big screen when I was 6 years old. We also had the soundtrack box edition on vinyl. So, I rated this movie highly, because I feel it truly was perfection (especially for its day), and needs to be re-discovered by families, and the young-at-heart everywhere. I hate clichés, but they just do not make them like this anymore. This gem should be restored in its full glory, and preserved and brought back to life. Hope you get to enjoy it someday.

64/100. Way overlong but it certainly is creative and imaginative. Impressive special effects, perhaps not by today's standards but it must have been enthralling in 1962. It is entertaining and good for the whole family, although I can't see a lot of children being able to sit through over two hours of this. The production is impressive. It won the Oscar for best costume design and was nominated for both art direction, music score and cinematography, all of which were quite good. A lot of money went into the production, and it shows. It is divided into four segments. The Puppetoons are particularly enjoyable and the part I think children would enjoy the most.

Ideally, one would be able to experience this movie as it was originally presented in Cinerama. I know that just about every child who shared that experience was completely enthralled by this movie. But even without the Cinerama presentation, this is still a very enjoyable and imaginative movie. This is one of the most successful live-action fairy tale films. The entire production is rich in color and atmosphere. The effective use of unusual locations and cinematography puts this film in a "one of a kind" category. The screenplays for the fantasy section are very fine and the biographical story is simple but unpretentious and easy to take. What really makes this sprawling fairy tale work is the wonderful cast and acting. This is an enormous international cast and includes humorous and touching performances from many of film's finest character actors. It would be wonderful to have a DVD release with comments from surviving cast members (Russ Tamblyn) and production artists.

Considering the lack of attention given to this film by both MGM and Cinerama, I was glad to find an Italian DVD release. Both my computer and DVD player are zone-free, so I had no reason not to buy it for living outside of Europe, the more so since until today (July 10, 2015) there has been no release of a restored version. To my surprise the Italian release had an acceptable image quality. One has to admit though, that beyond the complaint for the division lines of the Cinerama projection, the full experience of inventor Fred Waller's system (opposed to Abel Gance's Polyvision) could only be achieved in a cinema with curved screen. On a flat screen, no matter if the motion picture has been "smileboxed" or not, the image is always slightly distorted. So if you had never seen it, be warned of the distortion, the lines dividing the three panels and the lack of restoration. For me, it was as good as in 1962 and I enjoyed it again very much. I did not know there are many persons who think this is a better film than "How the West Was Won", it is probably right: there is no propaganda here, no patriotic hymns and the script is tighter: instead of the story of three generations in "HTWWW" (Karl Malden's, Debbie Reynolds' and George Peppard's), in "TWWOTBG" you only have the story of the two Grimm brothers with three of their fairy tales inserted along the biography. If you expect CGIs instead of George Pal's animation, see another movie, and if not, enjoy his puppets and dragon. The cast, on the other hand, includes various cult players, as Beulah Bondi, Terry-Thomas, Martita Hunt, Ian Wolfe and Oscar Homolka; popular comedians as Jim Backus, Buddy Hackett and Arnold Stang; young stars of the 60s as Yvette Mimieux, Robert Crawford Jr. and Russ Tamblyn, and good lead players: Laurence Harvey, Karlheinz Böhm, Claire Bloom, Barbara Eden and Walter Slezak. Enjoy it again or discover it.

When I was a kid I would have travelled to the moon if necessary to see anything in Cinerama and this film was no different. I have not seen it since '62 or '63 but I can still recall its magic. If I dug hard enough in old trunks I might even find its 'programme'. Amazing how blockbusters and special format pics always seemed to have accompanying booklets...or they did here in NZ at least.

If I was to view this now in some small screen format it might indeed seem corny and clumsy and dull but let me say that in three eye cinerama it was a sumptuous feast for a ten or so year old and I reckon if I was to see it again in those circumstances I would still be spellbound. How could one not be when senses are in sensory overload?

Years later I got to visit the real Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria. I recall it being a bit of a a disappointment compared to the sequences where it featured in this film. Long live Cinerama!

