Traditional beginning of fairy tales. Also, an effective way to begin a research paper.
Il était une fois l'homme. (Once upon a time, there was Man) was a massively popular French animated series that taught anthropology. It was quickly followed by a propaganda series about space and a short film. After that, it returned to teach about the human body, the discovery of the Americas, the history of invention and a final series on the history of exploration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_%C3%A9tait_une_fois_l'homme
Animated history of humanity and western civilisation: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264244/
Animated explanation of biology for kids: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284735/
They're available on eMule.