If you were a child of the seventies that grew up in France, you’d be familiar with the Sandman (here, Sandwoman!) and Nounours the big bear. Nounours visited two children each night before they fell asleep; he’d ask them about their day or tell them a story before going back to the cloud. The Sandman then released a fistful of golden sand to make the little ones nod off.
This clever televised show came on about five minutes before the nightly news. The objective was to create a cut-off for young children, letting them know it was time to sleep. It was called “Bonne nuit les petits” (“Goodnight children”) and only starred puppets. I’m certain parents were grateful for it!
It stopped airing when I was too little to remember much of it but since then has returned; it has a passionate fanbase. I do recall Nounours’ big creepy voice saying good night to the kids, and the semi-scary looking Sandman. Perhaps this is why I’ve never owned a bona fide teddy bear! Even with two stuffed-toys-loving kids, I was shocked to discover we do not even currently own one… I had to shamelessly borrow the one in this photo from the actual show.
excellent. i remember this from my French classes. the easiest 'movie' we could understand after intermediate French. well, i pretended to understand it, actually all i did understand was bonne nuit!
