Faerie Tale Theatre(2)
I've been watching scattered episodes of FTT the last week and a half. Since all the episodes are self contained and I've seen a fair number of them before (only two of this batch, though) it's a lot easier to pace myself with these than it normally is for me.
The thing about most of these (all but The Princess and the Pea) have characters who have very, very much made their presence felt in Fables...in fact two are major villains, one may yet be a major villain, one is one of the main heroes and one is...well...one of the most impressive, scary things ever, really. And, except for Red Riding Hood, their Fables counterparts would eat them alive.
Moving on...
Little Red Riding Hood: Featuring a somewhat effete Big Bad Wolf with greedy table manners, a lovesick woodsman and a 20-something Red. Except, even though Mary Steenbargen is obviously in her mid or late 20s here, she's supposed to be a teen. Which kinda makes it cute even as it makes you shake your head.
Hansel and Gretel: This is the one where I REALLY couldn't get Fables out of my head, as you can VERY easily see these people becoming their Fables counterparts down the road. This one plays it very strictly by-the-book with the source material, but then, you have kids eating houses and old ladies eating kids and kids cooking old ladies...really, it doesn't need a lot of tinkering to be done with it...
Goldilocks: This is one of the funnier ones, where Goldilocks is a little schemer and fibber who's always trying to get out of studying and sneaking out of the house, and the three bears are very nice, timid, environmentally conscious cowards (they sit in front of the fireplace and stare at the empty fireplace...they don't light a fire because the sparks might hit something and burn the whole house down. It's very fun and a little silly, but the best part is Goldilocks's parents, who never, ever leave the front porch, no matter how drastic the situation is.
The Princess and the Pea: Another very funny one, and another one that sticks to the source. Here, everyone is loving parodies of the types: the prince is nice but useless and isn't quite aware the world outside the castle exists, and the princess ran away from home to see the world, but twisted her foot during a storm and is hiding in the court jester's room. The best part, though, is the self absorbed queen, whose idea of letting her son fall in love and choose his own bride is to interview every eligible princess in the land and select the one who's the best at sucking up.
Pinocchio: Pee Wee Herman plays Pinocchio. One's ability to enjoy it, excellent production aside, depends entirely upon one's ability to withstand him and his laugh. For myself, it's entirely possible that DVDs have been threatened with destruction should they ever be put in the work DVD player while I'm there.