IIArtwork in progress
Episode 2: Marcus Aurelius
Animated history stories
History’s greatest legends, rebuilt one story at a time.
Gripping, illustrated stories about emperors, pharaohs, samurai and the myths that shaped our world. Real research, a storyteller’s voice and a little humour along the way.
- Researched from real sources
- New stories every week
- Watch on YouTube, listen on Spotify
Episode 1 of 7
The Boy Who Slept on the Floor
- Ancient Rome
- 121 to 138
- 15 minutes
- Premieres soon
Coming next
All episodesIIIArtwork in progress
Episode 3: Marcus Aurelius
Two Emperors
Which legend should we tell next?
Vote in the comments on YouTube. The most requested stories go to the top of the list.
Suggest a legendBrowse by era
Four worlds to start with, and more on the way.
Ancient Rome
753 BC to AD 476
Emperors, conspirators and the city that ruled the Mediterranean.
Ancient Egypt
c. 3100 BC to 30 BC
Pharaohs, pyramids and the last queen of the Nile.
Feudal Japan
1185 to 1868
Samurai, warlords and the long road to a united Japan.
Myths and legends
Timeless
Gods, heroes and the stories every culture keeps telling.
Inside the Lab
How a legend gets rebuilt
Every episode goes from old books to a finished animated film in four stages. Behind-the-scenes posts on each stage are coming soon.
Research
We read the ancient sources and modern historians, and build a referenced fact sheet before writing a word.
Script
Each story is written to be told, not lectured, and checked against the fact sheet.
Illustrate
Scenes are drawn with AI tools in our hand-painted style, with the same characters in every shot.
Animate and narrate
Frames are animated, narrated by one storyteller’s voice, and assembled into the finished film.
Our promise
“Every story is built on real sources, and every source is listed.”
Anything historians still argue about is marked as disputed. The illustrations are made with AI tools, and every script is researched and checked by a person before it’s published.
Follow the Lab
Watch, listen and follow along
Full episodes land on YouTube first. Short clips, artwork and news from the Lab go everywhere else.
- YouTube@LegendLabOfficialFull episodes, 12 to 15 minutes each, plus Shorts.Subscribe
- SpotifyLegend LabEvery episode as a video podcast, for listening on the go.Listen
- TikTok@legendlabofficialShort clips from every story.
- Instagram@legendlabofficialReels, stills and artwork from the Lab.
- FacebookLegend LabClips and news about new episodes.
- X@LegendLabTVRelease news and small stories from history.
- Pinterest@legendlabofficialArtwork and character boards.
- Redditu/LegendLabOfficialSources, questions and story requests.