In the Beginning: Stories from the Bible (手塚治虫の旧約聖書物語) is a Japanese-Italian anime television series. The series was a coproduction between Japan's Nippon TV and Italy's government-owned broadcaster, Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI) and animated by Tezuka Productions. Although the series was in production during a period of several years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was not aired in Japan until April 1, 1997, on the satellite channel Wowow, while it premiered in Italy on November 30, 1992 on Rai 1.[1] The series has also been aired on TV in the United States (on the Catholic-oriented Eternal Word Television Network), Spain, Germany, and Australia (on Australian Christian Channel).
In the Beginning: Stories from the Bible marked the fourth time Bible stories formed the basis of a Japanese-animated television series, following the two Superbook series and The Flying House, which were made for Pat Robertson