Amerigo Vespucci sets foot for the first time on the American continent. He collects all manner of plants and animals, only to drop them into the Amazon River.

Amerigo and his crew continue exploring the New World. Their water is almost gone. Fortunately, the river they're sailing on turns out to be the Amazon, so they won't die of thirst after all.

In this episode of the "Once Upon a Time" animated series on world explorers, we begin to learn the history of Cairo and the Nile River in Egypt.

In the second segment of this episode of Les Explorateurs (The Explorers), James Bruce, our intrepid adventurer, encounters some pirates while trying to reach the source of the Nile.

As James Bruce and his crew arrive in Massawa in hopes of meeting the king, they are thwarted by the king's messenger, who was ordered not to let in any foreigners. But since the royal palace is in need of a doctor, and Bruce happens to be one, he may be forced to make an exception....

After curing the queen mother's grandchildren of smallpox, James Bruce meets with the Ethiopian emperor, Tekle Haymanot, to tell him of his plans to discover the source of the Nile. But he soon finds out that he'll have to demonstrate his warrior skills if he wants to reach Lake Tana.

James Bruce, the intrepid Scottish explorer, finally reaches his goal, the source of the Nile... or so he thought. After all his trouble, his exploits are not well received in England. But his legacy will live on.

In the first episode of this new cartoon series, Once Upon a Time... Planet Earth, deforestation issues are addressed from outer space... Just grow a few trees in a spaceship and plant them on land later!

The Maestro tells his students about the famous "Biosphere" project in Arizona, the largest enclosed ecological system in the world.

These young people want to do their part for the planet. Under the Maestro's supervision, they prepare a butterfly garden after learning that butterflies are an endangered species.

The Maestro surpervises the building of a pond for the butterfly garden. Everything goes according to plan, despite the work of a few practical jokesters.

In the next segment of this Il était une fois... episode on ecosystems, the Maestro teaches us how to build a butterfly garden. You can build one anywhere—even on your apartment balcony!

In this episode on the ecosystems, guide Nam explains the importance of mangroves in the food chain. You'll also see the rafflesia, the largest flower in the world.

In part seven of this episode on the ecosystems, the young students are on a field trip (a marsh trip to be exact), where they witness firsthand the destruction of this precious ecosystem. But this is not a new phenomenon: once upon a time in Polynesia...

In the final part of this Il était une fois... episode on the ecosystems, the Maestro explains what happened to the people and the famous statues of Easter Island. It's a lesson we'd do well to learn from.