''Belle et Sébastien'' is a 1966 novel by

Cécile Aubry Cécile Aubry (3 August 1928 – 19 July 2010) was a French film actress, author, television screenwriter and director. Life and career Born Anne-José Madeleine Henriette Bénard, Aubry began her career as a dancer. At age 20, she was sign ...

about a six-year-old boy named Sébastien and his

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

Belle, a

Great Pyrenees The Pyrenean Mountain Dog (french: Chien de Montagne des Pyrénées) is a breed of livestock guardian dog from France, where it is commonly called the Patou. The breed comes from the French side of the Pyrenees Mountains that separate France an ...

, who live in a village in the

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...

close to the Italian border. Sébastien lives with his adopted grandfather, sister, and brother, as his mother, a

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

, died after giving birth to him while trying to cross the border on

Saint Sebastian Saint Sebastian (in Latin: ''Sebastianus''; Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis, Roman Empire c. AD 255 – Rome, Italia, Roman Empire c. AD 288) was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Dioclet ...

's day. The novel, known in

English-speaking Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...

countries as ''Belle and Sebastian'', is based on a 1965 French live action television series. The novel itself spawned a Japanese

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

adaptation in 1981, a French motion picture in 2013, followed by two sequels in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and 2017 (''Belle and Sebastian: Friends for Life''), and a French-Canadian co-produced TV series in 2017.

Source TV serial

''Belle et Sébastien'' (1965–1970)

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.

Adaptations

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 Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band

Belle & Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" comes ...

took their name from the TV series.

''Meiken Jolie'' (1981)

The

version, released initially under its Japanese name of ''Meiken Jolie'', 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 Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

picking it up in 1984.

''Belle et Sébastien'' (2013 motion picture)

In 2013 the novel was filmed again by director

Nicolas Vanier Nicolas Vanier (born 5 May 1962) is a French adventurer, writer and director. His 2004 film '' The Last Trapper'' follows a trapper in Yukon, Canada. His film, ' ("Wolf") was released at the end of 2009 and was presented at the 2010 Cannes Film ...

(original title: ''Belle et Sébastien'') targeting a family audience, but placing it at the French–Swiss border ( in 1943 and adding a story line about fugitives crossing the mountains to the child-friendly boy-befriends-dog story.

''Belle et Sébastien: l'aventure continue'' (2015 motion picture)

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.

''Belle et Sébastien'' (2017)

A production by Gaumont Animation, shown on

Knowledge Knowledge can be defined as awareness of facts or as practical skills, and may also refer to familiarity with objects or situations. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is often defined as true belief that is distinc ...

, in British Columbia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belle et Sebastien 1965 children's books 1965 French novels Children's novels about animals French adventure novels French children's novels French novels adapted into films Novels about dogs French novels adapted into television shows