| Belle and Sébastien | |
| Title Orig: | Belle et Sébastien |
| Author: | Cécile Aubry |
| Country: | France |
| Language: | French |
| Genre: | Children's |
| Publisher: | Hachette |
| Pub Date: | 1966 |
Belle et Sébastien is a 1966 novel by Cécile Aubry[1] [2] [3] about a six-year-old boy named Sébastien and his dog Belle, a Great Pyrenees, who live in a village in the French Alps close to the Italian border. Sébastien lives with his adopted grandfather, sister, and brother, as his mother, a Romani, died after giving birth to him while trying to cross the border on Saint Sebastian's day. The novel, known in English-speaking countries as Belle and Sebastian, is based on a 1965 French live action television series. The novel itself spawned a Japanese anime adaptation in 1981, a French motion picture in 2013, followed by two sequels in 2015 and 2017 (Belle and Sebastian: Friends for Life), and a French-Canadian co-produced TV series in 2017.
See main article: Belle and Sebastian (1965 TV series). The source of the novel was filmed in France as live action in black and white. The BBC dubbed it into English, and anglicized the title to "Belle and Sebastian", and it became a favourite on children's television, shown a few times.
The serial spawned two further 13-part colour film sequels: Sebastien parmi les Hommes (Sebastien Among Men, 1968), retitled Belle, Sebastian and the Horses by the BBC and Sebastien et la Mary-Morgane (Sebastian and the Mary Morgan) (1970); this second sequel was not broadcast by the BBC.
The Scottish indie pop band Belle & Sebastian took their name from the TV series.
See main article: Belle and Sebastian (Japanese TV series). The anime version, released initially under its Japanese name of Meiken Jolie,[4] was created in 1980, a joint production of MK Company, Visual 80 Productions and Toho Company, Ltd., with animation director Toshiyuki Kashiwakura helming the project and character designs from Shuichi Seki. The show was broadcast on French, Italian and Japanese television in 1981, with American cable network Nickelodeon picking it up in 1984.[5]
See main article: Belle and Sebastian (film). In 2013 the novel was filmed again by director Nicolas Vanier (original title: Belle et Sébastien) targeting a family audience, but placing it at the French–Swiss border Haute-Maurienne–Vanoise in 1943 and adding a storyline about fugitives crossing the mountains to the child-friendly boy-befriends-dog story.
A sequel to the 2013 film (original title: Belle et Sébastien: l'aventure continue), set in 1945 and directed by Canadian director Christian Duguay, was released on December 9, 2015.[6]
See main article: Belle and Sebastian (2017 TV series). A production by Gaumont Animation, shown on Knowledge, in British Columbia.[7]