Manuel on the Island of Wonders (1984)

Adventure · Drama · Fantasy

This three part French TV serial for children (alternate versions exist as a feature, Manoel’s Destinies, and a 4 part Portuguese TV serial, Adventure in Madeira) is the favourite of many devotees of Raúl Ruiz. This is because it ties the enchantment and mystery of Lewis Carroll, Carlo Collodi and the Brothers Grimm to the filmmaker’s experiments with narrative strategies and what he calls the pentaludic model of storytelling (where characters are thrown dice-like into combinations and situations governed by the play of Chance and Destiny).

IMDb rating: 7.8 (307 votes)
Episode average: 7.8 matches the IMDb rating
Seasons: 1
Language: FR
Type: Mini-series

Rating trend: this show's seasons do not settle into one shape. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well.

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Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 1 season indexed

Seasons

Season 1 (1984)

7.77 avg 3 episodes 8.1 → 7.5 25 min avg

Declining

Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Les destins de Manoel	8.1	34
2	Le pique-nique des rêves	7.7	33
3	La petite championne d'echecs	7.5	30