Marias barn (TV series)

Marias barn ("Maria's Child") was the Sveriges Television's Christmas calendar in 1987.^[1] It was an animated series based on the New Testament stories of Virgin Mary's son, Jesus.^[2]

Marias barn
Genre	Children's
Based on	New Testament, Bible/Cecil Bødker's books
Narrated by	Ulla Sjöblom
Country of origin	Sweden
Original language	Swedish
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	24
Original release
Network	SVT1
Release	1 December (1987-12-01) – 24 December 1987 (1987-12-24)
Related
Julpussar och stjärnsmällar (1986) Liv i luckan med julkalendern (1988)

Plot

Mary with Child Jesus.

The stories are based on Danish writer Cecil Bødker's two novels, who in turn are based on the New Testament and other older stories about Jesus, as Cecil Bødker tried to reflect life in Ancient Egypt and Palestine upon the time Jesus was born. It follows the story all the way from the birth of Jesus to his crucifixion. It was narrated by Ulla Sjöblom and featured drawings by Bengt Arne Runnerström.

The series was made in response to pressure for the Christmas calendar to feature more Christian content. However, its portrayal of the children of Bethlehem being murdered on the order of Herod the Great was criticized for being too graphic.^[3]