| Voices: | Darleen Carr Terry McGovern (1985-1989) Darryl Hickman (1989-1992) Rob Paulsen |
| Director: | Don Lusk |
| Theme Music Composer: | Hoyt Curtin |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Producer: | Kay Wright |
| Company: | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
| Num Episodes: | 13 |
| Runtime: | 25–30 minutes |
The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible is an animated direct-to-video film series produced by Hanna-Barbera that tells of three young adventurers who travel back in time to watch biblical events take place.[1] Thirteen videos were released between 1985 and 1992.
Derek and Margo, two young archaeologists, are on a dig accompanied by "their nomad friend", a boy named Moki. They come across a door in an ancient ruin that turns out to be a portal through time. Though the introduction is the same in all videos, each episode sends the three friends into a different story from the Bible. They often interact with principal figures from each story, but without any significant effect upon the plot so as not to alter the course of history; in other episodes, they arrive decades after the events depicted in the Bible and are relayed the story by a firsthand witness.
The episodes were not released in an order consistent with the Biblical chronology, but can be construed to give a coherent story beginning with "The Creation" and ending with "The Easter Story", which is told from a Christian viewpoint. The first six episodes, released simultaneously, relate Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) stories, with episodes pertaining to the life of Jesus being added among some additional Old Testament stories as the series progressed.
Each individual episode featured celebrity voices in principal Biblical roles.
The series was initially conceived by Hanna-Barbera co-founder Joseph Barbera some seventeen years before it was produced, but he had difficulty in procuring support for the project. Eventually, however, Hanna-Barbera's parent company Taft Broadcasting agreed to provide funding, and the first video was released in 1985, then Turner Home Entertainment continued production after they bought Hanna-Barbera in 1991. Sparrow-Star Song assisted with distribution, releasing all thirteen episodes on VHS, one episode per tape. Five of these episodes ("The Miracles of Jesus", "David and Goliath", "Noah's Ark", "The Easter Story", and "Moses") were released on DVD in 2006.[2] [3] [4]
In 2024, 39 years after its production, the series made its television debut among the inaugural offerings of digital television network MeTV Toons, which draws from the Hanna-Barbera library for its content; MeTV Toons airs the program on Sunday mornings.[5]