Summer 2002

During March, in screenings in Fairmont and Charleston and on West Virginia Public Television, audiences enjoyed a first look at an unprecedented artistic collaboration. The animated version of Frank R. Stockton’s classic tale of mythological fantasy, The Griffin & the Minor Canon, premiered to appreciative viewers throughout the Mountain State.

The roster of actors providing the voices for the show’s characters is all the more impressive considering that the cast was entirely West Virginian. The lead role of the Griffin was played by Morgantown native David Selby, a well known film and television star. Chris Sarandon was cast as the Minor Canon, and Linda Purl narrated.

West Virginians featured in supporting roles were John Corbett (Father), Kathy Mattea (Mother), Ann Magnuson (Bird), and Don Knotts and Soupy Sales as messengers. Additional residents of the town that serves as the story’s setting were played by a cast of local emerging performers: Jim Furbee, Patricia King Brown, Mary Lucille DeBerry, Catharine Thieme, Ralph Brem. Jim Barnes, Christian Cox, Lindsay Loar, Amy Brooks, and Jessica Jarrell Stalnaker.

Mary Lucille DeBerry adapted Stockton’s work for the screen version, and co-produced the program with animator Brad Stalnaker. They were joined in production by Tom Nicholson and composer Scott Simons. A panel of advisors including Dr. Judy Byers, the late Dr. Ruel Foster, Dr. Valerie Cretaux Lastinger, Phyllis Moore and Anna Egan Smucker helped develop teaching guides and educational material to enable classroom use of The Griffin & the Minor Canon.

Funding was provided by Friends of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, the West Virginia Humanities Council, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Public schools and libraries around the state are the recipients of the videotape and support materials. For more information, visit www.griffin-minorcanon.org.