A hit & miss big film from the 60's detailing how the Grimm Brothers collected their stories for the joy of the world to behold. Back in the 60's the film industry was losing audiences due to the popularity of TV so film had to use different ruses to lure the crowds back. In the 50's, the widescreen format was being used to tout the epic-ness of the film experience (3D was another technique). By the time the early 60's came around a device known as Cinerama was used (3 screens to duplicate one wide screen image) to further entice people to ditch their boob tubes behind. On paper & I guess on the big screen (s), the conceit worked but when watched at home (unless its a newly restored version like the recent How the West Was Won re-release on blu-ray) then the image suffers which is the case here. There are no close-ups to speak of & much of the imagery appears muddled & blurry so my experience viewing this film was problematic at best & enjoyable in the least. Having Russ Tamblyn perform a dance number or to see the magic of George Pal (he co-directed the stop motion sequences) is a task when it shouldn't be.

I would have given "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" a higher score had they not weakened some of the scenes by turning them into musicals. Otherwise, it was a very impressive movie, even if the Cinerama doesn't translate to the small screen. It portrays Wilhelm Grimm sort of like how "Finding Neverland" portrays J.M. Barrie: very focused on a fantasy story, much to the chagrin of the serious-minded people around him.

I see that "The Dancing Princess" contains an invisibility cloak years before J.K. Rowling wrote about Harry Potter wearing one. Russ Tamblyn at first glance looks a little dorky to appear in a fairy tale adaptation, but he ends up playing the role very well. Yvette Mimieux is perfect as the princess, and Jim Backus as the king plays a role similar to one that he played in a "Gilligan's Island" dream sequence.

I considered "The Cobbler" the lowest scene in the movie. The singing elves made it a little too cute. A really neat version of that story is Friz Freleng's cartoon "Holiday for Shoestrings".

Terry-Thomas as the knight is pretty silly, while Buddy Hackett as the squire brings to the screen something that I never imagined: a New Jersey-accented person attempting an English accent! And the dragon really creates a sense of old-style cinema.

As for the Grimms themselves, Wilhelm (Laurence Harvey) is the idealist while Jakob (Karl Boehm) remains the realist, displeased with Wilhelm's happy-go-lucky attitude. And that duke (Oscar Homolka)? Whereas what Wilhelm did to the duke was an accident, I would have done it on purpose, just to punish the duke for being such a jerk.

But for me, at least, the real treat here is Jeannie herself, Barbara Eden. She plays Greta Heinrich, Jakob's love interest. I swear, Barbara Eden gets more gorgeous in every movie. Had I been alive in 1962, I would have attended this movie's premiere with the aim of seeing her in a shell dress (she wore one to the premiere of "Five Weeks in a Balloon", so I assume that she would have worn one to this movie's premiere). In my opinion, the sight of Barbara Eden in a shell dress proves that there is a God! If that makes me a pervert, then so be it. I'm proud to be a pervert, and I'll always consider Barbara Eden one of the hottest actresses of all time.

Overall, I recommend "TWWOTBG". Also starring Claire Bloom and Arnold Stang. Speaking of Arnold Stang, that reminds me. He co-starred in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" with Jim Backus and Buddy Hackett (but didn't share any scenes with them). That one's my favorite movie of all time. In fact, the only thing that could have improved it any more would have been the presence of Barbara Eden in a shell dress. At least it had Dorothy Provine in a tight dress. Anyway, I recommend both these movies.

PS: the castle used in "The Dancing Princess" is Neuschwanstein. King Ludwig ordered it built as his home, but he drowned right after its completion. Neuschwanstein also appeared in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". I once put together a 6,000-piece jigsaw puzzle showing it.

I think that "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" is a woefully underappreciated film and is far better than its current score of 6.2. And, although the film took a fast and loose look at the real lives of these men, it is most enjoyable and the stories that come to life are simply charming.

