- First lyric, Brave Little Zolie and Friends theme

Hyelian entertainment is fairly limited, especially in audiovisual circles. Hyeruul has only a handful of communication satellites and two broadcast television stations, both centered in the capital city. Most of what is shown on the holovid or televid is imported from the Federation or else performed live by bards, with the entire harp-flute-ocarina ensemble backing them up.

Hyeruul first broke into animation with a forgettable, and forgotten series of adventures of various L'ynks throughout Hyelian history. The series ran aground because it stayed too close to traditional Hyelian entertainment- everybody sang everything. With debts looming on the horizon, the first (and prospectively last) Hyelian animation studio decided to move closer to Federation formulas with its second effort, "Brave Little Zolie and Friends," which first aired in 2321 Federation Standard Calendar.

"Brave Little Zolie" was unique in all of Hyelian entertainment from the start; no other story had a likeable non-Hyelian hero in it, but Zolie was of the Zola race, one of the "Underworld" intelligent races. As a little girl Zola, little Zolie considered herself ugly, with spiky fins and clammy skin and a fish-face, and she decided to go on a quest to find a means of becoming an pretty elf girl. The quest wasn't easy, of course- out of the water Zolie was extremely clumsy and tripped over her short little legs very often. No matter the obstacles, though, she refused to give up.

Joining her on the quest were a wide variety of the Underworld races' children and a couple of Hyelians, all seeking some magic of their own to remedy what they felt were their own inadequacies. Along the way, the children saved villages, fought petty evils, counseled kings, found treasure and gave it away, and toured every conceivable corner of the planet Hyeruul in a forty-five year run (considered short by Hyelian standards).

The overriding moral of the series, of course, was 'It's okay to be different,' a radical concept among a Hyelian society which feared the Underworld races and regarded conformity as a high virtue. In the course of the show, Zolie's many friends eventually found what they were looking for, which of course was never what they'd originally wanted. Zolie herself had three different opportunities to gain what she thought she wanted, and passed them all by for various reasons. In the final regular episode, she ended her quest for good, the legendary 'People Potion' in her hands, because she realized that she didn't need to be an elf to have friends... and, in the last segment, we see a glimpse of Zolie as she will become, an elegant, graceful, beautiful Zola woman.

The show was only modestly popular on Hyeruul, which is why regular production ended in 2366. Those who did like the show, however, were fanatic about it, and although rumors of revival remain just that, it has several holiday specials in circulation, and Zolie and her friends often make 'public appearances' in animation for special events. One of the show's greatest successes was in the restoration of ties with the Zola and Goron races, the two Underworld races which had, in ancient days, been friendly to the Hyelian people.

Brave Little Zolie is the only Hyelian-produced entertainment successfully exported off of Hyeruul, although its success is very modest indeed. It is often compared to the Salusian toddler's show Tiki's Little Neighborhood, which has over a century of mass-marketing, saccharine dominance over the children's market behind it with no signs of stopping. Although Hyeruul produced a significant amount of Zolie merchandise, very little has been licensed to Federation markets, especially when compared to the "Tiki Aisle" of most galactic toy stores. The Federation regards it as a show which either annoys you to tears or inspires you to fanatic devotion... but unlike Tiki, nobody has ever suggested Zolie is something to be outgrown.

Note: the Hitchhiker's Guide is looking for a new Children's Entertainment correspondent, preferably not one born on Hyeruul. Applications now being accepted at the main office, Hitchhiker's Publishing, Beta Ursa Minor II.

--- Redneck (think Fraggle Rock and not Smurfs)

Red wizard needs money badly...
www.wlpcomics.com
White Lightning Productions - don't tell the Pope

*break*

> --- Redneck (think Fraggle Rock and not Smurfs)

Right!

Actually, I'm thinking AndrAIa, from ReBoot...

Blessed be.
Nathan Baxter

Ebony the Black Dragon
aka Draco Draconis Ebenium
known to his fevered imagination as Aaron F. Johnson
Senior Editor, Living Room Games
http://www.lrgames.com

Dance your cares away,
Worry's for another day.
Let the music play,
Down at Fraggle Rock.

Yay!

Dan Brandon
-----
.sig puppeteer