The Elves and the Shoemaker

"The Elves and the Shoemaker" is an often copied and re-made 1806 story about a poor shoemaker who receives much-needed help from elves.

The original story is the first of three fairy tales, contained as entry 39 in the German Grimm's Fairy Tales under the common title "Die Wichtelmänner". In her translation of 1884 Margaret Hunt chose The Elves as title for these three stories.

The Aarne–Thompson folklore classification system categorizes the story as type 503*: Helpful Elves and also as a migratory legend, type 7015.

There are variations depending on the rendition of the story.

Friz Freleng created a musical adaption of the story for his 1946 Merrie Melodies cartoon Holiday for Shoestrings.

Four years later, Tex Avery adapted the story for his 1950 MGM cartoon short The Peachy Cobbler.

The 1956 Looney Tunes cartoon short Yankee Dood It is based on this fairy tale, with Elmer Fudd as the king of industrial elves. 150 years after this fairy tale took place, he visits the shoemaker to retrieve the elves he has employed, while also imparting the virtues of mass production capitalism to him. The same basic plot was also used in the 1946 cartoon short Holiday for Shoestrings.

In the Due South episode, "The Deal", Det. Ray Vecchio vaguely recollects this story when discussing a poor cobbler with his partner, Constable Fraser.

In Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love, a spinoff miniseries of the Vertigo comic-book series Fables, the shoemaker appears as an employee in Cinderella's shoe store, while the elves are the builders and suppliers of the store's inventory.

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