Faerie Tale Theatre

I grew up enraptured of FAERIE TALE THEATRE. My sister and I would watch them and then act them out later playing dress-up. We even went as far as re-enacting the publicity ad where Shelley Duvall (God bless her for coming up with the idea for this show!!!) would sit on the PRINCESS AND THE PEA set surrounded by hundreds of old antique books and introduce several different episodes of this timeless series. My favorites would have to be (1) LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD (2) THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA and (3) GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS. Others are THE THREE LITTLE PIGS, SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, Cinderella, RAPUNZEL, THE DANCING PRINCESSES and THE LITTLE MERMAID. Malcolm McDowell as the Wolf in RED RIDING HOOD, Vanessa Redgrave as the evil queen in SNOW WHITE, Eve Arden as the Stepmother, Karen Black as the Sea Witch and Gena Rowlands as the Witch in RAPUNZEL are by far the best portrayals. And, miracle of miracles, they are FINALLY AVAILABLE ON DVD!!!! Praise Jesus!!!! Check them out at unbelievably discounted prices of just $6.98 each @starmaker2.com and amazon.com at the same price! This is truly a series that all can enjoy no matter what your age is.

I remember when I heard that Fairie Tale Theatre was coming out. I remember trying to find every way that I could to convince my parents to get Showtime on which they aired. When I finally did get to see them I was spell bound.

Each one of these stories is literally hand crafted by the directors (some of them famous directors like Francis Ford Coppella) and Shelley Duvall to reflect a certain style. An example being the Sleeping Beauty tale was set in Russia with the sets and costumes designed to look like scenes from classic Russian motifs, the music from the Russian ballet. Another being the direct rip off of the classic Jean Cocteau film "Beauty and the Beast".

All of these were designed with the intent of entertaining not only children but adults. Some of the best moments in these are only things that adults will understand. Christopher Reeve does a fantastic job in his multi-role part in "Sleeping Beauty" as does Malcolm McDowell as the Wolf in "Little Red Riding Hood". McDowell infuses the character with a subtle dark sensuality. His chemistry with his then wife Mary Steenburgen is strong.

Probably the best one of all is the "Three Little Pigs" with Jeff Goldblum (as the Big Bad Wolf), Valerie Perrine (as a ravishing piglette), and Billy Crystal(as one of the three little pigs). The writing in this one is completely off the wall.

The only episode I was disappointed with was Tony Bill's version of "The Princess and the Pea", featuring Tom Conti and Liza Minnelli. I saw no chemistry between Conti and Minnelli, and I think some of the stuff in it was a little too highbrow for kids.

The only overall problems that I noted with the series itself were that the pacing tended to be off in some of the shows, and some of actors tended to ham it up big time and be a little too over the top (like Vanessa Redgrave in "Snow White").

Faerie Tale Theatre is a gem, a jewel, of a series. They are wonderful for children, but make sure the adults in the family watch them also. My personal favorite is The Frog Prince with Robin Williams and Teri Garr. Teri Garr has best line in the show: "I didn't turn down all those princes to shack up with a frog". Although The Frog Prince is my favorite, others are wonderful to. Mick Jagger is remarkably good Emperor in The Nightingale. Lee Remick is unbelievably beautiful as The Snow Queen. The Three Pigs has Jeff Goldblum as the Big Bad Wolf with Billy Crystal as the responsible pig brother. The prize goes to Valerie Perrine as a lady pig (not in the original story) that would have Miss Piggy eating her heart out. Joan Collins is the wicked step-mother and the wicked witch in Hansel and Gretal and she was never more wicked. Shelley Duval has created a masterpiece in this series. If we could vote on a series I would give it a 10/10. Even if you don't have any children, please try at least one. It will be your first but not your last.

"Faerie Tale Theatre" is a series of fifty-minute adaptations of some of the most famous fairy-tales, starring established actors and celebrities in a variety of whimsical roles: Robin Williams as the Frog Prince, Mick Jagger as the Emperor in "The Nightingale", Vanessa Redgrave as the Queen in "Snow White" and Susan Sarandon as the beauty who fell for a beast. Made during the 80s, they have stood the test of time fairly well, even if their soft video appearance and somewhat cheesy electronic scores seem a bit hard to swallow for some nowadays. There are indeed a few things to raise a few eyebrows about ("Pinocchio" is a bit of a muddled affair, "Beauty and the Beast" essentially plagiarises Jean Cocteau's 1946 version of the story), but the episodes are more faithful to the original stories than many of their counterparts are, especially the ones that were adapted a few years later by Disney ("The Little Mermaid", "Aladdin").

The "theatre" of the title is quite accurate, as most episodes have quite a theatrical nature to them in terms of effects, costume and sets, yet this doesn't do much disservice to the series. The writing does not seem aimed at any specific audience, and the result is a series that doesn't talk down to anyone. While the series may lack overall the enchanting polish and majesty of the Disney animated films or other major film productions, it provides an interesting and relatively faithful group of fairy-tale films. Recommended for the young and young-at-heart.

i dont know why but i always used to call this the Krofft Supershow of the 80's. maybe that is pushing it but anyone who saw this show would not disagree the imagination and fun of this series. Each episode was roughly an hour long and each episode dedicated to diferent Fairy Tales starring some of the biggest names in the busness. The show was produced, narrated and opened by Shelly DuVaul. Its witty writing and good acting were a guaranteed hit. the show ran from 1982 to 1987 with random syndications all over the place and was released on video by Playhouse(which arguably had the coolest beginning), CBS fox and Raz ma Taz or something like that. The show had some of the biggest directors like Francis Ford Coppola(Rip Van Winkle)and Tim Burton(Alladin and his Wonderful Lamp) directing some of the biggest stars such as

Tatum O'Neal as goldilocks, Billy Crystal as Larry, the 3rd Pig, Robin Williams and Terri Garr in The Frog Prince, Jeff Goldblum as The Big Bad Wolf, Vinent Price as the magic mirror in snow white, Gregory Hines and Ben Vereen in Puss in Boots, Elliot Gould, Jean Stapleton and Dennis Christopher in Jack and the Beanstalk, Valerie Bertinelli, Lenard Nemoy, Robert Carradine and James Earl Jones in Alladin, Matthew Broderick and Jennifer Beals in Cinderella, Ricky Shroder and Joan Collins in Hansel and Gretal, Carrie Fisher as Thumbelina, Eric Idle in the Pied Piper of Hamlin, Carl Riner, James Belushi, Michael Richards and Paul Reubens in Pinnochio, MalcomMcDowell and Mary Steinburgen in Little Red Riding Hood, Pam Dawber as the Little Mermaid, Shelly Duvaul, Herve` Vilachez and Ned Beatty in Rumpelstiltskin, Art Carney and Alan Arkin in The Emperors New Clothes, Mick Jagger in The Nightingale, Liza Manelli in the Princess and the Pea, Howie Mandell in The Princess Who Had Never Laughed, Christopher Reeves in Sleeping Beauty, Lee Remick as the Snow Queen, Elizabeth McGovern as Snow White and Harry Dean Stanton as Rip Van Winkle.

And there was many more than that. that was basicly the run down of each episode and the bigger stars in each one. i used to have all 26 episodes on video but now am down to about 15. with the re-release of i think 12(plus a mail away princess who had never laughed) by Raz Ma Taz you shouldnt have too much of a problem obtaining the better ones. Blockbuster has a handful too. I highly recommend checking these out. You may just love these more than your kids. This show is perfect for the young and the young at heart. I cant recommend it enough.