Il Grande Libro della Natura image

La Cicogna

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 school of fish are tricked by an artful stork. Taking advantage of the dry season, the stork offers to take the fish from their dried up pond, to a lake full of water. The fish accept eagerly, unaware that they are actually victims of a cheap trick that the stork has used to procure food! Fortunately, the crabs and the older fish in the pond, including a venerable jackfish, see through the trick and foil the stork's evil intentions. In the second part of the episode, a dog, a cat, and a duck organize a contest to decide which of them is the most capable and intelligent. Before the contest begins, the three friends encounter a cow that asks a favor of them: it's been dying to eat a peach all day long, but it can't find one. The dog, the cat, and the duck split up, each going off to look for a peach tree, determined to satisfy the cow's request autonomous from each other. However, as time goes by, they then realize that they in fact need each other to complete their mission successfully, that only unity creates true strength, and that the best way to obtain results is to collaborate with each other from the get-go.

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.