10 Brothers Grimm Tales Which Disney Should Adapt

10. The Glass Coffin

Plot: A tailor comes across a countess imprisoned in a glass coffin and frees her. When she gets rescued, she explains how a wicked magician imprisoned her and her kingdom.

In essence, The Glass Coffin is a variation on Sleeping Beauty. A lucky protagonist comes across a woman trapped in an enchanted sleep and manages to save her from it. However, The Glass Coffin has an identity and atmosphere of its own. The kingdom shrunken down and placed in a glass bottle is the sort of vivid, intricate visual which could lend itself really well to animation, and the villainous magician could allow Disney to provide some of the old-fashioned creepiness missing from most of their recent animated hits.

For a damsel in distress, the countess is a surprisingly dynamic character. The sorcerer tries to force her to marry him, but she refuses to do so and in fact tries to fight back as best she can, despite her total lack of magical powers. The countess and her battle to stand up to a predatory villain gives the tale a feminist dynamic that could really be exploited - making the countess the main character instead of the tailor would certainly provide the story with enough drama for a feature-length runtime.

The story of Sleeping Beauty is often criticised by those who find its messages about consent inappropriate today, so The Glass Coffin would make an excellent replacement, and a good Disney adaptation would really highlight this.