From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia CNN Millennium
CNN Millennium
CNN Millennium was a ten-part series on human history subject matter and placing it into context. Main protago-
from the 11th to the 20th centuries. The series represents nists such as Genghis Khan tell their individual stories in
perhaps the most ambitious undertaking to date by the their native tongues, relayed to viewers through simulta-
network, presenting a global view of the human journey neous translation.
of exploration, creative spirit and intellectual achieve- Bernard Heyes was in charge of graphic design and
ments, as well as setbacks. animation. Richard Blackford composed the original mu-
The Millennium series should not be confused with sical score for the series.
the CNN Millennium 2000 DVD, which documents the cel- Millennium’s ten episodes revolve around a common
ebrations around the world to greet the arrival of the theme, or tool:
year 2000. Also, the science fiction series Millennium 1. The 11th century is the Century of the Sword (re-
does not relate to the CNN Millennium series in any way, ferring to such calamitous events as the Norman con-
save for the similarity in name. quest of England in 1066)
CNN Millennium originally aired between October 2. The 12th century features the axe (used to fell forests
and December 1999 at 10 p.m. on Sundays. Sir Jeremy in order to build fleets and housing)
Isaacs, award-winning filmmaker of "The World at War" 3. The stirrup moves the 13th century
and CNN’s "Cold War," and Pat Mitchell, president of CNN 4. The scythe wreaked havoc in the 14th century, due to
Productions and Time Inc. Television, served as execu- plague outbreaks and bad weather
tive producers. The CNN web site elaborates: 5. The sail assisted explorers in the 15th century, from
China to Spain
Each of the 10 episodes of MILLENNIUM focuses on 6. The compass was the colonizers’ tool in the 16th cen-
a single century, brought to life by five vignettes tury
from five different locations worldwide. Inspired by 7. The telescope fueled expanding knowledge about earth
Felipe Fernandez-Armesto’s book, "Millennium," and universe in the 17th century
and filmed in 28 countries, the series is as geo- 8. The furnace sparked industrial and human revolutions
graphically far-ranging as the world it covers. Its in the 18th century
producers and crews spent more than two years 9. The machine age began with the 19th century
and traveled 100,000 miles gathering footage. 10. The series concluded with the 20th, the Century of the
MILLENNIUM reconstructs the visual images of Globe
past ages using this footage, along with vivid re-en- To complement the series, CNN Interactive created a
actments and computer-generated graphic anima- dynamic online companion that includes animation, in-
tion. MILLENNIUM is peopled with the interesting teractivity and 3-D effects.
and the provocative, among them: Native Amer-
icans who built canyon housing complexes and
Ethiopians who carved churches from solid rock in Related Mini-Series
the 12th century; Genghis Khan, whose 13th centu- Also in October 1999, the Arts and Entertainment Net-
ry Mongol warriors conquered and united central work (A&E) presented the three-part series Biography of
Asia; Timur, who rose from sheep-stealer to con- Millennium,
the Millennium hosted by Harry Smith. That miniseries
queror and expanded Islam’s empire in the 14th celebrated the achievements of the most important 100
century; Christopher Columbus, whose 15th centu- people of the past 1000 years. To assemble the program,
ry voyage changed the world; African slaves taken Biography staff conducted a survey of scholars, scien-
from their homeland to serve the Americas’ new tists, journalists, artists and viewers. Among those asked
colonies in the 17th century; French explorers who to rank the 100 most important people of the millenni-
endured the Arctic’s cold in the 18th century; um were Henry Kissinger, Kofi Annan, Isaac Stern, David
Charles Darwin, whose theories of evolution chal- Remnick and Bob Ballard.
lenged the 19th century’s religious certainties; and The German book printer Johann Gutenberg was se-
the 20th century’s superstars, including Charlie lected as the most influential among the field, due to hav-
Chaplin and Princess Diana. [1] ing perfected a reliable way of transmitting knowledge
– albeit not by unanimous consent. Isaac Newton placed
Academy-award winner Ben Kingsley narrated Millenni- second, followed by Martin Luther, Charles Darwin, Wil-
um. But his role remained confined to introducing the
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia CNN Millennium
liam Shakespeare, Christopher Columbus, Karl Marx, Al- To date, both the CNN and Biography of the Millen-
bert Einstein, Nicolaus Copernicus, and Galileo Galilei. nium series have been made available only on VHS cas-
The top 25 were discussed in more detail than the rest. settes. A DVD has not been produced, although a CD of
the Millennium soundtrack was available at the time of
Assessment and Availability of the broadcast.
the Two Series External links
Unlike CNN, A&E appears to have taken a slightly more • [1]
Eurocentric view in their selections. All of the top ten • [2]
personalities featured were Europeans. On the other
hand, CNN Millennium endeavours to make history ac-
cessible to a culturally and socially diverse audience References
through the extensive use of animation, costumes and [1] www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/millennium/
recreating places of historical significance around the
world.
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