Shirley Temple's Storybook is an 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 The House of the Seven Gables, was meant for older youngsters. Temple's three children made their acting debuts in the last episode of the first season, "Mother Goose".
Shirley Temple's Storybook (Season 1)
Beauty and the Beast (Episode 1)
Air date: 1958-01-12
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Based on the novel by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, a merchant must give up one of his three daughters, or he will lose his life. Beauty sacrifices herself and so the story continues.
Rumpelstiltskin (Episode 2)
Air date: 1958-02-02
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: The miller Hanz Franz has bragged to one and all that his daughter Elsa can spin straw into gold. The poor girl is spirited away by the Royal Tax Collector Lord Karsch and locked in a room in the palace of the King.
The Nightingale (Episode 3)
Writer: Alvin Sapinsley
Air date: 1958-02-18
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: The oppressed Chinese peasants and woodsmen have only one consolation -- the beautiful song of a nightingale. But word of this unusual bird reaches the emperor, who promptly orders it brought from the woods to the palace.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Episode 4)
Writer: Norman Lessing
Air date: 1958-03-05
Runtime: 60 min
Dick Wittington and His Cat (Episode 5)
Air date: 1958-03-23
Runtime: 60 min
The Land of Green Ginger (Episode 6)
Writer: Noel Langley
Air date: 1958-04-18
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Abu Ali, son of the Emperor of China, Aladdin, is unable to choose a bride. Help comes from the genie of the Magic Lamp.
Rip Van Winkle (Episode 7)
Writer: Noel Langley
Air date: 1958-05-06
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Rip Van Winkle wanders off to a mountain haunt in the Catskills. There he encounters a strange crew of dwarfs, whose powerful brew lulls him into a 20-year slumber.
The Sleeping Beauty (Episode 8)
Air date: 1958-06-08
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Tale of the a young woman cast in a spell that sends her to sleep and the prince who revives her.
The Little Lame Prince (Episode 9)
Air date: 1958-07-15
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Prince Dolor, heir to the throne of Grauthenia, has been imprisoned by wicked King Bertrand.
The Magic Fishbone (Episode 10)
Air date: 1958-08-19
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Princess Alicia has trouble feeding all the children.
The Wild Swans (Episode 11)
Air date: 1958-09-12
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A wicked queen turns her stepsons into swans and tries to kill her stepdaughter.
Hiawatha (Episode 12)
Air date: 1958-10-18
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: An adaptation of Longfellow's poem about two young lovers from rival Indian tribes.
Rapunzel (Episode 13)
Air date: 1958-10-27
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Prince Peter falls in love with a beautiful voice.
Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves (Episode 14)
Air date: 1958-11-12
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A humble woodcutter, Ali Baba and his son Abdullah accidentally learn the location and means of entrance to a fantastic cache of treasure, used by a band of thieves. Unable to keep the secret of the cave from his greedy brother Kasim," Ali Baba reveals the magic password.
The Emperor's New Clothes (Episode 15)
Air date: 1958-11-25
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: The conniving tailor convinces the vain monarch that his invisible raiment really exists.
Mother Goose (Episode 16)
Writer: Malvin Wald
Air date: 1958-12-21
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Mother Goose travels to Wayfair and tries to save the town's annual fair, which has been canceled by young Polly Baker's father, the Mayor.
