"Cinderella" or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.The protagonist is a young girl living in forsaken circumstances who is suddenly blessed by remarkable fortune, with her ascension to the throne via marriage. The story of Rhodopis, recounted by the Greek geographer Strabo sometime between 7 BC and AD 23, about a Greek slave girl who marries the king of Egypt, is usually considered to be the earliest known variant of the Cinderella story.

The first literary European version of the story was published in Italy by Giambattista Basile in his Pentamerone in 1634; the version that is now most widely known in the English-speaking world was published in French by Charles Perrault in Histoires ou contes du temps passé in 1697 as Cendrillon and was anglicized as Cinderella. Another version was later published as Aschenputtel by the Brothers Grimm in their folk tale collection Grimms' Fairy Tales in 1812.

Although the story's title and main character's name change in different languages, in English-language folklore Cinderella is an archetypal name. The word Cinderella has, by analogy, come to mean someone whose attributes are unrecognized, or someone who unexpectedly achieves recognition or success after a period of obscurity and neglect. In the world of sports, "a Cinderella" is used for an underrated team or club winning over stronger and more favored competitors. The still-popular story of Cinderella continues to influence popular culture internationally, lending plot elements, allusions, and tropes to a wide variety of media.

"Sleeping Beauty" (French: La Belle au bois dormant, or The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood; German: Dornröschen, or Little Briar Rose), also titled in English as The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods, is a fairy tale about a princess cursed by an evil fairy to sleep for a hundred years before being awakened by a handsome prince. A good fairy, knowing the princess would be frightened if alone when she wakes, uses her wand to put every living person and animal in the palace and forest asleep, to awaken when the princess does.

The earliest known version of the tale is found in the French narrative Perceforest, written between 1330 and 1344.Another was the Catalan poem Frayre de Joy e Sor de Paser. Giambattista Basile wrote another, "Sun, Moon, and Talia" for his collection Pentamerone, published posthumously in 1634–36[9] and adapted by Charles Perrault in Histoires ou contes du temps passé in 1697. The version collected and printed by the Brothers Grimm was one orally transmitted from the Perrault version,while including own attributes like the thorny rose hedge and the curse.

The Aarne-Thompson classification system for fairy tales lists Sleeping Beauty as a Type 410: it includes a princess who is magically forced into sleep and later woken, reversing the magic. The fairy tale has been adapted countless times throughout history and retold by modern storytellers across various media.

"Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection Grimms' Fairy Tales, numbered as Tale 53. The original German title was Sneewittchen; the modern spelling is Schneewittchen. The Grimms completed their final revision of the story in 1854, which can be found in the 1857 version of Grimms' Fairy Tales.[1][2]

The fairy tale features elements such as the magic mirror, the poisoned apple, the glass coffin, and the characters of the Evil Queen and the seven Dwarfs. The seven dwarfs were first given individual names in the 1912 Broadway play Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and then given different names in Walt Disney's 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The Grimm story, which is commonly referred to as "Snow White",[3] should not be confused with the story of "Snow-White and Rose-Red" (in German "Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot"), another fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm.

In the Aarne–Thompson folklore classification, tales of this kind are grouped together as type 709, Snow White. Others of this kind include "Bella Venezia", "Myrsina", "Nourie Hadig", "Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree",[4] "The Young Slave", and "La petite Toute-Belle".

"The Frog Prince; or, Iron Henry" (German: Der Froschkönig oder der eiserne Heinrich, literally "The Frog King or the Iron Henry") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in Grimm's Fairy Tales . Traditionally, it is the first story in their folktale collection. The tale is classified as Aarne-Thompson type 440.

"The Frog Prince" can be compared to the similar European fairy tale "The Frog Princess".

Rapunzel is a fictional character in Disney's animated film Tangled (2010). Based on the title character from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale of the same name, Rapunzel is a young princess kept unaware of her royal lineage by Mother Gothel, a vain woman who kidnaps her as a baby to hoard her hair's healing powers and remain young forever. Raised in a secluded tower, Rapunzel escapes with a wanted thief who promises to help her see the elusive floating lights in time for her 18th birthday, in exchange for a crown she has hidden from him. She is voiced by actress and singer Mandy Moore.

Created and animated by supervising animator Glen Keane, the character was adapted into a less passive heroine for the film by removing her from the confines of the tower. The character was originally to have been voiced by actresses Kristen Chenoweth and Reese Witherspoon, who eventually left the project and were replaced by Moore. Keane based her personality and interests on those of his own daughter, specifically painting. Special software was used to animate Rapunzel's 75-feet of long hair.

Critical reception of Rapunzel has been generally positive, with critics complimenting her spirited, lively personality and independence. The tenth Disney Princess, Rapunzel was officially inducted into the line-up on October 2, 2011, becoming the franchise's first computer-animated member and the first European princess in 20 years, the last being Belle from Beauty and the Beast (1991). Her appearance and personality have drawn much comparison between her and one of the preceding Disney Princesses, Ariel from The Little Mermaid (1989), by whom she was inspired.

