Product Description

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 05/23/2006

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10914 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2006-05-23
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 310 minutes

Amazon.com
One of Jim Henson's finest works is The Storyteller series, originally airing on HBO in 1987. As with his other non-Muppet creations (Labyrinth, and The Dark Crystal), Henson fills the screen with wonderful creatures that have a wisp of a J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy. This definitive collection of 13 stories--9 based on European fables, and 4 slightly grittier takes on Greek myths--deserves to be in TV's pantheon. The series was adapted by Anthony Minghella, who became an Oscar-winning filmmaker a decade later with The English Patient. Minghella weaves the narration of a storyteller with dialogue from the stories to beguiling effect; the storyteller doesn't simply introduce the tales. The storytelling duties are split with an engaging John Hurt, and a study Michael Gambon for the Greek fables. Both are accompanied by a Muppet dog performed by Henson's son and successor, Brian.

The European tales are wonderful especially since the stories are not well known. "The Luck Child" is a brilliant short about a king bent on destroying a commoner boy, known as the luck child ("the seventh son born of a seventh son on a week with two Fridays"), after a wizard declares the boy will grow up to be king. The fate of the king is one of those hooks that should have the kids smiling for days. "Sapsorrow" is a curious variation on the Cinderella legend. Henson himself directs "Death and the Soldier," a vivid example of how these episodes were so wonderfully complex. A penniless solider (Bob Peck) is given a magical sack and he uses it to full effect, capturing gremlins and greater evils on his way to be king. "A Story Short" is the storyteller's own adventure. He makes a deal with a king to tell a story every day of the year. Yet on the last day, the storyteller's mind is a blank and his fate may lead him to a boiling vat of oil.

By nature, the Greek myth episodes are a bit more mature (ages 8 and older) and downbeat, yet give the audience lasting impressions of oft-quoted tales. In "Perseus and the Gorgon," King Argos locks away his wife when it is foretold his future son will kill him. Soon mother and son (Perseus, fathered by none other than Zeus) are washed ashore and another angry king looks to take away Perseus's mother. How can Perseus win the day? By killing the evil Gorgon whose snake-covered head includes eyes that turn humans into statues. Derek Jacobi stars as the deft Greek designer in "Daedalus and Icarus." The father goes through many hardships, including the famous episode of his son flying too close to the sun. John Madden (Shakespeare in Love) directs the tale of "Theseus and the Minotaur." A young man reunites with his father, King Aegeus, but is cursed by his witch of a stepmother (literally). When Theseus tries to stop the regular sacrifice to the half-bull, half-man Minotaur, a new curse awaits the young prince. The magical musician Orpheus (Art Malik) finds his muse in "Orpheus and Eurydice." Unfortunately, she soon dies and goes to Hades where Orpheus follows, attempting to win her soul from the devil himself. Henson's work is true family entertainment and at only 22 minutes per episode, it's the perfect companion for some fine entertainment around the TV. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

Get ALL of them in one package
What you're essentially getting here is all nine episodes of The Storyteller series AND all four episodes from The Storyteller: Greek Myths on a two DVD set. Considering they stopped shipping the previous Storyteller and Greek Myths DVD's this will be what you will be seeing in stores. The good news is the MSRP on this collection is actually less than the release price of the original Storyteller collection and about the same price of the release of Greek Myths disk. You'll be getting the best deal ever offered with this collection.

If you don't currently have both collections I recommend getting this. Even if you have one of the two collections the price point makes it worthwhile (sell your old set and save even more). Obviously if you have neither DVD this is the perfect opportunity to pick up some of the best family entertainment out there.

Bloody brilliant!
I had only seen some of these when they first aired as part of "The Jim Henson Hour", but I was totally enchanted by them, and am thrilled to have them now in their entirety, to revel in and share with my own kids.

What I really like about them - besides the stories themselves, the wonderful set, costume, and puppet designs, the acting and so on - is that they resurrect the importance of *telling*. There is a love of language in Minghella's scripts ("a princess of sweetness and cherry pie", "he heard a song that sounded like hello and goodbye"), and in John Hurt's charming performance, that reminds us of the importance of the human voice... even as we are seduced by the stunning visuals.

This is great stuff, some of the best old-school fantasy every produced for TV, and - despite the puppets and magic - in no way geared to kids. It's "general audience" in the original sense: everybody gathered together around the Storyteller's bewitching voice, different ages envisioning different things as the stories play out.

A word on the second batch, the Greek Myths: These are at a much lower wattage than the European stories, and I'm not sure why, as the stories themselves are great. But Michael Gambon's Storyteller lacks the charm of Hurt's, the scripts (not by Minghella) are more perfunctory, and perhaps the stories are too familiar to have much surprise. They are beautifully produced, and have some good performances (Derek Jacobi as Daedalus, Robert Stephens as Hades), but they aren't as essential as the earlier group. (But given the low price for the whole set, they're well worth owning, even if they lack the "repeatability factor" of the earlier batch.)

Yes, the video quality is pretty wobbly, and the extras are non-existant... but The Storyteller triumphs anyway!

Good entertainment for the whole family.
Jim Henson is one of the most respected and famous names in family entertainment. Creator or co-creator of such classics as the Muppets and Sesame Street, his company put together this string of TV shows in the late 1980s. Comprised of 13 tales; 4 from ancient Greece and 9 from medieval Europe; each is turned into a separate story of 20 - 30 minutes in length. Each tells one or more morals; and comprises elements of romance, comedy, tragedy, suspence and action. The four Greek stories are well known to anyone who stayed awake in their high school literature classes. The 9 European stories, on the other hand, are less well known. But all are told wonderfully, from the point of view of the storyteller, and his dog. The storyteller character is portrayed by Michael Gambon (Dumbeldorf in the Harry Potter movies) and John Hurt. The stories themselves have both human and muppet characters. A careful viewing reveals many actors and actresses who would go on to become famous; Colin Farrel, Sean Bean, Miranda Richardson, etc...

All the stories have good dialogue, no sex or nudity, no bad language, and enough action to satisfy teenagers but without scaring the kids. Great DVD set and I highly recommend it.