Aesop's Fables

Red Riding Hood Redux

June 2017 •Croatian

Midday sun is frying the post-industrial landscape. Little Red Riding Hood is on her way to her grandmother’s cottage. She diverts the road and enters an abandoned factory building. In an empty concrete labyrinth, she discovers a black wall covered with a freshly painted graffiti - a large white flower. She exits the factory, proceeds on her way entering the dark forest. A Wolf halts her...

Animal Farm

December 1954 •English

Animals on a farm lead a revolution against the farmers to put their destiny in their own hands. However this revolution eats their own children and they cannot avoid corruption.

Stepan's Remembrance

February 1977 •Russian

The heiress of a gem mage travels to St. Petersburg to fulfill her father's dream and her destiny.

Rabbit Ears - The Fool and the Flying Ship

June 1991 •English

Long ago in Russia, a proclamation went out through all the land that whosoever could build a flying ship would win the hand of the Tsar's daughter. But when a country bumpkin and his oddball crew of extraordinary friends show up to claim her, the dumbfounded Tsar quickly has second thoughts.

The Little Fox

December 1981 •Hungarian

A tale about a little fox Vuk from the novel of the famous Hungarian writer István Fekete.

The North Wind and the Sun: A Fable by Aesop

January 1972 •English

An engaging illustration, by animation artist Rhoda Leyer, of the fable in which the warm sun proves to the cold wind that persuasion is better than force when it comes to making a man take off his coat.

On Angel Wings

December 2014 •English

One cold Christmas night, an old shepherd recounts the magical story of how he came to be the first visitor to the new born Christ child - ahead of the other shepherds, and in complete secret. Based on the book by Michael Morpurgo.

The King and the Goblin

January 1980 •Czech

Wealthy but alone, a king spends his days obsessively polishing shiny objects throughout his opulent castle. After a visit from a puckish forest wizard, the king earns a blessing – or curse – that turns anything he touches to gold.

The Little Prince

November 1974 •English

After a pilot is forced to make an emergency landing in the Sahara Desert, he befriends a young prince from outer space; the friendship conjures up stories of journeys through the solar system for the stranded aviator.

The Tortoise and the Hare

January 1935 •English

The Tortoise and the Hare is an animated short film released on January 5, 1935 by United Artists, produced by Walt Disney and directed by Wilfred Jackson. Based on an Aesop's fable of the same name, The Tortoise and the Hare won the 1934 Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons. This cartoon is also believed to be one of the influences for Bugs Bunny.

L'Aigle et le roitelet

January 2025 •French

Sparrows

November 2024 •

In a Buddhist temple, young monks begin their meditation when the master arrives. One of the children is distracted by a sparrow and follows the bird outside the monastery. Here begins a walk off the beaten paths that goes to the tour of his lifetime. When he has become an old monk, he returns back to the temple where young monks are waiting for him. One of them is distracted by a sparrow…

The Sycamore

July 2025 •English

Two weary travellers seek out shade and sustenance from an idle tree. Based on the fable, "The Travellers and the Plane Tree" by Aesop.

My Little Goat

March 2018 •Japanese

A mother goat rescues her kids from the belly of a wolf, but where is her eldest son Toruku?

The Hare and the Tortoise

January 1924 •Japanese

A retelling of the classic Aesop Fable, The Tortoise and the Hare.

Thumbelina

March 1978 •Japanese

A tiny girl, only as long as a man's thumb, is born to a childless woman, abducted by frogs who want her to marry their son, but escaping instead (with the help of a bumblebee) to find a real prince without having to kiss the frog first.

The Old Crocodile

June 2005 •Japanese

A very old crocodile is shunned by his family after eating one of them.

The Grasshopper and the Ants

February 1934 •English

As in the classic fable, the grasshopper plays his fiddle and lives for the moment, while the industrious ants squirrel away massive amounts of food for the winter. With his song, he's able to convince at least one small ant until the queen arrives and scares him back to work. The queen warns the grasshopper of the trouble he'll be in, come winter. Winter comes, and the grasshopper, near starvation, stumbles across the ants, who are having a full-on feast in their snug little tree. They take him in and warm him up. The queen tells him only those who work can eat so he must play for them. Written by Jon Reeves

The Daydreamer

June 1966 •English

A young Hans Christian Andersen goes in search of knowledge in the Garden of Paradise in order to make his studies easier. Each time he falls asleep, he experiences in his dreams the different characters he would later write about in fairy tales including The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, and The Emperor's New Clothes.

The Kindhearted Girl

February 1963 •English

Mr. Piper short released in 1963 where a kindhearted girl is sent by her step-mother to an evil witch to be eaten. The girl's kindness allows her to escape.