Jim Henson's "The Storyteller" Quiz

Answer: John Hurt

Hurt, in heavy makeup, sits at a hearth fire and tells stories to his dog and directly to the audience. Brian Henson performs the Storyteller's dog, who often makes sarcastic quips despite becoming engaged in the tales. Hurt, who died in 2017, had a long acting career, which included roles in "I, Claudius", "The Elephant Man", "Alien", "1984", and the "Harry Potter" series.

"The Storyteller" ran from 1987-1989 and was nominated for multiple Emmys and BAFTAs. It was followed by a 1991 four-episode spinoff, "The Storyteller: Greek Myths", in which Michael Gambon replaced Hurt as the Storyteller and retold four Greek myths to the same dog. The dog was not recast.

Answer: Iron shoes

She wears three pairs of iron shoes down to nothing while searching for her husband Hans, who vanishes after she betrays the secret of his enchantment to the Queen. But the sweethearts have a happy ending, as the girl's loyalty strips away Hans' enchantment and brings love to his heart. This episode was based on the German fairy tale of the same name and won an Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program.

The element of the girl seeking an enchanted beloved is seen in many other stories, such as the Greek myth "Eros and Psyche" and the Norwegian tale "East of the Sun, West of the Moon". In all three tales, a man is enchanted, and when the woman breaks a promise, she must undertake a journey to prove her love and free him from enchantment.

Answer: The griffin's gold feather

This story shares many elements with the Grimm's tale "The Griffin". Both have boys born lucky, a king trying many times to kill him, the boy being married to a princess, and the king sending the boy on quests until the king finally is tricked into becoming a ferryman. Robert Eddison, known as the Grail Knight who quips, "He chose...poorly" in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", plays the ferryman. Coincidentally, the actors who play the King (Philip Jackson) and Lucky (Steven Mackintosh) both appear in the series "Agatha Christie's Poirot".

The former plays Inspector Japp in multiple episodes while the latter has a scene as a paperboy in one episode.

Answer: His sweetheart becomes deathly ill.

Fearnot sets out to learn the sensation of fear in this story based on "The Youth Who Set Out to Learn Fear". Nothing, not sea creatures nor death threats nor a giant sliced in two, causes him to shudder in fear. Only on his return, when faced with the possibility of his beloved dying, does he learn what fear is. In written tales, the youth's wife becomes ill, which instills the fear.

Answer: Straggletag

"Sapsorrow" is a version of the Grimm's tale "The Princess in Disguise". Princess Sapsorrow flees her kingdom when she must marry her father the King after the Queen's death. She covers her entire body with fur and feathers to make herself unrecognizable as "Straggletag". (The spelling comes from the closed captions.) It has similarities to "Cinderella" too: a girl has two evil sisters, must work as a maid, attends three balls, entrances the Prince, and leaves her slipper behind, which the Prince uses to find her.

"Donkeyskin" is the name of 1970 film based on a variation of the "Princess in Disguise" tale. "Grovelhog" is the cruel nickname given to Hans in "Hans My Hedgehog".

Answer: In a sack

The Storyteller often shows props that appear in the stories; this time, he produces the sack that the soldier uses to trap whatever he wants simply by telling someone or something to get in it. The dog tells the Storyteller to get in the sack, but nothing happens. Unlike most of the episodes, this story has a sad ending, as the soldier is denied entrance to both Hell and Heaven because of his life's actions. While he does rid an area of demons, he also traps Death in a sack, preventing anyone from dying, including those ready to die of old age.

Bob Peck, who plays the soldier, won a BAFTA for his role in "Edge of Darkness", but is more recognized as a man who is eaten by a velociraptor in "Jurassic Park". ("Clever girl.")

Answer: Tell a story

This episode is based on a Celtic tale and shares elements with "Stone Soup". The King forces him to tell a different story each day for a year as punishment for tricking the cook with his "stone soup" recipe. The last day, he can't think of a story to save his life...and has a series of wacky adventures, the account of which delights the King and secures the Storyteller's freedom.

This story and "Hans My Hedgehog" are the only episodes in which the Storyteller himself appears as a character.

Answer: Remain silent for three years

A witch marries the Princess's father and bewitches the sons; the only way the Princess can break the enchantment is to remain silent for three years, three months, three weeks, and three days, even as the witch accuses the Princess of murdering her own children. Miranda Richardson plays the witch.

This episode is based on the German tale "The Six Swans", in which the girl has six brothers who are turned into swans. She must remain silent for six years and also sew a nettle shirt for each brother in order to transform them back. There's an extra danger: if she breaks her silence early, she'll become a swan too. There are many other versions of this story across the world, with the number of brothers and the type of bird they are changed into varying.

Answer: He's been enchanted to forget her.

A white lion helps Anja accomplish impossible tasks set by a troll, and in the process, the troll dies. The troll's daughter then bewitches Anja's beloved into forgetting Anja and wanting to marry the daughter. The lion who aids Anja's impossible work also helps her free her beloved.

This story is based on the tale "The True Bride" and contains elements from "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" and "Sweetheart Roland". Anja's sweetheart is played by Sean Bean. In some versions of this story, no reason is given for the sweetheart's abandonment.

Answer: A duck egg

Prince Leo befriends and releases a giant, who claims to have no heart yet develops something of a friendship with the boy. Leo obtains the heart and wants to return it to the giant, but his brothers destroy it to punish the giant for his violent actions. Leo is heartbroken.

This episode is based on the Norwegian story "The Giant with No Heart in His Body" but has startling differences. In the written story, the prince frees a princess from the giant. Leo is more sympathetic to the giant than his written counterpart. While Leo wants the giant to have his heart back, the original prince threatens to destroy the heart himself if the giant does not restore his brothers and their wives, who have been turned to stone, to life. The giant restores them, but the prince destroys the heart anyway, breaking his promise.