Fabbri's Once Upon a Time series was based on the popular Story Teller

Story Teller

Story Teller was a magazine partwork published by Marshall Cavendish between 1982 and 1985.-Publishing history:...

 series. Like its predecessor, it was a collection of storybooks that came with cassette tapes. Story Teller regulars like Carole Boyd and Nigel Lambert lent their vocal talents to this collection.
Actor John Shrapnel introduced each one and told one of the stories himself.

The intro of each cassette always started with this:

"Long Ago and Far Away in Enchanted Lands across the seas lived Kings and Queens, Princes and Princesses, Good Fairies and Wicked Witches, Ferocious Giants and Gentle Dwarves. Their Adventures and Stories have been told for Hundreds of Years. Open the pages and listen to the words and you too can enjoy the magical world of Once Upon a Time."

Issues

Each issue of Once Upon a Time was devoted to one story only with mostly Fairy Tales by The Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...

. Unfortunately, the canary yellow cassettes came without a small plastic protective case but a total of five large red plastic cases were given away free with Issues 1, 12, 24, 36 and 48. Each were made to hold twelve of every issue and cassette. Some also came with a giant poster showing 24 Issues as a checklist to those who were collecting each one. 60 issues were produced:

Issue	Story	Narrator
1	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Snow White "Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...	Cass Allen
2	Jack and the Beanstalk Jack and the Beanstalk Jack and the Beanstalk is a folktale said by English historian Francis Palgrave to be an oral legend that arrived in England with the Vikings. The tale is closely associated with the tale of Jack the Giant-killer. It is known under a number of versions...	Nigel Pegram
3	The Wizard of Oz The Wizard of Oz The Wizard of Oz may refer to:*The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a 1900 book by L. Frank Baum and W.W. Denslow*The Wizard of Oz , a musical by L...	Carole Boyd Carole Boyd Carole Boyd is a British actress. She has had a career in theatre, television and radio, and plays Lynda Snell in BBC Radio 4's The Archers....
4	Thumbelina Thumbelina "Thumbelina" is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Traveling Companion" in the second installment of Fairy Tales Told for Children. "Thumbelina" is about a tiny girl and...	Denise Bryer Denise Bryer Denise Bryer is an English voice actress.Bryer voiced Billina in Disney's 1985 film Return to Oz, as well as The Junk Lady in the 1986 movie Labyrinth, and many other films. In addition to her work voice acting in film and television she also worked extensively on UK radio and children's recordings...
5	Puss in Boots Puss in Boots 'Puss' is a character in the fairy tale "The Master Cat, or Puss in Boots" by Charles Perrault. The tale was published in 1697 in his Histoires ou Contes du temps passé...	Nigel Lambert Nigel Lambert Nigel Lambert is best known for his role as the narrator of the first series of the BBC comedy series Look Around You.He is the voice of Mr Curry in The Adventures of Paddington Bear television series and also "Papa" in the Dolmio pasta sauce puppet commercials.He also contributed extensively to...
6	The Lion's Glasses	David Tate
7	The Snow Queen The Snow Queen The Snow Queen is a fairy tale by author Hans Christian Andersen . The tale was first published in 1845, and centers on the struggle between good and evil as experienced by a little boy and girl, Kai and Gerda....	Carole Boyd
8	Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves Ali Baba Ali Baba is a fictional character from medieval Arabic literature. He is described in the adventure tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves...	Steven Pacey Steven Pacey Steven Pacey is an English actor, best known for his role as Del Tarrant in the third and fourth seasons of the sci-fi series Blake's 7....
9	The Emperor's New Clothes The Emperor's New Clothes "The Emperor's New Clothes" is a short tale by Hans Christian Andersen about two weavers who promise an Emperor a new suit of clothes that is invisible to those unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent...	David Tate
10	Little Red Riding Hood Little Red Riding Hood Little Red Riding Hood, also known as Little Red Cap, is a French fairy tale about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. The story has been changed considerably in its history and subject to numerous modern adaptations and readings....	Cass Allen
11	Old Sultan Old Sultan Old Sultan is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 48. It combined three different Aarne-Thompson types: 101, the old dog rescues the child; 103, wild animals hide from an unfamiliar animal; and 104, the war between the village animals and the forest...	Nigel Lambert
