Bibifoc

The other reviewers of this can count me in on remembering it. And I remember this somewhat well. For the longest, I've had vague memories of seeing it when I was little and very young. But for the life of me, I could never remember the title at all. For years, I've been trying to think of what the title of the cartoon could be. I tried googling something like "cartoon with white seal" and I didn't get this as the result in the search but rather Chuck Jones's The White Seal", which isn't what I thought it was. It wasn't the same thing I was looking for and shouldn't be confused with this, but I checked that out on Youtube and enjoyed it anyway. Back to this, so it's not just me, I'm not the only one who has been recounting this show. I'm not crazy because I imagined it at all, after all. I remember seeing copies of episodes of this show on VHS at the video rental store not very far from my area where it used to be before that was replaced by a Blockbuster. Just last night, I finally found out and was reminded of the title only because after a separate Google search, I came across a site called Wing Nut Toons, and if I hadn't found what I was looking for there, I probably still would wrack my brain trying to seek what was so hard to find. I also learned two facts about this show that I didn't know at the time: That it also aired on HBO and is a foreign import, a French-Belgian co-production, both of which I was unaware of at the time. Since HBO was among the premium channels at the time, I would've been able to hear the audio, but not see the visual because it would've been a scrambled picture instead, so the only other option for me to see this unscrambled was on VHS. Upon rediscovering this, I had to type a review on it.

I saw the English dubbed intro of this for the first time in years on Youtube last night. Although it's been years since I've seen any episodes and I may not have even seen the whole series when I was much younger, I remember enjoying it. I have yet to see any episodes again as an adult, even though it's been a long time since I seen it, despite that, I'm still willing to state that I think I'd still enjoy this now just as much as I did way back then. I'll even go as far as to say that not only is it a beloved, early childhood classic, but among my favorites from the '80s as well. I don't recall the plots/story-lines of the individual episodes, but I know very well about the premise revolving around the eponymous seal or sea lion pup who gets rescued by a couple of kids after becoming orphaned due to the selfish acts of hunters and poachers. Then, the three try to prevent the activities of hunting and poaching done to other animals. I remember the boy, Tommy, but not so much the Inuit girl, Aura. I thought Tommy was accompanied by a slightly older sister or female friend, or either of those may have had been featured in at least one episode then. Whichever episode that is, I've got to see that one again, since that's the only one I vaguely remember well. This animated show was so difficult for me to come across again, I presumed it must've been a very obscure cartoon. And it hasn't aired in the States since the last episode, with or without repeats for a while. To anyone who hasn't seen it, I'd still recommend this for the message it sends about animal endangerment and protecting the wildlife. I'm willing to believe that it still holds up today, more so than Captain Planet and the Planeteers, and I'll take this over that any day.

Another one of the international cartoons that I remember as a child...and one that is strange.

For starters the theme is still stuck in my head and I remember that more vividly that I do the actual cartoon.

And then there is the theme.

Back in the '80s and most of the '90s environmentalism was bipartisan. Democrats and Republicans both agreed that we needed a world to live on and we shouldn't make animals extinct.

Shows you how much time has changed because now Seabert and Captain Planet are considered "liberal propaganda." If it aired on FOX the new heroes would be the bad guys that poisoned your drinking water and Seabert would be clubbed to death.

All that and Drill baby drill.

Really though, it has the same theme as Captain Planet, a catchier theme song, but is otherwise not as blatantly stupid and warm and sweet enough to endure to it.

in the USA North America versions. I was the USA based English language release version casting director and supervisor; and I was proud to become the voice of Graphite, under my persona and the animation team development, as the series evolved in the US. The series for North America was named Seabert, and eventually went to HBO. The animation was contracted production to Mill Valley Animation at the time, while Image One had casting and voice tracking assignments. The home video episodes can still be found in many rental/retail market outlets. I'm giving it a warm vote 7 out of 10 and out of personal affinity, noting that most cartoons in the 80's had little to do with "green, socially rewarding and altruistic" content. Plus, we really had some fun.

This is a series that was way ahead of its time. Every episode has a message. The first episode plants seeds of compassion in anyone (young and old) who watches it. Those seeds are watered with each episode. My (now grown) son has wonderful memories of watching this series as a child. He now enjoys watching them with his 3 year-old son. I'm heartbroken that these episodes are not available on DVD. Even on VHS many of them are hard to find. I grab them on ebay and Amazon whenever I find them. More people need to see these. With the huge boost in awareness about animals and the environment, re-released on DVD this series would be hugely popular!