Faerie Tale Theatre – Complete Series

Description

One of the first gems of the cable TV age, Faerie Tale Theatre brings 26
classic tales to life. Produced over a five-year span (1982-87) for Showtime,
FTT brought together creative dramatics and whimsical writing with some of the
top talents of the day. Executive producer/host Shelley Duvall (who was coming
off her breakout role in The Shining) shepherds this mix of theatrical
simplicity and grand storytelling for these oft-told tales (Goldilocks and the
Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty,and
the like) for kids and their parents. Since they are not elaborately produced,
FTT may be a hard sell for some smaller members of the family at first, but
most should be hooked, even older kids who may pooh-pooh fairy tales. There’s
always a slight twist that makes these productions fresh. The cast is amazing,
especially when you think how lightly cable television was thought of in the
’80s: Jeff Bridges, Bud Cort, Liza Minnelli, James Coburn, Susan Sarandon,
Christopher Reeve, Klaus Kinski, Billy Crystal, Matthew Broderick, Gregory
Hines, Eric Idle, Robin Williams, and Mick Jagger are some of the talented–
and varied–actors appearing. Crystal’s take on the smart 3 Little Pigs (with
Jeff Goldblum as the wolf) and Williams’s Frog Prince are two comic gems.
Malcolm McDowell, right in the middle of his career high-point of playing
baddies, brings flair to the Big Bad Wolf, while his then-real-life wife Mary
Steenburgen beautifully counterpoints as Red Riding Hood. The casting of
Vincent Price and Vanessa Redgrave in Snow White is inspired. Also impressive
are the directors Duvall pooled: Tim Burton (Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp),
Francis Ford Coppola (Rip Van Winkle) Peter Medak (three episodes), Nicholas
Meyer (Pied Piper), and Roger Vadim (Beauty and the Beast). You can go on for
days about these wonderful tales, most totaling around the 45-minute mark, but
it’s better just to get the set and start wherever you’d like; you will get to
the end sooner than you think. –Doug Thomas

Features:

Product Details:

• Genre: Kids & Family/Television
• Format: Multiple Formats, Color, NTSC
• Contributor: Billy Crystal, Various, Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall
• Language: English
• Number Of Discs: 7
• Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 12 Ounces
• Item model number ‏ : ‎ 35218219
• Director ‏ : ‎ Various
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ Multiple Formats, Color, NTSC
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 22 hours and 6 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ July 1, 2016
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Shelley Duvall, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment