She may look like she was born to play Olive Oyl, but actress Shelley Duvall also had some fame in the 80s producing kiddie fare. She had just produced star studded versions of fairy tales and now turns her attentions to tall tales and legends. This reissue packages the entire series at a much nicer price.
In 1982, Shelley Duvall formed a production company, Platypus Productions, and began an hour long series for Showtime that recreated various fairytales. She would ask many of her famous friends to star in the productions and the series would run till 1987. In 1985 she produced this series based on American folktales, but it would only run for nine episodes and end in 1987.
However, it would garner her an Emmy nomination. The shows would also feature a gaggle of stars, but some of the tales feel stretched out. I mean, how you can adapt the poem “Casey at the Bat” into an hour long format (the Disney version is probably the best and only runs as long as the poem and is part of Make Mine Music (1945). You end up throwing all sorts of subplots into it and the stretching begins.
What fans will appreciate is that if they couldn’t afford the first release of this set they can now pick it up much cheaper. It originally came out in a nine disc set and retailed for $80 with the discs also released separately. This time they’ve put the series on three discs and you can find it for under $20.
Disc one:
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow:
Pecos Bill:
Casey at the Bat
Disc two:
Darlin' Clementine:
Johnny Appleseed:
Ponce de Lyon: Disc 3:
John Henry:
Davy Crockett:
Annie Oakley:
Tall Tales and Legends is presented in fullscreen. There are no special features, sadly. It would’ve been nice to hear Duvall’s thoughts on the series.
This reissue offers the series at a more affordable price for those that didn’t bite the first time. The show has some stars that shined in the 80s and it does offer some family entertainment. Some of the episodes are better than others and adds too much extra business to stretch the tale to the prescribed length.
Tall Tales & Legends: The Complete Series is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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