Babar (1989)

First episode title: Babar's First Step

How familiar with the show am I?: I was vaguely aware of it.

So I may or may not have already mentioned why I started doing Debutniverse. The inspiration came while having compilations of old cartoon TV theme songs (like these) playing while I worked. I loved the nostalgia hit I was getting, even from the shows I didn't already know about just because of the styles, and decided I wanted more of that. So, even though I only vaguely knew about Babar, I've seen the opening a couple of times already, and I made some assumptions about what the show might be like as a result.

This show... is not what I was expecting.

---

So the opening shows us what is clearly a world of civilised elephants. Babar walks on two legs and wears a green suit and a crown - he's clearly the king - he has his whole family of elephants, his wife and kids and so on, and we also see an old human woman and a monkey (also clothed) that seem to live with them, in this big mansion with sofas and bookshelves and everything that would seem normal for a human family. This all seems pretty standard for cartoon animals so it didn't raise any questions in my mind at this point.

This episode begins with various smartly-dressed elephants arriving in the grounds outside Babar's house, and a band playing - there is clearly a big event of some kind taking place. And inside, they're getting ready for it - the human lady is dressing Babar's oldest son Pom in a kind of marching band outfit, whether he likes it or not, while Babar's daughter Flora compliments the outfit. There is a nice little joke where the lady says that Pom reminds her of his father, intending to refer to how smart he looks, and then we see that Babar's reaction to the sash his wife Celeste is putting on him is just like Pom's reaction to his own outfit! And then Babar can't find his speech that's in his pocket until his wife points it out too, and he asks what he'd do without her. Not much, by the sound of it!

Babar's third child Alexander enters in a football (soccer) uniform, kicking a ball around, bunking off from practice because his team are doing so badly, and wanting to play with his father instead, who can't because of the speech he needs to give. So Babar tells him that sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do, and he starts telling a story, beginning a flashback that takes up most of the episode. Yes, we're starting with a flashback episode, and I don't know how common this is in the series but I can infer that this isn't the only one, as you'll see by the end.

Babar: A very long time ago, back in the days before I was king, before there was a Celesteville, back in the days of your grandmother, my mother...

In a jungle full of wild animals, we see the newborn Babar surrounded by other elephants. The most obvious contrast between the past and the present is that the elephants in the past walk on all fours and don't wear clothes (except small accessories like a crown). There's no human servant around either. Clearly there is a massive shift in elephant culture (and physiology?) at some point, and I'm sure the series must explain that as the series goes on, but this first episode offers no clues - it probably wasn't meant to be watched on its own like this, but that's the risk I take with this blog!

Babar's mother is lying down with her trunk around her son - there's no mention of a father. An elderly king elephant is present, alongside what seem to be two advisors - Cornelius (who wears glasses) and Pompadour (with a monocle). So, even if the elephants aren't "civilised" yet, their names certainly give off that impression! Speaking of which, the choice of name for a new baby elephant seems to be a collective decision, with the advisors suggesting various posh names, but the baby keeps making a noise that sounds like "Babar" and his mother suggests using that as his name. It goes down well amongst the assembled elephants. There is a funny moment here where Pompadour still tries to put through a vote for "Pierre", and not only do all the other elephants glare at him, but even a random bird shakes its head at him!

Cornelius uses the exclamation "My tusks!" more than once in this episode. I always do love the silly expressions that fictional cultures get to have. He uses it here to comment on Babar essentially choosing his own name, while the other elephants celebrate by trumpeting into the air, frightening the baby. Once Babar understands, though, he tries a little trumpet of his own - he fails, but his attempt is adorable, as he splutters and then ends up rolling backwards along the ground! Also, he learns to say "mama" incredibly quickly!

Then there's a bit of a montage of Babar growing up a little, over some months. At first he can't get the hang of going into a waterhole with his trunk up in order to breathe, but he gets the hang of it. He also makes an enemy of an old tree stump - he tries to unroot it from the ground using his trunk, but isn't strong enough to do so, no matter how many times he tries. I like how determined he is to achieve what is otherwise a fairly pointless goal, because haven't we all had obessions like that?

