A miller has a pretty daughter. One day, a king is passing by. The miller is very proud of that and starts bragging. He claims his daughter is not just beautiful but smart, too. He claims she is able to spin straw into gold. This intrigues the king. He can certainly use some gold. He already has some straw. A lot of it. Way more than gold.
He wants to meet his daughter.
He wants to meet his daughter.
The king is pleased with her looks. But is she really able to spin straw into gold? He says he will marry her if she spins his straw into gold. Otherwise, he will give an order to execute her.
The king takes the miller's daughter to a chamber full of straw. He orders her to spin all of it into straw. She has time till the next morning. If she fails, her life is over.
The king takes the miller's daughter to a chamber full of straw. He orders her to spin all of it into straw. She has time till the next morning. If she fails, her life is over.
The miller's daughter is devastated. Yes, she is pretty and smart, indeed. Still, she can't spin straw into gold. Her death seems imminent. She starts crying.
Somebody hears her crying. It's a strange little man in funny clothes.
Somebody hears her crying. It's a strange little man in funny clothes.
He enters the chamber with the miller's daughter and asks her what is wrong. She tells him about her task. It's an impossible task! How can she spin straw into gold?
The little man tells her to stop crying. He can spin straw into gold for her. But she needs to give him something in return. The girl offers him her necklace. He takes it and sits at the spinning wheel. Whirrr, whirrr, whirr. He works all night and spins all the straw into gold.
Life looks good again.
The little man tells her to stop crying. He can spin straw into gold for her. But she needs to give him something in return. The girl offers him her necklace. He takes it and sits at the spinning wheel. Whirrr, whirrr, whirr. He works all night and spins all the straw into gold.
Life looks good again.
The king is very happy. He is reach now. Can he have even more gold?
He takes the miller's daughter into another chamber. This one is even bigger. He tells the girl to spin this straw into gold just like she did before. Otherwise, she'll die in the morning.
He takes the miller's daughter into another chamber. This one is even bigger. He tells the girl to spin this straw into gold just like she did before. Otherwise, she'll die in the morning.
The girl is locked again, alone with her dark thoughts. She has no idea what to do now. It seems she'll die anyway. Last night she got just a delay.
Then, the little man appears in front of her again. She stops crying and explains that she needs another favor. The little man is ready to help if she gives him something in return.
The girl gives him a ring. Then, he starts spinning. It takes him all night, but in the morning the chamber is full of gold.
The miller's daughter escaped her death again.
Then, the little man appears in front of her again. She stops crying and explains that she needs another favor. The little man is ready to help if she gives him something in return.
The girl gives him a ring. Then, he starts spinning. It takes him all night, but in the morning the chamber is full of gold.
The miller's daughter escaped her death again.
But the king wants more. He has one more chamber filled with straw. He wants her to spin that into gold, as well. Otherwise... She already knows what will happen in the morning.
The miller's daughter is preparing for death when the little man appears again. He can help, but she has to give him something.
She had already given him everything! What can she offer in exchange for his services?
The little man has an idea. If she is willing to give him her firstborn, he'll help her to fulfill her task.
Now she is in a dilemma. How can she promise her newborn to this stranger? This seems very wrong!
On the other hand, if she rejects the little man, she will die anyway. And if he helps, she may live, and who knows what happens next? Maybe she will not even have a child.
So, she accepts the offer, and the little man spins straw into gold for the third time.
The king is finally satisfied. He keeps his word and marries the miller's daughter. She becomes a queen. A year later, she also becomes a mother of a lovely boy. She forgets about her promise to the little man.
Yet, one day, he appears in front of her and demands her baby. A deal is a deal. She has to give him the boy.
She doesn't want to. She offers him money and other things, but she doesn't want that. After all, he can spin straw into gold, remember? He just wants the little boy.
The queen convinces him to forget about her promise if she can do something impossible in return. Just like he did.
The little man accepts the challenge. He gives her three days to guess his name. If she finds his name, he'll leave her and her child alone.
She starts guessing, but none of the ordinary names fits.
When the little man leaves her, she organizes a search party. All her servants have to go around the kingdom and find as many and as unusual names as possible.
The next day, the little man comes back and she starts guessing for the second time. She tries all the unusual names and nothing.
She is desperate. When the little man leaves, one of the servants enters. He is the last one from the search party. He had been lost when he saw a strange little man in the woods, who was singing: "Nobody knows, what my name is. I, Rumpelstiltskin, will get a baby boy!"
That's it.
The miller's daughter is preparing for death when the little man appears again. He can help, but she has to give him something.
She had already given him everything! What can she offer in exchange for his services?
The little man has an idea. If she is willing to give him her firstborn, he'll help her to fulfill her task.
Now she is in a dilemma. How can she promise her newborn to this stranger? This seems very wrong!
On the other hand, if she rejects the little man, she will die anyway. And if he helps, she may live, and who knows what happens next? Maybe she will not even have a child.
So, she accepts the offer, and the little man spins straw into gold for the third time.
The king is finally satisfied. He keeps his word and marries the miller's daughter. She becomes a queen. A year later, she also becomes a mother of a lovely boy. She forgets about her promise to the little man.
Yet, one day, he appears in front of her and demands her baby. A deal is a deal. She has to give him the boy.
She doesn't want to. She offers him money and other things, but she doesn't want that. After all, he can spin straw into gold, remember? He just wants the little boy.
The queen convinces him to forget about her promise if she can do something impossible in return. Just like he did.
The little man accepts the challenge. He gives her three days to guess his name. If she finds his name, he'll leave her and her child alone.
She starts guessing, but none of the ordinary names fits.
When the little man leaves her, she organizes a search party. All her servants have to go around the kingdom and find as many and as unusual names as possible.
The next day, the little man comes back and she starts guessing for the second time. She tries all the unusual names and nothing.
She is desperate. When the little man leaves, one of the servants enters. He is the last one from the search party. He had been lost when he saw a strange little man in the woods, who was singing: "Nobody knows, what my name is. I, Rumpelstiltskin, will get a baby boy!"
That's it.
When the little man comes for the third time, the queen guesses his name.
He is so angry he tears himself apart.
The queen lives with her family happily ever after.
He is so angry he tears himself apart.
The queen lives with her family happily ever after.
Rumpelstiltskin is a classic fairy tale with a theme of the impossible task. There are two such tasks - spinning straw into gold and guessing a stranger's name. Gilbert James used his limited set of colors very cleverly. The situation with the miller's daughter in the chamber with straw is dark - the color black does the job. The king is portrayed as black, too. He is in a position of power and can bring her death. All the scenes with Rumpelstiltskin are made with red and yellow, suggesting fire flames, and hell.
Indeed, the miller's daughter made a deal with the devil, just like Faust. But this story ends with a happily ever after, which is obvious in the scene with the mother and her son. It's black and white, again, but white clearly wins.
Indeed, the miller's daughter made a deal with the devil, just like Faust. But this story ends with a happily ever after, which is obvious in the scene with the mother and her son. It's black and white, again, but white clearly wins.
