The Singing Ringing Tree (German: Das singende, klingende Bäumchen) was a children's film made by East German studio DEFA in 1957 and shown in the form of a television series by the BBC. It was a story in the style of the Brothers Grimm, directed by Francesco Stefani.
The programme was broadcast by the BBC in the 1960s and 70s as part of Tales from Europe, with an English-language voice-over track (not dubbed, however, the original soundtrack was simply faded up and down).
The cast included Christel Bodenstein as the Princess, Eckart Dux who played the Prince/bear, Charles Hans Vogt as the King and Richard Kruger as the dwarf.
One reviewer (Roger Thomas at amazon.com) has summed it up thus: A Radio Times readers' poll in 2004 voted this programme the 20th spookiest TV show ever.
A spoof of the series was created as a sketch in the last season of The Fast Show, entitled, The Singing Ringing Binging Plinging Tinging Plinking Plonking Boinging Tree. The musical bridge from the series played Gary Numan's "Cars" as the characters walked across it.
A brave prince wants to win the heart of a stubborn princess by finding the singing, ringing tree for her. He finally locates it in the magical realm of an evil dwarf who offers him a deal: he can keep the tree if it starts singing before sundown - which it will only do if the princess truly loves him. Otherwise, he will be turned into a bear. Reminiscent of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. Written by c.winter
