Google goes Grimm: new interactive doodle tells story of Little Red Riding Hood

20 Dec 2012

To mark the 200th anniversary of the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales Google has brought to the world a new interactive Doodle that tells the story of Little Red Riding Hood in a series of beautiful slides.

The doodle marks the 200th anniversary of the brothers’ Die Kinder und Hausmärchen (Children’s and Household Tales) which was a collection of 86 stories that were the result of extensive research and the gathering of folk tales from across Germany.

The book was to have massive cultural implications across Germany and the classical fairy tales including Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, The Frog Prince, Snow White and Rapunzel have enchanted children across the world for the past 200 years.

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were German academics, linguists and cultural researchers and authors who collected folklore. They spent their formative years in Hanau and Steinau and attended the University of Marburg.

Between them they established a methodology for collecting and recording folk stories, amassing a timeless collection of stories that have enchanted children and their parents alike.

The interactive Google doodle tells the story of Little Red Riding Hood, a tale that existed in Germany in multiple versions in different regions until the Brothers Grimm immortalised it as a classic fairytale for children across the world.

The search engine’s doodle consists of 21 slides of beautiful artwork that tells the story as Little Red Riding Hood ventures into the dark forest to visit her sick grandmother only to be confronted by a wicked wolf … well you know the rest.

Perhaps this should also inspire you to read the story to your little ones in the last few sleeps before the arrival of Santa Claus next week.

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John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com