Shirley Temple's Storybook
Shirley Temple's Storybook is a 1958-1961 American children's anthology series hosted and narrated by actress Shirley Temple. The series features adaptations of fairy tales like Mother Goose and other family-oriented stories performed by well-known actors, although one episode, an adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1851 novel The House of the Seven Gables, was meant for older youngsters.
| Shirley Temple's Storybook | |
|---|---|
 A scene from "Winnie-the-Pooh", 1960. | |
| Also known as | The Shirley Temple Show Shirley Temple Theatre |
| Directed by | William Corrigan Bob Henry Harry Horner Richard Morris Robert B. Sinclair |
| Presented by | Shirley Temple |
| Narrated by | Shirley Temple |
| Composer(s) | Jack Brooks Jerry Livingston Vic Mizzy Arthur Morton Walter Scharf Vic Schoen |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 41 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | William H. Brown Jr. |
| Producer(s) | William Asher Paul Bogart Alvin Cooperman |
| Cinematography | Gert Andersen |
| Editor(s) | Henry Batista |
| Running time | 45–48 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC (1958) |
| Picture format | Black-and-white Color |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | January 12, 1958 – July 16, 1961 |
The first season of sixteen black-and-white and colored episodes aired on NBC between January 12, 1958 and December 21, 1958 as Shirley Temple's Storybook. Thirteen episodes of the first season re-ran on ABC beginning on January 12, 1959.[1] The second season of twenty-five color episodes aired on NBC as The Shirley Temple Show between September 18, 1960 and July 16, 1961 in much the same format.[2]
Temple's three children made their acting debuts in the last episode of the first season, "Mother Goose". When a stagehand began swearing during a "Mother Goose" rehearsal, Temple had him fired, telling the stunned cast it was a children's show–although no children were present during the rehearsal.[3] Three of the first season episodes were done live, and each of the three took ten days of preparation. Temple read each script and made suggestions for improvement if necessary.
Episode list
Season 1
| Episode # | Episode title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1-1[C][L] | "Beauty and the Beast" | January 12, 1958[4][5] |
| 1-2 | "Rumpelstiltskin" | February 2, 1958 |
| 1-3 | "The Nightingale" | February 18, 1958 |
| 1-4[C][L] | "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" | March 5, 1958[6] |
| 1-5 | "Dick Whittington and His Cat" | March 23, 1958 |
| 1-6 | "The Land of Green Ginger" | April 18, 1958 |
| 1-7 | "Rip Van Winkle" | May 6, 1958 |
| 1-8 | "The Sleeping Beauty" | June 8, 1958 |
| 1-9 | "The Little Lame Prince" | July 15, 1958 |
| 1-10 | "The Magic Fishbone" | August 19, 1958 |
| 1-11 | "The Wild Swans" | September 12, 1958 |
| 1-12 | "Hiawatha" | October 13, 1958 |
| 1-13 | "Rapunzel" | October 27, 1958 |
| 1-14 | "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves" | November 12, 1958 |
| 1-15 | "The Emperor's New Clothes" | November 25, 1958 |
| 1-16[C] | "Mother Goose" | December 21, 1958 |
Season 2
| Episode # | Episode title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 2-1 | "The Land of Oz" | September 18, 1960 |
| 2-2 | "Kim" | September 25, 1960 |
| 2-3 | "Winnie-the-Pooh" | October 2, 1960 |
| 2-4 | "Tom and Huck" | October 9, 1960 |
| 2-5 | "Madeline" | October 16, 1960 |
| 2-6 | "Little Men" | October 23, 1960 |
| 2-7 | "The Prince and the Pauper" | October 30, 1960 |
| 2-8 | "Emmy Lou" | November 6, 1960 |
| 2-9 | "The Reluctant Dragon" | November 13, 1960 |
| 2-10 | "The Black Arrow" | November 27, 1960 |
| 2-11 | "The Indian Captive" | December 4, 1960 |
| 2-12 | "The House of Seven Gables" | December 11, 1960 |
| 2-13 | "The Black Sheep" | December 18, 1960 |
| 2-14 | "Babes in Toyland" | December 25, 1960 |
| 2-15 | "Pippi Longstocking" | January 8, 1961 |
| 2-16 | "Dumbo the Flying Elephant" | January 15, 1961 |
| 2-17 | "Rebel Gun" | January 22, 1961 |
| 2-18 | "The Terrible Clockman" | January 29, 1961 |
| 2-19 | "The Fawn" | February 5, 1961 |
| 2-20 | "Onawandah" | February 12, 1961 |
| 2-21 | "The Return of Long John Silver" | February 19, 1961 |
| 2-22 | "The Little Mermaid" | March 5, 1961 |
| 2-23 | "The Peg-leg Pirate of Sulu" | March 12, 1961 |
| 2-24 | "The Princess and the Goblins" | March 19, 1961 |
| 2-25 | "Two for the Road" | July 16, 1961 |
Book collections
Random House published three fairy tale collections under Temple's name based on the first season: Shirley Temple's Storybook (the complete season, except for "Hiawatha" and "Mother Goose," and including one additional story, "The Valiant Little Tailor"), Shirley Temple's Fairyland (selections from the first season), and Shirley Temple's Stories That Never Grow Old (selections from the first season). A fourth book, Shirley Temple's Favorite Tales Of Long Ago (illustrated and published by Random House in 1958) includes "The Magic Fishbone", "The Nightingale", "The Valiant Little Tailor", and "The Little Lame Prince".
DVD release
The full series anthology has not been released, however selected episodes of the second season were released on Region 1 DVD in 2006.[7] First Run Video released all sixteen of the first season episodes, all in black and white, on VHS tapes in 1989. Wood Knapp Video re-released thirteen of the episodes from the first season in extended play speed on VHS tape. The episodes were "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves", "Hiawatha", "The Land of Green Ginger", "The Magic Fishbone", "The Nightingale", "Rapunzel", "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Little Lame Prince", "Mother Goose", "Rip Van Winkle", "The Sleeping Beauty", "The Wild Swans", and "Dick Wittington and His Cat".
Award nomination
| Year | Award | Result | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Primetime Emmy Award | Nominated | Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Children's Programming |
References
- Scott, Vernon (1959-01-12). "Shirley's Show Proves to Be Just Too Costly". The Bend Bulletin. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
- Woolery, George W. (1985). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series. The Scarecrow Press. pp. 452–453. ISBN 0-8108-1651-2.
- Windeler, Robert (1978). The Films of Shirley Temple. New York: Carol Publishing Group. p. 255. ISBN 0-8065-0725-X.
- "Shirley Temple's Storybook". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. 1958-01-11. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
- Wolters, Larry (1958-01-13). "WHERE TO DIAL TODAY". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
- "SHIRLEY TEMPLE TAKES A TV ROLE; Hostess of 'Storybook' Show Will Play Part March 5 -Niven Acquires Script". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. February 13, 1958. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
- Lambert, David (2006-04-23). "Shirley Temple's Storybook DVD release". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2009-06-08.