Once Upon a Time... Life

Il était une fois... la vie is a French-Japanese animated series which tells the story of the human body for children, in a simplified and educational way. The program was originally produced in France in 1987 by Procidis and directed by Albert Barillé. The series consists of 26 episodes and originally was aired on the French channel Canal+, and then on the state-owned channel FR3. It is the third part of the Once Upon a Time... series. Just like the previous series,Once Upon a Time... Space, the series was animated in Japan by the same studio, Eiken. However, unlike the previous series, it was released on VHS instead of airing on TV. Once Upon a Time... Life brought back the edutainment formula that had largely been left out on Once Upon a Time... Space. The series combined entertaining storylines with factual information, presented metaphorically. Overview The series Once Upon a Time... Life used the same recurring lead characters as the other Once Upon a Time... series: certain represent the cells that make up the body's systems and defense mechanisms, such as red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets, while antagonists represent viruses and bacteria that threaten to attack the human body. Every episode of the series featured a different organ or system within the human body (like the brain, the heart, the circulatory system, etc.). In the French-language version of the series, the opening theme song "L'hymne à la vie" (French for "hymn for life") by Michel Legrand was performed by Sandra Kim, winner of the 1986 Eurovision Song Contest. In the English-language dub, the song was translated into English and retitled "This life is life that's life", sung to the same tune as the French.