Faerie Tale Theatre
The 6-DVD Starmaker II box set cover
Also known as	Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre
Genre	Anthology Fairytale fantasy Adventure Drama
Created by	Shelley Duvall
Presented by	Shelley Duvall
Starring	see below
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	27 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Shelley Duvall for Gaylord Production Company, Lions Gate Films and Platypus Productions Fred Fuchs
Running time	39–58 minutes
Production companies	Gaylord Production Company Lion's Gate Films Platypus Productions
Original release
Network	Showtime
Release	September 11, 1982 (1982-09-11) – November 14, 1987 (1987-11-14)
Related
Tall Tales & Legends Nightmare Classics Bedtime Stories

Faerie Tale Theatre (also known as Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre) is an American award-winning live-action fairytale fantasy drama anthology television series of 27 episodes, that originally broadcast nationally on Showtime from September 11, 1982 until November 14, 1987 (before being sold internationally). It is a retelling of 25 classic fairy tales, particularly those written by The Brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault and Hans Christian Andersen. Episode 26 was not based on a fairy tale, but rather on the poem "The Pied Piper of Hamelin".

The 27th episode was a reunion special of cast and crew titled "Grimm Party", in which in fairy tale style, they attended a gala in fancy dress.

The series as a live-action adaptation was notable for featuring an alumni of Hollywood actors and famous celebrities portraying the costumed characters, and also utilized filming by well-known directors.

Faerie Tale Theatre was followed by three other short anthologies series also produced by Duvall including Tall Tales and Legends, which follows a similar theme to the later with a focus on American folklore, Nightmare Classics (6 produced of the intended 9 episodes), aimed at a younger audience and Bedtime Stories (12 episodes).

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 would begin with Duvall introducing herself and giving a brief synopsis of the nights fairytale episode that followed.

The series followed a similar style to an earlier fairy tale anthology series called Shirley Temple's Storybook broadcast between 1958 and 1961, in which Shirley Temple served 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.^[1]

Production

Duvall began the conception of Faerie Tale Theatre whilst she was filming the live-action 1980 film Popeye in Malta. She reportedly asked her co-star, Robin Williams, his opinion on "The Frog Prince", a fairy tale she was reading during production.^[2] Williams thought 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 himself would appear in the future 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, Tim Burton as well as an alumni of other famous Hollywood directors.

Episodes

Artwork

Many episodes feature backdrops and settings inspired by specific artists and children's book illustrators.^[3]

Home media

Faerie Tale Theatre was released on VHS, Betamax, CED, and Laserdisc in the 1980s through mid 1990s, initially by CBS/FOX Video (which was also in Australia), followed by Playhouse Video (an extended label under CBS/FOX), and later Razz Ma Tazz Entertainment/Cabin Fever Entertainment. In the UK, it was released by MGM-UA Home Video.

Starmaker II held the rights to the series from 2004 to 2006, and at first released 26 episodes as individual DVDs.^[4] This was followed by a double-sided 4-disc box set and then 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.^[5][6] A new remastered 7-disc box set, including the lost "Greatest Moments" episode, was released by Koch Vision in September 2008.^[7] 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").^[8]

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 originally broadcast on Showtime from 1982 and 1986, and re-aired on the Disney Channel from 1994 and 1996.^[9] It also broadcast in syndication on various television stations,^[10] including PBS^[11][12] and BookTelevision.^[13]

• In Italy, the series aired on Rai 1 every weekend in 1990, and again in 1991 and 1992 in the morning under the title "Nel regno delle fiable", meaning "In the Kingdom of Fairy Tales" in Italian.
• 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 an unnamed Philippine network.
• In Bangladesh on Bangladesh Television.
• In Sri Lanka on Rupavahini.
• In Turkey on TRT1.

See also

• Cannon Movie Tales
• Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme
• Shirley Temple's Storybook
• Tall Tales & Legends
• Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
• The Fairytaler

References

External links

• Faerie Tale Theatre at IMDb
• Faerie Tale Theatre at epguides.com