[1] The series consists of 26 episodes, each one adapting a popular fairy tale or a literature classic written by a famous author such as: the Brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault, Hans Christian Andersen, Carlo Collodi, Lewis Carroll, Alexandre Dumas, Howard Pyle, Jonathan Swift, Johanna Spyri, L. Frank Baum, E. T. A. Hoffmann, James Halliwell-Phillipps and Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont.

Some of these fairy tales had also been adapted by Toei into feature length films (Arabian Nights: The Adventures of Sinbad, The World of Hans Christian Andersen, The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots, Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina and Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp).

A variety of different artists from other Toei's popular series worked on the episodes, such as Sailor Moon's director Junichi Sato and character designer Ikuko Itoh,[2][1] or Space Pirate Captain Harlock and Saint Seya's composer Seiji Yokoyama.

[3][4][5] It aired in Italy on Italia 1 from February 4 to March 1, 1995 (Le fiabe più belle),[6] and in Japan on Fuji TV and other networks from April 7 to September 29 of the same year.

An 8 DVD box containing 24 episodes was released in Japan by Toei Video under the title Sekai Meisaku Mukashi Banashi (世界名作昔ばなし, lit.