Neil Gaiman is Reviving Jim Henson's '80s Series 'The Storyteller'
Here's a match made in fantasy heaven: Neil Gaiman (author of "American Gods," "Coraline" and "Stardust") is bringing back Jim Henson's '80s anthology fairy-tale series "The Storyteller."
Fremantle (which works with Gaimin on "American Gods") is teaming with the author and to develop a reimagined version of the series for TV.
The original Emmy and BAFTA-winning series debuted in 1987 with John Hurt as the elfin storyteller and amgical creatures from Henson's workshop.
Gaiman is as interested in The Storyteller himself as in the tales he shares, he told Deadline. "We’re going to find out a lot about who the storyteller is, we’re going to find out things we don’t even know that we don’t know. We’re going to begin in a Northern kingdom where stories are forbidden and where the act of telling a story is liable and can get you imprisoned or executed. If you put a storyteller into that situation, things would need to start getting interactive."
Henson's daughter Lisa, who's now CEO of the Jim Henson Company said, "The Storyteller has always been a special project for me, having worked so closely with my dad on the original concept."
Added Gaiman," We would love to have John Hurt as our Storyteller, but alas, he’s no longer with us." (The actor passed away in 2017.) "But absolutely the actors from the original Storyteller series, bringing them back would be a marvelous thing to do, and we really did have the cream of the crop."
Actors who we'd love to see return: How about the cast of the "The Three Ravens" episode, including Joely Richardson, Miranda Richardson, and Jonathan Pryce?
“The original Storyteller was a brilliantly written, directed and told set of stories," said Gaiman. "It’s a terrifying and inspiring task to reinvent what Jim Henson did for the golden age of television we are in right now, and I’m honored that The Jim Henson Company would entrust me with the task of bringing back the storyteller and his magical stories, and sending him out into the world for a whole new round of tales."
They haven't announced yet which fairy tales they'll be tackling. Or which network might end up hosting the series.
[Via Deadline]