Ancient tales series

[Fame]

I'm trying to remember the name of an old series I used to like a lot.
I reckon it's probably 20 years old by now - set your minds to mid-80's and see if it rings a bell :

Every episode was dedicated to a different story.
It always starts with the storyteller sitting in his living room, with his sleepy dog warming up in front of the fireplace.
Then when he starts narrating, we get a 40-45 mis of a great ancient tale.

I only remember 2 episodes right now :

1) There was a man who wasnt afraid of anyhting...he actually didnt know what "Fear" means. He risked his life so many times and yet was not afraid to lose it. The only time he realized what fear meant, was when someone he loved was in danger. He was afraid for the first time - afraid to lose that person.

2) There was a man who was dying, but he decided to capture "Death" when it comes to take him away. And so he does. The man of course never died. He kept on living, and living, and living...till his only wish was to die, but for some reason I cant remember he couldnt undo the capture.

At the end of each episode, we go back to the "present" with the old man and his dog in front of the fireplace.

Anyone knows the name of the series ?

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Jim Henson's The Storyteller.

Available now on DVD (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000A2ZU6/qid=1124376025/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl74/002-5692211-7367262?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846), along with the follow-up (and not as good, IMO) Jim Henson's Greek Myths (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002J4X2U/qid=1124376025/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl74/002-5692211-7367262?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846). There is also a companion book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0375702156/qid=1124376187/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-5692211-7367262?v=glance&s=books) that is pretty good, but it seems to be out of print.

Strange Fact of the Day: the other fellow behind Storyteller was Anthony Minghella, who went on to win an Oscar for The English Patient. Personally, I liked his stuff on The Storyteller a lot better.

-- Ed/Ace

[Fame]

Howdy,

Jim Henson's The Storyteller.

Available now on DVD (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000A2ZU6/qid=1124376025/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl74/002-5692211-7367262?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846), along with the follow-up (and not as good, IMO) Jim Henson's Greek Myths (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002J4X2U/qid=1124376025/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl74/002-5692211-7367262?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846). There is also a companion book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0375702156/qid=1124376187/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-5692211-7367262?v=glance&s=books) that is pretty good, but it seems to be out of print.

Strange Fact of the Day: the other fellow behind Storyteller was Anthony Minghella, who went on to win an Oscar for The English Patient. Personally, I liked his stuff on The Storyteller a lot better.

-- Ed/Ace


Thanx !

Yeah, thats the one, I just rememberd another interesting point that every episode has something to do with the numbers 3 and 7 - if my memory serves me well.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,


Yeah, thats the one, I just rememberd another interesting point that every episode has something to do with the numbers 3 and 7 - if my memory serves me well.
They tend to show up a lot in fairy tales in general. Trinities and threesomes especially show up all over the place. Heroes have to retrieve three items or complete three quests to win the prize at the end. There were 3 Norns and 3 Fates in Norse and Greek mythology, respectively. The Sphinx's riddle involved 3 stages of man. There were 2 daughters and 1 step-daughter in Cinderella (== 3 children total). And, of course, there's the Christian Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Seven tends to be less common, I suspect because it makes lists just a bit bigger than most people can absorb at once. However, there were 7 dwarves for Snow White.

-- Ed/Ace