I can still remember, when I was six or seven, being terrified of the troll in Three Billy Goats Gruff. It was so single minded.
I’m a troll. If you try to cross my bridge, I will kill you and eat you.
By contrast, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel was never that aggressive. I certainly recall some strong hinting that she would boil them up, but I never really believed it would happen. The plan seemed too elaborate. On some level, this was really an excuse to build a gingerbread house.
The bridge troll, however, had no such playful nuance. It just wanted to crunch on innocent bones. How rude.
Below: from the New Yorker, June 3rd issue. Buy this cartoon.
More Fairy Tale Cartoons
Grubby stories, in Air Mail Weekly, 2021. Buy this cartoon.
A strange ailment, from my sketchbook. Ask about this cartoon.
A wolf’s comeuppance, from my sketchbook. Ask about this cartoon.
See you next week!
These are wonderful!
The magic beans one reminds me of the scene in Wizard of Oz where the witch's legs roll up, I would have made a comment about landing houses in unusual places.