The Heartless Giant originally aired as part of the first episode of The Jim Henson Hour.

A young prince is tricked into helping a heartless giant escape from the king's dungeon. The evil giant unleashes terror across the land and those who go off to fight him never return. The young prince becomes the servant of the giant and tries to find where the giant's heart is hidden.

Jim Henson cited "The Heartless Giant" as his second favorite of all the shows he'd ever done, just behind Dog City.^[1]

Cast[]

• Frederick Warder as Giant
• Elliot Spier as Leo
• Gemma Jones as Queen
• Nicholas Selby as King
• Richard Lintern as Prince 1
• Simon Adams as Prince 2
• John Atkinson as Guard
• David Greenaway, Robert Tygner and Mak Wilson as Wolf, Bird & Salmon

Notes[]

• This episode draws on tale type 302 in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther index, "The Giant Without a Heart". However, the episode's more sympathetic giant and his relationship with the prince evokes stories from ATU-502, "The Wild Man", especially "Iron John" from the Brothers Grimm.

External Links[]

• Jim Henson's Red Book - 4/25-30/1988 - 'Edit Hearltess Giant - London'
• Asbjørnsen and Moe's rendition of the folk tale

Sources[]