Fractured Fairy Tales

by A.J. Jacobs

Long before Politically Correct Bedtime Stories invaded bookstores, Americans were getting their giggles from Fractured Fairy Tales, those delightfully twisted parables brought to us between the cliffhanger adventures of our favorite cartoon heroes, Rocky & Bullwinkle. This collection, illustrated with classic art from the animated series includes the comical retelling of 25 classics such as Pinocchio (who starred in his own variety show "The Pinocchio Doody Show"), Jack and the Beanstalk (did you know that Jack grew a beanstalk in the outfield so he could catch fly balls for his baseball team?), or King Midas (who became a dentist so he could give his patients gold fillings).

This satirical humor loved for so long by so many, is a must-have for fans of the show and anyone who loves classic fairy tales--with a twist.

Witch's broom
Frog prince
Rumpelstiltskin
Seven chickens
Sir Galahad
Tale of a king
Hansel and Gretel
Pinocchio
Elves and the shoemaker
Thom Tum
Princess and the pea
Son of King Midas
Golden goose
Flying carpet
Beauty and the beast
Aladdin's lamp
Absentminded king
Goblins
Cutie and the beast
Prince Hyacinth and the dear little princess
Son of Rumpelstiltskin
Enchanted gnat
Jack and the beanstalk
Enchanted fish
King Midas

Genres: Humor, Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Fiction, Short Stories, Childrens, Comedy

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 28, 1997

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remember the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon? Between "episodes" you would see a 2 min. fairy tale. Those fairy tales have been written down, and are totally entertaining.

Rocky and Bullwinkle aren't on TV anymore, but at least my children can enjoy the fractured fairy tales that I enjoyed!

[Orion · Rating 3 out of 5]

As part of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, Jay War produced 91 cartoons between 1953 and 1964 in a series called Fractured Fairy Tales, humorous retellings of classic fairy tales narrated by Edward Everett Horton and written by the staff writers for the show. This book, written by A. J. Jacobs in 1997, takes 25 of those cartoons and adapts them as short fairy tales. Some references are updated for a new audience but he is fairly faithful to the scripts and does well at turning them into stories. While Jacobs' retellings are funny and faithful to the originals, they have a limited appeal now that all of the original cartoons are available on DVD or YouTube.

[Cindy Dyson Eitelman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, it's the same ones as those on the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. I was a devoted follower for many years of my youth--that and Yogi Bear are truly the best Saturday morning cartoons ever made although Phineas and Ferb would probably be third if (a) it had been around back then and (b) it was a Saturday morning cartoon. Saturday mornings were special, special in a kids-only kind of way that the young whippersnappers of today will never comprehend. If you weren't there when the cartoons were there, you missed 'em. Period.

The book is fun, of course, but only one of the tales made me laugh out loud. A few chuckles, for sure. And best of all, the fairy illustrations.

[Kirsten Simkiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid 4 stars out of 5.

I really enjoyed it! It's not a hard read and nothing is taken seriously at all. About half of the stories end in glorious puns, which is wonderful for me. I love puns. The worse they are and the harder I've walked into them, the better! My only complaint is that they had multiple versions of the same stories in the collection but didn't differentiate authors, if the authors were different. They also were a bit more ridiculous than I loved. Fractured indeed. I had a good laugh about a knight not breaking any laws listed in the Geneva Convention while fighting a dragon. It was silly and it caught me totally off guard.

[Marsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here are some old favorites and odd fables as told through the warped vision of Jay Ward. For those of you who remember the animated Rocky and Bullwinkle (a flying squirrel in an aviator helmet and his dippy moose friend, respectively), these fairy tales were wonderfully wacky interludes between their comic adventures fighting Boris and Natasha as they schemed for Fearless Leader. Diverting stuff and not necessarily for the kiddies.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fractured Fairy Tales by A.J. Jacobs (Bantam Books 1997) (Fiction). This is a collection of twenty-five of the “Fractured Fairy Tales” which were shown on the television series “Rocky and Bullwinkle.” My rating: 7/10. finished 2004.

[Patrice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ordered DVDs but also wound up with a book - a very hilarious book!

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some stories were kind of dull.

[Amber the Human · Rating 4 out of 5]

My dad gave me this for Christmas and I'm glad he did - it was the right book to read on the planes coming back from Minneapolis to Los Angeles: short, not serious, entertaining and therefore distracting. I just finished them up, and they work just as well in the book as they did on the TV show, which I loved. I remember when this book came out, I was at the Barnes and Noble at the Grove and I wrote this book and several others down as ones I would like someday. Where that list is now, no idea, but I'm happy to have this come back into my life.

[Samantha Penrose · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could have I would have given this book less than one star...It was awful! I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Please DO NOT read this book.
I painfully pushed through this so that I could honestly review it and it was the worst hour of my life.

[Wils Cain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I seemed to have missed the animated version of these on the Rocky and Bullwinkle show. These made me laugh out loud. Great short stories of taking the fairy tales we all know and turning them on their heads.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved these as a child watching Bullwinkle & Rocky. A friend gave me the book for Christmas a few years past and I thoroughly enjoyed reading them again. I think that this set me up for my future fascination with writers who re-work fairy tales.

[AK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most other people who stumbled across this book, I, too, was really excited because it reminded me of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. I only have a vague memory of the show these days, but I know the Fractured Fairy Tales segment was my favorite part. It was nice to be reminded of that.

[Gabrielle Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so hilarious! Full of puns and jokes that may go over some kids' heads, the book itself stylistically looks more of a middle grade novel, but can be easily enjoyed by anyone of any age. Each story had me rolling in laughter, and I have never found a book as enjoyable as this.

[Ayelet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember watching these on "Rocky & Bullwinkle" but didn't remember any of the actual stories. They are pretty cute, if a little corny. I like when they say, "This happened because that's what happens in fairy tales" or "sometimes even fairy tales don't work out."

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rember the fairy episodes from Rocky and Bullwinkle...... do ya??

Fun book, good beach read......

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really funny. Really good. Really wicked.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true classic!

[Melea · Rating 5 out of 5]

HEHEHE HAHAHA Geez, these stories sure were funny "back in the day", and they still are today.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

who didn't love these stories on the Rocky & Bullwinkle Show?

[Vanessa]

I just finished this book and it is laugh out loud funny!!!!!!short stories

[Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the classics from the old Rocky and Bullwinkle show!

[Debbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite as fun as watching the cartoons, but almost. I'm so glad Jacobs decided to record them for posterity.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of course, I loved it.

[Velma]

Thank you to my cousin Julie for the gift of fairy tales!

[Zena Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories are short and funny! Good for a small read but not what you would look for unless you want simple and easy to follow short stories.

[Alex]

False

[Vigneshprasanak]

h

[Jenna Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little book. I would love for the author to be a baby sitter. I can just picture him with little kids giggling over these stories.

[Don Gubler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny, but some of panache is lost in the translation to the page.