It is said that once upon a time, there was a very intelligent boy named Ma Liang. He loved to learn to draw since he was a child. Both of his parents died early. He chopped firewood, cut grass, and earned a living, but he was so poor that he didn't have money to buy a pen.

One day, passing by the school gate, Ma Liang saw his teacher drawing, his strokes were very pleasing to the eye, so he went over to him:

- I really want to learn to draw, can you lend me a pen?

The teacher glared at him and scolded him:

- A poor boy wants to learn to draw! Are you crazy?

Then he kicked him out of school.

Ma Liang was upset, he thought to himself:

- Why can't a poor kid learn to draw?

From then on, he devoted himself to learning to draw, practicing diligently every day. When he was gathering firewood in the mountains, he used a stick to draw on the ground, drawing birds flying overhead. When he was cutting grass by the river, he dipped his hand in the water and drew shrimp and fish on the rocks. When I got home, I drew the furniture on the walls, the four walls were covered with drawings.

As the years passed, Ma Liang continued to study drawing, not wasting a single day, and he made rapid progress. He drew birds and fish exactly like that, people thought they were about to hear birds singing, see fish swimming. However, I still did not have a drawing pen. I only wished I had one.

One night I slept very soundly. In my sleep, I suddenly saw an old man with white hair and beard appear before me, hand me a pen and said:

– This is a magic pen, it will help you a lot.

Ma Liang looked at the shiny gold pen, he happily shouted:

– What a beautiful pen! I thank you! Thank you!…

Before I could finish speaking, the old man disappeared. Ma Liang suddenly woke up and realized he was dreaming. But no, the magic pen was still in my hand, I was very surprised.

Ma Liang took out his pen and drew a bird. The bird flew up to the sky and chirped. He drew a fish. The fish wagged its tail and slid down the river, swimming before his eyes. Ma Liang was extremely happy.

With the magic pen, Ma Liang drew for all the poor people in the village. For every house that didn't have a plow, he drew for a plow. For every house that didn't have a hoe, he drew for a hoe. For every house that didn't have a lamp, he drew for a lamp. For every house that didn't have a bucket, he drew for a bucket...

Everyone knew about it. Then the story of the magic pen reached the ears of a rich landlord in the village. He immediately sent two servants to take Ma Liang home to draw according to his wishes. Although Ma Liang was still young, he had a generous nature. He knew the greed of the rich people, so he didn't draw anything, despite their endless enticements and threats. The landlord was angry, locked him in the horse stable, and didn't give him anything to eat or drink.

Three days later, in the middle of the night, it snowed heavily. Looking out into the yard, the landlord saw the snow covering the yard. He thought to himself, “Ma Liang will either starve to death or freeze to death. Let me go and see!”

Approaching the stable, he saw red rays of light coming through the crack in the door, and a fragrant smell wafted out. He peeked through the crack in the door and saw Ma Liang sitting next to a blazing fire, eating baked cakes. The landlord was surprised: Where did the fire come from? Where did the cakes come from? He immediately thought that all of those things were thanks to the magic pen. Furious, he ordered his servants to kill Ma Liang and take away the magic pen.

More than a dozen servants rushed into the stable, but Ma Liang was no longer there. He had climbed over the wall using a ladder drawn on the wall. The ladder was still there. The landlord climbed up the ladder, but before he could climb three steps, he fell to the ground. The ladder disappeared.

Escaping from the landlord's house, Ma Liang drew a horse, then rode it and galloped.

Before they had gone far, Ma Liang suddenly heard a commotion behind him. In the bright torchlight, Ma Liang saw the landlord riding on a fine horse, brandishing a shining knife, leading about twenty servants chasing after him.

When they were close, Ma Liang quietly drew a magic pen and drew a bow and arrow. He drew the bow. “Whoosh”, the arrow hit the landlord’s throat, and he fell to the ground. Ma Liang whipped the horse, and the horse galloped like the wind.

The horse galloped for several days and nights without stopping. Finally, Ma Liang stopped at a small town. With no work, Ma Liang had to draw pictures to sell on the street. Afraid of being discovered, he painted unfinished pictures: birds missing a beak or a leg, etc.

One day, Ma Liang painted a white stork without eyes. Because of a little carelessness, he dropped a drop of ink on the painting. The drop of ink fell right on the stork’s eye. Then the stork opened its eyes, spread its wings and flew away. The story shocked the whole town. Some slanderers came to report it to the king. The king sent his courtiers to take Ma Liang back to the capital. Ma Liang did not want to go, but they tried all kinds of ways to entice and threaten him to take him back to the palace. Ma Liang had heard many cruel things about the king towards the poor, so he hated the king very much and did not want to draw. The king ordered him to draw a dragon, so he drew a toad. The king ordered him to draw a phoenix, so he drew a featherless chicken. Those two animals were both ugly and dirty, jumping around the king, urinating and defecating all over the floor. A foul stench filled the entire palace. The king was angry, sent soldiers to take the magic brush from Ma Liang's hand and locked him in prison.