''Faeries'' is a 1981 animated television special that appeared on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is based on the 1978 book ''

Faeries A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

'', described and illustrated by

Brian Froud Brian Froud (born 1947) is an English fantasy illustrator and conceptual designer. He is most widely known for his 1978 book '' Faeries'' with Alan Lee, and as the conceptual designer of the Jim Henson films '' The Dark Crystal'' (1982) and ...

and Alan Lee. The special was directed by Lee Mishkin with animation direction by Fred Hellmich, executive produced by Thomas W. Moore, Anne Upson and Jean Moore Edwards, and was designed by

Alan Aldridge Alan Aldridge (8 July 1938 – 17 February 2017) was a British artist, graphic designer and illustrator. He is best known for his psychedelic artwork made for books and record covers by The Beatles and The Who and for creating the original desig ...

. The special first aired on CBS on February 25, 1981.

Plot

A young man, Oisin (pronounced "O-sheen"), is returning home with a group of huntsmen from an unsuccessful hunt when a

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

appears before him and reveals herself to be Niamh (pronounced "Nee-am" and "Nee’uv"), a faerie princess. She takes him to her father, the Faerie King, whose

shadow A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensio ...

has come to life and now threatens Faerie Land. The King begs Oisin to travel to Squalor Web Castle and defeat the evil Shadow. Oisin and his faerie helper Puck travel to the castle, encountering

hag A hag is a wizened old woman, or a kind of fairy, witch, or goddess having the appearance of such a woman, often found in folklore and children's tales such as "Hansel and Gretel". Hags are often seen as malevolent, but may also be one of t ...

goblin A goblin is a small, grotesque, monster, monstrous humanoid creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearan ...

merrow Merrow (from Irish language, Irish ', Middle Irish ' or ') is a mermaid or merman in Irish folklore. The term is anglicised from the Irish word murúch. The merrows supposedly require a magical cap (; anglicised: #Cohuleen druith, cohuleen dr ...

s and other faerie creatures. They also save a

kobold A kobold (; ''kobolt'', ''kobolde'', cobold) is a general or generic name for the household spirit (''hausgeist'') in German folklore. It may invisibly make noises (i.e., be a poltergeist), or helpfully perform kitchen chores or stable work. ...

from being eaten by evil trows. Eventually the three arrive at the lake, beyond which sits the castle. After meeting an Irish faerie who attempts to dissuade them from their mission, they arrive at the castle. Avoiding

redcap REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) is a browser-based, metadata-driven EDC software and workflow methodology for designing clinical and translational research databases. It is widely used in the academic research community: the REDCap ...

s, the Shadow's evil soldiers, Oisin makes his way to the tallest tower, defeats the Shadow, and joins a celebration in Faerie Land before returning to his human companions.

Cast

Hans Conried Hans Georg Conried Jr. (April 15, 1917 – January 5, 1982) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for providing the voices of George Darling and Captain Hook in Walt Disney's '' Peter Pan'' (1953), Snidely Whiplash in Jay Ward's ...

as Faerie King / Shadow * Craig Schaefer as Oisin *

Morgan Brittany Morgan Brittany (born Suzanne Cupito; December 5, 1951) is an American actress. She began her career as a child appearing in films ''Gypsy'' (1962), '' Stage to Thunder Rock'' (1964) and '' Yours, Mine and Ours''. In 1970s, Brittany began work as ...

as Princess

Niamh Niamh (; from Old Irish ) is an Irish feminine given name (meaning "bright" or "radiant"), anglicised as Neve, Nieve, Neave, Neavh or Neeve. In Irish mythology, Niamh is the daughter of the god of the sea, Manannán mac Lir and one of the que ...

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American actor who specializes in voice acting. He began his career in the 1960s, and held around 850 film, television, and video game credits as of 2020, making him one of the most prolific v ...

as Puck / Fir Darrig /

Trow A trow was a type of cargo boat found in the past on the rivers River Severn, Severn and River Wye, Wye in Great Britain and used to transport goods. Features The Mast (sailing), mast could be taken down so that the trow could go under bridg ...

#1 / Hunter #1 *

Bob Arbogast Robert "Bob" Arbogast (April 1, 1927 – March 21, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster, voice actor, and television host. Early life and education Bob was born in Bellingham, Washington, the only child of Lewis, a champion tennis player, sto ...

Kobold A kobold (; ''kobolt'', ''kobolde'', cobold) is a general or generic name for the household spirit (''hausgeist'') in German folklore. It may invisibly make noises (i.e., be a poltergeist), or helpfully perform kitchen chores or stable work. ...

/ Trow #2 / Hunter #2 *

June Foray June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American Voice acting, voice actress and radio personality, best known as the voice of such animation, animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha F ...

as Mally *

Linda Gary Linda Gary (born Linda Gary Dewoskin, November 4, 1944 – October 5, 1995) was an American actress. Gary was best known for her work in animated series and films, such as providing voices of several female characters in ''He-Man and the Master ...

as Vilda *

Janet Waldo Janet Waldo (born Jeanette Marie Waldo; February 4, 1919 – June 12, 2016) was an American radio and voice actress. In animation, she voiced Judy Jetson in various Hanna-Barbera media, Nancy in ''Shazzan'', Penelope Pitstop, Princess from '' ...

as Andria *

Mel Welles Ira W. Meltcher (February 17, 1924 – August 19, 2005), known by the stage name Mel Welles, was an American actor, voice artist and film director. He was best known to for his work with filmmaker Roger Corman, most notably as hapless flower shop ...

as Trow #3 / Hunter #3

Home media and merchandising

Family Home Entertainment Family Home Entertainment (FHE) was an American home video company founded in 1980 by Noel C. Bloom. It was a division of International Video Entertainment, which had its headquarters in Newbury Park, California. History The company was found ...

released the special on VHS and Betamax in the 1980s.

Henson Associates The Jim Henson Company, Inc., formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc. (commonly referred to as Henson), is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is kn ...

were the merchandising agents for ''Faeries''.

Award nominations

''Faeries'' was nominated for four

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

in 1981: * Outstanding Animated Program — Jean Moore Edwards, Fred Hellmich, Lee Mishkin, Thomas W. Moore, Anne E. Upson, Norton Virgien (executive producers) * Outstanding Individual Achievement - Animated Programming — Alan Aldridge (teleplay), Lee Mishkin (teleplay), Christopher Gore (story) * Outstanding Individual Achievement - Animated Programming — Peter Aries (film editor) * Outstanding Individual Achievement - Animated Programming — Peter Aries (film sound editor)

Notes

External links

* 1981 American animated films 1981 films 1981 animated short films 1981 fantasy films 1981 television specials American animated fantasy films American children's animated films American children's animated fantasy films 1980s American television specials 1980s animated television specials Films based on books High fantasy films 1980s children's animated films Animated films based on Celtic mythology Television shows about fairies Animated films based on children's books 1980s English-language films Puck (folklore) English-language short films English-language fantasy films {{1980s-US-film-stub