The Storyteller (1987) Jim Henson   This outstanding but short-lived series has finally been made available on DVD. The brainchild of Jim Henson, The Storyteller was an audacious blend of live actors and animatronic characters fashioned by Henson's Creature Shop. After the cool reception of his feature films The Dark Crystal (which was probably too esoteric) and Labyrinth (which was perhaps too commercial), Henson strikes a right balance with The Storyteller. Designed as a weekly half-hour anthology, each episode was an adaptation of a European folk-tale, narrated by the elvish-looking Storyteller (played by John Hurt) who spins his mythical tales amidst interruptions from his incredulous dog. Produced in England, The Storyteller boasted some of the finest talent that country had to offer. Each episode was scripted by Anthony Minghella (The English Patient) and brought to life by a team of superb directors, among them Steve Barron (Merlin), Charles Sturridge (The Jewel in the Crown) as well as Jim Henson himself. Casting included Sean Bean, Jennifer Saunders, Jonathan Pryce, and Miranda Richardson, and each episode was scored with luscious delicacy by Rachel Portman (Emma). Only nine episodes of The Storyteller were produced but each one is a gem, gorgeously photographed and designed, and all are included on this single-disc release. "Hans My Hedgehog" tells the story of a youth who is born half-human and half-beast and the princess who can free him from this curse. "The Heartless Giant" involves a young boy who befriends an angry giant while "The Three Ravens" finds a young princess fighting to save her father from his new queen, a wicked witch bent on destroying the royal family. In "The True Bride," a mysterious white lion comes to the aid of a young woman as she tries to rescue her love from the clutches of a hideous trollop who has bewitched him. "The Soldier and Death" tells of a man who gains possession of a magic sack, in which he imprisons the Grim Reaper himself. "Fearnot" is the tale of an irresponsible teenager who has never felt fear while the Storyteller himself is the protagonist of "A Story Short," in which he recalls an occasion where a bout of writer's block almost cost him his head. "The Luck Child" is the tale of a boy prophesized to one day wear the crown, and the king who was determined to keep this from happening while "Sapsorrow" is a variation on the Cinderella story. There is no shortage of amazing creatures in this series, which showcases the extraordinary puppet creations of Henson's Creature Shop (special mention must also go to Jim Henson's son Brian, who performs as the storyteller's dog). It is, however, a sad remainder of how the art of animatronics has lost ground in recent years to the more novel (but in my opinion, less convincing) practice of CGI creature effects. For all the strengths of the series itself, actual presentation on this DVD is somewhat lacking. The image quality is mediocre, partly due to data compression (there are 216 minutes of material crammed onto one disc), and also to the limitations of video at the time the series was produced. This does not make much difference on a conventional TV, but on a computer screen or HDTV, it appears fuzzy, and horizontal lines are omnipresent. On-disc supplements are nil (except for two promo trailers for the Dark Crystal and Labyrinth DVDs), but the packaging does include some text and behind-the-scenes stills from the series. A booklet insert provides background on the production of "The Soldier and Death" and "A Story Short" but oddly does not discuss any of the other episodes. Despite these disappointments, The Storyteller is an incontestable treasure and is likely to be enjoyed by both children and adults alike. —Paul Andrew MacLean

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