Once Upon a Time... Man (French: Il était une fois... l'homme) is a French animated TV series from 1978 directed by Albert Barillé. It is the first in the Once Upon a Time... franchise. The series explains world history in a format designed for children. The action focuses around one group. The same familiar characters appear in all episodes as they deal with the problems of their time.
| Once Upon a Time... Man | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by | Albert Barillé |
| Voices of | Roger Carel Annie Balestra Patrick Préjean Claude Bertrand Yves Barsacq Vincent Ropion |
| Narrated by | Roger Carel |
| Composer | Yasuo Sugiyama |
| Country of origin | France Japan |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 26 minutes |
| Production company | Procidis Tatsunoko Production |
| Original release | |
| Network | FR3 |
| Release | September 30, 1978 – April 14, 1979 |
| Related | |
| Once Upon a Time... Space (1982) | |
Once Upon a Time... Man was purchased by most public broadcasting channels in Europe (and in many other countries) and is well-known by a significant percentage of the population. The program is known for explaining events to children from different viewpoints as the main characters come from many civilizations. The animation was done by the Japanese anime studio, Tatsunoko Productions.
The series' opening and ending title sequences famously used Johann Sebastian Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor as the main title theme music. Shortening the piece to only 2 minutes in length, the introduction uses the very beginning, which jumps into the start of the middle section and finally the dramatic ending to coincide with the destruction of Earth at the end of the intro. It is generally unknown what is the original soundtrack they used, and whom is the original artist who performed on the Organ_(music) [citation needed]
The show aired in the United States on the History Channel starting in January 1996.[1]
Regional releases
editA DVD boxed set of all the episodes of the series was produced by the French production company Procidis, and distributed locally by various distributors. The DVD series was produced in French, English (not sold in the UK or US), Finnish, German, Dutch, Hebrew, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish and Polish. In 2011, an English-language, Region 1 DVD box set was made available in Canada and the United States. The set was produced and distributed by Imavision.
Characters
editThe episodes of Once Upon a Time… Man typically would follow one family, which most typically used the same set of archetypes that would be reused for the scenario. These same characters would later be used in the later additions to the Once Upon a Time... series, with some changes.
- Maestro (Roger Carel) – The wise old man. He usually serves as the head of the tribe, as a religious priest, as an advisor to the king, or as an inventor. Maestro's hair is white and so long that it completely covers his body, and only his facial features, arms, and feet are ever visible; he is also distinguished by two hairs on the top of his head that look like antennae. Maestro often keeps objects in his beard and is sometimes seen fiddling around in it to find the one he wishes to present. He also serves as a mentor to the children of the series.
- Peter / Pierre (Roger Carel) – Another protagonist of the series, with brown hair, presented as an ordinary but likeable man. He is always married to Pierrette and is good friends with Jumbo. He is sometimes referred to as Pierrot. In some of the episodes set in the medieval era, Peter has blonde hair and is named Bert, but his personality and relationships are the same.
- Jumbo / Le Gros (Yves Barsacq) – The strong young man with red curly hair, Jumbo is tall, somewhat clumsy, and very muscular. He prefers to solve problems with his fists, and his best friend Peter often needs to indicate for him not to attack.
- Pierrette (Annie Balestra) – A kind blonde woman, typically married to Peter.
- The Pest / Le Teigneux (Claude Bertrand) – A strong bully and one of two common recurring villains in the series (the other being the Dwarf). He is the major rival opposing Peter and Jumbo, and is either working against them or arguing with them.
- The Dwarf / Le Nabot (Patrick Préjean) – The mastermind behind the Pest, the Dwarf is short and has red hair with three spikes pointing upward. He is often the only one who supports the Pest in his actions, and is often shown as a swindler.
- The Clock – A rectangular box with eyes and hands, typically coloured red, the Clock most commonly simply shows the year that the events on-screen are occurring. Occasionally, the Clock does intervene in the series in a minor role, typically to either have some emotional response like surprise or sadness to an event on-screen, or else to correct Maestro in-series when he has ideas too advanced for his historical time period.
Although historical figures would typically appear as themselves, occasionally one of the archetypes would be used, like Maestro as Leonardo da Vinci.