Mother: Still won't budge, Babar?

Babar: No. But I'll beat it someday.

Mother: I'm sure you will. Someday.

Later on, under a tree filled with fruits, we see three young elephants. As well as Babar, we meet Celeste (hey, we already know she's going to be Babar's wife in the future!) and her younger brother Arthur (we got a glimpse of the fully-grown "Uncle Arthur" in the opening sequence). Arthur is trying to get some fruit down from the tree, but he's too small to have any effect, so Babar tries charging at it and misses completely, falling over. Both his fellow little elephants have a laugh at his expense, although Celeste's laugh seems less mocking and more affectionate.

There's also a monkey in the tree that laughs at Babar's misfortune, and this gives Babar an idea - he starts falling around and making an idiot out of himself intentionally, and this makes the monkey laugh so hard that it shakes the tree branch, making fruit rain down to the ground! I love this clever move from the little elephant. And then he passes one piece of fruit to Celeste, and... she curls her trunk around his, and he blushes. Is this the elephant version of a kiss? Whatever it is, it's adorable.

Side note on the monkey in the tree - I can't tell if that's the same one we saw in the present in the opening, who is apparently named Zephir according to the internet.

The little elephants' playtime is interrupted by a loud noise in the distance, and after some confusion, Cornelius declares that there is some kind of monster in the forest. I don't think it even counts as a spoiler to say that the noise was a gunshot and the monster is man. Like, that's clear the moment you hear the noise. And given that we started this flashback with a mention that it takes place when Babar's mother was alive... yeah, I could see the upcoming Bambi moment a mile away. The elephants, arguing about whether there really is a monster, all go stampeding away to safety.

The king says they should move away from this now-dangerous area, but Babar objects that this is their home - he's intimidated by the older elephants, but then his mother takes his side, and eventually the assembled elephants vote in favour of staying. Babar seems to be starting to show signs of the qualities that will make him king in future (not that I really know how the succession works here), and Babar's mother and Cornelius even share a conversation about what the future holds for him. I'm curious as to what their relationship is, as this isn't the only time this specific pair are shown conversing, but it's clear that Cornelius isn't Babar's father.

After an ad break, the elephants are back at the waterhole. The young elephants all seem to move as if they are two-legged when they're swimming around in the water, and here they're squirting water at each other from their trunks - Arthur gets Babar, and Babar, trying for revenge, almost accidentally squirts Celeste instead. It seems like he couldn't initially tell she wasn't her brother, which kind of hangs a lampshade on the fact that the young elephants all look pretty much identical.

Then we get our first actual look at the hunter as he lurks towards the waterhole. He's drawn without a mouth, which I would guess is to avoid portraying him with any human emotion from the elephants' point of view - it's not like they'd know enough about humans to understand them.

Babar and Celeste try to squirt Arthur, but they're tricked by a rock that almost looks like it could be part of him, and he successfully splashes the two of them instead! Arthur at this age seems to be made of nothing but mischief. Celeste calls him a little monster, and Arthur starts joking around about actually being the monster they had all heard, which Celeste really doesn't find very funny. She looks to Babar for support.

Babar: I don't believe in monsters. It's just something we've never seen before. And once we know what it is, we'll know how to deal with it!

And, as Babar is saying this... the hunter is loading his gun, as seen in the above close-up. In the lead up to this moment, the sky has started to turn red - it's just the sunset, of course, but just that one change makes the whole scene feel more foreboding, compared to the bright blue sky we had earlier. The elephants are also starting to feel wary, knowing that something is still wrong even though they can't see the hunter, and everyone starts fleeing, grabbing the young ones and putting them on their backs...

And it's then, while Babar is being carried away by his mother, that the hunter fires, and she falls.

Babar is thrown from her back and Cornelius scoops him up, as Babar's mother shouts, telling Cornelius to protect the children. With her remaining strength, she confronts the hunter - he gets off another shot, but then she crushes his gun, and he flees before she collapses at last. It's hard to know what to say about a scene like this, but of course I was very moved by her death and by her bravery. It's good that her last moments were spent protecting her family. But yeah... this really isn't the show I was expecting.

