Belle et Sébastien

Belle and Sebastian was my absolute favorite show when I was young. It was on in the mornings before school. I used to watch that along with David the Gnome and The Little Prince (who I always thought was a girl). Anyway, I started watching it because my mom really liked the show. She taped every episode which we still have on video. It was the most endearing cartoon I have ever seen. It's not often there is a children's show about getting robbed and chased, bullied, ignored, and ostracized. I remember crying on some episodes and feeling really bad for Sebastian because he had to sleep outside. For some reason none of my friends ever remember watching this show, no matter how many times I bring it up. However, most of my friends from France have seen it when they were young. I remember everything about the show and Sebastian was the most good hearted kid, always helping people and sharing everything he had. I actually had the pleasure of viewing the whole series in sequence, every episode, last year when I was making a copy of the tapes for someone who contacted me from this website. It was still as gritty as I remember and still entertaining 15 years later.

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.

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.

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.

'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.