The Storyteller is a live-action/puppet television series that originally aired in 1987 and which was created and produced by Jim Henson.

Reruns of The Storyteller episodes were featured in some episodes of The Jim Henson Hour.

History The series retold various European folk tales, particularly ones considered obscure in Western culture, created with a combination of actors and puppets. The framing device had an old Storyteller (John Hurt) sitting by a fire telling each tale to both the viewers and to his talking dog (a realistic looking puppet of a brown and blonde Pudelpointer performed and voiced by Brian Henson) who acted as the voice of the viewers, and was written in a language and traditional style in keeping with old folk tales.

Jim Henson said on the first episode of The Jim Henson Hour that he came up with idea of The Storyteller because he wanted to mashup old folk stories with elements from music videos that were shown on MTV and VH1 at the time.

In the "Secret of the Muppets" episode of The Jim Henson Hour, Jim Henson stated that the Storyteller has a half-puppet appearance. Heavy make-up was used to create the character, notably large ears and a prosthetic nose, resembling the titular character from the children's book by Roald Dahl, The BFG. The Storyteller was initially conceived by Jim Henson as an animatronic puppet character. However, Ron Mueck filmed a test with facial prosthetics, to suggest that an actor in make-up would be more effective.No Strings Attached

Henson, having worked with director Steve Barron on the music videos for David Bowie's songs "As the World Falls Down" and "Underground" (both from Henson's Labyrinth (1986)), was so impressed with Barron's work that he invited him to direct several episodes of the series.

Broadcast "Hans My Hedgehog", "Fearnot", "A Story Short", and "The Luck Child" aired (in that order) in the United States on NBC as standalone specials in January 1987, October 1987, January 1988, and April 1988, respectively. All nine episodes were then aired in the UK on Channel 4 between May and July 1988. "The Heartless Giant", "The Soldier and Death", "The True Bride", and "Sapsorrow" first aired (in that order) in the US as part of The Jim Henson Hour on NBC, the first two in April 1989, the latter two in July 1989. "The Three Ravens" was included in the Jim Henson Hours twelfth episode, "Food", but the series was cancelled before it had a chance to air. "The Three Ravens" was not shown in the US until 1997, when the entire series was rerun by HBO.

The episodes

The Soldier and Death Taken from an early Russian folk tale retold in English by Arthur Ransome and is also inspired by "Godfather Death". A soldier returns home after 20 years of war, with three biscuits in his knapsack. On his way he meets three beggars to whom he gives the biscuits; in return one gives him a ruby whistle, one the jolliest dance, and the final man, who gets the last biscuit despite the soldier being hungry himself, in return gives him a pack of magic playing cards and a musty sack that has the power to trap anything ordered into it. Using the sack, the soldier manages to trap a flock of geese, and so manages to feed himself. Upon arriving at an abandoned castle overrun with small devils, he plays them in a game of cards, winning 40 barrels of gold, and when they try to kill him, he captures them in the sack only letting them go when they promise to never return. He makes one of them swear to serve him and keeps its foot as leverage. Quickly becoming rich and famous because he removed the devils from a palace that is owned by the Tzar, his luck runs short when his son becomes deathly ill. Calling upon the devil, the soldier is given a glass goblet that allows the owner to see Death. If Death is at the foot of the person's bed (as was the case with his son), he or she will recover if sprinkled with water from the goblet. If Death is at the head of the bed, nothing can be done. Then the Tzar becomes ill and the soldier, seeing Death at the head of his bed, makes a bargain with Death: his life in exchange for the Tzar's. Death takes his offer and gives the illness to the soldier, curing the Tzar. Lying in his death bed, he summons Death into his sack and stops death from happening everywhere. But as time goes on, he sees people everywhere who are waiting for death that will not come. So he frees Death, who fears the soldier and his sack so much that he refuses to take the soldier's life. The soldier, old and weary of life, seeks out a way to die. He travels down to the underworld, forcing the devils at the gates (the same ones from before) to give him two hundred souls and a map to heaven. Terrified of the sack, the devils agree to his demands. Upon reaching the gates of heaven, he asks to be let in with the souls while begging for forgiveness from God, but he is denied by the gatekeeper. He gives the sack to one of the souls, asking the soul to summon him into the sack when he has passed through the gates. But since there is no memory in heaven, the soul forgets and the soldier is condemned to live forever upon the Earth. In closing, the Storyteller remarks (with a smile) that the soldier is still probably about his business. As the Storyteller tosses the bag aside, a devil emerges from the bag unnoticed by the Storyteller but noticed by the dog who dismisses it as his imagination.

The episode stars Bob Peck as the Soldier, John Franklyn-Robbins as the Tzar and Alistair Fullarton performs Death. The Devils are performed by David Barclay, Michael Bayliss, Marcus Clarke, Richard Coombs, John Eccleston, Geoff Foxx, Brian Henson, Mike Quinn, and Francis Wright while Tony Jackson, Peter Hawkins, and Peter Marinker voice the Devils.

