Neil,
You mentioned a movie called "The Singing Ringing Tree", but your description
(the evil dwarf, the prince turned into a bear, the hard-hearted princess)
sounds more like "Father Frost" (or "Jack Frost" (which was the title MST3K
used when they showed it) or "Morozko" (the original Russian title)).
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005OCKP
and
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0058374
-Erik
I'm sure they sound similar. But this is http://us.imdb.com/Title?0052199 and http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004YS9R/qid%3D1041301735 (You never forget a title like "The Singing Ringing Tree", even if it should have been "Das Singende, Klingende B�umchen".)That's the trouble with (and the glory of) folk and fairy tales, after all: people moved from place to place, and kept telling stories. They echo each other...
And while we're on the subject:
Not really a question, but I saw your entry on the Singing Ringing Tree - the East German fairy tale that dealt with a spoilt princess and a dwarf. I never saw the programme but I heard a programme on BBC radio 4 on Saturday morning. I just happened to be plucking some pheasant. The programme was on about 10.00 am, maybe 10.30 - the presenter was discussing the programme as well as including clips of the plummy BBC presenter explaining the fairy tale from when it was first broadcast. The programme tried to find costumes of the film in the east german studios and eventually found the actress that played the princess. The BBC site describes the programme as "It had a Communist princess, the world's most baffling fish, and a seriously scary dwarf. Thousands of children trembled behind the sofa at this BBC TV film bought from behind the Iron Curtain. Chris Bowlby relives a Cold War fairy tale linking East Berlin studios with bizarre British back gardens." The website address is http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/whatson/prog_parse.cgi?FILENAME=20021228/20021228_1030_49700_8964_30 but sadly no other information nor was it recorded for internet listening.
Good to see that you have introduced Deadringers on the blogger, when are you going to wreak havoc by introducing "I'm sorry I haven't a clue" or "Just a minute" (the latter programme has an hour long programme on radio 4 on New Year's Day for its 35th anniversary).
Wishing you and your family a belated Christmas and an early Happy New Year
I shall try to think of a question to ask at some time
Oh good. If anyone's interested I'm still feeding the iPod. (Next pile of CDs to go in consists of Nino Rota's Omaggio a Fellini, Jim White's No Such Place, Lou Reed's American Poet, Stina Nordenstam's Dynamite, Elaine Stritch's At Liberty Ennio Morricone's Drammi Gotici and Live Stiffs.)