DEFA Fairy Tales: Standard Edition – Deaf Crocodile (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Dates: East Germany, 1961 (Snow White), East Germany, 1962 (Little Red Riding Hood), East Germany, 1963 (Frau Holle), East Germany, 1977 (The Devil's Three Golden Hairs), East Germany, 1979 (Snow-White and Rose-Red)
Directors: Gottfried Kolditz (Snow White, Frau Holle), Götz Friedrich (Little Red Riding Hood), Egon Schlegel (The Devil's Three Golden Hairs), Siegfried Hartmann (Snow-White and Rose-Red)
Cast: Doris Weikow, Marianne Christina Schilling, Wolf-Dieter Panse, Harry Hindemith, Steffie Spira, Arthur Reppert, Jochen Köppel, Georg Irmer, Fred Delmare, Heinz Scholze, Willi Scholz (Snow White), Blanche Kommerell, Helga Raumer, Horst Kube, Friedel Nowack, Werner Dissel, Harald Engelmann, Ernst-Georg Schwill, Jochen Bley, Waltraud Lohrmann (Little Red Riding Hood), Mathilde Danegger, Karin Ugowski, Katharina Lind, Elfriede Florin (Frau Holle), Hans-Joachim Frank, Kurt Radeke, Rolf Ludwig, Katrin Martin, Wolfgang Greese, Hannjo Hasse, Fred Ludwig, Peter Köhncke (The Devil's Three Golden Hairs), Julie Jurištová, Katrin Martin, Pavel Trávníček, Bodo Wolf, Hans-Peter Minetti, Johannes Wieke, Annemone Haase, Hajo Mende (Snow-White and Rose-Red)

Release Date: July 14th, 2026
Approximate Running Times: 63 Minutes 2 Seconds (Snow White), 59 Minutes 37 Seconds (Frau Holle), 71 Minutes 43 Seconds (Little Red Riding Hood), 92 Minutes 14 Seconds (The Devil's Three Golden Hairs), 70 Minutes 35 Seconds (Snow-White and Rose-Red)
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (All Films Except The Devil's Three Golden Hairs), 1.78:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (The Devil's Three Golden Hairs)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono German (All Films)
Subtitles: English (All Films), English SDH (All Films)
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $69.95

Snow White: "This lovely live-action version of the classic Bros. Grimm tale is in many ways the prototypical DEFA fairy tale film, with Doris Weikow radiating storybook charm as Snow White." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Little Red Riding Hood: "Red Riding Hood (Blanche Kommerell) faces off against some of the mangiest and most terrifying forest creatures ever conceived, including The Big Bad Wolf (Werner Dissel) -- basically an American Werewolf in East Germany.  Sure to give your 6-year old self nightmares for life." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Frau Holle: "Lazy daughter Pechmarie (Katharina Lind) and hardworking stepdaughter Goldmarie (Karin Ugowski vie for the approval of magical Frau Holle, who lives in an insanely artificial Pee Wee’s Playhouse-meets-Lidsville underground world." - synopsis provided by the distributor

The Devil's Three Golden Hairs: "Crazy fantasy/comedy about a clumsy young man (Hans-Joachim Frank), who is forced to rob three hairs from the Devil (Dieter Franke). The Devil’s psychedelic lair with shrunken heads and gruesome Halloween décor must be seen to be believed." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Snow-White and Rose-Red: "Excellent fantasy / fairy tale about peasant girls Snow White (Julie Juristová) and Rose-Red (Katrin Martin) trying to outwit an enraged dwarf (Hans-Peter Minetti) guarding a jewel-filled mine. Would make a good double bill with Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfers, “The DEFA Foundation provided the best available source materials for this new Blu-ray release. Please note that some limitations from the source material may be noticeable."

Snow White and Frau Holle come on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 35.5 GB

Feature: 18.1 GB (Snow White), 17.2 GB (Frau Holle)

Little Red Riding Hood comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 20.7 GB

Feature: 20.6 GB

The Devil's Three Golden Hairs comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 23.1 GB

Feature: 23 GB

Snow-White and Rose-Red comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 36.4 GB

Feature: 20.3 GB

The sources for these five films are comparable; flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity and black levels are strong, there are no issues with compression, and while there appears to be some use of digital noise reduction, it is never intrusive. These discs were authored by Vital Passenger.

