Shelley Duvall’s Tall Tales & Legends (six DVDs)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Episodes: C+

 

 

After a mixed feature film career, Shelley Duvall found new life in children’s programming with Fairy Tale Theater.  Soon after, she followed that up with Tall Tales & Legends and attracted top name acting talent for the installments.  The six DVDs Koch Vision has issued are:

 

Casey At The Bat with Elliot Gould, Carol Kane, Howard Cosell and Bill Macy

Darlin’ Clementine with Duvall, Edward Asner and David Duke

Davy Crockett with Mac Davis, McLean Stevenson and Michael McKean

John Henry with Danny Glover and Tom Hulce

Johnny Appleseed with Martin Short, Molly Ringwald and Rob Reiner

Pecos Bill with Rebecca De Mornay, Steve Guttenberg and Martin Mull

 

These are very kid-friendly programs, but they’re humor tends to pander to pop culture more than it should.  This may have been funnier when it came out before we were deluged with such fare, but it dates the works more than it should.  These are still nicely done for what they are and are mildly recommended.

 

The full frame 1.33 X 1 image was shot on NTSC analog tape and looks a bit pasty in color and detail.  It is hard to tell if this is second-generation or an otherwise problematic transfer, but it is not as clear as it could be for the format in its time.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 is barely stereo, if that, and there are only trailers for other Koch children’s product.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo