These three made-for-TV films represent a crowning achievement of the beloved Rufus and Margo Rose Marionettes' film career. With adaptations and songs by Nick Nicholson, they feature the puppeteering talents of veterans Rufus, Margo, Jim and Christopher Rose, Olga Stevens, Bill Lecornec, Fred Thompson, and Tony Urbano.

Viewers will be impressed with the sheer artistry of the sculpture, set and costume design, attention to detail, and loving preservation of a style of traditional marionette work rarely seen today.

These DVDs are made from direct transfers of films in the private collection of The Rose Family, and are chaptered by scene for easy locating.

Aladdin's Lamp: (73 min/ 1964/ color)

Magic abounds in this most famous of the Arabian Nights stories. The Genii of the Ring and The Genii of the Lamp are effectively played by masked human actors who are superimposed with the marionettes.

Exotic scenery and costumes make this story a visual banquet.

Treasure Island: (65 min/ 1964/ color)

This pirate adventure, based upon the classic Robert Louis Stevenson book, will appeal to adventurers of all ages.

Journey with Jim Hawkins as he encounters Long John Silver, Ben Gunn, and the mutinous crew of The Hispaniola in the search for Captain Flint's Treasure.

Rip Van Winkle: (69 min/ 1964/ color)

Washington Irving's famous tale springs to life, complete with the treacherous Veder and Van Klause, the shrewish Dame Van Winkle, and of course, Henry Hudson's ghostly crew of elves.

See how Rip Van Winkle saves the day after magically sleeping for 20 years.

Bonus Musical Slide Show: (68 images: 5 minutes)

Behind-the-scenes production shots from the filming of Aladdin's Lamp taken by Harry Nelson, and close up images of all the major characters in the three stories. This entertaining slide show allows the viewer to really appreciate Margo Rose's superb sculptural style.

Puppeteers Rufus and Margo Rose, of Waterford, Connecticut, the leading husband and wife puppeteer team of their day, were billed as 'America's Foremost Artists of the Marionette Theatre'. Trained in the pioneering Tony Sarg Studios in New York City, where they met in 1928, the Roses established their own puppet company in 1931 and remained active until the mid-1970s.

Their work first gained critical attention during the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago. Their pioneering film, Jerry Pulls the Strings, shot in 1938, was the first full length commercial film to use marionettes. Margo designed and sculpted the puppets. Bil Baird also built a few marionettes for this production.

The Roses' production of Scrooge made television history when it appeared on the ABC Network in 1949 as the first live broadcast of a full-length marionette production.

The Roses' long association with the Howdy Doody Show greatly boosted their celebrity. Howdy, designed and created by Velma Dawson, appeared on every American child's television screen in the 1950s. Margo designed and sculpted many of the characters for the Howdy Doody show, and Rufus operated 'Howdy'.

The Roses' national touring shows included Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1934), Scrooge (1935), Pinocchio (1935), Snow White (1936), Treasure Island (1938), Rip Van Winkle (1939), and The Mouse in Noah's Ark (1940).

Following Margo's death in 1997, their collection was loaned to the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, part of The University of Connecticut in Storrs.

(Program notes on The Roses are by Fred Thompson, who was a puppeteer on these films, the technical director for Aladdin and currently edits Playboard for The Puppeteers of America, Inc.)

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