Approximately one year before the debut of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, comedian Bill Cosby, the CBS network and the Filmation cartoon firm collaborated on this 30-minute TV special. Cosby appears in the live-action wraparounds as Greek storyspinner Aesop, who talk-sings a brace of songs and narrates animated versions of two fables. In the "Tortoise and the Hare" segment, funnymen John Byner and Larry Storch provide the voices for the title characters, with Byner returning in "The Tortoise Who Wanted to Fly". And in an extended sequence combining live and cartoon action, two youngsters, Joey (Keith Hamilton) and Marta (Jerelyn Fields), lost in an enchanted forest, are guided to safety by the all-wise Aesop. The special was written by Earl Hamner Jr., of The Waltons fame.
by Hal Erickson
synopsis
