Fairy tales must include many elements in order for them to be successful and carry their message. Without those elements, the fairy tale seems boring and looses it's charm and meaning. The first of these is an element of magic. I think that this aspect is more vital to a fairy tale than any other. Magic keeps the reader entranced and interested. It also appeals to young children. Besides that, it takes a seemingly boring moral lesson, and disguises it in a way that seems fun, and makes you want to keep reading. Magic takes us out our everyday situation, and shows us a world where anything can happen. We are forced through the suspension of disbelief to believe anything that is presented to us. A frog can turn into a prince because of a kiss, and we don't question that, because anything is real in a world of magic. I think that without magic, fairy tales would not be the imaginative, entertaining, and educational tales that they are.

What are the major elements of a fairy tale?

A fairy tale has three main parts of the story. In the beginning the protagonist has a decent life but isn't content with it such as in the little mermaid where she isn't content with her 300 years of life and wants an immortal soul, or the girl who tread on the loaf who is very pretty but she is vain and isn't content with her good looks. In the middle the protagonist attempts to achieve their ultimate goal, but fails and their situation becomes worse such as in the little mermaid how she goes to the see witch but instead of gaining an immortal soul she is stuck without a voice and having every step hurt like she is stepping on knifes or in the girl who tread on the loaf she walks on the loaf and sinks into the devils kingdom where she is held as a statue. In the end of the fairy tale the protagonists situation improves often in an unexpected way such as in the little mermaid where she becomes an air spirit which gives her another chance at an immortal soul or in the girl who tread on the loaf where she has an epiphany and realizes how vain she is.

One Good Fairy Tale

To make a good fairy tale, the tale must include a mythical element. This element can range from a dragon to a fairy. There always has to be a happy ending or it won't be considered a fairy tale because if the fairy tale does not have a happy ending then it will not be complete. There always has to be a bad guy to create a problem the hero must face. The hero has to be someone good hearted. Someone who will feed the poor and risk their lives for something better. A fairy tale usually takes place in a land far far away, never have I seen a fairy tale taking place in some one's back yard.

Components to a Successful Fairytale

For a fairytale to be successful it needs to have many components. Of these components needed are the components of the fairy tale's protagonist having his or her happily ever after, the protagonist's having a sidekick or having outside help, there must be some kind of magical element, the fairytale must appeal to younger kids because they are the ones being told these tales, and because the audience of fairy-tales are children, the fairytale must at the end advise the reader a moral or a lesson. The reason for the protagonist having a happily ever after is because for one thing the story's audience are children, so if the story ended with an unhappy ending that would discourage them from reading it. As mentioned earlier this ties in with the appeal to children, as well as one common lesson in all fairy-tales; in the end good things will happen to good people. With the protagonist having a sidekick or outside help is needed because sometimes the hero or heroine will feel lost and will need assistance, the helper can take different shapes, such as the fairy godmother in Cinderella or the seven dwarfs in Snow White. Outside help ties in with the element of magic. Such as Lin Lan's Cinderella turning into a bird, then a bamboo tree, a spirit and then resurrecting back into a human. Or in Beauty and the Beast, with all of the people in the castle cursed. But most important of all is that the fairytale teaches a moral or a lesson; such as in Beauty and the Beast, that you should look beyond outer appearances, or in The Girl Who Trod on Loaf, vanity is dire, and in some sense beauty is only skin deep.

All fairy tales must teach as lesson or have some kind of moral. They are stories for children and they are designed to teach them something. Fairy tales always take place in a land far away; somewhere we have never been, but yet somewhere that seems similar or parallel to our own lives. A good fairy tale must have a protagonist who learns this lesson in a memorable way to make it seem real and engaging to a child. The protagonist or the hero(ine) is usually an orphan or missing at least a father or a mother figure, who must go up against adversity in order to become stronger and attain their goal. Often that goal is love, acceptance or religion. The hero(ine) can be helped during their journey but they must have to work and learn in order to get what they want. Often there is guidance figure; someone who has the protagonist's interests at heart. They might take the form of a fairy, a godparent or both. Another necessary figure to a fairy tale is the villain, the evil opposite of the hero(ine). By the end of the fairy tale the villain has received fit punishment and the protagonist has achieved their goal. They live happily ever after.

Charectoristics of a good fairytale

The main element usually present in a fairytale is that the story must have a moral principle that the readers of the story can learn. Since mostly kids read fairytales, this is usually somebody making a mistake that hurts them later on, and this makes the child learn not to make that same mistake.
Another common element is that the main charectors are usually kids. This allows the child readers to relate to the main charector and hammer in the moral of the story even more.
The third and final necesity is that the story needs to be interesting to a four year old. A child would not want to hear a fairytale about the stock exchange. They want to hear something that they will be interested in and will remember without thinking about it. If a fairytale does not follow these principles, I do not beleive that it is a good fairytale.

Successful Fairy Tales

A fairy tale has to have many different components to be a successful one. The hero of a fairy tale must be someone who someone (a young child) could relate to. The hero is usually an outsider. They are someone who is different and they are often looked down upon. Often, the hero has lost a parent or parental figure, thus making them even more of an outsider to other people.

A fairy tale almost always takes place in a made-up world (a land far, far away). This is because in a land that is very far away, anything is possible. If this land isn't like your home, then it is certainly plausible for there to be fairies and gnomes and magic.

A fairy tale must also contain an element of something extraordinary. Most fairy tales contain fairies or other magical creatures. There is usually a person who can do magic. Or, there is a regular magical occurrence caused by nature (for example, the sky could rain food). This adds a sense of wonder to the story.

In addition to the hero, a good fairy tale contains a sidekick. It is rare that the hero undergoes the entire adventure completely alone. There is also a fairy godmother, or someone who is helping the hero from afar. This person is likely to have magical abilities. There is a wicked witch, who is after the hero. And there is often a prince charming, who is either someone the hero wishes to be with, or an idea that they have, like freedom.