Il Grande Libro della Natura image

Il Cigno

1999 (estimated) Il Grande Libro della Natura

English title: The Swan

Series title: The Great Book Of Nature

Studio
Mondo TV SPA

Synopsis

In the first part of the episode, a swan asks a bear to help recover a stone flower that has fallen into a fountain in so blocking the drain. A duck then solves the problem with its brain instead of its muscles by enlisting the aid of a group of frogs, and using life preservers to recover the stone flower. In the second part, a caterpillar dupes a rose in order to eat it by persuading it to dispense with its thorns and leave the rest of its plant to take part in a beauty contest. The rose trusts in what the caterpillar says to the point of risking its own life for the lack of water. Fortunately, the stem of the plant, the leaves, and the roots have no intention of abandoning their friend the rose, and in the end, they serve to save the day.

Characters

Bear, Ron Ron the Bee, Cat, Dog, Goat, Monkey, Fox, Swan

Credits

Music

Music
John Sposìto

Production notes

This series is largely composed of segmented episodes hosted by a bear, and each of these features one or more creatures. One can learn about a creature's life and habits during a question-and-answer session at the end of each episode. This brief educational section covers the featured topic and answers typical questions, such as "Where does an animal live?", "What does it eat?", "What are its enemies?" and "How is its relationship with human beings?"

Locations featured vary from sea, land, and sky... and the creatures in question include many kinds of fish, mammals, insects and birds. On occasion, a featured animal is presented with its own name, while at other times, creatures are presented according to only their species.

Towards the end of the series, multi-segmented stories are presented with human characters in supporting roles. These episodes allow the host to introduce fantastic, imaginary animals, such as the winged horse and the dragon, and also to share information about their prominent roles in mythology. The moral of the series is that because certain animals were looked upon as gods and immortalized in the mythologies of ancient history, we should, therefore, learn to pay better attention to the animal kingdom of today, so as to improve our understanding of the world in which we dwell.