is an anime adaption of the 1965 novel Belle et Sébastien by French author Cécile Aubry. The series ran on the Japanese network NHK from April 7, 1981–March 24, 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 head writer 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. The English-language script was written by Eileen Opatut, and the series was dubbed into English by Synchro-Quebec in Montreal. Plot The series is about the mountain-based adventures of a young boy named Sebastian and his Pyrenean mountain dog, Belle, who live in a small village in Southern France. He has no friends because he is bullied by the other children for not having a mother. But one day, he meets a gentle white dog who has been falsely accused of attacking people. He names her Belle and they become the best of friends. To save her from being put down, he leaves his adoptive family and flees to Spain with her and his little dog, Poochie. They have many adventures as they elude the police and search for his long-lost mother. Characters Sebastian Sebastian is a 9-year-old boy from a French village near the mountains. Although his age is never explicitly given, the repeated references to 'the events 9 years ago' throughout the series point to it. His name was chosen because he was born on St. Sebastian's Day. Since he was born, he has been living with his adoptive grandfather, Cecil, and Anne-Marie who is Cecil's real granddaughter. He 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 ("Jolie" in the Japanese version) is a large white Great Pyrenees who