- 2 months ago
Jim Henson's The Storyteller S01E08 The Heartless Giant
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CreativityTranscript
00:00When people told themselves their past with stories, explained their present with stories,
00:16foretold the future with stories, the best place by the fire was kept for the storyteller.
00:30On the whole, there's absolutely no need to be frightened of giants.
00:45Giants are gentle, perfectly harmless, very affectionate.
00:51Unless, of course, the giant has no heart in its body.
01:00Think of all kinds of unpleasant things and add giant to them.
01:12And that's what you get when a giant has no heart.
01:16Such a giant once terrorized a country in the far north of the world, near the very top.
01:21He'd hidden his heart. It gave him too much trouble, all those giant feelings.
01:27In its face was a wasp's nest about to swarm.
01:32This giant could crack a skull with his fist like a walnut, and frequently did.
01:37Until at last, the old king of that country, as good as the giant was bad,
01:43trapped him in a giant trap, and locked him in a giant cell.
01:49Good. Very good.
01:52And there he stayed for many a year, and all would have been well but for a small problem.
01:58A small problem called Leo, youngest of the king's three sons.
02:05He is so curious.
02:07Now there's a dark place he's forbidden to visit.
02:16His brothers tell him a giant lives there with no heart.
02:20But he doesn't believe it.
02:22I don't believe it!
02:25Hello?
02:27Hello down there!
02:34Who's that?
02:35Are you a giant?
02:42Rattle once if you're a giant, and twice if you're not.
02:48Do you have a heart then? Once for yes and twice for no.
02:55A giant with no heart in his body.
02:57The little prince runs off, his imagination ablaze is so excited.
03:06There's a giant with no heart living in the castle.
03:09Next morning he's up at the crack, and running past his mother.
03:13Leo, where are you off to?
03:15Nowhere.
03:16Can you hear me?
03:25Yes.
03:27Why are you down there?
03:28Because, long ago, I did some bad things.
03:35This is my punishment.
03:39Oh.
03:40I've been here for years and years, unless I'm let out soon, I will surely die.
03:49Oh, don't worry. I'll go and tell my father.
03:51No.
03:52Don't tell anybody.
03:54Please.
03:55Would you like to be my friend?
03:59Yes, please.
04:03Good.
04:06Good.
04:10He's bad, that giant.
04:12Oh, yes.
04:13Day after day, the little prince comes visiting.
04:16He wants to tell the whole world about his friend.
04:19But he can't.
04:21So he mustn't.
04:23So he won't.
04:23And in the dark, dank black of the dungeon, the heartless giant plots and plans.
04:33The keys to my locks.
04:35Do you know where they're kept?
04:38I don't know.
04:40Long ago, a guard said the king kept the keys to buy his bed.
04:47Oh, those keys.
04:49They're huge.
04:50They're massive.
04:50I thought they must be for the crown jewels.
04:53Oh, no.
04:55They're for me.
04:56They're for my misery.
05:01Do you know something?
05:02I think if I got those old keys and let you out, nobody would even realize.
05:07No.
05:09That's not right.
05:11This is my punishment.
05:13I deserve it.
05:16It's not fair that you're chained down there.
05:19I bet that chain hurts your legs.
05:21Only sometimes.
05:23Only sometimes.
05:26I don't care what you say.
05:28Then you'll go and get those keys.
05:31And so, that very night, Leo crept into the room where the king and queen were sleeping.
05:38It's me.
05:40I've got the keys.
05:57Who goes there?
05:59Hurry.
06:00Hurry.
06:01It's me.
06:01They can't be.
06:03Push them.
06:04I'm trying.
06:05Don't forget to let me have them back.
06:14What's happening?
06:15What's happening?
06:15family.
06:25Huh?
06:26Fuck's having me.
06:26Come on.
06:30I gotta protect it, bro.
06:36Hurry.
06:38Don't worry.
06:38You made me.
06:39Be he.
06:40That's different.
06:40Do you wanna go?
06:41Hi, Nieu.
06:41Go on.
06:42Excuse me.
06:42Come on.
06:43Baby, goodbye.
06:44What's happened?
06:50I'm attacked.
06:51The giant, my lord, needs to escape.
06:54Carter, what's happening?
06:55The giant has escaped.
06:59Theo, go back to your room. It's not safe.
07:01How could he escape after all this time?
07:04He has the keys, my lord.
07:06Then someone helped him.
07:08Someone betrayed us.
07:11A madman.
07:11Only a madman would help a giant with no heart.
07:16Starting again.
07:20Leo, I said get back to your room.
07:28Poor boy.
07:29That's right.
07:31Someone betrayed us.
07:32Only a madman would help a giant with no heart.
07:36The boy's face swam with tears.
07:39So let down he felt.
07:42So stupid.
07:44And from that moment, the boy in him.
07:48The innocent heart.
07:49The joy in him.
07:51They were gone.
07:53Like his friend.
07:55And they would never return.
08:02Brother!
08:02Where are you going?
08:04Going to get back to the giant.
08:06Now wish me luck and get back to bed.
08:08Good luck.
