On the advice of his chief counsel Julius, old Lord Gundolf offers the throne to whichever of his sons brings him the finest carpet. He blows three feathers into the air for the boys to follow. The eldest brothers Gerhard and Gebhard are sure they'll win the contest. One goes east and the other goes west. Both make fun of the youngest, Gustav, whom they call "Simpleton", because his feather flies into a forest.
The king locks the miller’s daughter, Lisa, in a room full of straw to turn into gold in just one night. If she doesn’t succeed she would be executed.
A man had a donkey that had carried the sacks to the mill for many years, but whose strength was now coming to an end, so that he became increasingly unfit for work.
The Farmer's Daughter is given a riddle to solve by the king: "Come to me, neither naked nor clothed, neither walking nor riding, nor driving, neither by day nor by night, neither with gift nor without gift." If she solves it, she had proved her cleverness, the king promises not only to release her father from prison, but also to marry her...
Little Red Riding-Hood lives together with her parents in a house on the edge of the forest. Her friends are a bunny, a squirrel and a bear. The little girl is always prepared to help, friendly, innocent and even unsuspecting, for she does not hold anyone capable of doing anything bad. Little Red Riding-Hood often visits her grandmother who lives in the depths of the forest. But her way there is a dangerous one: the wolf and its lackey, the fox, terrorize everyone with their evil deeds. One day, Little Red Riding-Hood is caught in their net.
Musical fairy tale tells the story of prince and princesses from neighbouring friendly countries who have to marry each other, as decided by their wise fathers with their advisors. However, the royal children want to decide their fate themselves. They meet in the royal garden, where princess pretends to be a maid and prince to be a herdsman. Prince under cover is imprisoned and helps princess with rebellion. She becomes sad all the time, because she does not want to marry anyone. Luckily, love finds way to their life . . .
Hans the farmer is drawn into war as a soldier. Returning from the front, having been defrauded of his pay by his own king, he makes his way home. On his trip, he encounters a witch who asks him to fetch the light from a spring. He keeps it when the witch tries to deceive him and he discovers her foul magic. When the light is ignited, a little man appears who must serve the owner of the light, but it only has power if the owner has faith in himself. His courage bolstered, Hans goes to the king once more to demand his wages be paid.
Jakob, a soldier mistreated by the king finds in a well a mysterious blue light which turns out to be a stroke of genius. He merely wants to teach the king a lesson by asking him to temporarily stealing whatever the king values most. He doesn't expect to be brought the king's daughter...
The king turns 70 in a few days, when he is supposed to give up his crown. His sister has waited for this day all her life: Finally, she will step out of her brother's shadow and assume power in the realm. Or will the king's son assume the throne instead? Only if he has a princess at his side.
Robert, who ran away from home as a boy, returns to reveal he's become a master thief. His parents want to send him away again, afraid he'll wind up on the gallows.
Many years ago, there lived an Emperor, Friedhelm, who wanted so much new clothes that he spent all his money to be properly cleaned. One day, three scammers with a ruse, came along who pretended to be weavers, Jacob, Maja and Greta. "The clothes are so special, that they are invisible to any who are hopelessly dumb or unworthy of office."
Jorinde and Joringel are lovers and would like to get married. But on a walk in the forest, they find themselves near a castle belonging to an wicked witch. She is jealous of their love and wants to destroy it. She decides to set Joringel free after taking away Jorinde, content with that the lovers will never see each other again.
Cinderella, a resourceful and independent young girl, is a servant in her stepmother's house and confides in her closest friend the owl. When she comes across three magical acorns, she's granted a single wish for each one of them.
Vašíček a lesní muži
The entire village and its surroundings are plagued by the greed of the local miller and the castle scribe. The scribe takes a liking to the beautiful Fanka, who works at the mill. But first, he must get rid of Fanka's beloved Kuba. So he decides to send him off to war. And because they want to fill their coffers with gold coins together with the miller, they confiscate Kuba's mother's cottage and fields and drive her out of the village. She curses the miller and the clerk. When Kuba finds out that he has lost everything, he no longer wants to live…
Popelka, a resourceful and independent young girl, is a servant in her stepmother's house and confides in her closest friend the owl. When she comes across three magical acorns, she's granted a single wish for each one of them.
A tale covering the birth of faries.
Bezvousák a princezna Kamila
A young girl becomes lost in a department store during the Christmas shopping rush. The frightened child is comforted by a department store Santa Claus who tells her a tale of storybook characters brought to life - of Tommy Tucker's love for the lovely Jane Piper and the cold-hearted villainy of evil Silas Barnaby. Through the girl's dreams, the viewer is transported to Toyland. Based on the classic Broadway operetta by Victor Herbert and Glen MacDonough, this was its second live television special production, with some new cast members and some returning.
Based on the classic Broadway operetta by Victor Herbert and Glen MacDonough, this live television special became an annual Christmas tradition with rotating cast members.