‘The Carol Burnett Show’ featured an incredible ‘Fairy Tale’ mashup that involved singing, acting, and dancing. It begins with a fairy sitting on a big pink and orange chair. She has a giant storybook in front of her and says, “This is the story of Cinder Rumple White.”
The fairy, played by Vicki Lawrence, begins to sing the story starting with “Once upon a time….” Then the scene shows Carol in a long yellow dress in a sparkling forest with flowers and streamers.
Carol has long blonde hair, sings in a high-pitched, comical voice, and brushes her bangs back from her eyes. She sings about waiting for her prince and talks to her animals in her free time.
Carol walks around to some plastic animals and says hello to every animal, including 10 rabbits in a row. She smiles at the audience and says, “Busy, busy.” Then, the fairy sings about a witch that shows up to Cinder. The witch flies on a broom and says she hates everything. She drops out of the sky and tries to sell Carol apples.
The witch, played by Imogene Coca, tells Carol, “The macintosh are a dime, and the poison ones are a nickel.” Carol buys the wrong one, chokes, and says, ‘I think you owe me a nickel.” Carol passes out as the witch laughs. Soon, a handsome prince, played by Robert Goulet, is trying to find the princess, and he sings a song about finding his love. But the princess is locked in the witch’s castle. as she makes a potion.
Carol sings as the witch gets mad at her and calls for her servants. They pop up in an orange and furry costume containing two men. They sing a song about how two heads are better than one with choreography and tight harmonies.
Then, the prince shows up at the song’s end and tries to fight the servants. He wins, but a dragon appears and attacks him. He cuts the dragon in half and climbs to the top of the tower to save the princess. The two lovers sing together at the top of the tower and kiss. The screen gets smokey, and Carol holds up a frog and says, ‘Ew! He’s a frog!”
