Anime Profile: Belle and Sebastian

Belle and Sebastian was made in 1981, and premiered on Nickelodeon in June, 1984. It aired on Nick until 1990. It aired in the early morning.

The story was about a young boy named Sebastian, and a large white Great Pyrenee dog named Belle. Sebastian had been raised by an old man named Cecil and had never seen his mother. His mother had given birth to him after Cecil rescued him, and had left, promising to return someday. She was a gypsy lady and also worked for a traveling carnival.

Belle was a large white dog who lived in the mountains, and was believed to be evil. In reality Belle was gentle, but only Sebastian knew it. He had apparently been blamed for some bad things that had happened in the town that Sebastian lived in, which was located near the Pyrenes Mountains of France. It is through these mountains that Belle and Sebastian have all their great adventures.

Sebastian is about 11 or 12 or so, and begins to wonder what happened to his mother. Cecil tells him about her, and he decides to go and look for her. At first Marie, who is his aunt (?) will not allow it, but eventually he leaves anyway with Belle and a small dog he carries in his pocket named Poochie. They travel all over the Mountains, and nearly find his mother on several occasions. They are pursued by a Lieutenant (or Inspector) Garcia, who wants to capture Belle. They also encounter a girl named Sara, who makes two appearances in the story.

Eventually Sebastian finds his mother who I believe was in a cave near where the story had started. Her name was Isobelle. She states that Sebastian's father had been a French (?) painter, and she had broken gypsy code by marrying outside the culture. She also says that Sebastian's father died before he was born.

Isobelle was very sick, however, so Sebastian needed to find a doctor badly. He ties a letter explaining the situation around Belle's neck and sends him to the village for help. Marie is engaged to the doctor who comes to Isobelle's aid, and Isobelle recovers. This action by Belle proves to everyone he was not the "White Monster" (as they called him).

After being reunited with his mother, Sebastian receives a visit from his friend Sarah and her father. It turns out that Sarah's father had actually known Isabel in the past. It looked like Isabel and Sara's father were gonna hook up (which I always thought was weird because I sensed a romantic thing going on with Sebastian and Sara and that would create some weird thing with their respective parents becoming a couple or getting married).

On the final episode Marie marries the doctor, and Cecil, Isobelle, Sebastian, Belle, and Poochie all live happily together.