Les Contes De La Crypte

Glimpses of Chaucer penning his famous work are sprinkled through this re-enactment of several of his stories.

Based on Western tales from the usual suspects: 1001 Nights, C. Perrault, Beaumont, J. & W. Grimm, H. C. Andersen, C. Collodi, English fairytale, H. Pyle, L. Carrol, J. Swift, A. Dumas, E. T. A Hoffman, L. F. Baum, and J. Spyri. Only 21 stories were broadcast, with the last five being released on VHS.

A king is married to a woman with golden hair. The queen falls ill, and realising she’s going to die she asks her husband that, if he’d ever remarry, it would be only to a woman as beautiful as her with the same golden hair. Unfortunately, the only one to fit the description is his own daughter, Princess Lotte. He decides to marry her. All she can do is flee. She dirties her face and hands with soot and escapes.

Many years ago, there lived an Emperor, Friedhelm, who wanted so much new clothes that he spent all his money to be properly cleaned. One day, three scammers with a ruse, came along who pretended to be weavers, Jacob, Maja and Greta. "The clothes are so special, that they are invisible to any who are hopelessly dumb or unworthy of office."

Snow White enlists the help of her petite pals to go up against a vain queen, a role attacked with gusto by Angelica Pickles. Instead of marrying the handsome prince, Snow White wants to prove that friends are much more important than objects.

Mina, a poor girl with a big heart sees stars falling from the sky and turning into Gold Talers before they land. With that money the girl can ask the king to let her parents go home.

Simpleton is a poor carpenter's apprentice. Everyone makes fun of his naivete. His greatest wish is to make the sad Princess happy. When he gets a Golden Goose as a gift, he resolves to give it to the Princess...

The Farmer's Daughter is given a riddle to solve by the king: "Come to me, neither naked nor clothed, neither walking nor riding, nor driving, neither by day nor by night, neither with gift nor without gift." If she solves it, she had proved her cleverness, the king promises not only to release her father from prison, but also to marry her...

A young boy tells three stories of horror to distract a witch who plans to eat him.

Among DVDs of "Hoffmann" currently available, this is the only one that even begins to stand comparison with the superlative Powell and Pressburger film (whose ideas it occasionally borrows). Olivier Py's baroque imagination, which sometimes leads him into self-indulgence and incoherence, is well suited to bringing out this opera's darkness and he does an excellent job

Opil is a plump, 8-year-old boy. In a desperate attempt to stop him from wolfing down junk food, his mother serves him a special dish: the wish fish. But Opil takes it as a joke and wishes that mutant aliens come to Earth and take away all of the fish from the planet. The following day, the wish is fulfilled...and then some!

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.

Ex-soldier Frank Brayker is the guardian of an ancient key that can unlock tremendous evil; the sinister Collector is a demon who wants the key so he can initiate the apocalypse. On the run from wicked mercenaries for almost 90 years, Brayker finally stops in at a boarding house in New Mexico where — with the help of its residents — he plans to face off against the Collector and his band of ghouls, preventing them from ever seizing the key.

Giancarlo Del Monaco's passionate and intelligent production of Jacques Offenbach's magnum opus creates a climactic kaleidoscope of deep and convincing emotions. A highly credible incarnation of the pitiable Kleinzach he sings about, Aquiles Machado is the poet who loses his romantic idealism, his reflection and finally his soul to a 'trio of charming enchantresses'.

Seeking to exorcise the failure of his current love affair, the poet Hoffmann tells the tales of his three past loves - the doll-like Olympia, the high-class courtesan Giulietta, and the ambitious but delicate Antonia - and recalls how each was thwarted by the evil influence of his rival. In this production by the distinguished film director, John Schlesinger, with spectacular designs by Maria Bjornson and William Dudley, Offenbach's nightmare world is brought to life. The all-star cast is headed by Placido Domingo as Hoffmann: his three loves are Ileana Cotrubas, Anges Baltsa and Luciana Serra and the manifestations of his rival are sung by Geraint Evans, Robert Lloyd, Siegmund Nimsgern and Nicola Ghiuselev. The score, which includes such favourites as the "Barcarolle" and the "Doll's Song", is conducted by Georges Pretre.

Following their victory celebration in the Ewok village on Endor, seen at the close of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, C-3PO and R2-D2 have gathered to regale Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca and the other Rebels with the tales of their adventures that led to the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. An accidental kidnapping occurs while the droids are reminiscing and suddenly viewers are taken on a new adventure that leads to encounters with familiar faces and places that prompt the re-telling of the entire saga. The series offers all of the playful humor that viewers expect from LEGO Star Wars.

Live performance from the Opéra National de Paris, 2003.

Masha, it turns out, loves to tell stories! And she tells them, as would any child with creativity, a little in her own way - because children see the world, not as we, adults.

Snow White’s stepmother is jealous of her beauty. So great was her vanity that she kept asking her magic mirror: "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who in this land is fairest of all?". And he replied that Snow White was a thousand times more beautiful than she was. The vain queen refuses to accept this and decides that Snow White must die.