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There is no formula for what sticks, says Jack Zipes, author of a number of books about fairy tales. "You cannot predict whether a child will really understand the moral or the message of a particular tale," he says. Zipes developed a storytelling program in Minneapolis where kids read and interpret classic tales like "Little Red Riding Hood." After some discussion, the teacher asks them to rewrite the stories based on a "what if" question. "For instance, 'What if Little Red Riding Hood knew karate?' or 'What if Grandma ate the wolf?' or 'What if the wolf were a vegetarian?'" says Zipes.

The exercise, he explains, helps children think more critically about the tale. But even then they might not be able to say what the moral is. And adults don't always grasp the moral of the story either; according to Zipes, a 17th century version of Little Red Riding Hood was written as a cautionary tale about rape: "'Little girls who invite wolves into their parlor deserve what they get.' Now that's a very clear moral and it's very sexist, obviously," he says. Today we might just say it's: "Don't talk to strangers."

Fables and fairy tales — and their morals — have changed and evolved over the centuries. Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie, is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty from the evil fairy's point of view. It's really Maleficent's back-story. Seven-year-old Grace Feldmann of Laurel, Md., says it's one of her favorite movies: "It has evil; I like evil. It has nice; I like nice," says Feldmann.

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Maleficent rehabilitates the most maligned figure in the fairy tale canon: the evil fairy in Sleeping Beauty. Frank Connor/Disney hide caption

itoggle caption Frank Connor/Disney

Maleficent rehabilitates the most maligned figure in the fairy tale canon: the evil fairy in Sleeping Beauty.

Frank Connor/Disney

Maleficent certainly starts out nice — with her majestic wings, she grows up to be the strongest fairy of the Moors, an enchanted forest. But the human kingdom wants to conquer the Moors, and a soldier brutally cuts off her wings. That's when she turns evil. When the soldier becomes king, Maleficent puts a curse on his firstborn: "Before the sun sets on her 16th birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of the spinning wheel and fall into a sleep-like-death."

In this contemporary retelling, however, Maleficent ultimately repents and awakens the princess. She becomes kind again and reunites the two kingdoms. The message — that a person can be "both hero and villain" — is very powerful, says Harris. "It reflects the reality of the world and it also helps children understand the range of emotions and how emotions fit in to helping people walk through the world."

For Feldmann, however, it's a lot to take in. Here's how she describes the plot: "She gets angry. She turns back. She gets angry. It's kind of confusing sometimes." But Feldmann still loves the movie – she even dressed up as Maleficent for Halloween.

When kids read fables and fairy tales, they probably won't fully absorb their morals until they grow up — and maybe not even then.