08:11I'm sorry.
08:14But his brother didn't hear.
08:16He'd gone to find the giant.
08:19And he didn't come back.
08:24Brother!
08:24Brother!
08:25Where are you going?
08:26Where are you going?
08:27To find our brother and to kill the giant.
08:30But he'll trick you.
08:32Wish me luck.
08:35Terrible our boy felt as his brother rode off.
08:39Terrible.
08:40And this brother didn't come back either.
08:45Mother?
08:46Your father says he intends to go off to fight the giant.
08:52He can't.
08:53He mustn't.
08:54I've lost two sons already.
08:56He's too old.
08:57He's too ill.
08:58Don't cry.
09:01Leo, promise me.
09:02Promise me you won't ever go.
09:05But he can't promise.
09:07How can he?
09:08Were it not for him, the heartless giant would still be chained and locked and safe in the dungeon.
09:15No, he did the damage.
09:17He must repair it.
09:19So off madness.
09:21Off folly.
09:22Off, for goodness sake, to find the giant and put an end to his cruel.
09:29And so the young prince Leo rides the land in search of his once friend, the heartless giant.
09:37Three winters come and go their bitter shiver.
09:42Until one day he comes to a place and knows he's in the giant's cruel footsteps.
09:48Help me, cries a trampled bird.
09:51The giant broke me and now I cannot fly, cannot eat.
09:55Help me.
09:55And Leo tended the bird, fixed its wing, fed it bread, soaked in milk, and soon all was well with it.
10:04Thank you, cried the bird.
10:06If you need me, I shan't forget.
10:09Not long after, he stops at a stream and he hears a flapping, hears a thrashing, hears a slapping.
10:18Help me, cries the choking fish.
10:22Help me back into the water.
10:24I'm stuck here.
10:25I'm stranded.
10:26I'm beached up and landed.
10:28Now Leo's famished and he loves a fish.
10:32But he's suffered sufficient, this fellow.
10:35Back he goes to where the salmon is king.
10:37Thank you, cries the fish.
10:42I'd have scoffed him.
10:44If he was so hungry.
10:46I like fish.
10:48Would you?
10:48Well, listen.
10:51He goes on a little further and now his horse gives up the ghost.
10:56His old horse who's carried the prince a thousand miles and more sinks slowly to his knees and rolls over on his side and dies.
11:06So, did the prince eat his horse?
11:10No, he didn't.
11:12He couldn't.
11:14He lay down beside it, famished and forlorn.
11:18He shuts his eyes, squeezing back tears, drifting into dreams.
11:25Ah, it's his mother nursing him, licking up his wet cheeks, hugging him.
11:32Don't move.
11:37Terrible teeth glistening.
11:41I've not eaten since the winter came.
11:45Help me.
11:46Let me eat your horse.
11:47I'll eat it and be strong again.
11:50Trust me.
11:51But how can Leo trust anyone?
11:53He's trusted before and been betrayed.
11:56That's right.
11:57That's right.
11:57Let the wolf starve.
11:59Please.
12:00Please.
12:01Please, for I must surely die.
12:04No, don't do it.
12:07Eat your fill.
12:09And if you must, then afterwards, eat me.
12:14And the wolf eats the horse and sucks the bones until there's not a scrap left save the reins.
12:22Master, come here.
12:24Oh, no.
12:26Am I to go now?
12:27Yes, us both.
12:30I'll help you.
12:31On my back, sir.
12:34Let's leave this place.
12:36And he does.
12:37And they do.
12:38And they go a gray dash.
12:41A day and a night and a morning.
12:44Until they come at last to a garden full with statues.
12:48Stone men.
12:51Stone women.
12:54Stone soldiers.
12:57This is my brother.
12:59This is the giant's work.
13:02There is his house.
13:04All who approach, he turns to stone.
13:07Oh, no.
13:09Look, you too.
13:11It's so cold.
13:15The giant was my friend.
13:16He really was.
13:17He's no one's friend.
13:19He has no heart in his body.
13:22Then I must find his heart.
13:23Where did you get that drum?
13:39It's mine.
13:40It's me, Leo.
13:44Prince Leo.
13:47Yes, it is you.
13:50I can see now.
13:53Well, are you the same as your brothers?
13:57Come to challenge me.
14:00No, I come in guilt.
14:02Either you will take me in, or I must go into exile.
14:06Guilty?
14:07About what?
14:09That you set me free?
14:12Ah!
14:12You were a child.
14:15I had to fool you to get the keys.
14:18Otherwise, I'd still be there, rotting.
14:24But stay if you like.
14:27No tricks, though.
14:29No traps.
14:31Else, you'll end up the same as your brothers.
14:37No tricks, no traps, agreed the boy and went inside.
14:42He's a servant now for the heartless giant.
14:45For weeks he cleans, for weeks he scours, until Spick where Speck was and Spam where Squalor.
14:54Each evening, the giant returns from his wild outings to find the fire lit, the hearth swept, and his trousers pressed.
15:02He likes this.
15:03Very nice.
15:06Very nice.
15:09I should have had a servant before.
15:11And I don't treat you bad, do I?
