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Mutzmag is an folktale about a resourceful girl and her two selfish half-sisters. Mutzmag's mother dies early in the story, leaving her daughters with only a shack, a cabbage patch, and a broken pocketknife. The two stepsisters set out in search of a better life, with Mutzmag posing as their hired girl. When they meet a witch woman and a giant man intent on killing and eating them, it is Mutzmag's quick thinking that saves their lives. Mutzmag later returns alone with a bag of salt, a ball of string, and her mother's broken pocketknife to slay the evil pair. This clever, resourceful girl is proof that good can triumph over bad despite enormous odds. Set in the 1920s in the scenic wilderness of the Appalachian Mountains, this
From the Brothers Grimm series video is adapted from an old Scottish tale. It is a classic kids' story, though it contains elements of murder, abandonment, and cannibalism that younger children may find frightening. (Ages 8 and older)
--Tami Horiuchi
Product Description
"First-time actress Robbie Sams is a natural as 12-year-old Mutzmag, a Cinderella-like workhorse whose older stepsisters treat her like dirt. When their mother dies early on, Poll, Nance, and Mutzmag hit the road, and choose a poor resting place for their first evening: the home of a "witcherwoman" and a "giant man" who have a taste for human flesh. How Mutzmag saves her sisters from the menu is the subject of the first half of the tale. In the second half, Mutzmag is hired to retrieve a stolen horse and get rid of the witch and giant. She does not ask them if they would be so kind as to vacate the landscape, she does not vacillate in a bout of existential doubt, she acts using quick wits, a ball of string, a pocketknife, and the courage of her convictions." from a review in "Video Librarian"
"Mutzmag" has won lots of awards including the following: Parents Choice Award, First Prize at the New England Children's Film Festival, American Library Association's "Selected Films for Young Adults," Best Short Film at the Philadelphia International Film Festival, Best Live-Action Short at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival, Children's Jury Best Live-Action Film at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival
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