Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17593 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-02-15
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 717 minutes

Amazon.com
One of the first gems of the cable TV age, Faerie Tale Theatre brings 26 classic tales to life. Produced over a five-year span (1982-87) for Showtime, FTT brought together creative dramatics and whimsical writing with some of the top talents of the day. Executive producer/host Shelley Duvall (who was coming off her breakout role in The Shining) shepherds this mix of theatrical simplicity and grand storytelling for these oft-told tales ("Goldilocks and the Three Bears," "Little Red Riding Hood," "Hansel and Gretel," "Sleeping Beauty," and the like) for kids and their parents. Since they are not elaborately produced, FTT may be a hard sell for some smaller members of the family at first, but most should be hooked, even older kids who may pooh-pooh fairy tales. There's always a slight twist that makes these productions fresh.

The cast is amazing, especially when you think how lightly cable television was thought of in the '80s: Jeff Bridges, Bud Cort, Liza Minnelli, James Coburn, Susan Sarandon, Christopher Reeve, Klaus Kinski, Billy Crystal, Matthew Broderick, Gregory Hines, Eric Idle, Robin Williams, and Mick Jagger are some of the talented--and varied--actors appearing. Crystal's take on the smart "Little Pig" (with Jeff Goldblum as the wolf) and Williams's "Frog Prince" are two comic gems. Malcolm McDowell, right in the middle of his career high-point of playing baddies, brings flair to the Big Bad Wolf, while his then-real-life wife Mary Steenburgen beautifully counterpoints as Red Riding Hood. The casting of Vincent Price and Vanessa Redgrave in "Snow White" is inspired. Also impressive are the directors Duvall pooled: Tim Burton ("Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp"), Francis Ford Coppola ("Rip Van Winkle") Peter Medak (three episodes), Nicholas Meyer ("Pied Piper"), and Roger Vadim ("Beauty and the Beast"). You can go on for days about these wonderful tales, most totaling around the 45-minute mark, but it's better just to get the set and start wherever you'd like; you will get to the end sooner than you think. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

Set of Faerie Tale Theatre Episodes on DVD
After years of waiting, Faerie Tale Theatre fans can finally own the series on DVD. Shelley Duvall's series originally appeared on Showtime 20 years ago and featured well-known and rising stars of the time. The series' enthusiastic interpretations of beloved fairy tales has made it a cult classic. Better yet, the DVD prices are affordable, especially after the high prices the used VHS copies have been earning in recent years.

The collection package featured here contains all of the 26 fairy tales created for the series. The original series had an extra special, called Grimm Party, that was a retrospective of the series with various casts and Shelley Duvall. Unfortunately, this episode has never been made available on VHS, laser disc, or DVD, not being included in licensing packages. While this might be a disappointing omission, it shouldn't lessen the thrill of finally having DVD editions of the 26 tales themselves at a great price.

Here's a list of all 26 episodes contained in this collection:

The Tale of the Frog Prince
Rumpelstilskin
Rapunzel
The Nightingale
Sleeping Beauty
Jack and the Beanstalk
Little Red Riding Hood
Hansel and Gretel
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
The Princess and the Pea
Pinocchio
Thumbelina
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Beauty and the Beast
The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers
The Three Little Pigs
The Snow Queen
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Cinderella
Puss 'n Boots
The Emperor's New Clothes
Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp
The Princess Who Had Never Laughed
Rip Van Winkle
The Little Mermaid
The Dancing Princesses

enjoy the magic of FAERIE TALE THEATRE forever!
FAERIE TALE THEATRE is a magical series featuring some of the greatest stars performing in adaptations of the classic fairytales. Created and hosted by Shelley Duvall and originally released on video between 1984 and 1987, the episodes themselves have proven to be quite hard to come by in recent years.

Now thanks to Starmaker II, the series has finally been released on DVD at a bargain price. Your whole family will love this series, though the show itself will be extra-special to those who grew up with it in the 80's (like myself).

Sit back and enjoy! "The Tale of the Frog Prince" (Robin Williams, Teri Garr); "Rumpelstiltskin" (Shelley Duvall, Herve Villechaize); "Rapunzel" (Shelley Duvall, Jeff Bridges, Gena Rowlands); "The Nightingale" (Mick Jagger, Barbara Hershey); "Sleeping Beauty" (Beverly d'Angelo, Bernadette Peters, Christopher Reeve); "Jack and the Beanstalk" (Dennis Christopher, Elliott Gould, Jean Stapleton); "Little Red Riding Hood" (Mary Steenburgen, Malcolm McDowell); "Beauty and the Beast" (Susan Sarandon, Klaus Kinski); "Thumbelina" (Carrie Fisher, William Katt, Burgess Meredith); "The Three Little Pigs" (Billy Crystal, Valerie Perrine, Jeff Goldblum); "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (Elizabeth McGovern, Vanessa Redgrave); "The Princess Who Had Never Laughed" (Ellen Barkin, Howie Mandel); "Rip Van Winkle" (Harry Dean Stanton, Talia Shire), "Pinocchio" (Paul Reubens, Lainie Kazan); "Puss in Boots" (Ben Vereen, Alfre Woodard, Gregory Hines); "The Dancing Princesses" (Lesley Ann Warren, Peter Weller); "The Little Mermaid" (Pam Dawber, Treat Williams, Helen Mirren); "The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers" (Peter McNicol, Dana Hill); "The Princess and the Pea" (Liza Minnelli, Tom Conti); "The Snow Queen" (Melissa Gilbert, Lance Kerwin, Lee Remick); "Hansel and Gretel" (Rick Schroder, Joan Collins); "Cinderella" (Jennifer Beals, Matthew Broderick, Jean Stapleton); "Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp" (Valerie Bertinelli, Robert Carradine, James Earl Jones, Leonard Nimoy); "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" (Eric Idle); "The Emperor's New Clothes" (Art Carney, Alan Arkin, Dick Shawn); "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (Tatum O'Neal, John Lithgow).

All the titles are also available seperately

Great Value and Good Entertainment
Long before Disney, these stories were both terrifying and entertaining children. Then, during the 1980s, Showtime produced the Faerie Tale Theatre. This is an excellent collection of fairy tales, and features some outstanding talent, including the main narrator, Shelly Duvall. I loved seeing her in this role after not particularly liking how Stanley Kubrik used her in "The Shining." Other pople to look for in this great collection: Billy Crystal, Mick Jagger, Jeff Bridges, Elliot Gould, Elizabeth McGovern, Vanessa Redgrave, Treat Williams, Melissa Gilbert, Tatum O'Neal, John Lithgow, and the list goes on. While these stories are told in the traditional manner, each of them also contains a bit of an O. Henry type twist at the end. Very entertaining and well worth the price when you consider there are 26 discs involved and about 20 hours of footage. I also noticed that these productions are popular on Ebay, but the prices seem to run about $12 per episode.

This collection features productions of:

The Tale of the Frog Prince
Rumpelstiltskin
Rapunzel
The Nightingale
Sleeping Beauty
Jack and the Beanstalk
Little Red Riding Hood
Hansel and Gretel
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
The Princess and the Pea
Pinocchio
Thumbelina
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Beauty and the Beast
The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers
The Three Little Pigs
The Snow Queen
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Cinderella
Puss 'n Boots
The Emperor's New Clothes
Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp
The Princess Who Had Never Laughed
Rip Van Winkle
The Little Mermaid
The Dancing Princesses