Once Upon a Time (1944)

Yes Sir, he dances!

Once Upon a Time calls itself a fairy tale, but personally I don't see it. Imagine Miracle on 34th Street meets Our Gang, where the role of Santa Claus is played by a dancing caterpillar and Cary Grant plays the lead. The story reads like the screenwriters surely must have lost a bet with someone, but snappy dialog and a solid performance by Grant make for a surprisingly entertaining bit of more or less family friendly fluff.

The Little Mermaid (1976)

Malá morská víla watches her prince from the rocks

Beloved throughout Europe and the former Soviet Union, but little seen in the English-speaking world, Karel Kachyna's 1976 adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid is a work of beauty and enchantment that can stand alongside Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast as one of the all time great cinematic fairy tale adaptations.  Like Cocteau's film, Kachyna's stunning imagery evokes the magic and terror that makes their respective fairy tales such primal, resilient narratives.