Search - Jim Henson's The Storyteller ~ The Complete Collection on DVD

"The Best Place by the Fire was kept for the Storyteller!"

R. M. Fisher | New Zealand = Middle Earth! | 04/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jim Henson's most famous contribution to the entertainment world is obviously "The Muppets", but if you're looking for his best work (in terms of both visual brilliancy and depth of theme and meaning) the award would have to go to "Labyrinth" and "The Storyteller." The former is of course the famous movie starring David Bowie, but the latter was a television series that was made up of a collaboration of Anthony Minghella's screenplays that drew on a range of folklore and ancient storytelling, Jim Henson's amazing puppets and John Hurt's performance as a nameless, gnome-like storyteller who sits by the fire with his (extremely talkative) dog, speaking directly to the viewer of the marvellous things he's seen and done in his lifetime.There are nine episodes altogether, each one about twenty-five minutes long, with a separate tale in each one. Each one is both narrated by the Storyteller, but also acted out by a separate group of actors with which the Storyteller and his dog interact with - and it's not just them entering the world of the stories (such as the Storyteller performing a card trick in the court of the king)- sometimes the stories invade their fireside hearth: figures appear in the flames of the fire, shadows perform on the sides of pots and cups, the dog looks into his bowl to see faces looking up at him, and often the Storyteller produces objects that feature in the stories as proof of their reality.Each story is very different, both from each other and from their original source material in order to create tales that are new, but also deeply familiar. Archetypes such as foundling children, wicked stepmothers, fay-like helpers, magical implements and triad motifs are prevalient, and you'll be surprised at how many familiar faces turn up! Some of the episodes are melded from several stories (such as "The Soldier and Death" which uses three Slovac tales to piece together a longer story) but others simply change a few details from their original sources ("The Three Ravens" uses ravens instead of swans as seen in the myth "The Children of Lyr" or Hans Christian Anderson's later retelling "The Seven Wild Swans") Spotting the similarities is part of the fun of watching, but a warning to parents - not all of the stories end happily, and often the content itself can be violent, scary, enigmatic or even mildly sensual."Hans My Hedgehog" is the winner of several television awards, and tells a darker version of "Beauty and the Beast" and "East O' the Sun and West O' the Moon", of a woman who makes a wayward wish for a baby and ends up with a hedgehog for a son. "Fearnot" is the story of a young man that is so cheerful and simple that he has no idea what it's like to quiver and shudder in fear. Determined to know what the sensation is like he sets of - but the answer to being afraid may lie closer to home than he thinks..."The Heartless Giant" is the bittersweet tale of a young prince named Leo who befriends a giant that has a nest of wasps in place of his heart. But can such a creature be trusted?"Sapsorrow" is an interesting take on the "Cinderella" legend, as well as "Donkeyskin" in which a young woman seems to be forced to marry her own father if he does not hide herself within an elaborate disguise. "The Three Ravens" is one of my favourites - three brothers are turned into ravens by their stepmother, and it is up to their sister to break the curse by never speaking a word. But when she falls in love and finds her beloved's stepmother is the witch that caused her brother's grief her danger intensifies: her children begin to disappear, and she cannot speak to defend herself."The True Bride" is the story of Anja, the slave of a troll who is helped by a beautiful white lion into getting her fortune. But when her financee (Sean Bean!!) is kidnapped by the troll's daughter, she leaves all her riches in order to get him back."The Soldier and Death" tells of a soldier who manages to a deal with devils that results in him capturing Death itself in his sack. The portrayal of Death is fascinating, and the puppetry of the devils is amazing."A Story Short" is the Storyteller's own story about beggars and fleas, a cruel wife, a deal with a king and a pot of boiling oil. This is another of my favourites.Finally, "The Luck Child" concerns a young man named Lucky who is fated to be the next ruler of the land. The jealous king sends him on a dangerous quest to prove his worth, instructing him to bring back the griffin's golden feather. The puppet of the griffin is amazing, and the humour in this episode is great: "No, you're a sensitive monster!"Although some of the techniques used for scenery looks a little dated by today's standards, the puppets are as ingenious as ever, and "The Storyteller Collection" is an educational and intriging display of storytelling that I highly recommend."