Episodes
edit| No. | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "And Earth was created…" "(Et La Terre Fut...)" | 30 September 1978 | |
|
On the history of life before humans to Homo erectus. | |||
| 2 | "Neanderthal Man" "(L'Homme Du Neanderthal)" | 7 October 1978 | |
|
On the time of Paleolithic culture to the Ice age. | |||
| 3 | "Cro-Magnon Man" "(Le Cro-Magnon)" | 14 October 1978 | |
|
On the history of European early modern humans. | |||
| 4 | "The Fertile Valleys" "(Les vallées fertiles)" | 21 October 1978 | |
| 5 | "The First Empires" "(Les Premiers Empires)" | 28 October 1978 | |
|
On the empires of Babylon, Assyria, Persia and others from about BC 2000 to BC 323. Historical Figures: Alexander the Great, Cyrus the Great, Solomon | |||
| 6 | "The Age of Pericles" "(Le siècle de Périclès)" | 4 November 1978 | |
|
Mainly on Athens and Sparta during the fifth century, ending with Alexander’s empire. Historical Figures: Alcibiades, Alexander the Great, Anaxagoras, Aristophanes, Aristotle, Democritus, Euripides, Herodotus, Hippocrates, Pericles, Phidias (portrayed by Maestro), Protagoras, Socrates, Sophocles, Thucydides | |||
| 7 | "The Pax Romana" "(Pax Romana)" | 11 November 1978 | |
|
Actually on the time of Julius Caesar, before the Pax Romana commenced. At the end of this episode, the birth and crucifixion of Jesus Christ are briefly featured. Historical Figures: Julius Caesar, Jesus, Vercingetorix | |||
| 8 | "The Conquest of Islam" "(Les conquêtes de l'Islam)" | 18 November 1978 | |
|
On the Byzantine Empire, the reign of Justinian I (reigned 527–565), and the spread of Islam between the 7th and 8th centuries. Historical Figures: Heraclius, Justinian I, Muhammad, Theodora | |||
| 9 | "Carolingians" "(Carolingens)" | 25 November 1978 | |
|
On the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and the rise of the Frankish Kingdom. Historical Figures: Charlemagne, Charles Martel, Clovis I | |||
| 10 | "The Age of Vikings" "(L'âge des Vikings)" | 2 December 1978 | |
|
On the Vikings, ending with the Norman Conquest of England. Historical Figures: Leif Erikson | |||
| 11 | "The Cathedral Builders" "(Les bâtisseurs de cathédrales)" | 9 December 1978 | |
|
On the Middle Ages in the time of the Crusades. Historical Figures: Richard the Lionheart | |||
| 12 | "The Travels of Marco Polo" "(Les Voyages De Marco Polo)" | 16 December 1978 | |
| 13 | "The Hundred Years' War (La guerre de Cent ans)" | 23 December 1978 | |
|
On the end of the Hundred Years' War. Historical Figures: Joan of Arc | |||
| 14 | "The Quattrocento" "(Le Quattrocentro)" | 30 December 1978 | |
|
On the Italian Renaissance. Historical Figures: Leonardo da Vinci (portrayed by Maestro), Michelangelo | |||
| 15 | "The Golden Age of Spain" "(Le siècle d'or espagnol)" | 6 January 1979 | |
|
On the history of the Spanish Golden Age. Censored in Spain. Historical Figures: Christopher Columbus | |||
| 16 | "Elizabethan England" "(L'Angleterre d'Élizabeth)" | 13 January 1979 | |
| 17 | "The Golden Age of the Low Countries" | 20 January 1979 | |
|
On the Dutch Golden Age, in addition to some discussion on the Protestant Reformation and the European wars of religion. | |||
| 18 | "The Great Reign of Louis XIV" | 27 January 1979 | |
|
On the reign of Louis XIV. Historical Figures: Louis XIV of France | |||
| 19 | "Peter the Great and his Times" "(Pierre le Grand et son époque)" | 3 February 1979 | |
|
On the reforms of Peter I, the Great Northern War, and Prussia under Frederick William I. Historical Figures: Charles XII of Sweden, Frederick the Great, Frederick William I of Prussia, Peter the Great | |||
| 20 | "The Age of Reason (Le siècle des Lumières)" | 3 March 1979 | |
|
On the Age of Enlightenment. Historical Figures: Catherine the Great, Denis Diderot, Frederick the Great, Ivan VI of Russia, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Grigory Potemkin, Peter III of Russia | |||
| 21 | "America" "(L'Amerique)" | 10 March 1979 | |
|
On North America between 1492 and the American Civil War. Historical Figures: Amerigo Vespucci, Charles O'Hara, Christopher Columbus, George Washington, Lafayette, Peter Stuyvesant, Rochambeau, Thomas Jefferson, William Penn | |||
| 22 | "The French Revolution" | 17 March 1979 | |
|
On the French Revolution, ending with the Napoleonic Wars. Historical Figures: Georges Danton, Jean-Paul Marat, Joséphine de Beauharnais, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Mirabeau, Napoleon, Maximilien Robespierre | |||
| 23 | "The Awakening of the People" | 24 March 1979 | |
|
On the sociopolitical developments of the mid-19th century, focusing on the history of the steam engine and rail transport. Historical Figures: Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, Louis Philippe I, Napoleon III, Thomas Newcomen, Denis Papin, Thomas Savery | |||
| 24 | "The Belle Époque" | 31 March 1979 | |
|
On the late 19th century, the development of the automobile, and the twentieth century to World War I and the Russian Revolution. Historical Figures: Vladimir Lenin | |||
| 25 | "The Crazy Years" | 7 April 1979 | |
| 26 | "Once Upon a Time… the Earth (and tomorrow?)" "(Il était une fois... la terre (Et demain?)" | 14 April 1979 | |
|
On the post-war world up to the series' production in 1978, with speculation on the future to 2150. | |||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 596. ISBN 978-1476665993.
External links
edit- Official website
- Procidis, the series' producer Archived 5 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- Once Upon a Time... Man at IMDb
- Hello Maestro at YouTube