12	Gulliver in Lilliput Gulliver's Travels Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships, better known simply as Gulliver's Travels , is a novel by Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of...	Tim Bentinck
13	The Sleeping Beauty	Anna Bentinck
14	The Goose with the Golden Eggs	Gay Soper Gay Soper Gay Soper is an English actress.She is perhaps best known for her performance in the musical Godspell with David Essex, Julie Covington and Jeremy Irons as well as Mme. Thenardier on the Complete Symphonic Recording of Les Misérables. She also performed all the voices for The Flumps, a famous...
15	The Most Incredible Thing The Most Incredible Thing “The Most Incredible Thing" is a literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen . The story is about a contest to find the most incredible thing and the wondrous consequences when the winner is chosen...	Nigel Lambert
16	The Wolf and the Seven Kids The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 5. It is Aarne-Thompson type 123., but has a strong resemblance to The Three Little Pigs and other Aarne-Thomspson type 124 folktales, and to the variant of Little Red Riding Hood that the Grimms...	Carole Boyd
17	The Little Matchgirl	Lindsay Duncan Lindsay Duncan Lindsay Vere Duncan, CBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actress. On stage she won two Olivier Awards and a Tony Award for her performance in Les Liaisons dangereuses and Private Lives , and she starred in several plays by Harold Pinter. Her most famous roles on television include:...
18	The Three Bears The Three Bears "The Story of the Three Bears" is a fairy tale first recorded in narrative form by British author and poet Robert Southey, and first published anonymously in a volume of his writings in 1837...	Cass Allen
19	The Emperor's Nightingale	Dermot Crowley Dermot Crowley Dermot Crowley is a Irish stage, film and television actor.-Career:Crowley's stage work has included a leading role in an Olivier Award winning production of Conor McPherson's The Weir, which played in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States in the late 1990s...
20	Little Kim	Nigel Pegram
21	The Enchanted Princess	Carole Boyd
22	The Selfish Giant	John Shrapnel John Shrapnel John Shrapnel is an English actor.Shrapnel was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, the son of Mary Lillian Myfanwy and journalist/author Norman Shrapnel....
23	The Wild Swans The Wild Swans "The Wild Swans" is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a princess who rescues her eleven brothers from a spell cast by an evil queen....	Cass Allen
24	Johnny-Cake The Gingerbread Man The Gingerbread Man Thegingerbread Runner is the anthropomorphic protagonist in a fairy tale about a cookie's escape from various pursuers and his eventual demise between the jaws of a fox. The Gingerbread Boy makes his first print appearance in the May 1875 issue of St...	Nigel Lambert
25	The Brave Soldier	Mick Ford Mick Ford Mick Ford is a British actor, screenwriter and playwright, best known for his portrayal of intellectual convict Archer in the cinema version of Scum. He also played Chico Barnes in the TV series based on the Dick Francis racing thrillers...
26	Cinderella Cinderella "Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...	Anna Bentinck
27	Great Grandmother's Nightshirt	Steven Pacey
28	The Twelve Dancing Princesses The Twelve Dancing Princesses "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" is a German fairy tale originally published by the Brothers Grimm in 1812 in Kinder- und Hausmärchen as tale number 133...	Carole Boyd
29	The Master Thief The Master Thief The Master Thief is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Chr. Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. The Brothers Grimm included a shorter variant as tale 192 in their fairy tales. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book...	Nigel Lambert
30	Aladdin Aladdin Aladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland ....	Jason Isaacs Jason Isaacs Jason Isaacs is an English actor born in Liverpool, who is best known for his performance as the villain Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, the brutal Colonel William Tavington in The Patriot and as lifelong criminal Michael Caffee in the internationally broadcast American television series...
31	The Silver Shilling	David Tate
32	The Little Mermaid The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" is a popular fairy tale by the Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen about a young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince...	Carole Boyd
33	The Goatherd and King's Daughter	Nigel Lambert
34	The Ugly Duckling The Ugly Duckling "The Ugly Duckling" is a literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen . The story tells of a homely little bird born in a barnyard who suffers abuse from his neighbors until, much to his delight , he matures into a beautiful swan, the most beautiful bird of all...	Denise Bryer
