I can't say that I'm a fan, but here's the breaking news.

I was definitely more a fan of his writing than his directing. And definitely a bigger fan of his earlier work than his later work. He wrote all nine episodes of one of my favorite television series, Jim Henson's The Storyteller, back in 1988. He went on to create the follow-up series, The Storyteller: Greek Myths in 1990. I thought this was one of the most creative series for children, but it never really seemed to catch on as well in the US as it did in the UK. I guess people here wanted Kermit and Miss Piggy, and weren't prepared for Hans My Hedgehog. Too bad, but at least they live on in DVD.

At one time, I had wanted to use actor Julian Glover's one man show of Beowulf, and adapt it for the stage using The Storyteller as a template - a couple of actors, and a lot of puppetry. I still think it would make a terrific stage piece, but I think I need to put a little distance between doing a stage version and the recent film.

Thank you, Mr. Minghella, for your work on these shows.

I agree about The Storyteller projects. They are artfully constructed and effective. Highly recommended.