Schedule

African folk tales, often collected from village elders, are in danger of being lost today as the practice of oral storytelling diminishes. Now, HBO Family's all-new "Magic Cellar" brings this great tradition to a whole new generation of children in a groundbreaking ten-part CG animated series.

"Magic Cellar" follows the adventures of Pula, a young African girl who stumbles upon an enchanted world in her grandmother's basement and encounters a talking gecko and a wise old cricket, among other fascinating creatures. Pula and her friends -- Marcus (an African mixed-race boy), Navitha (an Indian girl), Josh (a Caucasian boy) and Melissa (an Asian girl) -- take on various roles and interact with animals in each of the stories they tell.

Each episode of "Magic Cellar" contains two separate stories. Shows include:

Episode #1

"Where Stories Come From": Pula and her new friends discover the Magic Cellar, and the children learn where stories come from. "The Tortoise and the Elephant": Elephant wants to eat all of Tortoise's food, but learns the importance of sharing after Tortoise challenges him to a race.

Episode #2

"Shakutara": A king falls in love with a beautiful maiden, but doesn't realize the value of true love until he almost loses her.

"Birds of Clay": The farmers of a village learn the importance of sharing when they destroy the birds and have no protection from the locusts, who eat all their seeds.

Episode #3

"The Hare and the Jackal": Caught by a hungry jackal, Hare must bend the truth to avoid becoming the jackal's dinner.

"Monkey Business": When a dress is torn, Baboon decides to put everyone on trial. The animals learn the significance of telling the truth.

Episode #4

"Watersnake and the Magic Stone": A hunter steals watersnake's magical stone, but learns not to be so selfish when the watersnake drinks all the water in the river to punish the thief.

"The Devil's Trick": A ship's captain is tricked by the devil into smoking a pipe that kills him. A pillar of smoke remains where he died to remind everyone about the dangers of smoking.

Winner of 27 international awards, "Magic Cellar" has been featured at numerous festivals around the world, including: the One World Film Festival; the Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival; the 17th Annual Aegis Awards; The Chicago International Children's Film Festival, where it won first prize in Animated Television Production, with a jury composed entirely of children; the 2006 Davey Awards; and the 50th New York Festivals, where it won the only Gold World Medal awarded to an animated television series, as well as a Silver Medal for episode two.