When Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers aired on PBS in the summer 1988, it quickly became a phenomenon. My college professors immediately told the students that we needed to watch when PBS reran it in the Fall. Barely a year after the show aired, the book that accompanied the series became required reading in quite a few courses at my college. Creative writing classes embraced his The Hero of A Thousand Faces book as a way to understand how to construct a main character and the entire adventure that should be part of your writing. The impact of the show has continued after all these decades because Campbell’s words were so rich. Now the series has been upgraded to Blu-ray with Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers also includes the original talk between the two.
“The Hero’s Adventure” is the first episode and gets into what he covered in The Hero With A Thousand Faces. But the most notable hero that gets explored is Luke Skywalker. Moyers and Campbell discuss how George Lucas used so many of the archetypes that Campbell had written about for decades. Part of the Star Wars angle is because the first five talks were recorded at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch’s library. Bringing up Star Wars helped make the conversation relatable to younger kids who were not regular viewers of PBS after they outgrew Sesame Street. “The Message of Myth” probes why man creates myths and religions. Campbell relates religions to computer software and hardware. “The First Storytellers” gets into the role of the Shaman in society. “Sacrifice and Bliss” gets into the sacrifice element of man and myth from human sacrifices. He dips into the concept of “Following your bliss.” “Love and the Goddess” discusses the nature of love for people and how does one love an enemy. Campbell brings up the virgin birth, Egyptian mythology and the Big Bang Theory (the concept not the TV show). Finally there is “Masks of Eternity” in which the conversation moves to American Museum of Natural History. The place is full of masks from around the world and historic eras and holds deep meaning to Campbell. James Joyce and Shiva are mentioned.
When Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers originally aired on PBS, Joseph Campbell had already died of esophagus cancer. It’s almost as if he used his final years to create this conversation that summarized his mythology books that he’d written over the decades. He gave people a sense of his work without making them think it was all for academics. This is probably a major reason why creative writing teachers were eager to use the PBS series as a basis for their classes. He wasn’t out to alienate with academia. The fact that Star Wars was mentioned made it a book that students were eager to flip through instead of ignored like most assigned textbooks. While the book for was fine, there’s something more powerful about Joseph Cambell talking to Moyers in the TV series. He is extremely animated while conveying the myths and the messages the audience needs to take from them.
Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers could be perceived as the first podcast. It’s six episodes of Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell talking about heroes, myths and religions. There is footage to illustrate what some of Campbell is describing, but his words are always shining forward. Even after all these years, Joseph Campbell’s talks still pack significance. in myth and reality. Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers is one of those things from college that’s so worth revisiting.
The Video is 1.33:1 full frame. This is how it was broadcast on PBS. The interviews were shot on videotape. They’ve cleaned things up a bit. The Audio is LPCM 2.0 stereo. You will hear all of Joseph Campbell’s stories clearly. The episodes are subtitled in English.
Mythology of Star Wars with Bill Moyers and George Lucas (56:15) returns the show to Skywalker Ranch without Joseph Campbell nearly 12 years later. Instead we get George Lucas talking about the impact of Cambell on his movies with the upcoming release of The Phantom Menace. Lucas wanted to use classical motifs to deal with the issues of today.
Bill Moyers’ Journal “Joseph Campbell: Myths to Live By” (106:31) is two episodes that Moyers recorded in 1981 with Campbell. They talk at American Museum of Natural History. Campbell gets into the nature of myth. You wish he had more time. Thankfully Bill Moyers found the time.
Illustrated Booklet contains the previously unpublished essay “Belief and the Power of Myth” written by Joseph Campbell.
Film Movement presents Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers. Starring Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers. Boxset Contents: 6 episodes on 2 Blu-ray discs. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: March 4, 2025.
