Once Upon a Time… Man

December 17, 2019 Off By sophie

Once Upon a Time… Man

This tv show originated in France as Il était une fois… l’homme. It’s the first of seven series that were in the franchise. This one covers the evolution of man, and the history of western civilisation. The same recurring characters live their lives in each time period of interest.

My kids enjoyed watching the series with the dramatic opening music (Johann Sebastian Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor) and the familiar characters popping up in each episode. It gives a great overview of a large part of history. It is, however, very dated when it comes to sexism, racism etc. A lot of this will go over the heads of younger children. I had to point out to my eldest son all the things that concerned me, like the limited female characters and their treatment.

Despite some obvious flaws, it worked as an introduction to our past and gave my son a loose timeline of historical events. We will revisit the various time periods using different media.

 

You can find Once Upon a Time… Man on Youtube

  1. And Earth was created…
  2. Neanderthal Man
  3. Cro-Magnon Man
  4. The Fertile Valleys
  5. The First Empires
  6. The Age of Pericles
  7. The Pax Roman
  8. The Conquest of Islam
  9. Carolingians
  10. The Age of Vikings
  11. The Cathedral Builders
  12. The Travels of Marco Polo
  13. The Hundred Years War
  14. The Quattrocento
  15. The Golden Age of Spain
  16. Elizabethan England
  17. Golden Age of the Low Countries (Dutch Golden Age)
  18. Great Reign of Louis X1V
  19. Peter the Great
  20. The Age of Reason
  21. America – American Civil War
  22. The French Revolution
  23. The Awakening of the People
  24. The Beautiful Era
  25. The Crazy Years (Roaring Twenties,  Great Depression, World War II)
  26. Once Upon a Time the Earth.. and Tomorrow