Zenescope’s Grimm Fairy Tales: The Animated Series

If I were to tell you that a powerful and massively famous independent comic book series was partnering with one of the directors from Metalocalypse and The Venture Bros. to make a similarly styled animated series, you probably would be pretty stoked for it. If I then told you that the series would pull no punches when it came to  adult content—read: violence, nudity, and sex—and push the boundaries of even a TV-M rating, my guess is this would only serve to bolster your enthusiasm. And finally, I would tell you that the series would star Lena Headey, of Game of Thrones and 300 fame, as the main character’s voice, well I hardly believe you would be able to resist the urge to kiss me or call me a liar.

Zenescope Entertainment, an independent comic book company that started in 2005 out of Philadelphia, successfully funded a Kickstarter crowdfunder to pilot the creation of an animated series based on their popular, long-running Grimm Fairy Tales series. The project reached its goal in May of 2012. The pilot episode is currently being screened at certain venues around the country. One such venue was Amazing Arizona Comicon in January 2014. I was able to take in the screening there.

Like you, I was excited about the idea of Grimm Fairy Tales: The Animated Series for all of the reasons listed above. And I was sorely disappointed.

In short, the pilot episode was just not very good. The comic did not translate well over to an animated format. As advertised, the animated series was just as crude as the comic. The breasts are comically humungous, the sexual exploitation of “innocent” teenagers is a constant undertone throughout, and the violence is right up there with an episode of Metalocalypse. However, unlike with the saga of Dethklok which has a mysterious mythos underneath the violence and sex, the plot of Grimm Fairy Tales is hollow. The story feels more like a necessary evil in order to show the graphic violence and make sexual innuendo.

It could be that I’m wrong and that there is an audience out there for such a show. But I believe that the world has moved beyond flimsy storytelling for the sake of animated nipples poking through impossibly low-cut tops. Sex and violence is more than fine in an Adult Swim show (obviously!), but there has to be more substance with it. It is my hope that Zenescope and director Jon Schnepp make a few adjustments to the pilot and build a better show. After all, the dessert tastes best after a hearty, substantial main course.