Faerie Tale Theatre

Series background

Actress Shelley Duvall, who conceived the series, served as executive producer and host alongside associate producers Bridget Terry and Fred Fuchs. Duvall also starred in three episodes, portraying various characters, and was a featured narrator of three episodes, as well as providing the voice of the animatronic Nightingale, in the episode of the same title.

Every episode begins with Duvall introducing herself and giving a brief synopsis of the night's fairy-tale episode that would follow.

The series followed a style similar to an earlier fairy-tale anthology series, called Shirley Temple's Storybook, broadcast between 1958 and 1961, in which Shirley Temple serves as narrator, with this series also featuring numerous celebrities portraying the costumed characters.

The series was one of the first examples of original cable programming, alongside HBO's Fraggle Rock.

Production

Duvall began the conception of Faerie Tale Theatre while she was filming the live-action 1980 film, Popeye, in Malta. She reportedly asked her co-star, Robin Williams, for his opinion on "The Frog Prince", a fairy tale that she was reading during production. Williams thought that it was funny, and would later star in the namesake pilot episode of the series that was written, narrated, and directed by Monty Python's Eric Idle (who would appear in the episode "The Pied Piper of Hamelin").

Many of the episodes were produced by Fred Fuchs, in association with Duvall, with the screenplays written by Rod Ash, Mark Curtiss, Maryedith Burrell and Robert C. Jones. All of the episodes were produced and shot from 1982 to 1985, and videotaped mostly at the ABC Television Studios in Burbank, California.

Episodes were directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Ivan Passer, Emile Ardolino, and Tim Burton, as well as other famous Hollywood directors.

Episodes

Main article: List of Faerie Tale Theatre episodes

Artwork

Many episodes feature backdrops and settings inspired by specific artists and children's book illustrators.

Home media

Faerie Tale Theatre was released on VHS, Betamax, CED and Laserdisc in the 1980s through the mid-1990s, initially by CBS/FOX Video (which was also in Australia), followed by Playhouse Video (an extended label under CBS/FOX) and Razzmatazz Entertainment/Cabin Fever Entertainment. In the UK, it was released by MGM-UA Home Video. In Japan, in addition to other formats, all episodes were released individually on Video8 format by Sanrio.

Starmaker II held the rights to the series from 2004 to 2006, and at first, released 26 episodes as individual DVDs. This was followed by a double-sided 4-disc box set and a 6-disc box set, each version containing the same 26 episodes. The "Greatest Moments" episode was not included in this release.

After 2006, Koch Vision held the series' distribution rights, and in November 2006, licensed the rights worldwide (excluding DVDs in North America) to the British company, 3DD Entertainment. A remastered 7-disc box set, including the lost "Greatest Moments" episode, was released by Koch Vision in September 2008. In 2009, Koch Vision released the episodes by theme on six DVD compilations: Tales from the Brothers Grimm ("Hansel and Gretel", "Rapunzel", "Rumpelstiltskin", and "Little Red Riding Hood"), Funny Tales ("The Tale of The Frog Prince", "Pinocchio", "The Three Little Pigs", and "The Princess Who Had Never Laughed"), Tales from Hans Christian Andersen ("The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Nightingale", "The Snow Queen", and "Thumbelina"), Princess Tales ("Cinderella", "The Little Mermaid", "The Dancing Princesses", and "The Princess and the Pea"), Magical Tales ("Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp", "Beauty and the Beast", "Puss in Boots", and "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs") and Bedtime Tales ("Jack and the Beanstalk", "Sleeping Beauty", "Rip Van Winkle", and "Goldilocks and the Three Bears").

When released on DVD by Starmaker II and Koch Vision, the following scenes were cut from the series:

• "Goldilocks and the Three Bears": Papa Bear and Mama Bear trying to fix Cubby Bear's chair; the Charades scene is shortened.
• "The Pied Piper of Hamelin": Julius Caesar Rat's monologue.
• "Rumpelstiltskin": the Miller's daughter singing with the animals in the forest (this scene was also unavailable on the VHS releases).

Awards

Local and international broadcast

In the United States, the series was originally broadcast on Showtime from 1982 to 1987, and re-aired on the Disney Channel from 1994 to 1996. It was also broadcast in syndication on various television channels, including PBS and BookTelevision.

• In Italy, the series aired on Rai 1 every weekend in 1990, and mornings in 1991 and 1992, under the title Nel regno delle fiable, translated to "In the Kingdom of Fairy Tales".
• In Brazil on TV Cultura.
• In Hong Kong, it aired on ATV World every Saturday.
• In Mexico on Canal 5.
• In India on DD National.
• In Malaysia on TV2.
• In Bulgaria on BNT 2.
• In the Philippines on GMA.
• In Bangladesh on Bangladesh Television.
• In Sri Lanka on Rupavahini.
• In Turkey on TRT1.
• In the United Kingdom on Channel 4.

References

References

1. Sandra Salmans. (6 February 1984). "Showtime Challenges Rivals". The New York Times.
2. Suskin, Steven. (2008-09-07). "THE DVD SHELF: "Mad Men" Season One, and Duvall's "Faerie Tale Theatre"". Playbill.com.
3. Stengel, Richard and Denise Worrell. (July 25, 1983). "Video: Cinderella Puts On a Show".
4. Bianculli, David}}{{dead link. (October 28, 2004). "Old Family Treasures Unearthed On DVD". New York Daily News.
5. (November 3, 2006). "3DD Takes On New Properties from U.S. Companies". World Screen.
6. (November 6, 2006). "International Market: 3DD Entertainment". Cynopsis: Multi-Cultural & International Edition.
7. (2 September 2008). "Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: The Complete Collection (2008)".
8. [http://kochvision.com/ Catalog] kochvision.com
9. Bianculli, David. (September 26, 1995). "Cable Viewers Suffer Unkindest Cuts Of All". New York Daily News.
10. Nanwalt, Sasha. (August 6, 1989). "TELEVISION; Shelley Duvall Tries Scaring Up A New Audience". The New York Times.
11. Lomartire, Paul. (April 21, 1992). "'BEDTIME STORIES' A FINE SHOW FOR KIDS". Palm Beach Post.
12. link. (2012-09-18 klru.org)
13. (March 29, 2007). "Program Schedule". [[BookTelevision]].