By Mary Pols
Special to MSN Movies

Once upon a time, specifically in the second decade of the 21st century and in a place first called Hollywoodland, it suddenly seemed as though every other new movie had a fairy-tale connection. In keeping with the tradition of Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm, some were intended for families, like this month's release "Mirror Mirror," while others, like the June release "Snow White and the Huntsman" or "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," featuring the siblings as grown-up bounty hunters, take a darker, more adult turn.

Bing: More about 'Mirror Mirror'

More fairy-tale adaptations are in the pipeline, with Angelina Jolie signed on to make "Maleficent," (maybe the leg and laugh business at the Oscars was practice for portraying the Mistress of All Evil?) and Tim Burton reportedly considering a live-action "Pinocchio."

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A major box-office bomb could take the heat out of the trend. But as long as there are new movies being made, there will always be another fairy-tale adaptation coming. They're fertile ground for the imagination, and when done right, they're like comfort food for kids. As filmmaker Jean Cocteau wrote in the opening of his "Beauty and the Beast," the words "'Once upon a time' are a child's 'open sesame.'" MSN Movies weighs in on the best and worst fairy-tale feature films.

(Relativity Media)

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