Redhill

Once upon a time, there was a fishing village where Singapore's capital sits today. On a hill in that village lives young Nadim and his grandmother. Their village is ruled by a Raja who often welcomes gift-bearing visitors from afar. A traveler goes to see the Raja one day and uses the beak of a garfish as a walking stick to help himself along. The Raja is amused by this use of a garfish beak and his advisor orders every fisherman in the village to gather more garfish beaks. This continues until the Raja eventually grows tired of it and allows the villagers to return to their own fishing. This, however, is not quite so easy. The mass capture of garfish angers the fish, and any boat that enters the water is destroyed by their long, sharp beaks. Unsure of what to do, the villagers grow hungrier and hungrier as their food supply dwindles. Nadim, who is gathering bananas to share with the village, realizes that a barrier of banana tree stems might solve their problems when he observes birds getting their beaks stuck in the soft stem. The Raja agrees with Nadim's idea, and the barrier proves successful. Raja and the villagers cheer Nadim and his solution. Later, the envious advisor suggests to the Raja that soldiers' shields should be made from banana stems as well so that the blades of their enemies would become stuck. The Raja agrees and allows for all banana trees be chopped down for that purpose. Nadim pleads with the advisor and the Raja to end that destruction, but they refuse to listen. The advisor and some soldiers quietly plan to ambush Nadim and his grandmother at their home that evening. However, when they get there, the pair are already gone. The ground, however, begins to shake, and the earth opens up to swallow the advisor and his men. Red lava rises from the ground to cover the hill. While many believe that this event is simply an earthquake, others firmly believe that it is a retaliatory act of an angry Earth. Either way, the Raja learns a lesson, and he wishes that he had trusted Nadim.

King, Garfish, Boy, Grandmother, Raja's Advisor

A series of 39 individual animated folk tales from the creators of HBO's "Shakespeare: The Animated Tales and Animated Epics". Most stories were animated in the country the tale takes place in. Each thirty-minute edition features two story adaptations representing two different countries and featuring a variety of innovative animation techniques.

"Animated Tales of the World" was inspired by a simple idea: no nation is poor in stories, and we are all enriched by sharing them. In this series, village storytellers become global storytellers for all the children in the world. These indigenous tales and mythology form part of the heritage of each country, and each has been painstakingly crafted in a style of animation that reflects the spirit of its own culture.

Bukit Merah is a hill in Singapore. In English, it means "red hill." According to Malay legend, it is called Redhill because a mysterious event took place there many years ago, when the island was still populated by small fishing villages. A young boy and his grandmother lived atop that hill until the day the boy angered the Raja's advisor and they had to flee for their lives. Events unfold dramatically in this classic pourquoi folktale.

Stories include:

• The Crown and the Sceptre (Arabia)
• The Chief and the Carpenter (Caribbean)
• The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep (Denmark)
• Cap O' Rushes (England)
• The Enchanted Lion (Germany)
• Edward Congeger (France)
• Persephone (Greece)
• The Two Brothers (Russia)
• Raven (American Indian)
• Three Golden Apples (Holland)
• King March (Wales)
• John Henry, Steel-Driving Man (U.S.A.)

Production companies include:

• Arab Radio and Television
• BBC Alba/BBC Scotland
• Channel 4 Television Corporation
• Comataidh Craolaidh Gaidhlig
• Danmarks Radio
• Discovery Kids
• Katholieke Radio Omroep (KRO)
• La Cinquième
• PTS
• Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV)
• RTV
• Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ)
• Right Angle
• SBS Independent
• School TV
• Sianel 4 Cymru (S4C)
• TG4
• TNB
• TV Ontario
• Tamuz Productions
• Tele-Français Ontario (TFO)
• Television Corporation of Singapore
• Telewizja Polska