The Storyteller 

An old storyteller tells European folk tales to his sarcastic dog.

Creator:

Jim Henson

Stars:

John Hurt, Brian Henson, Frederick Warder

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
John Hurt	...	The Storyteller 9 episodes, 1987-1988
Brian Henson	...	Storyteller's Dog / ... 9 episodes, 1987-1988
Frederick Warder	...	Giant / ... 3 episodes, 1987-1988
David Greenaway	...	Badger / ... 3 episodes, 1988
Robert Tygner	...	Badger / ... 3 episodes, 1988
Alistair Fullarton	...	Death / ... 3 episodes, 1988
Mak Wilson	...	Badger / ... 3 episodes, 1988
Diana Payan	...	Miller's Wife / ... 2 episodes, 1988
Robin Summers	...	Jailer / ... 2 episodes, 1987-1988
Michael Kilgarriff	...	Lion / ... 2 episodes, 1987-1988
Peter Marinker	...	Devil / ... 2 episodes, 1988

Storyline

A variety of European folk tales are retold in nine new stories. A soldier captures Death in a magic sack. A fearless young man sets out to learn to shudder. A boy with a destiny that frightens a tyrant is sent on an impossible task that will see him wed the princess, or dead. A storyteller must spin tales to stay alive. A woman bears a hedgehog-child who grows up to live alone in a castle until he does a king a favor and gets the princess's hand in return. A princess must keep silent while she works to free her brothers from an evil spell. A princess runs away from wedding her father and disguises herself as an ugly forest creature. A young boy must overcome a heartless giant. A princess searches the earth for her stolen bridegroom.

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Plot Keywords:

storyteller | dog | dark fantasy | storytelling | talking animal | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family | Fantasy | Horror

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 April 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jim Henson's The Storyteller

Filming Locations:

Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Henson Associates (HA), TVS Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

225 min (9 episodes) 25 min (9 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jim Henson originally wanted the Storyteller to be a puppet. Ron Mueck even designed and built a puppet head to try out this concept, but after he tested what an actor could look like with prosthetic facial changes, he suggested it would be more effective to have a live actor. Sir John Hurt was given a somewhat puppet-like appearance, with a prosthetic nose, sizable ears, and much make-up.

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Quotes

The Storyteller: Ears pricked that shouldn't've.

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Connections

Featured in Troldspejlet: Episode #3.1 (1990)

User Reviews

amazingly satistfying

i loved this series when i was 6 and now i own it on dvd i love it even more.The key to this(and all the other jim henson fantasies)is that if they had recreated all those monsters with a computer, it might have looked okay then but by now it would of been laughed at by any critical viewer.The stories are all so beautifully created they are extremeley hard to forget, and who said the title music was corny!! my favourite of all the stories is probably the three ravens in a close tye with the soldier and death. the only episode i dont like is hans my hedgehog, this can be forgiven as it was made as a pilot and probably had smaller budget, the camera is shakey storytellers makeup is different and hans mum and dad are two terribly annoying actors but all the rest are great buy and enjoy edward