Once Upon a Time... ("Il était une fois...") is a French educational animation franchise, created by Albert Barillé for his animation studio Procidis.[1][2][3] There are eight distinct series, each focusing on different aspects of knowledge.[4] Once Upon a Time... has been shown in a hundred different countries, and 150 million video cassettes and DVDs have been sold around the world, as well as 250 million tie-in books.[5]
There are eight series in all.[6] These are mostly historical, with Once Upon a Time... Man being focused on the overall history of mankind.[7] Most of the others are more focused on specified historical fields, such as the lives and exploits of the explorers or inventors,[8] except for Space and Life. The former was a science fiction series,[9] while the latter 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.[10][11]
Most of the series are in the animated documentary genre and teach in an expository style.[12]
- ^ Clements, Jonathan; McCarthy, Helen (1 November 2006). The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917, Revised and Expanded Edition. Berkeley, California, United States of America: Stone Bridge Press. p. 456. ISBN 978-1933330105.
an explicitly educational series
- ^ "Procidis". Hello Maestro!. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
- ^ Milligan, Mercedes (17 December 2016). "Procidis Shops 'Once Upon a Time…Life' Around MENA". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
- ^ "Hello Maestro, a Cult Saga Made of 7 Seasons". Hello Maestro!. Procidis. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
- ^ Kessous, Mustapha (11 March 2017). "« Il était une fois… la vie » revient sur France 4 dans une version restaurée". Le Monde (in French). Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
- ^ "Procidis Signs International Deals for 'Once Upon a Time…Life'". Animation World Network. 20 December 2016. Archived from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
- ^ Bargain-Villéger, Alban (3 September 2015). "History for Children? Watching "Once Upon a Time… Man" as an Adult in the 21st Century". Archive History. Archived from the original on 15 February 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
- ^ "Once upon a Watch. History as a children's series". ¡ Philosophy of History Now !. University of Oulu. 29 April 2020. Archived from the original on 16 August 2022.
- ^ St-Louis, Hervé (26 May 2014). "Once Upon a Time... Space". ComicBookBin. Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
- ^ "We are made like this, Exploring the human body (Once upon a time) the animated series". Cartoni Online. 15 February 2022. Archived from the original on 26 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
- ^ Kunz, Tobias; Wilde, Lukas R. A. (31 March 2023). Transmedia Character Studies. Abingdon-on-Thames, United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781000860443.
The 'edutainment' children's series Once Upon a Time... Life (Barillé 1987), for instance, combined storylines about a fantastic journey into the human body with factual information about our inner working mechanisms.
- ^ Formenti, Cristina (2022-03-24). The Classical Animated Documentary and Its Contemporary Evolution. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. pp. 250–253. ISBN 978-1-5013-4647-7.