Season 1

Once Upon a Time… Man (Il était une fois… l'Homme), Season 1 is the 1978 French-Japanese educational cartoon you can watch online on iFILM — 26 episodes that walk through the whole story of humankind, built for kids yet easy for grown-ups to enjoy.

The season works as a journey through time. It opens with the Earth forming and the first humans, Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon, then moves out across the fertile valleys, the first empires, the Greece of Pericles and the Pax Romana. Era follows era: Vikings, cathedral builders, Marco Polo's travels, the Hundred Years' War, the Renaissance, the court of Louis XIV, the French Revolution. The same recognisable cast — the bearded sage and his companions — carries you from one century to the next, which is what makes distant history feel alive.

Albert Barillé created the show, and for several generations it served as a first history lesson. Big events arrive plainly, with humour and without a pile of dates. A solid pick for family viewing. Stream Once Upon a Time… Man Season 1 online on iFILM.