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Ouch.

Up to two days ago, I did not know that what I had come across as a child was this. I had caught it maybe halfway thru and the memory of the last 5 minutes of it has been with me forever, yanking at the heart strings with each time I remember.....though I remembered them more like sparrows and not like snipes.

It's powerful, powerful in memory and powerful in that now I have located a source, I'm not sure I could bear to watch it, knowing what is to come, even though it has been 20-30 years since I've seen it. Of course, as an adult, I can use all the compensating techniques that comes with being adult........but I wouldn't want to.

Unlike the others who have commented here, I never talked about it the decades before. I suppose being able to do so "now" changes the impact for in the 5 minutes it has taken me to write these 2 paragraphs, being able to see it again becomes an easier thought to approach.

Which is probably part of its impact; it is about being alone and being alone is such a terrible thing. One needs to share something at least.

I don't come to tears very often, but Last of the Curlews left me weeping as a seven-year old, a memory that stays with me over 35 years later. Despite the tears, I remember being entirely engrossed by Last of the Curlews and its message about the loss of species. The show featured a story and animation work that was a cut above regular TV programming for kids.

This was the very first ABC Afterschool Special, and Last of the Curlews set a high standard for the series. The specials became "must-watch TV" for the junior high set. Unfortunately, the series later became known as something as a teen problem-of-the-week show.

At least part of the lyrics to the theme song have stuck with me for all these years, though could be slightly revised because that's what happens with songs. I'm sure this isn't the whole song. Someone needs to re-release this song. It's lovely.

Once, on golden wings, You and I went wandering, With no one there to say Golden wings can melt away

Like a (something) in a stream, We are living in a dream, That lasts for just a day, And just as quickly melts away

I remember the film itself affect me and my siblings quite deeply. I don't know how this would go over with today's kids, but I imagine many of them would enjoy it quite a bit. I've been impressed with today's teens.

I wasn't a regular viewer of the 'ABC Afterschool Specials' but I was a cartoon fanatic and loved to watch most of what Hanna-Barbera studios produced for Saturday mornings. Back then, Saturday morning was a time when cartoons RULED and it was a highly anticipated event for many kids at that time. So, as a curious 12-year-old, when I heard that this 'cartoon' was airing as an 'ABC Afterschool Special' that afternoon in October 1972, I made sure I tuned in to watch.

To say, that after over 35 years, this cartoon has made a lasting impression on me would be an understatement. The fact that I even remember the lesson learned and how I felt about it for days afterward is a true testament to the quality of this production. Keep in mind that this isn't your standard cartoon with goofy characters involved in brainless antics or superheroes saving another day. This is a superbly animated feature that presents a story about life, and is so well written that it masterfully draws the viewer into the story. Though, unlike with most cartoons, expect to walk away from this with the astonishment of a lesson learned. After all, THIS is what the Afterschool Specials were all about. With 'The Last of the Curlews', what might seem insensitive to the viewer, in it's own way, touches a nerve as it tells a story about our own insensitivity to the world and our environment. It was because of this amazing production that Hanna-Barbera won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming.

In 1991, I had the extreme pleasure to meet Bill Hanna and briefly spoke with him. It was an opportunity that I will remember for the rest of my life. His work represents much about my childhood growing up in the 60's and 70's.

In 1998, I enjoyed a chance meeting with another Hanna-Barbera legend, Iwao Takamoto, who wore several hats at Hanna-Barbera throughout his career. He was Animator, Director and was the character designer of many of Hanna-Barbera's cartoon characters, one of which is Scooby-Doo. Prior to working for Hanna-Barbera, he worked as an animator on many Disney movies including 'Lady and the Tramp', 'Cinderella' and 'Sleeping Beauty'. This was a visit that I hold dear as well and, in a way, completed a circle for me. Throughout Mr. Takamoto's illustrious career, he's probably been asked, "Who is your favorite cartoon character?!!" a zillion times. So, as a huge Hanna-Barbera fan, I wanted to ask him something that might provide a bit more of 'who' Iwao was. I asked, "What has been your proudest moment during your career as an animator?" He looked away, paused for a moment, looked back at me and said with his warm smile, "Winning an Emmy Award for an 'ABC Afterschool Special'... 'The Last of the Curlews'." I can tell you that my heart swelled a bit and my eyes teared when I heard him say that, it actually took me by surprise. Here it was, 26 years later and I'm talking to one of history's animation greats who helped create something that I haven't seen since 1972, yet it's message still ripples through me to this day.

I can't say anything more about this feature other than, it should be mandatory viewing for kids of all ages. It's THAT good! I only hope that Warner Bros. (now owner of the vast H-B library) will make it available on DVD soon so that other generations can learn from it as well.

I never saw the rest of the Afterschool Specials. They weren't animated and looked really boring. However, "The Last Of The Curlews" was really special for me at the time.

I remember crying at the ending. Can't remember much else honestly, and since I haven't seen it since I was 9, I don't know if there was anything in it I'd like as a cynical now-adult (probably not). And it doesn't seem to have been included in the "Afterschool Specials" DVD compilations.

The art was much prettier than the Hanna-Barbera norm. I can't remember how "limited" the animation was.

You'd never see something like this on TV today. The pace is too slow, it doesn't hawk an action figure, and the ecological message would probably set off a letter writing campaign by some conservative group.

Recommended for kids.

Watched this as a 9 year old, I have the same feelings as everyone else, still have the vivid memory of the heartbreak i felt at the time

My memories of this film follow the others who have posted here. I was eleven, and eagerly ran home to watch this; it was the very first Afterschool Special, and our teacher had done an entire lesson on it, based, I now realise, on a press kit that ABC must have sent out to schools. My teacher was way into environmentalism, so this hit him where he lived.

Suitably primed, I tuned in, and had the same reaction as the others here; the memory remains vivid all these years later. Another thing I remember was a haunting song, sung in an ethereal female voice, that came and went during montages of the birds: "Once/On golden wings/You and I/Went wandering..." That's all I remember, and even now it chokes me up. I Googled those lines, but apparently no-one else remembers this song.

Our teacher continued to prep us for the Afterschool Specials that year (they must have come out every three months or so?), but none of the others had the impact that the first one did. The only other one I recall was about Shakespeare, consisting mostly of actors declaiming lines from his plays. We all thought it was boring. "The Last of the Curlews" was a hard act to follow.

I watched this as a nine-year old and I cried for a week afterward. I thought it was so unfair that that poor male bird finally got the miracle he was waiting for, just to have it taken away from him in the end. It sort of reflects my life in a way--sometimes we struggle to obtain a hard-fought goal, just to have it snatched away from us when it's within our reach. I know some people would say that perhaps that goal was never meant to be, but it still hurts like hell when everything that you've worked so hard for has turned out to be for naught. It makes you want to give up and say, "I'm not going to fight any more-screw it!! But we can take a lesson from the surviving bird; he continues on with his life despite the horrible loss that he just went through. I guess that could be a great role model for we humans and the human spirit! If life knocks you down, just pick yourself up, brush the dust off, and keep on keepin' on!!!!