Il Grande Libro della Natura image

Il Toro

1999 (estimated) Il Grande Libro della Natura

English title: The Bulldog

Series title: The Great Book Of Nature

Studio
Mondo TV SPA

Synopsis

A bull, a dog and a cat live together in peace and harmony, helping each other whenever necessary. One day, a small bird gives the bull a magic bell that, when rung once a day, makes huge amounts of food fall from the sky. To begin with, the bull shares the food with his friends, but, as time goes by, it decides to keep it all for itself. Unfortunately, the magic bell catches the attention of the wolf and the fox who decide to steal it for themselves. Helped by a rat, the two thieves kidnap the bull, which realizes too late that it was a mistake to alienate his friends. Meanwhile, the cat and the dog set out to find the bull, and manage to come to the rescue before it's too late. The bull admits that life without friends is sad and empty.

Characters

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

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.