Someone was asking about an animated Return to Labyrinth, which made me nostalgic for classic animated fantasy. You remember the usual suspects — Flight of Dragons, The Last Unicorn, Wizards… and then there was this nearly-forgotten gem. This is a clip from Faeries, a half hour animated adaptation of Brian Froud’s seminal fantasy art book. Looking at it for the first time in 20+ years, it’s funny how the adaptation of Froud’s work yielded creature designs not unlike the Goblins of Return to Labyrinth. Pretty cool! Kind of reminds me of the darker episodes of the Smurfs (that’s not a bad thing). I hope someone releases this on DVD.
I didn’t know this existed; thank you for posting it! It is Scooby-Doo meets He-Man meets The Smurfs. I am actually quite surprised I have neither seen nor heard of it.
Oh, my God! That was good! I didn’t even know that existed. You don’t see fantasy animation like that anymore. Disney hasn’t done anything animated of quality for television since Garogyles the series. Now everything looks like half-hearted doodles that have no realism. Those of use who like well made animated fantasy have to watch Japanese anime to get anything of quality now.
Oh, and Puck was adorable! I love the character Puck in most forms. I love him in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and on Disney’s Gargoyles where he had the mortal alter ego of Owen: the stuffed shirt assistant to busienss man David Xanatos. I remember when Gargoyles first aired when I was twelve-years-old I was surprised to learn Owen was Puck. It certainly wasn’t an obvious Clark Kent is Super-man twist. Now I feel like watching Gargoyles…
As cute as Puck was in this Faeries clip I never pegged him as being Faun-esque or having a limited vocabulary as to not understand the “long worded” fellow though it’s obviously meant to be running gag for little kids.
Oh, this is cute! I now have an obsession with trying to track it down if only on VHS tape. Thanks a lot, Jake. Giving me something new to obsess over…
I love that it made reference to real folklore and mythology about faeries, not just using Puck but the Unseelie Court.
I just found it used on VHS tape on amazon for forty dollars. VHS tapes from 1981 that still play tend to be hard to come by but I think if I’m patient I’ll find a cheaper copy somewhere.
I don’t know if I should admit this, but I used to make my mom rent this from the video store all the time when I was little. What a trip down memory lane! I saw this well before I read Froud’s Faeries book.
I actually put on a play in my backyard for my neighbors based on this cartoon (at 10 cents a ticket it was a steal). Coincidentally, I also put on a Labyrinth play starring my best friend, my sister, my dog (as Ludo) and an old monkey statue I found in our basement as all of the goblins. My parents could tell I was bound for nerdery at an early age.
wow…just….wow. This is so very weird. It looks like the story of some kid who looks like a cross between Arthur and his stupid foster brother from Disneys Sword in the Stone who travels with Mr Tunmus’ evil twin and …someone that reminds me of something ive seen before..not sure where..
I keep thinking Braindead 13,but..thats not quite the same. And no, before you guys say anything, its NOT Hoggle im thinking of..
The little fellow with the candle on his head reminds me of Egon from the animated Ghostbusters. He uses a just slightly higher vocabulary where the kids in the audience undestand what he’s saying and feel smart because the other heroes pretty much need a translator to get what he’s saying.
Mandy, I was just reading over your comments on Jake’s “writing Jareth” entry, and have come to the conclusion that we should have a good, long chat. For anyone who references the Doctor, Rose, and Jareth in the same post is clearly worth knowing
Wow, I remember watching this when I was a kid. Puck was always my favorite character. This is makeing me want to try and find it again so I can watch the rest of it.
13 responses so far ↓
1 Helena // Feb 26, 2008 at 11:16 am
I didn’t know this existed; thank you for posting it! It is Scooby-Doo meets He-Man meets The Smurfs. I am actually quite surprised I have neither seen nor heard of it.
2 tanuki // Feb 26, 2008 at 1:58 pm
I never saw this either, and I used to watch all the animated specials. Would very much like to see it on DVD.