The elephants gather again and Cornelius shows Babar what has happened. I have to remark on the accidentally comical abrupt zoom-in on Babar's face as he yells out on seeing his mother's body, but then he goes to her and cries and everyone in the audience cries too.

Future narrator Babar tells us that the herd decided they had to move away then, but Babar had some unfinished business. Remember that tree stump? He goes back to it, and, yelling out for his mother, finally uproots it from the ground! They talk about the strength that mothers get when their children are in trouble - I think we're witnessing the opposite here. He trumpets into the air triumphantly, but it still sounds like a little child trying to imitate an elephant at this stage.

Then there's another bit with the young elephants playing at the waterhole - this time, Babar clearly isn't in the mood for it, but Arthur sneaks up and squirts him anyway. All the other youngsters look shocked that he would dare, and Babar starts to slink sadly away... and then suddenly turns back and squirts Arthur, and starts laughing! That cheers everyone's mood, again including the audience's - now we know everything is going to be okay for Babar. Well, we know that from the present day scenes anyway, but you know what I mean.

The adult elephants talk about having to move the herd again, having heard from the birds of a secluded place, but Babar once again challenges them over it. This time, without his mother to defend him, he loses the argument. I would have liked if they could have demonstrated his growth by having him win it himself this time, but I suppose he still has development to come.

The point soon becomes moot, as shots begin to ring out and another elephant is killed - the elephants begin to flee in all directions, and Babar finds himself closest to the hunter. Speaking of the hunter - the elephants have started calling him the "hunter" now, when earlier they barely seemed to know what a human was. Then again, I suppose the concept of hunting exists in nature, so perhaps they're just describing him that way!

Babar, remembering his mother, is determined to keep the hunter away from the other elephants, despite his size. He manages to hit the guy multiple times, and even though he gets attacked right back, he just keeps on coming! Babar's little elephant noises are still adorable even when he's fighting the hunter, by the way.

Now that the hunter specifically has his eyes on Babar, Babar is able to lead him away from the other elephants, but of course he's in great danger himself. As he runs, he reaches that old tree trunk, and he cleverly moves it so that, from the hunter's point of view, it obscures the hole it left in the ground. When the hunter gets there, he easily leaps over the tree trunk, but gets his leg stuck in the hole he hadn't seen, falling to the ground and dropping the gun! This is a very nice bit in my opinion - not only does it bring back the tree trunk, a reminder of Babar's determination, but it also shows us again how clever he is, which of course should make him a good leader in the future.

When the hunter tries to reach for the gun, Babar steps on it, mimicking his mother's action from earlier. (Oh yeah, did the hunter get a new gun since then?) Babar, seeming to tower over the hunter from his fallen point of view despite being so small, starts to lower his head, and the way the hunter flinches in response gives the impression he's expecting the little elephant to kill him. I wonder if he can tell that's the son of the elephant he killed? But all Babar actually does is lift the gun with his trunk and fling it away, before fleeing, leaving the hunter where he is.

Little Babar climbs up a cliff and looks out over the wilderness, as adult Babar once again narrates, telling us that he was alone but that he knew he would find the others again one day. So it was about this time that I realised these flashbacks must last for more than one episode!

Alexander: But how did you find them, father? Where did you go? What did you do?

Babar: That's another story, Alexander. It's enough to say for now that I made some wonderful friends, and learned so very much along the way.

Cornelius seemed pretty old even in the past, but he's just the same in the present (except of course for the clothes and being bipedal). He enters at this point to remind Babar that it's time for his speech. Oh right, they seemed to be in a rush for that at the start! Babar could have played a little while with Alexander in the time it took to tell the story!

Alexander goes off to play with his football after all, as everyone else goes out onto the balcony, in front of a cheering crowd that has now filled up the palace grounds.

So yes, as I said, there were a lot of ways in which this show wasn't what I was expecting. I wasn't expecting death, I wasn't expecting the weird contrast between the past and present, and I wasn't expecting an ongoing storyline. I thought this would just be a typical talking animal show! Consider me intrigued enough to want to learn more.