Mini the Soldier & Death

I've always loved Jim Henson's Storyteller series, so way back in the early nineties I made several sculpted dolls depicting some of my favourite characters; Sapsorrow, the Princess from the Three Ravens, the Storyteller himself, and then my sister and I worked together to recreate the scene from the Soldier and Death where the soldier is playing cards with thirteen little devils.

I still have the Storyteller and the piece with the devils, and wondered if it would work to replace the soldier with one of my BJDs. After all they are the same size. So I chose my FID Lawrence to be the Soldier, set up a 'haunted palace interior', and started taking photos. They turned out so well, that I impressed even myself.

 

The Storyteller series was one of my favourite works by Jim Henson. It dates from 1988, and unfortunately there were just nine episodes. The Storyteller was played by John Hurt, and his dog was a puppet performed by Brian Henson. You can find the videos online.

 

@Rosslyn - Thank you. My sister sculpted and painted all the devils and I finished them. They are all attached permanently to the piece, except for two which were loose. So it was a challenge to take photos from the different angles so they wouldn't all look the same. Thankfully Lawrence is posable.
@Kidotomy - Thanks. You'll love the series.
@Seafoam Shade - Thanks. Yes, I've seen the Greek Myths episodes as well. They are with a different Storyteller, but I believe it's still with Brian Henson as the dog. To be honest I prefer the folk tales with John Hurt as the Storyteller to the Greek Myths.
@BrigitteJ - Thanks. I chose Lawrence since he has the most 'rugged' look of my Fashion sized dolls. He doesn't look like Bob Peck who played the Soldier in that episode, but it's not like I had a lot of dolls to choose from. Lawrence was able to borrow my Soldier figure's jacket, and another doll's wrist guards, but I had to make him a shirt to go underneath.
@Countess-Rosina - Sapsorrow was one of my favourites episodes too.

I was rather pleased with the photos, so then took my Storyteller figure off his stand and decided to shoot some photos with him as well. I put together an album on my website with him telling the story to his dog. But he's an off topic doll and none of my bjds are in the photos with him, so I can't show him here. Soldier & Death - Fav Photos 2021

 

@Brigitte - Thank you! It was a challenge to create a 'haunted' interior with whatever props and furniture I have.
@GlukoZza - Thank you so much! I was really happy with how well Lawrence fit in with the devils.

 

Thank you so much!

 

Thank you! I always 'age' my doll costumes when I think they need it, and the Soldier's outfit certainly did. The jacket was borrowed from the original art doll. The ragged strips of leather were sewn on messy, and then the whole thing was wet and stained with diluted acrylic paint.

The key to making clothes look lived in, is to choose natural fabrics which will crinkle when squeezed. I refuse to use any stiff synthetic fabrics, as anything made out of them instantly screams "doll clothes". So if I actually need to go buy some fabric for an outfit I'll ask around the store squeezing the fabrics to see if they'll crease. If not, forget it. I usually wet a new outfit after it's done, squeeze it, and let it dry all wrinkled. Then I add diluted 'dirt' coloured paint in the appropriate areas. Except to fancy costumes, which are allowed to remain new looking.

I had to make Lawrence a new shirt to go under the Soldier's jacket since the original wasn't removable. I chose a dull, knobby, olive coloured silk. But when I wet it to crinkle it, it must have shrunk some, since the shirt was suddenly extremely tight. I normally pre-wash all my fabrics, but didn't this time. Big mistake. It was a good thing he didn't need to breathe or he'd have popped all his buttons.

 

Thanks. It's interesting how many people have never heard of the Storyteller series. I consider it one of his best works. Maybe because it was released over thirty years ago, and there were just nine episodes.

 

@animemom - It helps if the cards are magic and guaranteed to make the soldier win every time.
@mikki - Thank you!

 

@fox_shadow - Thank you! For me it's all about getting the details right.
@Follow-the-Wind - Thank you so much!

 

Thank you! I was really impressed with the photos myself. But they were only possible because I still own the original piece, and was able to replace the figure of the Soldier with my FID Lawrence. He looked so much better than the original sculpted soldier. Plus Lawrence was posable. I was lucky two of the devils were loose, so I could move them around to make it look like they were all moving.

I also made the Storyteller himself way back some forty years ago, and still have him as well. He was one of the very first figures I sculpted, so wasn't all that refined. But I really like his old quilt coat. Back in those days we couldn't make screen grabs of stuff onscreen, so I had to watch the video over and over and make quick sketches of some of the main patches. I also made the dog.

I used them both to set the scene and tell the story. In fact it was because of the scenes with the Storyteller that I needed to come up with a way to create a believable 'fire' in my fireplace.



So, I retold the entire story using just my Storyteller, my FID Lawrence, and the set with the devils. You can see it here - Soldier & Death - Fav Photos 2021

Back when I made the storyteller my original plan was to make more of the characters from the series. I did make a Sapsorrow and the Princess with the three Ravens, but both of those have moved on long ago. And life took a different turn, and I never made any more of the other characters.

 

Thank you!
I'm sure you won't be disappointed. In my opinion it's one of Jim Henson's greatest works. Unfortunately only nine episodes were ever made. Although he did do a greek Myths series as well, with a different storyteller, but the same dog voiced by Brian Henson.