Hello fellow PBSers,

I’m actually cross-posting this, in the hopes that I can get more exposure for it. If you’ve visited the fantasy forum, you might have seen this. I’ve actually edited my original post to add more detail.

Anyway, explaining the story I’m searching for is a bit complicated. I’m not sure if it’s a fantasy story, a fairy tale, etc. It may even have been a story

that I just saw on TV and the writers never pulled from any fairy tale/fantasy story at all. And I’m posting here in the romance forum because it had a romantic element to the plot. Not a big part of the story, but it was there.

Anyway… Many years ago I used to watch Nickelodeon. I think every day at a certain time they had this particular cartoon. I want to say the theme  was fairy tales. I even want to say the title of this cartoon thing indicated they were fairy tales. I have no idea. This is all I

know. 20 years ago I only could rely on the TV schedule featured on the TV. Finding out anything was impossible! Lol. 

This is what I remember of this particular episode. There was a young boy playing with his ball. I do believe he was a prince. He was told not to

play near this particular place because a monster was imprisoned there. But of course the prince did, and his ball bounced into the monster’s area. The

monster would give it back but on the condition the prince let him free. The prince, wanting his ball, decided to open the prison. 

At this time the monster attempted to escape. The prince was upset and said that he couldn’t leave because he would be in big trouble. So the monster, for

uncertain reasons, took the prince with him. 

The details in the middle are fuzzy for me. I know the monster deposited him in an unknown town. The monster said if he ever needed anything, come to this particular lake…or

something. The prince wound up having to get a job as a gardener’s assistant. Where, while tending the gardens and such things like that, he met the princess

of the king who ruled the area. Naturally, he didn’t think he had a chance. He a gardener’s assistant, she a princess… Etc, etc. 

Details fuzzy here. I remember that invaders were coming, and the king had no real protection. The prince, who had once been selfish and spoiled, had learned humility. He wanted to do something, so he went to the lake the monster

told him to come and begged for some help. Out of the lake shot knight after knight on horseback. And the prince himself was somehow dressed in armor and

went off to lead the newly-risen soldiers. And naturally, he and the soldiers defeated the invaders. And yes, because of all of this, the prince, now referring to himself as nothing more than a gardener’s assistant, was able to be with the princess.

That is more or less the cartoon I saw. If anyone knows of the story I’m talking about, I would love to hear it. Like I mentioned, I don’t know if this was adapted from some fairy tale. But as a child I loved Grimm’s Brothers and other fairy tales. I poured over fairy tale book after fairy tale book and never found this story. I’m starting to lean more towards this being a made-up story by Nickelodeon, but I really don’t know. All I know is that I’ve been thinking of this story for 20 years and the fact that I’ve never known even the title of the story has bugged me! I would like to know once and for all!

I’ll say thanks in advance!

Natalie B.

Natalie,

This link has all 36 stories the series had....http://www.freewebs.com/stuffilike/grimmsfairytaleclassics.htm

Hope it works. This one has some of their stories http://www.familymanagement.com/literacy/grimms/grimms-toc.html

Can't figure out which one it is ... The Valiant Little Tailor may come close? Perhaps they took a few liberties.Netflix does have this one. :)

I know I've read that story in one of my fairy tale books as a kid (probably Grimm's) I can't recall the name off hand but I'll go through the ones I still own this week and see if it's in there. Let us know if you find it! I'm curious now.