Rumpelstiltskin (1987)

Simply Perfect

Sadly Over-hyped

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

While not the best of the Cannon Movie Tale films (Hansel and Gretel), it's not the weakest either (The Emperor's New Clothes). Instead it sits comfortably in the middle, and serves as a pretty good start.Rumpelstiltskin is less than perfect (none of the Cannon Movie Tale films are, with the flaws varying in number and size for each). The Cannon Movie Tale films all had low budgets, which while rarely showing in the photography nearly always showed in the costumes for example. This is true for Rumpelstiltskin too, while nicely photographed the production is rather dimly lit, the sets are flat in colour and are the sort that were constructed on the lowest amount a shoe-string budget can get and the costumes (apart from an appropriate one and some effectively grotesque make-up for Rumpelstiltskin) are shoddy.Like The Emperor's New Clothes and to a lesser extent The Frog Prince, Rumpelstiltskin also suffers from a story which, while great and nicely done in its own right, feels even when padded too short to suit a feature length film, some of the first half especially drags and has scenes going on longer than they need to. And while most of the songs are enjoyable, though not the strongest set from a Cannon Movie Tale production, one does miss big-time and that is, despite Clive Revill's enthusiasm and fine voice, the embarrassingly weird and not particularly necessary (seeing as it adds very little to what we already know about the King, and it seemed only to be there for convenience) I'm Greedy. John Moulder-Brown is very charming as the Prince, but doesn't have an awful lot to do and the character is not developed all that much.The rest of the songs, a nice mix of bright and breezy and nostalgic pathos, do work nicely, with Queen of the Castle and Miller's Daughter being the highlights, and the incidental score is whimsical and characterful. The script is wonderfully witty in places, especially with the King and Rumpelstiltskin, and balances the serious parts of the story well without being too dark or heavy. The story is very padded, is not always successfully executed and there are liberties, but the whole basic story, characters and events are present and correct, and with an easy balance of the fun, the emotional, the charming and the creepy on the most part. The characters help make the film engaging and it's competently directed and staged throughout.Of all the performances from a uniformly solid cast, Billy Barty steals the show as a truly grotesquely creepy and very entertainingly performed Rumpelstiltskin while Clive Revill matches him closely in a riotous turn as the hilariously pompous King. Priscilla Pointer is wonderfully snobbish, Robert Symonds plays the miller nobly and Amy Irving beguiles and affects as the heroine of the story (she acquits herself very well as a singer too), and shares an easy-going chemistry with Barty and Moulder-Brown in particular. Overall, a pretty good start for Cannon Movie Tales. 6.5/10 Bethany Cox

Liza-19's comments were absoulutly beautiful.I feel the same way about stupid little cartons,Cannon Movie Tales,and Faerie Tale Theatre's from when I was a child.I did not see this as a child.I swear that I saw something like this on TV when I was a kid though.I dont know what station it was on but I may have only caught the ending.I dont remember where I watched it.How Strange!This was interesting.It is definatly not the best Cannon Movie Tale.This film can be rather boring at times,but it is good because of great acting,sets,songs etc. I loved the movie!It has good production values.This was the first Cannon Movie Tale.I would call it THE TEST MOVIE TALE.It was the one that tested whether or not they made more of the Movie Tales.They liked this one so they made others.This one is something that is age appropriate for everyone.There is nothing that is frightening or scary.Youre child would have to be really easily scared to get scared in this one.

Not really *LOL* but I do like her opening song. The rest kind've stink, and only Billy Barty is really good in it... but he's good in everything! Definately for children. They'll love it! If you have children, and you aren't sure whether the story is too scary for them or not, just sit with them in your arms and let them bury their face in your shoulder. They'll never need you to sit with them again!

First time I saw this as a child I adored. It was played on TV a few times during the 80's (I remember because once it was cancelled by a football game and I've never cared for that sport since). Billy Barty was so awesome and the prince wasn't bad despite his funny haircut. True, the songs weren't the greatest, but they weren't horrible either.