Jim Henson's The Storyteller

October 17, 2004 | 8 Comments

Summary: A review of Jim Henson’s Storyteller Collection.

Over the last few weeks I’ve been slowly enjoying the surprisingly entertiaining and wholey endearing Storyteller Collection from Jim Henson Studios.

A collection of Nine classic fairy tales, The Storyteller Collection represents all that made Jim Henson and his team so special. They’re extremely entertaining, wonderfully produced and simply put—great entertainment.

The collection, the first of two such discs, concentrates mainly on european myths, but many of these a bit obscure and much more complicated than your typical fairy tales. Each episode is self contained but tied together by the presence of our narrator, The Storyteller, wonderfully played by John Hurt.

In addition to Hurt you’ll find many more great actors within the pages of these stories. Brian Henson, who plays the memorable voice of Hoggle in the equally charming Labyrinth, is here as the voice of The Storyteller’s dog.

You’ll also see a very young Sean Bean, Michael Gambon, Jan Horrocks and Jennifer Saunders from Ab Fab and many more talent actors.

But for me it’s all about the story. I loved “A Story Short” which is about the time our narrator almost ran out of stories, and the Beauty and the Beast like “Hans my Hedgehog.” I think my favorite was “The True Bride” with it’s trolls and magical white lion. But, really, it’s hard to choose, they’re all very good, very different and memorable in their own right.

If you have kids, are just a big kid yourself or just love great storytelling, this is a DVD for you.

Recommended if you like: Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, Clash of The Titans, The Neverending Story, Harry Potter

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Filed under: Review

Comments

1. Jason Santa Maria said:

I used to love this show so much when I was younger… I really need to pick up this DVD, sounds just as great as I remember it!

Posted on October 17, 2004 03:26 PM | #

2. Shelley said:

I’ll agree here, this is a great DVD. Interesting stories, great acting and production values and lots of fun!

Posted on October 17, 2004 06:22 PM | #

3. Quique Borredá said:

I enjoyed the stories too. Well, almost everything involving Jim Henson’s puppets. I remember they translated some of the stories to spanish, and were cast over here. Is that a multilingual DVD, or an english only edition? I need to slowly get to grow a collection of good titles for the kids. (preventing them, at the same time, from watching crap TV shows!)

Posted on October 18, 2004 03:32 AM | #

4. Ste Grainer said:

Agreed. I particularly liked how they transition from storyteller to story - it’s always very creatively done, and yet transparent enough that you don’t notice if you’re not paying attention. The stories are all from Grimm’s fairy tales, though there are some slight adaptations for the screen.

If you like this, there’s a new movie coming out sometime early next year called MirrorMask that was produced by the Henson company and Dave McKean, and written by Neil Gaiman (author of several great novels and the ever-fascinating Sandman graphic novels).

Posted on October 18, 2004 06:12 AM | #

5. Keith said:

Ste – I’m eagerly awaiting MirrorMask. I’m a huge Gaiman/McKean fan. I’v actually got just about all the original Sandman comics, I think I’m only missing a few of the really early issues.

Posted on October 18, 2004 09:14 AM | #

6. Joaquin said:

This brings a big smile to my face! I’ve got the Storyteller DVD’s too and I love ‘em. Same goes for my Dark Crystal DVD, Clash of The Titans video and The Neverending Story video I’ve got. Didn’t feel the same enthusiasm with Harry Potter, though.

Other gems (if only for sentimental value): Army of Darkness, Addams Family (the first one), The Black Cauldron and Willow.

Posted on October 19, 2004 07:22 AM | #

7. chris said:

i also agree the story teller dvd rocks and brought me back to childhood although i do hope they put out the second storyteller collection that was all based on the greek..or was it roman mythos. it wasnt as good i dont think but id still like to have it. one thing about the story teller dvd. wasnt there after bits on the show with jim and the lion showing some puppetry secrets or was that from the new muppet show?

Posted on November 2, 2004 12:27 AM | #

8. Susan said:

I really need to get this dvd! I remember watching Storyteller as a kid and how I was just mesmerized by the darkness of it. It was definitley the most magical of any series I’ve seen since. Chris, you might be thinking of a special called “The Secrets of the Muppets”. I could be wrong, but I know that Jim Henson discussed secrets of the muppets with the white lion in this special.

Posted on February 25, 2005 06:28 PM | #