Belle and Sebastian (TV series)

This article is about the 1981 anime series. For the 1960s live action series, see Belle et Sébastien. For other uses, see Belle and Sebastian (disambiguation).

Belle and Sebastian
名犬ジョリィ (Meiken Jorī)
Genre	Historical
TV anime
Directed by	Keiji Hayakawa
Studio	MK Company, Visual 80, Toho Company, Ltd.
Network	NHK
English network	Nickelodeon (Nick Jr.) TVOntario Radio-Canada CBBC
Original run	April 7, 1981 – June 22, 1982
Episodes	52[1]
Anime and Manga Portal

Belle and Sebastian (名犬ジョリィ, Meiken Jorī^?, Jolly the famous dog) is an anime adaption of a series of French novels called Belle et Sébastien by Cécile Aubry.^[2][3][4] The series ran on the Japanese network NHK from April 7, 1981 – June 22, 1982. It consists of 52 episodes and was a co-production of MK Company, Visual 80 Productions and Toho Company, Ltd.. Toshiyuki Kashiwakura was the animation director and character designs were by Shuichi Seki. The show was broadcast on French and Japanese television in 1981, with American cable network Nickelodeon picking it up in 1984. In the United Kingdom, it aired on Children's BBC in 1989 and 1990.

This anime used many staffers from Nippon Animation's World Masterpiece Theater franchise, thus the look and feel is similar to that of a WMT production even though Nippon Animation itself was not involved with this series.

The series has been aired in many countries outside Japan and has been dubbed and subtitled in English and numerous other languages.

Plot

The series is about the mountain-based adventures of a young boy named Sebastian and his Great Pyrenees Mountain Dog Belle who live in a small village in the Pyrenees, a mountain range between France and Spain. Sebastian has no friends because he is teased by the other children for not having a mother. But one day, he meets a gentle white Pyrenees dog who has been falsely accused of terrible crimes. He names her Belle and they become the best of friends. To save her from an unjust fate, Sebastian leaves his adoptive family and begins traveling with Belle and his little dog Poochie. They have many adventures as they elude the police and search for Sebastian's long-lost mother.

Characters

Sebastian

Sebastian is a 7-year-old boy from the Pyrenees Mountains in France. Since he was born, he has been living with his adoptive grandfather, Cecil, and Anne-Marie. Sebastian is good-natured and energetic, but the children in town tease him because he doesn't have a real mother. Sebastian's deepest desires are to find his mother and to have a good friend.

Belle

Belle ("Jolly" in the Japanese version) is a large white Great Pyrenees dog who escaped into the French countryside. She is gentle and warmhearted, but her attempts to help those in need are misunderstood. She is labeled "The White Monster" and the police are constantly on her tail.

Poochie

Poochie is a little puppy who rides around in Sebastian's pocket. Although Poochie is always yapping and getting into mischief, he is a good friend to Sebastian and Belle.

Grandfather Cecil

Cecil took Sebastian in as a baby and acts as his adoptive grandfather. He is a loving mentor who teaches Sebastian all he knows about the mountains and the wilderness.

Anne-Marie

Anne-Marie is Cecil's biological granddaughter. She has helped care for Sebastian since he was born, and fancies herself as his mother despite being the age of an older sister at best. She loves Sebastian deeply, but is often overprotective and a little harsh.

Isabel

Isabel is Sebastian's real mother, a traveling Gypsy. She went against the gypsy code and married an outsider, but he died before she delivered their son. Isabel had her baby secretly in the Pyrenees Mountains, and promised to come back for him one day when her people were able to understand.

Sarah

Sarah is a sick, lonely little girl Sebastian meets on his journey. Both Sarah and Sebastian long for friends their own age to play with, so they quickly become close. Sarah reappears several times during Sebastian's journey to lend a helping hand.

References

1. ^ "名犬ジョリィ" (in Japanese). NHK. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/anime/archives/joly_index.html. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 
2. ^ Schine, Cathleen (October 30, 1988). "From Lassie to Pee-Wee". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/30/magazine/from-lassie-to-pee-wee.html?scp=7&sq=The%20Real%20Ghostbusters&st=cse&pagewanted=4. Retrieved 2010-08-14. 
3. ^ "French film star Cecile Aubry dies at 81". BBC. July 21, 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-10709826. Retrieved 2010-08-14. 
4. ^ Weber, Bruce (July 24, 2010). "Cécile Aubry, Actress and Writer of Children's Stories, Dies at 81". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/movies/25aubry.html. Retrieved 2010-08-14. 

External links

• Belle and Sebastian (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Belle and Sebastian at the Internet Movie Database
• Belle and Sebastian at TV.com
• Meiken Jolly at the Big Cartoon DataBase