The Fourth in a series of anthology programs created and hosted by Shelley Duvall, Bedtime Stories represents a return to form for Duvall after unsuccessfully trying to expand the appeal of the format beyond children's stories with the short lived Nightmare Classics. In Bedtime Stories Duvall plays host(along with Clicker the Clock and Ticker the Lamp in season two) to a series animated shorts narrated by various celebrity guests reading the book's actual words over the animation. The Guests are quite eclectic includling great actors like James Earl Jones and Sissy Spacek, SCTV alums like John Candy and Rick Moranis, SNL Alums like Steve Martin and Martin Short, and even former Beatle Ringo Starr. The diverse collection of narrators helps give each short its own unique identity and the animation is absolutely gorgeous covering many different styles successfully adapting the art styles of the books from whcih they're adapted. The animation was done by Univseral Cartoon Studios responsible for the direct to video Land Before Time sequels, as well as various action based cartoons on the USA Network's short lived Action Extreme Team lineup, and this is easily their most ambitious work. It's a short lived featuring only 2 seasons of 6 episodes each, but for those lucky enough to have seen it left an impression with its creativity, warmth and heart.
