Meiken Jolie

This show is yet, another piece from my childhood. Like many shows I watched in my younger days, I watched this on Nickelodeon. It was about a boy named Sebastian who was trying to find his Gypsy mother who had abandoned him years earlier. He was protected by his dog Belle, whom also protected its puppy Poochie. I think there was another character as well who was a fellow Gypsy who had taken care of Sebastian since his mother left him.

This is another wonderful show of a Euro-Japanese coproduction which was evident in the 80's. Other recommendations in this sort include "Mysterious Cities of Gold", "Spartacus", and "Ulysse 31". Why these countries don't do shows together anymore is a mystery. This show gets a 10.

They say childhood lasts forever. It certainly often seemed that way when this interminable cartoon series was screened on Children's BBC in the Eighties.

The premise was simple. Belle was a large furry white dog, a cross between Digby and Stephen King's Cujo. Sebastian was a socially maladjusted village boy. Sebastian befriended Belle (who lived in the mountains) and would ride upon his back for fun and generally lark about.

The local villagers, however, were generally a bit reactionary and Jean de Florette-esque, disapproved of this relationship and attempted to shoot the dog. Sadly, they never succeeded.

That was it - stretched over numerous episodes. Unlike Dogtanian and Willy Fogg, Belle and Sebastian didn't even have a catchy theme tune to redeem it. Poor, even if the cool Nineties indy band did take their name from it.

'Belle and Sebastian' was undoubtedly a favourite of mine when I was around six or seven. Despite it being a cartoon aimed at children, the storyline was engaging and involving with likable heroes in the form of young Sebastian and his trusty four-legged companions, beautiful mountain dog Belle and cute wee pup Poochie.

The cartoon was set in the French Pyrenees circa around the turn of the twentieth century. Sebastian, a French boy of twelve or so, is determined to find his mother who abandoned him. He has many adventures on his travels, meeting new people and trying to overcome people's prejudices over Belle being dangerous. It was a very enjoyable show that even the youngest of children never grew bored of as it covered themes such as loyalty, friendship, homelessness and what it is for a child to be alone in the world.

Fans of other classic Eighties cartoon series such as 'The Mysterious Cities of Gold' and 'Ulysses 31' will adore this. It's just a shame that it's not available on DVD and seems to have disappeared from all but the minds of a generation of children who grew up fervently watching it every week.

As a child, "Belle and Sebastian" was the first show that I eagerly awaited each episode. It was far from dull or disgraceful. The cartoon followed a boy named Sebastian traveled through Spain, Andorra and France in search of his mother. He traveled with his dog Belle and puppy Poochie.

That was all it needed to be entertaining.

I have been trying to identify this cartoon years after it stopped airing on Nickelodeon in the late 1980's. I won't restate the plot and indeed the show had a pretty strightforward premise, but what a change of pace it was to a seven year old to whom shows like Double Dare and the VERY mundane "Hey Dude" and "Salute Your Shorts" did not cater.

I was never able to see all the episodes from beginning to end but this was a very memorable show inasmuch as the raw mood and tone it set. I never followed the story, but never having seen the conclusion left the characters of the young boy, Sebastian, his big white dog and the Inspector crystalized like ghosts in my mind. In my own interpretation, that is how Belle and Sebastian will always be: like a pair of ghosts roaming the French countryside. A boy who can never find his mother-- perhaps an apparition herself.

To suggest that a show like this was dull or useless is inconceivable to me. I realize what I have described is mostly what I have brought to the TV show from my own imagination but I was only able to do that because the show took its time with a very simple story and allowed me to do with it as I wished.