Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child

Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
Original run	March 12, 1995 - July 18, 2000
Length	23-28 minutes
Created by	Donna Guillaume
Seasons	3
Episodes	39
Produced by	Hyperion Animation Two Oceans Entertainment Group Confetti Entertainment Company
Reruns	March 5, 1998 (ekd) - present

Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child is an animated anthology series that originally aired on HBO on March 12, 1995. After 2 seasons, the show starting airing new episodes exclusively on HBO Family, starting with its third and last season. The show ended on July 18, 2000. Even though the show ended, the show ran on HBO Kids from 2016 until the block's demise in 2024. originally airing on Jam and also for a time, Magnet. The show also had home video releases on VHS and DVD.

Synopsis

In each episode, Robert Guillaume (who voiced Rafiki on Disney's The Lion King) narrates a classic fairy tale told via different cultural backgrounds, where the characters are voiced by many other celebrities such as Will Smith, Sinbad, Rosie Perez, BD Wong, Tone Loc, and more. The fairy tales are retold from a "fresh point of view", with the aforementioned ethnicity changes, newly written songs in a variety of genres, and changes to the stories to give a modern feeling and also to be kid-friendly.

Episodes

Season 1 (1995)

1. Jack and the Beanstalk (March 12, 1995) (African)
2. Little Red Riding Hood (March 19, 1995) (Chinese)
3. Hansel and Gretel (March 26, 1995) (Latino)
4. The Emperor's New Clothes (April 2, 1995) (Japanese)
5. Rumpelstiltskin (April 9, 1995) (Jamaican)
6. The Frog Prince (April 16, 1995) (African)
7. Sleeping Beauty (April 23, 1995) (Latino)
8. Rapunzel (April 30, 1995) (Creole)
9. The Valiant Little Tailor (May 7, 1995) (African)
10. Cinderella (May 14, 1995) (Latino)
11. Beauty and the Beast (May 21, 1995) (African)
12. Snow White (May 28, 1995) (Native American)
13. The Princess and the Pea (June 4, 1995) (Korean)

Season 2 (1997)

1. Pinocchio (April 13, 1997) (African)
2. Thumbelina (April 20, 1997) (Brazilian)
3. Puss in Boots (April 27, 1997) (Hawaiian)
4. The Pied Piper (May 4, 1997) (African American)
5. The Twelve Dancing Princesses (May 11, 1997) (Latino)
6. The Golden Goose (May 18, 1997) (African American)
7. The Little Mermaid (May 25, 1997) (Japanese)
8. Goldilocks (June 1, 1997) (Jamaican)
9. The Fisherman and His Wife (June 8, 1997) (Latino)
10. Aladdin (June 15, 1997) (Chinese)
11. The Shoemaker and the Elves (June 22, 1997) (Aztecan)
12. King Midas and the Golden Touch (June 29, 1997) (African)
13. Mother Goose: A Rappin' and Rhymin' Special (October 12, 1997)

Season 3 (1999-2000)

1. The Three Little Pigs (June 22, 1999) (Country)
2. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (July 14, 1999) (Arabian)
3. The Bremen Town Musicians (August 12, 1999)
4. The Empress' Nightingale (September 16, 1999) (Chinese)
5. The Happy Prince (October 6, 1999) (American)
6. Henny Penny (November 2, 1999) (American)
7. The Frog Princess (January 3, 2000) (European)
8. The Princess and the Pauper (February 21, 2000) (African)
9. Rip Van Winkle (March 21, 2000) (American)
10. The Snow Queen (April 18, 2000) (Inuit)
11. The Steadfast Tin Soldier (May 16, 2000) (American)
12. Robinita Hood (June 19, 2000) (Latino)
13. Aesop's Fables: A Whodunnit Musical (July 18, 2000)

Songs

Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child Songs

Trivia

• This and HBO Storybook Musicals are the only two programs that originally aired on the main HBO network and are original programming.
• The third season of the show first aired new episodes exclusively on HBO Family, starting in June 22, 1999.
• In the final season, the cultural background setting was dropped and focused more on feminism.
• Originally, the finale was supposed to be "The Sissy Duckling", but it was used as a stand-alone special.
• The show gets a 2-year hiatus after a season of the show is finished. Also, the finale of each season (aside from the first one) is a musical crossover of various fairy tale characters from other stories with a newly written story.
• The first two seasons use traditional cel animation, while the final one instead uses digital ink and paint.
• Sometimes, HBO's schedule lists the show's name as The Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child.
• The show's title was registered to be a trademark by HBO, and the trademark labeled with the "entertainment services..." category is still active today. It was even renewed in 2018. This is rather odd; not only is Happily Ever After the only original HBO kids program to get this treatment, but (besides continuing to air it) HBO has done nothing major with the series in over two decades. Other trademarks were filed using the name:
  • Recorded media such as videocassettes and CD-ROMs, which was cancelled in October 2021. The last physical release of the series was in either 2003 or 2004.
  • Clothing products such as shirts and shoes. It was actually filed by "Time Warner Entertainment Company, L.P." (Warner Bros. Discovery's first name used until 2001). It was cancelled in 2007. Though, it is uncertain clothing with the series' characters or designs were ever made.
  • Three other trademark categories were also filed by Time Warner Entertainment Company, L.P.: Goods such as toys and board games, another with story books and arts and crafts material, and another under the category of furniture and figurines. These particular three trademarks were "abandoned" in 2000.

Gallery

Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child/Gallery