Small, white Sibert - The 1984 animated series

November 30, 2020

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Small, white Sibert (Bibifoc in the French original e Seabert in English) is a French animated series for television from 1985. The cartoons were made by BZZ Films in Paris and originally broadcast in French on Antenna 2, before being translated into several languages around the world. In the United States, the show aired on HBO starting in 1987. There were 26 episodes. The authors are: Marc Tortarolo for the theme, Philippe Marin for the drawing and Jacques Morel with Éric Turlot for the stories. In Italy the series has been broadcast on Italia 1 since September 1987 with reruns on Rete 4 and Canale 5.

History

Small, white Sibert tells of a boy named Tommy, an Inuit girl named Aura and their white coat "pet" seal Sibert. After Sibert's parents are killed by the hunters, the three unite. Tommy arrived at the North Pole with his uncle Fumo and his assistants, apparently researchers, but actually seal hunters. When Tommy learns the truth he decides to abandon his uncle's expedition and joins Aura and Sibert, who are traveling the world in search of endangered animals to save. Over the course of the series, the three will often have to deal with poachers, hunters and traders of threatened species.

Episodes

1 "A new friendship"
Uncle Smokey takes Tommy to Greenland. Tommy meets a baby seal he calls Seabert. Discovering that his uncle is a seal hunter, Tommy leaves his side and takes Seabert to safety.

2 "The Trio"
Tommy and Seabert meet Aura and the three are assigned an important job protecting wildlife from the Eskimos. Meanwhile, Smokey and his gang give up trying to win Tommy's trust and try to hunt down the baby seals. The Eskimos show up and chase off Smokey's gang. After the events, Tommy, Aura and Seabert follow a helicopter into a seal poaching camp run by a man named Graphite. They successfully sabotage Graphite's helicopter, causing Graphite and his men to escape.

3 "Radio message"
Tommy, Aura and Seabert now a team, are captured by Graphite and his men and locked up in the seal fur camp. Seabert, able to fit into confined spaces, leaves in search of help. However, Seabert falls into a crevice in the canyon after being chased by a polar bear. The Eskimos find Seabert and rescue him, then take on Graphite's poaching camp to not only save Tommy and Aura, but also to rescue the countless baby seals who are being held captive there.

4 "Leopard smugglers"
Tommy and Seabert are out taking pictures of Leopardi at the waterhole and notice that there are hardly any there. Tommy and Seabert return to Harry's headquarters to relax. During the night, two thieves steal documents. Tommy and Seabert chase the thieves only to run out of gas. They are brought back to Harry and go to bed. The next morning Tommy and Seabert, while picking up Aura at the dock, run into the same thieves and board their ship in search of their stolen documents. After the ship takes off, they discover that there are caged leopards on board that are being smuggled. Tommy calls Harry by radio, but he is captured by the smugglers and handed over to Graphite and his men. Aura and Seabert come to the rescue, free the captured leopards and thwart Graphite's plan once again!

5 "Rock 'n Rescue"
Tommy, Aura and Seabert are returning home to Greenland on a ship. While on vacation, Aura is kidnapped by someone on the boat that works for Graphite. Seabert saves Aura and a famous band called "The Offenders" gives Team Seabert a hand. Everyone thwarts Graphite's plans to keep the Seabert team away from Greenland.

6 "The Saboteur"

7 "Sea otters"
Smokey and his gang set out on a submarine to catch sea otters. Meanwhile, Tommy and Aura notice that the sea otter population is disappearing and investigate. Smokey, Sulfuric and Carbone are trapped on the ocean floor in their submarine. Sulfuric is sent to the surface for help and runs into the authorities. They rescue the sea otters along with Smokey and Carbone.

8 "Iceberg in sight"
Tommy, Aura and Seabert return home to Greenland, receiving a distress call from a ship called the Borealis. The ship begins to sink as Seabert's team comes to the rescue. Meanwhile, Graphite and his men are capturing baby seals in their ship which has been disguised to look like an iceberg. Seabert comes to the rescue and thwarts Graphite's plans.

9 "Panda-monio"
Sulfuric plants a bug on Tommy's shoe to hear Tommy and Seabert's mission. Sulfuric is sent to take an escape vehicle as Smokey and Carbone board the train carrying a Panda Bear.

10 "The fur factory"

11 "Twenty feet under the ice"

12 "The Yeti"
Tommy, Aura and Seabert are sent to the Himalayas to answer the mystery of the disappearance of the white hares. The mountain dwellers claim that the Yeti is responsible, the trio goes in search of the Yeti.

13 "Mission whale"
Tommy, Aura and Seabert go shopping with their shopping lists. Seabert eats everything he bought. Tommy is troubled by the news of the whale poachers. Tommy vows to stop the whaling alone and tells Aura to stay. Aura claims to be useful to the team and Tommy decides to take her with him. Tommy educates Aura on whale facts while Seabert films whales underwater with Tommy's new camera. The whalers are shocked by Tommy swimming with the whales. Seabert helps stop the whalers by teaching the whales how to defend themselves from boats. Tommy accidentally faints from a whale. Using the opportunity, the whalers kidnap him. Tommy escapes and discourages the whalers from giving up by being constantly annoying.

