An old storyteller tells European folk tales to his sarcastic dog.An old storyteller tells European folk tales to his sarcastic dog.An old storyteller tells European folk tales to his sarcastic dog.
- Won 1 Primetime Emmy
- 4 wins & 3 nominations total
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10hitchs
This is the best television series for children (and adults) ever. John Hurt is a great actor, with many excellent performances over many years, but he was born to play the storyteller. The scripts for almost every episode are superb pieces of craftsmanship, and the productions run the gamut of the emotions, being alternately funny, sad, happy, exciting, and always hauntingly beautiful. It is hard to pick a best episode from so many excellent contenders, but "The Soldier and Death", with its timeless pathos, is unbeatable. It is a series to watch with your children, over and over again.
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
The Storyteller is a series that will age well, despite some use of primitive computer generated effects. It appeals to young and old, as long as there is still a sense of wonder and magic in the individual. It is beautifully, lyrically written and based on ancient stories that have been thoroughly researched. The actors are magnificent, as are the creatures which Jim Henson's team creates. The medieval score lends an authenticity to each episode and is thoroughly enchanting in its own right. There is a richness to the series that is not found in Disney, as there is no attempt to dumb down the stories for children. The best episodes are "The Three Ravens", "Straggletag" and "The Soldier and Death".
This series is wonderful. It was bought for me when I was little, and I still love watching it. I know all the stories by heart, but I still get carried away in the magic and beauty of it all. It's hard to pick a favourite episode, but I'd have to say Sapsorrow is way up there. I guess I've always loved the pretty dresses and the mysterious way the beautiful princess transforms into a hideous creature. And the two bad sisters!- you can't help but love to hate them, and Jennifer Saunders is brilliant!
And whoever said that this series is 'insane' must be insane themselves, and have absolutely no idea about culture or about the magical world of stories.
And whoever said that this series is 'insane' must be insane themselves, and have absolutely no idea about culture or about the magical world of stories.
The Storyteller is excellent on so many levels. It tells fables or fairy tales from a variety of cultural sources and "universalizes" them somewhat for people who don't understand the particular cultural context. It's filmatic techniques are fantastic, such as the many clever segues from scene to scene. And, the creature effects are still better than anything anyone else has tried to do. The entire series is a testament to the creative genius of Jim Henson that has, unfortunately, been lost with him.
Did you know
- TriviaSir John Hurt loved working on this series, and wished it could've lasted for more than one season. Jim Henson also planned to use more detailed folktales and the Creature Shop to make more episodes, some possibly being hour-long specials. However, despite critical acclaim, low ratings due to parents feeling the series was too frightening for children led to the series being canceled after its first season. Some completed scripts included ones based on Petrosinella, an Italian version of Rapunzel; The Witch Baby, which was used in the 2011 Storyteller graphic novel anthology; and Vasilissa the Beautiful, which was adapted into four issue comic book miniseries "The Storyteller: Witches" in 2014 which was followed by more miniseries each year including "The Storyteller: Dragons" in 2015, "The Storyteller: Giants" in 2016, "The Storyteller: Fairies" in 2017, "The Storyteller: Sirens" in 2019, "The Storyteller: Ghosts" in 2020, "The Storyteller: Tricksters" in 2021 and "The Storyteller: Shapeshifters" in 2022. It is unknown if there will be further additions to the series.
- Quotes
The Storyteller: [opening lines] When people told themselves their past with stories, explained their present with stories, foretold the future with stories, the best place by the fire was kept for... The Storyteller.
- Crazy creditsA bird flies through various scenes, before emerging from the Storyteller's mouth and dropping a ring on a stone, which forms the O in the series title.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Troldspejlet: Episode #3.1 (1990)
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