35	Brer Rabbit and the Tar-Baby	Kerry Shale Kerry Shale Kerry Shale is a UK-based actor, writer and voice-over artist. He is married to Suzanne Shale, a former Oxford University law don, now a specialist in the field of medical ethics.-Theatre:...
36	The Happy Prince	Tim Bentinck
37	The Nutcracker The Nutcracker and the Mouse King The Nutcracker and the Mouse King is a story written in 1816 by E. T. A. Hoffmann in which young Marie Stahlbaum's favorite Christmas toy, the Nutcracker, comes alive and, after defeating the evil Mouse King in battle, whisks her away to a magical kingdom populated by dolls...	Cass Allen
38	Hansel and Gretel Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" is a well-known fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. Hansel and Gretel are a young brother and sister threatened by a cannibalistic hag living deep in the forest in a house constructed of cake and confectionery. The two children...	Carole Boyd
39	The Brave Little Tailor The Valiant Little Tailor The Valiant Little Tailor or The Brave Little Tailor is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 20. Joseph Jacobs collected another variant A Dozen at One Blow in European Folk and Fairy Tales. Andrew Lang included it in The Blue Fairy Book...	Steven Pacey
40	King Rough-Beard King Thrushbeard King Thrushbeard is a fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 52.It is Aarne-Thompson type 900.-Synopsis:A beautiful, but spoiled, rude, and shallow princess criticizes all her suitors because she is too proud. She is impressed with the last of her suitors, but her pride will not...	Eve Karpf Eve Karpf Eve Karpf is a British actress who trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. She has extensive experience as a voice-over actress...
41	The Three Lucky Charms	Nigel Lambert
42	The Serpent Woman	Carole Boyd
43	The Flying Trunk The Flying Trunk "The Flying Trunk" is a fairy tale by the Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen about a young man who has a flying trunk that carries him to Turkey where he visits the Sultan's daughter...	Steven Pacey
44	The Town Musicians	Denise Bryer
45	Tom Thumb Tom Thumb Tom Thumb is a character of English folklore. The History of Tom Thumb was published in 1621, and has the distinction of being the first fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, tangling with giants, and becoming a...	Nigel Pegram
46	Rose White and Rose Red Snow-White and Rose-Red Snow-White and Rose-Red is a German fairy tale. In the seventeenth century Charles Perrault was the first to write it down, but the best-known version is the one collected by the Brothers Grimm as tale number 161....	Eva Haddon
47	The Prince and the Pauper The Prince and the Pauper The Prince and the Pauper is an English-language novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada before its 1882 publication in the United States. The book represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction...	Jason Isaacs
48	The Three Little Pigs	Gay Soper
49	The Twelve Brothers The Twelve Brothers The Twelve Brothers is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 9. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book.It is Aarne-Thompson type 451, the brothers who were turned into birds...	Cass Allen
50	Dick Whittington Dick Whittington and His Cat Dick Whittington and His Cat is an English folk tale that has often been used as the basis for stage pantomimes and other adaptations. It tells of a poor boy in the 14th century who becomes a wealthy merchant and eventually the Lord Mayor of London because of the ratting abilities of his cat...	Mike Grady
51	Pinocchio	Steven Pacey
52	Jorinda and Joringle Jorinde and Joringel "Jorinde and Joringel" is a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, number 69.It is Aarne-Thompson type 405. The tale is found virtually exclusively in Germany, although Marie Campbell found a variant in Kentucky, The Flower of Dew....	Anna Bentinck
53	Little Lord Fauntleroy Little Lord Fauntleroy Little Lord Fauntleroy is the first children's novel written by English playwright and author Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was originally published as a serial in the St. Nicholas Magazine between November 1885 and October 1886, then as a book by Scribner's in 1886...	Kerry Shale
54	Iron Jack	Nigel Lambert
55	The Big-Nosed Dwarf	Liz Whitting
56	The Enchanted Horse	Jason Isaacs
57	The Elephant's Child	Carole Boyd
58	The Little Parsley Girl	Eva Haddon
59	Jack the Dullard	Nigel Lambert
60	Heidi Heidi Heidi is a Swiss work of fiction, published in two parts as Heidi's years of learning and travel and Heidi makes use of what she has learned.It is a novel about the events in the life of a young girl in her grandfather's care, in the Swiss Alps...	Eve Karpf

External links

• Partworks.co.uk: Once Upon a Time