I was shocked when I saw "The Brave Little Tailor" on the Grimm Brothers fairy tale list; I had never thought about it being an actual fairy tale when I watched it as a Disney cartoon as a child (not to say it doesn't have the makings of a "real" fairy tale, but I just didn't give it much thought at the time). The Disney version stars Mickey Mouse as the tailor, who kills seven flies in one smooth move with two fly swatters (yes, I know, "seven in one blow" haha... it's funny...). Though he doesn't make himself a banner to wear as the tailor in the original story does, Mickey brags to those in the town about his great feat. Unfortunately, because the buzz in town involves a giant, Mickey is misunderstood by his neighbors and the rumor that he has killed seven giants at once makes its way to the king. Obviously, the semi-human king's daughter is Minnie, and it is obviously fated that everyone's favorite Mouse is going to defeat the giant and get Minnie's hand in marriage.

I don't want to ruin the rest of the story, but there are a lot of differences between Mickey and the original tailor. In the Grimm's brother's version, the tailor takes advantage of the easily misunderstood statement "seven with one blow" and outsmarts giants, the king, and other men in various ways to improve his social status. It is difficult to say if this was the plan all along or just a bit of pride that got out of control, but the tailor did not seem at all reluctant to put himself in more perilous situations; in fact, he was incredibly confident and took advantage of the king's offer to give him half of the kingdom as well as his daughter's hand in marriage.

Though the Grimms' version of the story is more "traditional fairy tale," I have a hard time liking the tailor because he seems overly confident and he's a liar. At least Mickey was innocently dragged into fighting a giant and improving his life because of a misunderstanding.