As I just mentioned, this film is a biopic that does what many do....it ignores the real story and presents a Hollywood version of their lives. Now as a history teacher, I am not thrilled by this. But the rest of the story is so wonderful, I really didn't mind very much.

The story presents the lives of the brothers once they reach adulthood...which is a shame as their earlier lives could make for a compelling film. But in addition to their lives, you see many of their stories acted out...and they are just wonderful. It also helped that it was filmed in towns such as Rothenburg in Germany...and it looks great. I really wish I could have seen this back in the day when it was presented on Cinerama....with the three screens. But I wasn't born yet and the chances of seeing it this way are minimal.

Overall, a great film for the entire family....fun and well made from start to finish.

Big, expensive family film is sadly ineffective. Eye-popping Cinerama is too grandiose a treatment for the otherwise simple telling of the German siblings who penned many beloved fairy tales (a few of which are enacted here). Ambitious semi-musical has gorgeous locales, OK cast featuring Laurence Harvey, Claire Bloom, Barbara Eden and several guest stars, but far too much talk and a draggy conclusion. The cinematography, dazzling at first, is showy for little purpose, and although there are some memorable moments, the film bogs down in the second act. Russ Tamblyn has the best part as a young man spying on beautiful princess Yvette Mimieux, but the other cast members look defeated. Never a big attraction with the kids, and it's easy to see why. ** from ****

Back when it first was out I never did get around to seeing The Wonderful World of The Brothers Grimm and it should be seen in the theater rather than a formatted VHS version. This was indeed a film for which Cinerama was definitely suited.

During the Fifties a whole lot of the Grimm stories were used in a shortlived series hosted by the grown up Shirley Temple entitled Shirley Temple's storybook. I think they were better presented on the big screen.

I'm not sure if these in fact are the real Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm as played by Laurence Harvey and Karl Boehm. Wilhelm is the married one, in fact married to the lovely Claire Bloom, with two small children and it's those kids who keep him interested in German folklore and tales of such. The more serious minded Jacob, scholar, historian, and linguist would like to marry Barbara Eden, but that ain't happening unless the brothers finish the dynastic history they've been commissioned to write by Duke Oscar Homolka. And Jacob can't keep Wilhelm's mind on the business at hand.

The real story of the brothers is merely a plot device on which to hang cinematic presentation of three of the Grimm fairy tales and the presence of a lot of the others during a delirious fever sustained by Laurence Harvey. The regular story is directed by Henry Levin, but George Pal who probably got the biggest budget in his career to utilize in The Wonderful World of The Brothers Grimm gets to direct the fairy tale segments.

My favorite is The Singing Bone with Terry-Thomas as the braggadocious knight and Buddy Hackett as his put upon squire and their encounter with a dragon in a cave. That is George Pal and Cinerama at their very best.

Don't expect a whole lot from this film, it's not deep, it was meant for the kid market. And it dates not a bit though with today's computer generated special effects it would be even better if done today.

My parents took me to see this movie when it first came out. I was 12. My girlfriend went with our family and she was Mennonite. She didn't have a TV and never went to movies. But her family let her go with us. We were mesmerized by the fantastic stories and the music was excellent. It was action packed and it used a new process called Cinerama, so it felt like you were really there. It stands out in my mind as a wonderful memory. I am now a Grandma and want my 6 year old Granddaughter to see it. I can't imagine the new one being this good. Even though I love Terry Gilliam, it sounds like he has changed the core story and added the latest cutting edge special effects. There is something to be said for 'less is more.'

This picture is great fun for the whole family. The fairytale stories are nicely done, the last one is disappointing but nevertheless very enjoyable and harmless.

The film required a better script in parts, but the production values certainly make up for it. The special effects on the whole are good except for the Dragon which isn't very good.

Made for CINERAMA screen, the film loses a lot of the impact on the small letterbox screen.

Watching this in full frame on your TV will result in you losing 50% of the picture. The film probably doesn't make sense in pan and scan.

I watched it in letterbox.