Faerie Tale Theatre

Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre -The Complete Collection Gift Set

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 "Little Pig" (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

Faerie Tale Theatre - The Emperor's New Clothes

Two con artists posing as tailors convince a clothes-conscious emperor that they can make him an outfit made of material so fine it's invisible.

Faerie Tale Theatre - The Three Little Pigs

Three pig brothers leave home to build their own houses, only to be confronted by a wolf who is hungry for pork.

Faerie Tale Theatre - The Dancing Princesses

A king discovers that his daughters' dancing slippers are worn out every morning and hires a man to find out where they are going when they're supposed to be asleep.

Faerie Tale Theatre - Jack and the Beanstalk

A boy sells the family cow for five magic beans which, when planted, grow into a tremendous beanstalk and lead him to a place in the clouds where a giant lives surrounded by gold.

Faerie Tale Theatre - Cinderella

Forced to stay home and clean while her evil stepmother and stepsisters attend the ball where the prince of the kingdom will choose a bride, a young woman is shocked by the appearance of her fairy godmother who makes her dreams come true.

Faerie Tale Theatre - Pinocchio

A lonely puppet maker's wish for a son is granted when one of his marionettes comes to life.

Faerie Tale Theatre - Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs

A jealous queen tries to kill a fair maiden with a poison apple, but she's saved by seven dwarfs and, ultimately, the kiss of a handsome prince.

Faerie Tale Theatre - The Princess And The Pea

Before she will allow her son to marry, a queen insists a young woman prove that she is a princess by feeling the presence of a pea underneath twenty mattresses.

Faerie Tale Theatre Complete Collection