Legends of the Ring of Fire (partially found Disney animated series; early 2000s)
The title card for the show.
Status: Partially Found
Legends of the Ring of Fire is an animated Disney anthology series that collected folk tales and mythology from Asian cultures that aired from 2003 to sometime in the late 2000s. Due to a lack of documentation, promotion, and cultural/language barriers, the series has become increasingly obscure over the years.
History
According to an article in TODAY Newspaper[1] and multiple other sources following suit, there were only 6 episodes of Legends of the Ring of Fire that ran from August to October 2003. These episodes were Why the Sun Chases the Moon, The Cengal Tree, How the Moon Came to Be, How Singapore Got Its Name, The Magic Snail, and How the Durian Came to Be.
Despite the claim that there were only six episodes of the series being often repeated, evidence has surfaced that there are 10, potentially 11 other episodes of the series, bringing the current episode count to at least 16 or 17.
In an article from the site PhilStar[2], it's mentioned that there are two additional episodes focused on tales from India and Taiwan, with an article from the Taipei Times[3] giving the latter a name- The Lightening Spirit's Daughter.
Four more episodes were found via the Asian TV Awards' website, having been nominated for various awards. These episodes were How the Nightingale Became the King of Birds, Why Dogs Chase Cats, The Herdsman and the Weaver, and Why Elephants Have Long Trunks.
Finally, four other episodes of the series have been found in varying ways- these four episodes are Taro, Why Man and Animal Don't Live Together, Princess Alitaptap, and The Sun Sisters. Important to note is that the upload of Sun Sisters labels it as Episode 17, potentially meaning there's another unknown missing episode.
Availability
The series only aired on Disney Asia on weekends, each episode airing for a week. The series was never released on home media of any kind, and didn't receive much attention outside of Asian countries.
Of the original six episodes, only two have been found- Why the Sun Chases the Moon and How the Moon Came to Be, however the latter is in German. How the Nightingale Became the King of Birds is partially found, as a commercial featuring a snippet of it was uploaded to YouTube. Finally, Taro, Why Man and Animal Don't Live Together, Princess Alitaptap, and The Sun Sisters have all been found, albeit Princess Alitaptap is missing the background music and only features the narration.
Episodes
| # | Episode Title | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Why the Sun Chases the Moon | Found | |
| 2 | The Cengal Tree | Lost | |
| 3 | How the Moon Came to Be | Partially Found | Episode is in German. |
| 4 | How Singapore Got Its Name | Lost | |
| 5 | The Magic Snail | Lost | |
| 6 | How the Durian Came to Be | Lost | |
| 7 | Unnamed Indian Episode | Lost | |
| 8 | The Lightening Spirit's Daughter | Lost | |
| 9 | How the Nightingale Became the King of Birds | Partially Found | A minute of footage appears in a Disney Asia commercial collection. |
| 10 | Why Dogs Chase Cats | Lost | |
| 11 | The Herdsman and the Weaver | Lost | |
| 12 | Elephant and the Bees/Why Elephants Have Long Trunks | Partially Found | Background score is missing, but narration is intact. |
| 13 | Taro | Found | |
| 14 | Why Man and Animal Don't Live Together | Found | |
| 15 | Princess Alitaptap | Partially Found | Background score is missing, but narration is intact. |
| 16 | Episode title unknown | Existence Unconfirmed | |
| 17 | The Sun Sisters | Found |