MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO SCREENING SERIES, THE: STORYBOOK PLAYHOUSE 2: PACKAGE 7 {THE RELUCTANT DRAGON; DIGGING UP DINOSAURS; WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE}
Summary
Prepared for The Museum of Television & Radio screening series "Storybook Playhouse," this compilation of stories features works based upon the writings of Kenneth Grahame, Aliki, and Maurice Sendak. Adapted by film and television playwright Willis Hall from the novel of the same name by Kenneth Grahame (author of "The Wind in the Willows"), "The Reluctant Dragon" uses model animation to tell the tale of a young boy who discovers a mild-mannered dragon who would rather recite poetry than eat people. When the villagers hear about the dragon, panic breaks out, and they send for St. George, the dragon slayer. However, the knight is not as young as he used to be and the idea of dueling with the dragon is as unappealing to him as it is to the beast himself. The three of them must figure out how to save the dragon, preserve St. George's reputation, and appease the villagers all at the same time. In "Digging Up Dinosaurs" from "Reading Rainbow," a girl recounts information relating to the dinosaur skeletons she saw in a museum including how fossils are formed, how archeologists go about their work, how the bones are shipped to a museum, what is done with dinosaur bones at a museum, and how it is possible that museums all over the world have dinosaur skeletons. Other highlights of this "Reading Rainbow" episode include: short animated skits filled with dinosaur jokes from "Tyrannosaurus Wrecks: A Book of Dinosaur Riddles" by Noelle Storne; LeVar Burton discussing dinosaurs; animals that are related to dinosaurs; a visit to the Dinosaur National Monument in Utah where dinosaur bones are kept exactly as nature preserved them; a ranger from the Dinosaur National Monument explaining why scientists think so many dinosaur bones landed up in that area; and LeVar Burton planting a time capsule. Also fiction and nonfiction books on dinosaurs are suggested. In this animated story based on Maurice Sendak's writing and illustrations, a boy named Max causes havoc in his house as he runs about in his wolf costume. His mother scolds him, calling him a "wild thing," and sends him to his room. Suddenly the room is transformed into a forest with an ocean. Max gets into a boat and travels for almost a year until he reaches the land where the "wild things" live. With his stubborn stare, he tames all the wild creatures he encounters. They are so taken aback by Max's ferocity that they make him king of all the wild things, allowing him to lead them in a lively "rumpus." Eventually, though, Max grows lonely and homesick and longs to return to his former life, even though his subjects, the wild things, do not want him to. "Reading Rainbow: Digging Up Dinosaurs" is closed-captioned.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: November 30, 1993
- RUNNING TIME: 1:04:47
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:33497
- GENRE: Children's; Animation
- SUBJECT HEADING: Children's programs; Animation; Dinosaurs; Dragons; Puppets
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- For "The Reluctant Dragon":
- John Hambley … Executive Producer
- Mark Hall … Producer
- Brian Cosgrove … Producer
- Chris Taylor … Associate Producer
- Bridget Appleby … Director, Puppets by
- Kenneth Grahame … Writer
- Willis Hall … Adapted by
- Mike Harding … Music by
- Loyd Price … Animation
- Rachel Robinson … Animation
- Claire Bissiker … Animation
- Sue Pugh … Animation
- Stuart Sutcliffe … Animation
- Noel Baker … Puppets by
- Colin Batty … Puppets by
- Peter Bentley … Puppets by
- Clare Elliott … Puppets by
- Ian Mackinnon … Puppets by
- Marcia Pidgeon … Puppets by
- Peter Saunders … Puppets by
- Bridget Smith … Puppets by
- Martin Jarvis … Narrator, Cast, the Boy, the Father, Voice
- Simon Callow … Cast, the Dragon, Voice
- Robin Bailey … Cast, St. George, Voice
- Daphne Oxenford … Cast, the Mother, Voice
- Brian Trueman … Cast, Voice
- Jimmy Hibbert … Cast, Voice
- Edward Kelsey … Cast, Voice
- For "Digging Up Dinosaurs":
- Twila C. Liggett … Executive Producer
- Tony Buttino … Executive Producer
- Cecily Truett … Producer
- Larry Lancit … Producer, Director
- Sherman Bryce … Associate Producer
- Lynne Brenner Ganek … Associate Producer
- Ronnie Krauss … Associate Producer
- Ellen Schecter … Associate Producer
- Lee Murphy … Narration of "Digging Up Dinosaurs" directed by
- Lou Berger … Writer
- Aliki … Writer
- Ronnie Krauss … Writer, "Dino History"
- Horelick, Steve (At Patchworks) … Composer, "Reading Rainbow", Musical director, "Reading Rainbow", Musical producer, "Reading Rainbow"
- Dennis Kleinman … Lyrics by, "Reading Rainbow"
- Janet Weir … Lyrics by, "Reading Rainbow"
- Tina Fabrik … Vocals by, "Reading Rainbow"
- Ovation Films, Inc. … Dinosaur Animation by
- LeVar Burton … Host
- Linda Gelman … Narrator, "Digging Up Dinosaurs"
- Jerry Stiller … Cast, the Dinosaur Comic Voice, Voice
- For "Where the Wild Things Are":
- Morton Schindel … Producer
- Gene Deitch … Director, Adapted by
- Maurice Sendak … Based on the book "Where the Wild Things Are" written and illustrated by
- Peter Schickele … Composer, Conductor, Narrator
- Rudolf Holan … Artwork Recreated by
- Bohumil Sejda … Figure Animation