Long Ago and Far Away is an award-winning TV series that aired on PBS Television from 1989 until 1993. It was created by WGBH, a public television broadcast service located in Boston, Massachusetts. WGBH is a member of PBS, which allowed for this TV series to be viewed on various other PBS members.

Each episode began with host James Earl Jones sitting in a chair in a room with a table, lamp and window. The walls themselves were blue with white dots in order to make it look as though these living room items were sitting out in space.

James Earl Jones talks during the short opening section, then acts as narrator for the balance of an episode. This series, aimed at children aged 6 to 9 years, presents stories based on traditional fairy tales. A number of presentation methods were used to tell these stories, with stop motion animation, live-action or cel animation being used depending on the episode.

Long Ago and Far Away also featured a number of guest narrators including: Tammy Grimes (The Happy Circus), Kim Loughran (Bill and Bunny), David Suchet (The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship), and Mia Farrow (Beauty and the Beast, Pegasus).

During the episode "Emperor's New Clothes", Regis Philbin provided the voice of the Emperor. Tim Curry appeared in the episode Abel's Island.

Awards

• National Education Association Award, Advancement of Learning through Broadcasting
• Action for Children's Television, Achievement in Children's Television Award
• National Catholic Association of Broadcasters and Communicators, Gabriel Award, Best National Children's Program
• International Film and Television Festival of New York, Gold Medal
• Connoisseur Magazine, Connie Award, Best National Children's Series
• International Reading Association, Broadcast Media Award

Episodes

01: Abel's Island

02: As Long As He Can Count the Cows

03: Beauty and the Beast

04: Bill and Bunny

05: Bill the Minder

06: The Boy in the Oak Tree

07: Circus Dreams

08: The Emperor's New Clothes

09: The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship

10: Frog and Toad are Friends and Frog and Toad Together

11: The Happy Circus

12: Hungarian Folk Tales

13: Jazztime Tale

14: The Man Who Planted Trees

15: Merlin and the Dragons

16: More Hungarian Folktales

17: Nightingale

18: Noah's Ark

19: Oh, Mr. Toad!

20: Pegasus

21: The Pied Piper of Hamelin

22: Rarg

23: The Reluctant Dragon

24: The Silver Cornet

25: The Sleeping Princess

26: Svatohor

27: The Talking Parcel

28: Uncle Elephant

29: The Wind in the Willows

External links

• Long Ago and Far Away @ IMDB.com
• "Long Ago" Gallery Photos @ wgbh.org
• Complete Episode Listing with Descriptions @ NEH.gov