14 "Petnappers in Paris"
Tommy calls Aura to Paris to investigate a missing animal case. They come up with a rabbit called "Big Foot" to get petnappers' attention. Seabert follows an ice block vendor who uses Seabert as a pet to sell his ice. Meanwhile, Tommy and Aura meet a man named Draculo who pays them to take the rabbit to his boss, a doctor who kidnaps pets. Aura enters the hideout to take care of the petnappers and Tommy asks for reinforcements. The Petnappers are captured and the Seabert team saves the day once again!

15 "Mess in the Jungle"

16 "Mortal Plans"

17 "The Rapture"

18 "Alpine Adventure"
Tommy, Aura and Seabert visit Tommy's uncle in the alpine mountains to learn how to ski. Meanwhile, the poachers trick Tommy's uncle and convince him to hire them as mechanics so they can hunt animals during the day. Tommy and Seabert investigate after Aura sees a moose shot. After losing their rifle to Seabert, the poachers try to make their way to the border to avoid the authorities, but an avalanche gets them captured.

19 "The land of the Maya"
Tommy gets a radio call from a local named Don Ramone from Guatemala about bird poachers. Meanwhile, Smokey's crew is back to work! They are capturing tropical birds to sell to collectors. Back at the local village, Tommy and Aura are briefed on the Mayan tradition of Quetzal's feathers. Smokey's gang, in search of the same birds, stumbles upon a Mayan temple sanctuary with many of the birds surrounding the area. Team Seabert joins Smokey's gang and rescues the village boy named Raul who was leading them. They all remain trapped in the labyrinth of the temple sanctuary. Aura and Raul are separated from Tommy and Seabert, who fall into a trap. When Aura and Raul reach Smokey's gang, Raul warns Smokey of Quetzalcoatl's curse. After a Mayan light show, a figure in a bird costume scares Smokey's gang into freeing all captured birds. The man in the costume turns out to be Don Ramone. The day is saved again thanks to the Seabert team!

20 "Poached turtle eggs"
Tommy decides to hand over the footage of their previous adventure to discourage the whalers. Tommy radios a man named "Watching Panda" and they meet up with another wildlife protector. He takes them to his home and introduces them to his wife. While they eat, she explains her life to Tommy and Aura. He also mentions that he was a forest ranger and a captain on a Pacific ocean liner. Tommy decides to hand over his footage to the United Nations, but "Panda" asks them to help him save the turtle eggs from poachers. He takes them on a boat and the crew goes to an island. Seabert notices the lights on the beach and the Seabert team goes to investigate without Panda. Sure enough, they come across some turle egg poachers selling the eggs to restaurants. Tommy causes an uproar and scares the poachers. They rescue a turtle and return to the boat to report to Panda. Panda calls the police and Tommy and Aura celebrate by playing hula on the guitar and dancing. In the morning, Tommy accidentally scares Seabert and Seabert causes an uproar. The police arrive but are unable to help. Tommy devises a plan to stop the turtle from getting to the beach, unfortunately the turtles manage to break through. The poachers return and Tommy confronts them. The poachers tie up and silence Tommy and Aura. Poachers take out Pandas. However, there is also the police. They arrest the poachers and then proceed to rescue the children.

21 "The Ivory Hunters"

22 "The Professor's Whistle"

23 "The blues of hunters"

24 "Business Monkey"

25 "The unicorn"
Tommy, Aura and Seabert go with their friend to Africa to protect a rhino from poaching by ivory hunters. Smokey and his gang ruin an Ivory expedition by dropping a rhino horn into the bay and must replace it.

26 "Photo Setting"
While watching the newspaper, Tommy notices an article about Panda harming wildlife. The team then decides to return to the village to prepare for an investigation. On their way, a mysterious plane flies overhead and chases the crew into a cave. The plane lands and a baby seal recording lures the group into the plane. They are then taken to an area that has a lot of props and scenery such as a movie studio. Graphite intends to frame the children by showing the world photos of them hurting wildlife as they have done to their other kidnapped friends. As they escape, they save Harry King, Panda, and Aura's father.

Production

Production on the series was handled by Mill Valley Animation on a contract from SEPP International SA, the well-known Brussels production house which also included animation series and properties including The Smurfs, The Snorkies and Foofur. Jerry Smith, owner of Mill Valley Animation, was also responsible for many of the fulfillment needs under the line of many animation series from Hanna-Barbera, Ruby-Spears and DIC. Seabert's director was Dirk Braat of Amsterdam and the casting director of the series was Ron Knight, principal of Knight Mediacom (formerly Image One Productions, San Francisco). See Knight Mediacom International.

Technical data

Original title Bibifoc
Original language French
Country France
Author Marc Tortarolo, Eric Turlot
Regia John Allan Armstrong, Al Lowenheim
Studio BZZ Films, SEPP International SA
Network 2 antenna
1st TV October 3, 1985 - na
Episodes 52 (complete)
Episode duration 13 min
Italian network Italia 1
1st Italian TV september 1987 - na
Gender adventure