The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (TV series) facts for kids

The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (French: Les Aventures de Robinson Crusoë) is a fun French-German children's TV drama series. It's based on the famous 1719 book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.

The show first aired in Germany in October 1964. In the UK, it was shown as a 13-part series starting in 1965. The English version had new music by Robert Mellin and P. Reverberi. This music was very popular! The show didn't just focus on Robinson's time on the island. It also showed his earlier adventures through flashbacks.

The theme music for the English version was highly praised. One radio expert said the music was "distinctive" and made you think of rolling ocean waves. It mixed old-style sea music with sounds from the 1960s. Bands like The Art of Noise have even recreated it!

The Story of Robinson Crusoe

This TV series became a favorite during school summer holidays in the UK. It tells the exciting story of a young English man named Robinson Crusoe. He gets shipwrecked on a lonely desert island. The show follows his fight to survive and his memories of what happened before the shipwreck.

Robinson is not alone for long. He has his loyal dog Dick, a parrot, and a goat to keep him company. Later, a group of cannibals (people who eat other people) arrive on his island. Robinson uses explosives to scare them away. He also saves a man from being eaten, and he names him Friday. By the end of his time on the island, Robinson learns a lot about himself. He becomes a better person, makes friends with Friday, and gets his life in order.

Where the Show Was Filmed

The series was filmed in beautiful locations. Much of it was shot on Gran Canaria, which is a large island in the Canary Islands. These islands are off the coast of Morocco.

• Robinson's Island: Scenes for the desert island were filmed at Playa del Ingles, a beach on the southern tip of Gran Canaria.
• Moroccan Scenes: These were filmed nearby at Playa de Maspalomas and its famous sand dunes.
• Robinson's Plantation: The small village of Tejeda, in the middle of Gran Canaria, was used for Robinson's plantation in Brazil.

Most of the filming was done without sound. The actors' voices and other sounds were added later. This saved time while filming on location. The scenes set in England (like York and Hull) were actually filmed in Normandy, France. The whole filming process took about four months.

The main actor, Robert Hoffmann, was from Austria. This was his very first acting job after finishing drama school in Paris in 1964.

Different Versions and Other Shows

The show was made in different lengths for different countries. There were four-part, six-part, and thirteen-part versions.

The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe was so successful that it led to many other TV shows. Between 1964 and 1983, French and German companies worked together on 16 more adaptations of classic adventure and children's books. These shows are sometimes called the "ZDF four-parters" by German fans.

Some of these other popular shows included:

• Don Quixote the Man of La Mancha (1965)
• Die Schatzinsel (Treasure Island) (1966), which starred Ivor Dean as Long John Silver.
• Les Aventures de Tom Sawyer (1968)
• Die Lederstrumpf Erzahlungen (1969), based on James Fenimore Cooper's The Leatherstocking Tales, including The Last of the Mohicans.

The Robinson Crusoe series was dubbed into several languages. You could watch it in German, English, French, and Italian.

Meet the Cast

Here are some of the main actors and voice actors who brought the characters to life:

• Robert Hoffmann as Robinson Crusoe
• Lee Payant as the Voice of Robinson Crusoe (English version)
• Renzo Palmer as the Voice of Robinson Crusoe (Italian version)
• Fabian Cevallos as Friday
• Jacques Berthier as Robinson's father
• Robert Dalban as Captain Darrick
• Jacques Dynam as Bush, a sailor on Darrick's ship
• Luc Andrieux as Kasir, the fishmonger

Some scenes were filmed differently for the German version of the show. For example, some characters like Wooseley's niece or Jenny only appear in the German cut. Also, some moments, like Robinson trying to eat an insect, were edited out of the German version.

Episode Guide (English Version)

The English version of the show had 13 exciting episodes. Here's a quick look at what happens in each one:

• Part 1 (October 12, 1965)

Robinson is on a ship going from Brazil to Africa. A big storm hits, and he ends up shipwrecked on a lonely island. He thinks about his younger days in York.

• Part 2 (October 19, 1965)

Alone on the island, Robinson finds ways to get food. He also meets his first animal friend.

• Part 3 (October 26, 1965)

Robinson remembers leaving home and going to Hull to find a ship. The remains of his shipwrecked ship, the Esmeralda, wash ashore. He works hard to save as much as he can before it sinks.

• Part 4 (November 2, 1965)

Robinson thinks back to his first trips at sea. He finds a cave on the island and makes it his new home.

• Part 5 (November 9, 1965)

While building his shelter and making furniture, Robinson remembers how his friends thought he was dead. He also recalls being sold into slavery.

• Part 6 (November 16, 1965)

A fire in his cave destroys everything he built. As he rebuilds, he remembers escaping slavery and how he became the owner of a banana farm in Brazil.

• Part 7 (November 23, 1965)

Robinson tells the story of how he ended up on the Esmeralda before the shipwreck.

• Part 8 (November 30, 1965)

Robinson discovers an old, empty ship and a hidden pirate treasure!

• Part 9 (December 7, 1965)

The pirate ship drifts with Robinson on it, taking him to a different part of the island.

• Part 10 (December 14, 1965)

Robinson meets the cannibals and bravely rescues Friday from them.

• Part 11 (December 21, 1965)

Robinson tries to teach Friday new ways of living, but Friday gets scared and runs away.

• Part 12 (December 28, 1965)

Friday returns to Robinson. But then, more unwanted visitors arrive on the island.

• Part 13 (January 4, 1966)

Friday and Robinson work together to defeat the bad guys (mutineers). Finally, they escape from the island!

Where and When It Aired

Germany

The show first aired in Germany from October 3 to October 24, 1964, on ZDF. It was repeated several times over the years. The last time it was shown in Germany was on Tele 5 in June 1992.

France

The first French broadcast began on September 10, 1965, on ORTF.

United Kingdom

In the UK, the BBC repeated the series many times. It was often shown during school summer holidays. The last time the BBC showed the full series was from April to June 1982.

Behind the Scenes Crew

Many talented people worked to create The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe:

• Director: Jean Sacha
• Director of photography: Quinto Albicocco
• Film editors: Helene Plemiannikov and Borys Lewin
• Music composer (original French/German version): George Van Parys
• Music composers (English version): Robert Mellin and P.Reverberi
• Producer: Henry Deutschmeister
• Executive producer: Claire Monis

Music and Releases

The music from the show was very popular.

• In 1965, a record of George van Parys' original music was released in France.
• In 1966, a single of the English theme tune by the Franco London Orchestra was released. It was re-released a few times because it was so well-liked.
• Later, in the 1990s, the music from the English version by Robert Mellin and P. Reverberi was released on CD. More music was found and released in an extended version in 1997.
• In 2011, a special limited edition vinyl record of the theme tune was released.

Watching the Show at Home

• In 1997, the complete series was released on VHS video. The company Network found the only known English copies in a French film vault.
• In 2006, the four-part German version was released on DVD. This version was restored from high-quality film prints.
• In 2007, Network released the English series on DVD. It included the recovered English copies and an interview with actor Robert Hoffmann.