Storykeepers is an animated Christian video series produced by Zondervan from 1995 to 1997 in America and Ireland. It tells the story of a Christian leader and his family's adventures living in Ancient Rome, Italy whose mission is to keep Jesus's stories alive during the 1st century. The series consists of thirteen episodes, and features two full-length movies that are compilations of the last four episodes. The introduction to each episode before the opening credits is as follows: "Rome, 64 AD. The Emperor Nero has unleashed his fury against the Christians. Their crime: Proclaiming a King higher than Caesar. Setting fire to the city, Nero places the blame on the Christians, and launches a new campaign to wipe them out. Families are separated, children left homeless, as thousands are sold into slavery or thrown to the lions. Escaping the panic of the fire, and dodging the advancing soldiers, a group of children find shelter in the gentle care of Ben and Helena; a local baker, and his wife. Here the children discover an amazing secret network of daring men and women, who risk their lives to help one another, and to tell the stories of the great storyteller, the one called Jesus. And so awaiting the day when their parents will return, Anna, Cyrus, Justin, and Marcus, embark on an adventure of a lifetime, together with Ben, Helena, and their friends, in the Christian underground. Their mission: To keep the stories of Jesus alive. This is their story. They are the Storykeepers!"
Episodes
A young kid who has good juggling skills gets captured by Caesar. The Story Keepers group take it upon themselves to get him out of the cruel place of Caesar.
Zak is arrested while delivering a story to a Christian meeting in Rome, and its up to Ben and the gang to rescue him and deliver the story in time.
Ben's friend, master-storyteller Ephraim, braves the threat of capture to visit Rome--and his story of the Good Samaritan helps Anna and Justin make a difficult choice. With Nero's soldiers searching everywhere, Ben, Helena, and the kids help Ephraim escape through the catacombs. Amid the excitement, his vivid stories recount Jesus' parables of the Sower and the Unforgiving Servant, lessons that bare wonderful results in the end.
Ben and the gang find themselves the object of Nero's latest neighborhood renovations-- firebombing by catapult! Zak is eager to help, but his overzealous attempts to prove his leadership abilities spark disaster. His harrowing adventure is punctuated by three stories of Jesus, who heals a man's withered hand, brings sight to blind Bartimaeus, and teaches his disciples a lesson about children... one that Zak also needs to learn.
A secret search for Justin's father on a Roman slave ship leads to high-seas adventure. Trapped aboard the galley when it leaves port, Ben and his group find themselves headed for battle against a rebel slave ship.
En route by night to a neighboring city, Ben, Helena, and the kids narrowly avoid capture by Nero's soldiers. The cost of their escape is a broken wagon wheel. While the wheel is being mended, Ben and Helena take the kids on another journey--back to the days of Mary and Joseph. Join them by the firelight to hear about the birth of Jesus, the shepherds and the angels, the Magi and the star, the flight to Egypt, and more!
Two lion cubs have escaped, and Crassus, Nero's head animal trainer, is furious. Where could they be? Marcus knows and it looks like curtains when Crassus tracks the cubs to Ben's door. It's animal antics to make your whole family roar... plus three stories of Jesus, who tells the parable of the lost sheep, restores a man's speech and hearing, and praises the widow for her gift to the temple.
Cyrus's acrobatic talent turns him from a captive to a star of the show in the mansion of his new "friend," Flavian the merchant. He has a life of luxury--until the abused slaves revolt. Suddenly, he wishes he'd cooperated when the gang tried to smuggle him home. Can love redeem the ungrateful Cyrus, as it does the prodigal son in Jesus' parable? Can it heal the rift between Cyrus and Justin, just as Jesus healed the centurion's servant?
Nero is having a birthday party, but Tacticus is not in a festive mood. He faces a tough choice: worship Nero as a god and receive a promotion, or stay true to his faith and risk death. With the gang to the rescue, his worries are over... or maybe they've just begun. See three stories of Jesus come to life--the royal ride on the donkey, the transfiguration on the mountaintop, and the parable of the vineyard. It's the wildest birthday party ever!
Ben and the gang must smuggle those who helped them free Tacticus out of Rome. But their fear of betrayal by Antonius, the miller, leads Ben to tell the stories of Judas and the Last Supper. Helena, meanwhile, relates the story of Mary Magdalene anointing the head of Jesus with perfume. When the Romans threaten to burn down Ben's bakery, with Anna and the boys still inside, the stage is set for an exciting—and surprising--climax!
Ben asks Justin to tell the story at their next meeting, but the boy is too nervous, and Ben compares his uncertainty with that of the disciples when Jesus was arrested. Ben, Justin, and Marcus are captured during a raid on the Catacombs, so Ben comforts his frightened friends by telling of Peter's fears when Jesus was taken before Caiaphas. Finally, Justin gets up the courage to tell the story of what happened when Caiphas sent Jesus to Pilate.
Helena and the others must free their friends from Nero's stockade, where Justin and Marcus suffer without food and water, and poor Ben awaits execution. Meanwhile, an overjoyed Cyrus learns that his parents are still alive. As the former circus clowns plan an unusual rescue, Ben recalls how bravely Jesus met his own death on the cross. He also tells the joyous story of how Jesus eventually rose from the dead on Easter Sunday.
In the exciting conclusion, Ben and the gang sail off to safety in an Arabian village, but a vengeful Nihilus is on their trail. Justin and Marcus fear they will never see their parents again, so Helena tells how Jesus reassured his disciples after rising from the dead. Ben's gang gets separated in the desert, but with the story of "Doubting Thomas" to encourage them, they survive in the wilderness. And soon, the stage is set for the last confrontation.
