Once Upon a Time...: Difference between revisions

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{{Wikify|date=November 2008}}

'''''Once Upon a Time...Time…''''' ("''Il était une fois...fois…''") is a French [[educational animation]] franchise, created by [[Procidis]]. There are seven distinct series, each focusing on different aspects of knowledge. These are mostly [[historical]], with ''Once Upon a Time...Time… Man'' being focused on the overall history of mankind, and most of the others are more focused on specified historical fields, such as the lifes and exploits of the [[explorer]]s or [[inventor]]s. ''Life'', however, featured an explanation on the workings of the body.

All feature the same stock characters, in similar [[archetypal]] roles. "''Life''" is the only one to not feature the children as grown up or adolescent archetypes of said characters, but as parts of the human organism.

== Chronology ==

===[[Once Upon a Time... Man|Once Upon a Time… Man]]===

Originally produced in 1978, this series is the original series of the franchise, detailing the overall history of mankind. It was directed by [[Albert Barillé]].

===[[Once Upon a Time... Space|Once Upon a Time… Space]]===

Produced in 1982, this series was a science fiction follow up to the last episode of "Man", which was futuristic in scope. Several episodes of this series were made into a movie. It was directed by Albert Barillé.

===[[Once Upon a Time... Life|Once Upon a Time… Life]]===

Produced in 1987, this series focuses on the workings of the human body, and has the children shown as the archetypes of various parts of the organism (cells, bacteria, etc.). It was directed by Albert Barillé.

===[[Once Upon a Time... The Americas|Once Upon a Time… The Americas]]===

Produced in 1991, this series focuses on the history of the American continent through all its settlements and their historical events. It was directed by Albert Barillé.

===[[Once Upon a Time... The Discoverers|Once Upon a Time… The Discoverers]]===

Produced in 1994, this series focuses on various thinkers and inventors throughout history, from the ancient Chinese, through Henry the Navigator, Gutenberg, Leonardo Da Vinci, Galileo, Newton, Marie Curie, until "tomorrow". It was directed by Albert Barillé.

===[[Once Upon a Time... The Explorers|Once Upon a Time… The Explorers]]===

Produced in 1996, this series focuses on various explorers, from "The First Navigators", through Vasco de Gama, Cabeza de Vaca and Humboldt, to Lewis & Clark and Alexandra David Neel. It was, as all the series before it, directed by Albert Barillé.

===[[Once Upon a Time... Planet Earth|Once Upon a Time… Planet Earth]]===

Produced in 2008, this series focuses on the preservation of the natural environment, and warnings about [[global warming]], the [[greenhouse effect]], [[pollution]], and others. It features very different animation compared to earlier series. It was the last film directed by Albert Barillé, and the last series in the franchise to date. Unlike the others, this series has not yet been released in English.

===Other series===

* In 2007, '''''Once Upon a Time...Time… the Music''''' (''"Érase una vez...vez… La música"'' in spanish) was produced but only released in Spain. This series focuses on the history of the classical music. <!-- is this even produced by Procidis? -->

==Characters==

The series ''Once Upon a Time...Time…'' illustrated the various subjects (as listed above) from the point of view of a group that is always composed of similar recurring figures that represent different archetypal roles.:

*'''Maestro''' ([[Roger Carel]]) - The wise old man. He usually serves as the head of the tribe, as a religious priest, as an adviser to the king and as an inventor. Maestro has long white hair and beard that covers his entire body. He is seen to stash things away in this beard, sometimes loitering quite a bit to find the object he wishes to present. He serves as the mentor to the children, telling them about the various subjects.