15:16For a heartless giant.
15:21So what happened to your heart?
15:24It's in safekeeping.
15:26Can't feel without it, can I?
15:29Can't get hurt.
15:31Can't die from the breaking of it.
15:34Clever.
15:35So where is it, then?
15:39He who pries is prone to die.
15:46Do you follow me?
15:50Yes.
15:52But I'll tell you if you want to know.
15:57My heart's in that cupboard.
16:02In the cupboard?
16:03His own heart pounds.
16:07And he can hardly wait until the morning.
16:14But no heart.
16:16Oh no.
16:18The heart's not there at all.
16:29I'm back.
16:30Evening, sir.
16:35What's that smell?
16:37Polish.
16:40What are you polishing that old cupboard for?
16:43It's the home of your heart.
16:45It should be polished.
16:46Did you really think I kept my heart in a cupboard?
16:53What a dimple.
16:56It's not there, then.
16:58Of course it's not.
17:01I see.
17:06It's under the step.
17:08So the next morning, off stomps the giant, and out goes our boy, digging out the steps.
17:16Stove, dust, roots, but no heart.
17:22I'm back.
17:31What's that?
17:33Oh, you must have trodden on the step.
17:34I painted it.
17:35What a dapple box.
17:39You thought my heart was under the step.
17:45Have these off, then.
17:48What's up?
17:48The fact is, no one can find my heart.
17:56I'll tell you exactly where it is, and you'll still not be able to find it.
18:04Far away.
18:06So far, you cannot fathom it.
18:08So high, you cannot climb it, is a mountain.
18:14And in the mountain is a lake.
18:16And in the lake is an island.
18:17In the island is a church.
18:19In the church is a well.
18:20In the well is a duck.
18:22In the duck is an egg.
18:23And in the egg is my heart.
18:27I see.
18:29No!
18:30Not so easy, little thief, eh?
18:34Not such a diddle and a dawdle as you thought.
18:37No!
18:38Your father tricked me once.
18:41And I shan't be tricked again!
18:45An egg in a duck in a well in a church in an island in a lake in a mountain?
18:50Impossible!
18:52But that night, Leo steals away and calls for his friend the wolf.
18:59Up he gets, and tight he holds, and off they go.
19:02Headlong a breathless blur of world flashing by.
19:05And they're at the mountain, clambering, scrambling.
19:08And then, there's the lake.
19:11And there's the church.
19:15But the church is locked, and the door will not budge.
19:21Look!
19:22Said the wolf.
19:23And there, impossibly high, dangled the key.
19:27We'll never reach it.
19:29Thank you, my friend.
19:39And in they go, into the church, where they find the well.
19:46And sure enough, in the well swims a duck.
19:50Come on, come on!
19:51Oh, no!
19:56Now what?
20:01What's that?
20:02It's the fish.
20:03It's my fish.
20:06Catch it.
20:07I've got it!
20:08I've got the giant's heart!
20:10Thank you, my friend.
20:11Thank you!
20:12I've got it.
20:13Where have you been?
20:22I've a good mind to crack your ears.
20:25I've a good mind to set you there with your brothers.
20:31Stop that!
20:34Years ago, sir, you broke my heart.
20:37Now I shall break yours.
20:38No, be careful.
20:42Please, don't break that.
20:44I will, I will break it.
20:45I will squeeze it and squeeze it to bits.
20:48Unless you release my brothers and all these poor people.
20:51Nurse, I'll do anything you ask.
20:57Look, I'm doing it.
21:02Now.
21:08Brother, you've rescued us.
21:10He's the Lord, our little brother.
21:12Pray the Lord.
21:13Now, quick, smash the egg.
21:15I'm going to give it back.
21:16Don't be stupid.
21:17I've done as you bid.
21:19Can I have my heart?
21:22You can, sir, as I promised.
21:24For I know that with your heart and place,
21:26you could not be as you are now.
21:28No.
21:29Now.
21:30For years, I've stood here helpless and watched your cruelty.
21:33The folk he's beaten.
21:34The vile murders.
21:35Please, please, don't, please.
21:39Get him!
21:41Like with like.
21:43Spite with spite.
21:45Don't I promise, don't!
21:46All the pain you've caused,
21:49I now repay.
21:52You promised.
22:03You promised.
22:05What's happening?
22:09There was a wasp's nest where his heart should have been.
22:13And where the giant fell, a hill grew.
22:28And in time, and when much was long forgot,
22:32the place was still known as the hill of the heartless giant.
22:36But he would have changed that giant.
22:43He would have reformed with his heart back.
22:46Yes, I know.
22:48Cruel.
22:50Do you know?
22:52Prince Leo lived to be a great age,
22:54became king,
22:56had 42 grandchildren,
22:58and he told them all that tale.
22:59But in his story,
23:01the giant got back his heart
23:03and made amends for all his wrongs.
23:06Because, you see,
23:08despite all that took place,
23:10a little boy once met a giant,
23:13and they became friends.
23:15Take care.
23:21Take care.
23:22Take care.
23:23Take care.
23:32Good kind.
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