Little-Known Cartoons from the 1980s: Seabert

From time to time, animated series attempted to teach children about how to protect the environment or respect numerous animal species. Some of these series, such as Captain Planet, are well remembered, but others are not. One such series, from 1984, is Seabert, a 26-episode series which told of a seal and his human friends on a never-ending mission to protect wildlife from hunters who would stop at nothing to try and capture or kill them. Initially airing in Paris in a French-language version under the title Bibifoc, it would be translated into English and other languages and shown in various parts of the world, but as far as I know, it has not aired anywhere in many years. Even so, I feel it is another cartoon from the 1980s that is lesser known, but enjoyable.

The titular character was a baby white coat seal, whose parents had been murdered by poachers. He would be adopted by two human children, Tommy and Aura, who decided to travel all over the world on a mission to prevent other animals from poachers. Seabert was often mischievous and sometimes got into trouble, but he nevertheless proved to be a hero in helping to stop the poachers and finding help whenever Tommy and Aura had been captured or otherwise found themselves in great danger. Each episode would take the trio to such locales as jungles, rain forests, and the Arctic region where Seabert lived with his family.

While the trio would sometimes deal with one shot hunters, they would often come across one of two recurring villains. One of them was Smoky, who just so happened to be Tommy's uncle. Unlike Tommy, who respected wildlife, Smoky would stop at nothing to try and harm or capture many innocent animals. As I remember, Smoky would actually change his evil ways towards the end of the series and work towards protecting endangered species instead. Not so with Graphite, the series' other recurring antagonist. This mustachioed villain and his dimwitted accomplices would also attempt to hunt down various animal species, and never liked it when our heroes interfered. Naturally, Tommy, Aura, and Seabert would persevere, as stated in the rather catchy theme song: "whatever the case may be, he'll win the victory/the villains always take the fall!"

Each episode was self-contained, with not much in the way of continuing story lines other than the quest to stop poachers all over the world. As such, viewers could start watching the series at pretty much any episode without the fear of having missed any vital continuing plot points. The show was first seen in the United States on HBO in 1986. In the late 1980s, most if not every episode was released on home video by Celebrity's Just for Kids. Today, this is pretty much the only way to watch the series, as it has not been released on DVD at least in the United States. However, clips from the series, including the aforementioned memorable theme song, can be found on YouTube to give people a taste of what to expect when watching a full episode.

I was exposed to Seabert by renting videos from the local video store in the days before Netflix and Redbox came along. Back then, and still today, I felt it was a neat series that teaches children to respect wildlife. Seabert himself was cute and appealing, and proved to be as heroic as he was mischievous. The plots were easy to understand and filled with suspense and the occasional bit of humor. It is one of those series that can be informative without running the risk of boring its intended young audience. If nothing else, it is certainly better than a lot of today's kids shows in terms of animation, action, and education. I would like to see the show return in repeats, as a revival may not do it justice, so that children can learn about how to protect wildlife and see an example of how a quality kids show should be made.

Seabert may not be nearly as well known as a lot of other cartoons from the 1980s, but it is one that is worth checking out. Though the old VHS tapes can be hard to find nowadays, they are worth tracking down so that viewers young and old alike can experience the adventures of a seal and his human companions out to stop nasty poachers all over the world. It is a shame that the series can to an end after a mere 26 episodes, as from what I saw of it, it was a show that blended action and education rather well. One wishes that every kids show that has some educational values can be more exciting and less boring. See the show any way you can, and maybe you, too, will agree that a young seal can make for a lovable hero.