Snow White and Rose Red is a fairy tale from the collection of the Brothers Grimm. It tells a story about two sisters, living in the wood, who met a nice bear and a grumpy dwarf. The bear became their friend, but the dwarf hates them despite the fact they saved his life several times. In the end, it's revealed that the bear is actually a handsome prince enchanted by the dwarf who wanted to steal his treasures.

credit: Thekla Brauer

This fairy tale is pretty out of fashion now and here are a few reasons why:

- Sisters act like one, there is no competition like in Cinderella, or at least dynamics like in Hansel and Grethel. From the point of the plot, one character would be much better than two. Not only because of the economy of storytelling but for the opportunity to develop the character a bit. In the end, it's evident when one gets a husband and for the other, his brother (never mentioned before) has to be 'invented'.

- It's essentially a story about transformation as we may expect from the fairy tale. But the title characters don't change a bit. They are nice from the beginning to the very end. They don't learn a thing and their lives go smoothly to the final goal: marriage, without any obstacle. While the transformation of the prince who became a bear to be a prince again can be compared to the Frog King or Beauty and the Beast, there is no tension between the girls and the bear/prince, like in both more known fairy tales about the so-called animal groom. Having two characters instead of one adds to the weakness of this virtually non-existent relationship.

- The point of view is wrong. Most of the time we are dealing with the girls who lead almost idyllic (and pretty boring) life, both interesting characters (the bear and the dwarf) are just in supporting roles. The conflict between them should be at least better presented, if not the central focus of the story. This makes the story too nice, too smooth, and unfortunately very forgettable.