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Little Gems - Once Upon A Time Man

Click here to listen to the start music (436Kb)

Once Upon A Time Man

Originally called "Il Etait Une Fois L'homme", this animated series was produced by the great French director Albert Barille in 1978. The series set out to inform children & adults of how the Earth first came into existence and then how life evolved to the present day and then a brief glimpse of what the future may hold for us. The series lasted for 26 episodes (four of which are presented here), but it was only a smaller part of a vast series of animations done by Barille (shown in table below). Each episode lasted 25mins or so minutes and was originally shown on ITV back in the late 1970s right up to the early 1980s. The animations had serious historical fact mixed in with humour and adventure. Occasionally the series would also include photographs or video footage of actual sites of historical interest. Some may not remember the animation themselves, but I am sure when you listen to the starting music and look at the start credit images, it will all come flooding back.

The main characters (shown below) were always the same throughout whatever period of history you were watching. Peter was always a kind, resourceful man who often tried to help his fellow man. He was often partnered with Psi and they had several children including young Peter who was very ingenious and good with his brain and hands. Peter was always accompanied by Jumbo who was a very strong individual but not the brightest light on the tree when it came to day to day matters. Jumbo often wanted to resolves issues with his mighty left fist but Peter would often stop him. On the odd occasion that there was no way of dealing with a problem either rationally or logically especially with a certain individual, Jumbo would often look to Peter to get approval, after which the fist would come crashing down on someone's head. The head usually belonged to one of three creatures, firstly an animal for food but more often that not it was the head of the big bully boy and his sidekick. The big bully was always there demanding his share of things and that he was the leader. The bully was both ignorant and often dangerous. Often he would deliberately take the opposite viewpoint/stand even if it meant his downfall. He was always encouraged by his evil sneaky side kick who would whisper ideas into his ear. The sidekick was always present, always looking to plot the downfall of someone or an idea. He was a complete coward but very capable in terms of stealing ideas in order to further the bully and himself. Jumbo knew exactly how to deal with the pair.

The brains of the outfit was "Maestro." He was strange character, a small white fur ball springs to mind. He was covered from head to toe with long white hair. You only ever got to see his eyes, nose, mouth, arms and feet. The rest of him was a little like Captain Caveman. He was the thinker and spent most of his time working things out and helping humankind advance. In the earlier period of Earth's history he also acted as a form of priest, painting walls with images which the others danced around. He then was the architect of the standing stones and is in many cases the narrator of the series. He spent a lot of his time with young Peter as the two of them often worked things out and bounced ideas of each other. Pierette was the faithful wife (partner) of Jumbo and she spent most of her time working at home. She had a friend called Psi who was the wife (partner) of Peter. The two had several children. Young Jumbo and young Peter often went around together just like their respective fathers.

Finally in the background was "Time" ever watching and changing. Time would often take part in the series although it spent most of its time up in the top left hand corner of the screen.

The table below shows the many different series that were created all revolving around the same characters. The only other series I have seen is "Once Upon a Time Life" which I obtained on six VHS tapes. I may be wrong here but I only ever seem to remember seeing the "Once Upon A Time...Man" series being shown on British television. I have scoured the TV Times but not found any listing for the others series.

I used to watch this program every day when I was off during the school holidays. In a similar way to Belle and Sebastian, I never ever got to see the last couple of episodes. Again probably due to my Grandparents taking me off to the seaside for the day. I remember looking through the RadioTimes, TVTimes to see what programs I would miss (very sad child), when I knew what day my sister and I were going to be away.

Once Upon A Time Man - Episode Listing

Once Upon A Time Man Characters

Click below to see some of the earlier episodes from the series.

Once Upon A T me Man Main Page	Episode One	Episode Two	Episode Three	Episode Four

Once Upon A Time Man Credits

Fondly remember by those who have requested it. Comments, thoughts and suggestions etc. to the usual address.