''Bibifoc'' (''Seabert'') is a 1985 French

animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

. It was created by BZZ Films in

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and originally aired in

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Antenne 2 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...

, before being translated into different languages around the world. In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the show aired on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

starting in 1987. There were 26 episodes. The authors are Marc Tortarolo for the theme, Philippe Marin for the design, and Jacques Morel with Éric Turlot for the stories.

Plot

The series is initially set in

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

. ''Seabert'' is about a boy named Tommy, an

Inuk Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labr ...

girl named Aura, and their "pet" whitecoat seal Seabert. After Seabert's parents are killed by

hunter Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...

s, the three band together. They go on adventures in which they encounter more hunters and poachers (including Tommy's Uncle Smokey, his bumbling henchmen Carbonne and Sulfuric, and a villain named Graphite) and save various animals from harm.

Production

The production for the series was handled by Mill Valley Animation on a contract from SEPP International S.A., the noted

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's production house which also featured animation series and properties including ''

The Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (; ) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was created and introduced as a series of comic characters by ...

'', ''

Snorks ''Snorks'' is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and SEPP International S.A. in collaboration with 3M France and ran for a total of 4 seasons, consisting of a pilot episode and 65 episodes (108 segments), on N ...

'' and ''

Foofur ''Foofur'' is an American animated children's television series from '' Kissyfur'' creator Phil Mendez that was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions with SEPP International S.A. Airing on NBC from 1986 to 1987, the show was about the everyday m ...

''. Jerry Smith, owner of Mill Valley Animation, was also responsible for many of the below the line fulfillment needs of many

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

Ruby-Spears Ruby-Spears Productions (also known as Ruby-Spears Enterprises) was an American entertainment production company founded by veteran writers and '' Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' creators, Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, in 1977, before closing in 1996. S ...

, and some

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animation series. Director for ''Seabert'' was Dirk Braat of

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and series voice casting director was Ron Knight, principal of Knight Mediacom (formerly Image One Productions, San Francisco).

Production history

At the origin of the ''Seabert'' project, Match 3 – created par Luc Royer, Philippe Marin and Jacques Morel – was an advertising studio aimed primarily at the comic industry. Marc Tortarolo, sensitivized by the impact of a Scandinavian commercial about the killing of baby seals, proposed the concept of an animated series on the subject. In order to finance the project, Marc prospected with the European Committee for the Protection of Fur Animals,. which allowed the creation of a pilot episode with École de dessin animé de Paris. This pilot was intended to be an advertising spot for the awareness of the cause, but the team went further and wanted to make it a television series. For the needs of the series, Éric Turlot was hired as co-writer, and the production company BZZ Films was created and managed by Marc Tortarollo. The team looked for ways to broadcast their cartoon but, in 1985, the creation of the two private channels

La Cinq La Cinq (, ) was a French free-to-air television channel. Created by politician Jérôme Seydoux and Italian media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, it existed from 1986 to 1992. The contract for France's fifth terrestrial network, which was suppos ...

and TV6 complicated things. It is with Jacqueline Joubert (head of

's youth service) that the studio was able to launch the series (in premises at 20, rue J.J. Rousseau in Ivry-sur-Seine). They completed the team in order to start producing ''Seabert''.

Episode list

Music

* Theme of the Smokey's Gang - Ol' Soft Shoe by Network Music Ensemble * Smokey's Gang Hijinks - That's All Folks! by Network Music Ensemble

References

External links

*
Seabert: The Adventure Begins
{{HBONetwork Shows 1985 French television series debuts 1985 animated television series debuts French children's animated adventure television series Fictional pinnipeds Animated television series about mammals 1980s French animated television series Inuit television series Greenland in fiction