This episode was directed by Jim Henson.

Fearnot From an early German folk tale. The Storyteller recounts the adventures of a boy who goes out into the world to learn what fear is, accompanied by a dishonest but loveable tinker. He faces many dangers without learning to be afraid, only to learn that fear is at home: the fear of losing his sweetheart.

This episode stars Reece Dinsdale as Fearnot, Gabrielle Anwar as his sweetheart, Willie Ross as the Tinker, Mr. McKay, Mark Williams as Fearnot's brother, and Michael Cuckson as the Pond Sprite.

The episode was directed by Steve Barron.

The Luck Child Featuring elements from the German folk tales "The Griffin" and "The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs". The seventh son of a seventh son is born—a Luck Child. The wise men prophesy that someday he will be King. The oppressive King hears about the prophecy, and plots to kill the child. With his chancellor by his side, he sweeps the countryside for the Luck Child. Taking him away from the boy's biological parents, he pushes the chancellor and the child off a high cliff. While the chancellor becomes a meal for the Griffin, the boy survives since his swaddling safely unraveled him to the shore. He is found and raised by an elderly couple and is named Lucky. Years later, the King finds Lucky while inspecting a mill's harvest. Recognizing him as the Luck Child after hearing the elderly couple's tale, the King promptly hands the young man a proclamation to be delivered to his kingdom. Lost in the forest, Lucky stumbles into an underground den of thieves and meets a little man. The little man drugs the gullible Lucky, being skilled in the art of hiding his concoctions in goulash. Curious of his victim's message, The Little Man reads the King's proclamation: the King demands that the Queen have Lucky chopped into a thousand pieces. The Little Man pities Lucky and forges the King's handwriting to change the youth's fate--"Marriage. Do this without delay". While Lucky is still unconscious, the Little Man drags him within eyesight of his destination. The King is enraged upon his return as he sees Lucky marrying his treasured daughter with his written approval. Claiming that the new groom must prove his worth, the king declares that Lucky must bring him a golden feather from the dreaded Griffin (a nigh impossible task as far as the king is concerned). Lucky sets for the island where the beast dwells and has a ferryman take him to his destination. The ferryman shares that he doesn't know why he is forced to perform his task rowing back and forth across the blackened water without ending. So Lucky promises to find the answer. In the beast's lair, he meets the Little Man from the forest who was saved and brought there by the Griffin due to his delicious cooking. The Little Man tells Lucky to hide, drugs the Griffin with his tampered goulash, plucks the golden feather for the boy, and persuades the creature to reveal the solution to the ferryman's lament. As Lucky escapes while the Griffin sleeps, the youth takes a chest full of treasure on the shore of the island and returns triumphant. He explains to the ferryman to offer his pole to the next visitor in order to gain freedom. The King reluctantly gives his blessing to marry the Princess, yet is soon enchanted by the jewels Lucky has brought back. His greed leads him to the Griffin's island but he becomes impatient with the ferryman's speed. The ferryman offers his pole and the King is given the ferryman's previous fate as the ferryman is set free from his curse.

This episode stars Steven Mackintosh as the Luck Child, Philip Jackson as the King, Cathryn Bradshaw as the Princess, Pauline Moran as the Queen, Anthony O'Donnell as the Little Man, Robert Eddison as the Cursed Ferryman, and George Little as the voice of the Griffin (which is operated by Alistair Fullarton and Brian Henson).

The episode was directed by Jon Amiel.

A Story Short From an early Celtic folk tale according to the creators of the series. Based on a folk tale with many variants worldwide. In an adaptation of the Stone Soup fable, the Storyteller tells of a harsh time when he was forced to walk the land as a beggar. Finding himself in sight of the castle kitchen, he picks up a stone and fools the castle cook into helping him make soup from a stone, by adding it into a cauldron of water and slowly adding other ingredients to improve the flavour. When the cook realizes he has been swindled, he asks that the Storyteller be boiled alive. As a compromise, the King promises to give the Storyteller a gold crown for each story he tells for each day of the year - and to boil him if he fails. The Storyteller does well at first, but on the final day, he awakens and can think of no story. In a panic he roams the castle grounds, running into a magical beggar who turns him into a flea. At the end of the day when the King calls for his story, the Storyteller confesses he has no story, and instead tells the King the true tale of his adventures under the magic of the beggar that day.

This is the only episode where the Storyteller himself plays a major part in the story he tells. The other actors include Brenda Blethyn as the Storytel's wife, Bryan Pringle as the cook, Richard Vernon as the King, and John Kavanagh as the Beggar.

This episode was directed by Charles Sturridge.

Hans My Hedgehog