3 Mollie // Feb 26, 2008 at 3:14 pm
if you pause @ 5:42, the red-haired kid’s expression is pretty dang funny XD old fantasy cartoons, gotta love ‘em
Last Unicorn, The Hobbit, and Return of the King are some of my favorites, go Rankin/Bass!!
4 Mandy // Feb 26, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Oh, my God! That was good! I didn’t even know that existed. You don’t see fantasy animation like that anymore. Disney hasn’t done anything animated of quality for television since Garogyles the series. Now everything looks like half-hearted doodles that have no realism. Those of use who like well made animated fantasy have to watch Japanese anime to get anything of quality now.
Oh, and Puck was adorable! I love the character Puck in most forms. I love him in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and on Disney’s Gargoyles where he had the mortal alter ego of Owen: the stuffed shirt assistant to busienss man David Xanatos. I remember when Gargoyles first aired when I was twelve-years-old I was surprised to learn Owen was Puck. It certainly wasn’t an obvious Clark Kent is Super-man twist. Now I feel like watching Gargoyles…
As cute as Puck was in this Faeries clip I never pegged him as being Faun-esque or having a limited vocabulary as to not understand the “long worded” fellow though it’s obviously meant to be running gag for little kids.
Oh, this is cute! I now have an obsession with trying to track it down if only on VHS tape. Thanks a lot, Jake. Giving me something new to obsess over…
I love that it made reference to real folklore and mythology about faeries, not just using Puck but the Unseelie Court.
5 Mandy // Feb 26, 2008 at 3:37 pm
I just found it used on VHS tape on amazon for forty dollars. VHS tapes from 1981 that still play tend to be hard to come by but I think if I’m patient I’ll find a cheaper copy somewhere.
6 Mandy // Feb 26, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Jake, if you’re really desperate for a DVD version there’s someone on the Internet movie data base offering to burn VCDs from his own VHS copy.
7 Fallen Fairy // Feb 26, 2008 at 4:45 pm
I don’t know if I should admit this, but I used to make my mom rent this from the video store all the time when I was little. What a trip down memory lane! I saw this well before I read Froud’s Faeries book.
I actually put on a play in my backyard for my neighbors based on this cartoon (at 10 cents a ticket it was a steal). Coincidentally, I also put on a Labyrinth play starring my best friend, my sister, my dog (as Ludo) and an old monkey statue I found in our basement as all of the goblins. My parents could tell I was bound for nerdery at an early age.
8 Mandy // Feb 26, 2008 at 5:18 pm
This was before my time. It’s copyright 1981. I was born at the end of 1981.
9 Ranko Saotome // Feb 26, 2008 at 5:34 pm
wow…just….wow. This is so very weird. It looks like the story of some kid who looks like a cross between Arthur and his stupid foster brother from Disneys Sword in the Stone who travels with Mr Tunmus’ evil twin and …someone that reminds me of something ive seen before..not sure where..
I keep thinking Braindead 13,but..thats not quite the same. And no, before you guys say anything, its NOT Hoggle im thinking of..
Anyway, my interest is totally piqued
10 Mandy // Feb 26, 2008 at 5:48 pm
The little fellow with the candle on his head reminds me of Egon from the animated Ghostbusters. He uses a just slightly higher vocabulary where the kids in the audience undestand what he’s saying and feel smart because the other heroes pretty much need a translator to get what he’s saying.
11 Crystal // Feb 27, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Interesting, I’m going to look for that; and it was very funny when Puck kept saying, ‘What did he say?’
12 Sarah // Mar 1, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Mandy, I was just reading over your comments on Jake’s “writing Jareth” entry, and have come to the conclusion that we should have a good, long chat. For anyone who references the Doctor, Rose, and Jareth in the same post is clearly worth knowing
13 Krystal // Mar 5, 2008 at 5:23 am
Wow, I remember watching this when I was a kid. Puck was always my favorite character.
This is makeing me want to try and find it again so I can watch the rest of it.
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