Audio: 4/5 (All Audio Tracks)

Each film comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in German with removable English subtitles and English SDH. All tracks sound clean, clear, and balanced, and ambient sounds are well represented.

Extras:

Extras for Snow White include an audio commentary with film historian Samm Deighan.

Extras for Frau Holle include an audio commentary with film historian Michael Brooke.

Extras for Little Red Riding Hood include an audio commentary with film historians Shelagh Rowan-Legg and Anne Golden.

There are no extras for The Devil's Three Golden Hairs.

Extras on the disc with Snow-White and Rose-Red include an interview with comics artist (Swamp Thing), film historian and author Stephen R. Bissette and Deaf Crocodile’s Dennis Bartok, an essay by film historian Evan Chester titled Socialist Fantasies, the Bros. Grimm and DEFA Studios: Fairytale Filmmaking in East Germany (18 minutes 3 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and an audio commentary with Samm Deighan.

Summary:

The films in DEFA Fairy Tales are based on stories written by the Brothers Grimm. Gottfried Kolditz, who directed Snow White and Frau Holle, is most known for Signals: A Space Adventure and In the Dust of the Stars. The other three directors, Götz Friedrich, Egon Schlegel, and Siegfried Hartmann, have limited filmographies, and their films are not well known outside of East German audiences.

Snow White: A young woman named Snow White is marked for death by her wicked stepmother, who’s envious of her beauty.

Snow White is one of the most iconic fictional characters and there have been numerous film adaptations of her story. Gottfried Kolditz’s film adaptation of Snow White follows closely the core elements of the original source story. There is a mirror that the wicked stepmother looks into, asking, "Who's the most beautiful?"; a huntsman who spares Snow White’s life instead of killing her; seven dwarves; and multiple attempts to kill Snow White, notably an apple that puts her into a deep slumber.

Although the narrative offers few surprises, it is always an engaging film that works as well as it does because of the performances, notably Doris Weikow’s enchanting portrayal of Snow White. Another performance of note is Marianne Christina Schilling’s diabolical portrayal of the evil queen, aka the wicked stepmother. At just over an hour in length, the narrative moves along quickly, as it is very effective at building momentum to a finale where the wicked stepmother faces consequences for her actions. The most surprising aspect of Gottfried Kolditz’s Snow White is the quality of the production design. Ultimately, Snow White is a well-crafted film that remains faithful to its original source.

Frau Holle: A widow has two daughters, her biological daughter Pechmarie, and a stepdaughter named Goldmarie. Where the former is not attractive and lazy, the latter is beautiful and hardworking. Despite the mother going out of her way to please Pechmarie, she is constantly jealous of any attention given to Goldmarie.

The thing that immediately grabs you while watching Frau Holle is its minimalism. Where Gottfried Kolditz’s previous fairy tale film adaptation, Snow White, had a solid production design, later DEFA fairy tale films like Frau Holle were more stripped down. Some of the sets and scenic landscapes in Frau Holle are literally cardboard cutouts. That said, despite its minimalism, the set design actually works well with the story that unfolds.

The narrative does an excellent job drawing you in and at just under one hour in length, there are never any lulls. While there is an artificiality to the story as a whole, things really excel when the narrative shifts into the realm of fantasy. Forced to retrieve a spindle she dropped into a well, Goldmarie jumps in, only to discover a wondrous fantasy world inhabited by a woman named Frau Holle. Goldmarie is rewarded by Frau Holle for her hard work and respectful manners. When Goldmarie returns home, Pechmarie becomes jealous and decides to jump into the well. Only her wickedness and laziness do her no favors, and she returns home covered in tar. Ultimately, Frau Holle is an entertaining fairy tale about good and bad behavior and the appropriate reward for each.

Little Red Riding Hood: A little girl named Red Riding Hood travels the treacherous forest with her bunny friend on her way to visit her sick grandmother. 

Red Riding Hood is another character and story that has been adapted into numerous films over the years. Although Götz Friedrich’s Little Red Riding Hood brings little that is new to the table, it never strays too far away from the source story’s core elements. Red Riding Hood is constantly looking for the positive in everyone, and it is her naivety that puts her in danger. Little Red Riding Hood is a story firmly rooted in deception; there is a wolf and a fox who want to eat Red Riding Hood, and they try to deceive her in various disguises.

While Little Red Riding Hood’s production design is not as stripped down as Frau Holle, its costumes, specifically the ones that are clearly people in obvious animal suits, reveal the film’s lack of resources. At 72 minutes in length, the narratives' peaks and valleys are well handled, and pacing is never an issue. Considering the subject matter, it's not surprising that a few scenes are grim, notably a scene where the mother cuts open the wolf to remove a still-alive grandmother from his stomach. That said, the film does remarkably well when it comes to its use of humor. Ultimately, Götz Friedrich’s Little Red Riding Hood is too much by the numbers, making its shortcomings more glaring.

The Devil's Three Golden Hairs: Jakob, a blacksmith's apprentice, crosses paths with the king and enrages him. The king gives him a letter calling for his execution. Before Jakob is able to deliver said letter, his former coworkers get ahold of it and rewrite it. When Jakob finally delivers the letter, it says that he’s supposed to marry the king’s daughter.

While The Devil's Three Golden Hairs is a film firmly rooted in fantasy, it also leans heavily into humor. The protagonist Jakob is a klutz and those around him are often the recipients of clumsiness, which often ends with bodily harm. Knowing Jakob’s limitations, the king tries to prevent him from marrying his daughter by insisting that he retrieve the devil’s three golden hairs.

By far, The Devil's Three Golden Hairs is DEFA’s most accomplished fairy tale film and one of its longest in duration, clocking in at 92 minutes. Its production design, which is for the most part solid, does an excellent job pulling you in to the world depicted. When Jakob ventures into hell, these moments are where the production design excels the most. While The Devil's Three Golden Hairs is a colorful film, the use of color for the scenes in hell is striking.

As mentioned before, humor plays a significant role in the story that unfolds. While there is an absurdist quality to the events, the performances at times are a little over the top, notably Rolf Ludwig’s delirious portrayal of the king. When it comes to pacing, there is never an issue, as the narrative does a superb job building to its finale. Ultimately, The Devil's Three Golden Hairs is a very satisfying blend of humor and fantasy that fans of fairy tales should thoroughly enjoy.

Snow-White and Rose-Red: Two sisters unknowingly fall in love with two princes who are transformed into animals by a mountain spirit.

Snow-White and Rose-Red have it all: princes, an enchanted forest, and an evil mountain spirit. What begins innocently as a story about two women finding their Prince Charmings turns dark when supernatural elements take over, turning the two princes into animals. The only thing that can break the spell is if the two sisters prove their love is pure.

The most entertaining aspect of this film is a wizard that numerous times encounters Snow White and Rose Red as they search for the two men they love. Each one of these encounters begins with the wizard’s lengthy beard caught in something. When it proves impossible to free his beard without cutting it, Snow White and Rose Red do the logical thing, which ultimately enrages him. While there is not a lot of humor, most of it comes from scenes where the wizard’s beard is cut.

Although the film’s 70-minute duration is not overly long or too short, it is not without its faults. The opening setup is slow moving and things don’t settle until the fantastical elements take center stage. That said, there are areas where the film does excel, like its visuals. Ultimately, despite its shortcomings, Snow-White and Rose-Red's positives outweigh its negatives.

DEFA Fairy Tales is a solid release from Deaf Crocodile. Highly recommended.

Note: There is a deluxe release of DEFA Fairy Tales that comes in a slipcase and a 80-page booklet with an essay written by film scholar Qinna Shen, an essay written by film scholar Rolf Giesen, an essay written by film scholar Walter Chaw, an essay written by film scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, an interview with screenwriter Stefan Kolditz, son of Snow White and Frau Holle director Gottfried Kolditz, and rare production photos.

Written by Michael Den Boer