Children's fairy tale "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids": the history of appearance, the plot, the film adaptation

Everyone has their own childhood in their own way, but there is one thing in common that every child has for sure - these are fairy tales. With their help, parents tried not only to entertain and reassure children, but also to teach them in veiled form important life lessons. Every nation has its own favorite fairy tales. Russians have one of the favorite - the fairy tale "The Wolf and the Seven Goats". And although it is many years old, this story does not cease to remain relevant today.

Origin and author of the fairy tale "The Wolf and the Seven Goats"

Very often this incredibly popular tale is considered folk. However, this is an erroneous opinion, since the children's fairy tale "The Wolf and the Seven Goats" belongs to the pen of the German collectors of folk folklore of the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. For the first time this tale was published in the collection of fairy tales of brothers for 1812-1815 under the heading Der Wolf und die sieben jungen Geißlein.

It is likely that the plot of this work did not belong to the Grimm, but was only written by them and reworked, but in any case they are recognized by the authors of this tale.

It is also worth mentioning that the plot was popular not only in Germany, but also among other nations. This is evidenced by the fact that the plot of this tale was included in the "Index of Fairy Tales" by Antti Aarne, in which the most popular fairy-tale stories known to the world were recorded.

Appearance in Russia

It is difficult to say whether such a plot existed in the folklore of the Slavs. This is not preserved reliable written evidence. However, in the nineteenth century, with the translation of the Grimm brothers' books into Russian, the fairy tale "The Wolf and the Seven Goats" appeared in Russia. Unlike other tales of these authors, this quickly gained popularity, and it began to retell from mouth to mouth, often adapting certain details to the realities of Russian life. Soon the author of the fairy tale Wolf and the Seven Goats was forgotten and she acquired the status of a folk song not only in Russia, but also in Ukraine (Vovk i seven kozenyat).

The plot of the fairy tale

In a small forest house lives Mama-goat, which grows up seven charming kids. One day Mom had to go to the bazaar for shopping and leave the children alone. However, she became aware that a hungry and wicked Wolf wandering around her house hungry to eat her children. Therefore, before leaving, Mama-goat forbade her children to unlock anyone else's door, except for her.

Soon after her departure, the Wolf knocked on the door and persuaded the kids to open the door for him, assuring them that he was a Mom-goat. However, his voice was rude, and the kids did not believe him and did not open the door. Then the Wolf came up with how to make his voice soft, like Mama's kids, and again tried to deceive them. This time he was led by gray shaggy paws, which the children were asked to show as evidence that he was their Mama. Then the Wolf rolled them in flour and the third time the kids opened the door for him.

Seeing that behind the door is not a kind Mom, but a feared hungry Wolf, the kids rushed to hide, but the Wolf found six of them, ate and left.
When Mama-goat returned home, she discovered only one miracle surviving kid and learned from him about all that had happened. Then she armed herself with scissors, thread and needle and went to look for the Wolf. It turned out that the villain, having satiated, went to bed quite near the house. He was so soundly asleep that he did not even feel how Koza cut his stomach and let his children out of there. Instead, she put a cobblestone in his belly, sewed it up again and went home with her children.

Soon the Wolf woke up and felt a terrible thirst, he went to the stream and bent down to drink, but the stones pulled him to the bottom, and he drowned. And Goat with his kids began to live happily on.

Educational elements in the fairy tale

Like most of the old stories, the fairy tale "The Wolf and the Seven Goats" was designed to teach children basic principles of behavior in society. In particular, the fact that one can not open a door to strangers in the absence of parents, otherwise the consequences can be the most terrible. In addition, the fairy tale clearly illustrates that strangers trying to enter the house with the kids can be very clever and inventive, so that children should be very attentive and learn to recognize the deception of other people and be able to resist it.

Also this fairy tale teaches children that parents will always come to their aid, even in the most difficult situation, as it happened with kids. After all, the Goat from the fairy tale "The Wolf and the Seven Goats" showed a wonderful surgeon's ability to save her children. And most importantly, what this fairy tale brings up in children is a belief in the victory of good over evil even in the most difficult situation.

Shield

The tale "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids" is so popular that it was filmed many times.

The first attempt was the eponymous cartoon film studio "Soyuzmultfilm" in 1957. The classic plot of the tale was slightly modified. The cartoon was very popular both among children and adults, and with the advent of new technologies in 2008 it was digitized and restored. So today everyone who wants has the opportunity to watch it on the Internet or buy a CD.

Eighteen years later, Leonid Aristov took a puppet cartoon based on the same tale. And, although the plot of the tale again did not undergo any special changes, the new screen version had its own chip - all the characters of the new cartoon were talking to each other with the help of songs by Yuri Entin. This film adaptation, despite the interesting interpretation of the classical fairy tale and wonderful music, could not reach the level of its predecessor. Although, perhaps, this contributed to the third screen version of the tale, which appeared literally next year. This time it was a full-fledged musical film "Mama". The script of the fairy tale "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids" was carefully revised and supplemented with new bright and memorable characters. The role of the goat was successfully performed by Lyudmila Gurchenko, and in the role of the main villain Mikhail Boyarsky appeared. Also in the movie there were many other famous Soviet theater and film actors. It is noteworthy that there are three versions of this film: Russian-speaking, Romanian-speaking and English-speaking. For each of them separate songs were written, and each was shot separately. The film was a tremendous success, and many of the film's songs remain popular today.

Opera based on a fairy tale

In addition to the adaptations, based on this fairy tale, a whole opera was written. Its author, M. Koval, divided the entire fairy tale into three acts with a prologue, and also a libretto. Most of the musical themes were taken from folk songs. In addition, the author introduced into the plot the tales of new characters - Rooster and Baba Yaga. For the first time this opera was shown in the summer of 1941 in Tashkent and was warmly received by spectators.

The popular and beloved fairy tale "The Wolf and the Seven Goats" last year celebrated its bicentennial from the moment it was published by the Brothers Grimm, and, despite such a respectable age, it still remains relevant and interesting for children. I want to believe that she will be equally loved by all readers in another hundred years, besides, she will continue to inspire geniuses to create new original adaptations and songs.