''Rumpelstiltskin'' is a 1987 musical fantasy film, based on the fairy tale by the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...

. In the United States, it was the first installment of

Cannon Films The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films, which produced films from 1967 to 1994. The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that invested ...

' ''Movie Tales'' series.

Production and release

''Rumpelstiltskin'' was part of the ''Cannon Movie Tales'' series, a US$50 million project initiated by Menahem Golan and

Yoram Globus Yoram Globus ( he, יורם גלובוס; born 7 September 1943) is an Israeli–American film producer, cinema owner, and distributor. He has been involved in over 300 full-length motion pictures and he is most known for his association with T ...

to adapt sixteen fairy tales into live action. The film featured Billy Barty in his only lead role (as the title character), and also starred Amy Irving (as Katie, the miller's daughter) and

Clive Revill Clive Revill is a New Zealand actor, best known for his performances in musical theatre and the London stage. A veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he has also starred in numerous films and television programmes, often in character parts. ...

as the villainous King Mezzer. Amy Irving's brother, David Irving (not the British author of the same name), scripted and directed; their mother, actress

Priscilla Pointer Priscilla Marie Pointer (born May 18, 1924) is an American retired actress. She began her career in the theater in the late 1940's, including productions on Broadway. Later, Pointer moved to Hollywood and making appearances on television in the ...

, portrayed the Queen. Cannon Films screened ''Rumpelstiltskin'' as the opening night attraction of its "family film festival" at 1987's

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. It was the first ''Cannon Movie Tale'' released in the U.S.; though originally scheduled for November 21, 1986, it premiered in April 1987. The film was not well-received critically; Richard Harrington of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' said, " l Cannon has done...is to make a short story long. And long and longer." In his ''Movie Guide'',

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...

gave it two stars out of four and commented, "

his His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, in ...

threadbare musical adaptation... slikely to bore even the small fry."

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

released Rumpelstiltskin on DVD in 2005.

References

External links

* {{Cannon Movie Tales 1987 films 1980s musical fantasy films American musical fantasy films Films shot in Israel Golan-Globus films Films based on Rumpelstiltskin Films produced by Menahem Golan Cannon Movie Tales Films produced by Yoram Globus 1980s English-language films 1980s American films