| Babar Returns | |
|---|---|
| Season 1, Episode 3 | |
| |
| Air date | April 11, 1989 |
| Written by | Alan Templeton & Mary Crawford |
| Directed by | Raymond Jafelice |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous City Ways |
Next The City of Elephants |
Babar Returns is episode 3 in the series. It first aired April 11, 1989.
Babar leaves the Old Lady and City to return to the jungle so he can bring the other elephants his newfound knowledge. However, he discovers that despite the fact that his old friends are still running from the Hunter, they resist trying out any of his new ideas.
Summary[]
One night, Flora is looking for a midnight snack and after finding no raspberry ice, settles on Marzipan on toast, Babar who overhears tells Flora that type of snack gives her nightmares. He turns on the light and asks her why she is up so late, she tells him she is worried about the tennis match tomorrow (Flora and Alexander vs Pom and Willamena) she is concerned because whenever she does miss shots Alexander gets mad at her. Babar assures her that she will soon be a professional, and tells that she should think about what she can do rather than what she cannot do. He explains to her with his own recipe, a Double Decker Midnight Royale; egg salad on pumpernickel with ranch dressing and his secret ingredient: a story, Flora loves that.
Back when Babar was still living in the city with Madame, he seemed to have all he ever wanted, but ever since he ran away from the hunter and got separated from the heard, he still misses his mother and all of his friends and family, and not a day goes by when he does not think about and miss them very much. Madame sees how sad he looks and assures him that he will see his family and friends again and Babar tells her when he does see them again he will introduce them to a very good friend of his. Madame pleased with that asks Babar if he would like to spot new birds during their walk in the park. While on their walk Babar spots a blue jay and thinks he spots a grey bird but it turns out to be Celeste and Arthur who came to look for him, he is very happy to see them again and he introduces them to Madame. First they take them to a bakery to give them a taste of city life, next they go to the store to get them some beautiful new clothes and give them a little coaching to help them adjust to city life. Next they go to a beauty store where Arthur gets covered in powder after sneezing. Celeste tries out some perfume which she loves the smell of, Arthur tries it out himself but sprays too much on himself and none of the shoppers approve of the strong smell. They then go to the music store and Arthur was fascinated by the instruments and learned the first impact of music. Finally they go to the toy store which everyone enjoys, Babar even remembered what fun it was to play with Arthur and Celeste. They soon purchase some roller skates and head home, but his happy day in the city came to an end soon enough. Celeste tells Babar that she Arthur really came here to bring him home and that the herd needs his help as the Hunter is chasing them into the deepest parts of the jungle which angers Babar. Madame tells him that it's time for him to go as she knew this day will come.
Babar packs up his car and gives a heartfelt goodbye to Madame, but not before they exchange photographs of each other. Babar, Celeste, and Arthur head on their way home while Madame wonders when she will see her little Babar again. They drive for days but soon make it into the deep part of the jungle. Suddenly there is a russle in the bushes, Babar gets ready to defend his friends, but it turns out to be Cornelius, he and all the elephants are happy to see him again and even Arthur and Celeste, they tell everyone how and where they found Babar. Cornelius and Pompadour tell Babar how glad they are to see him again, they notice Babar's suit, which he shows you can take off, and Celeste tell everyone about the wonderful gifts they brought to everyone. Babar is glad that everyone is still all right but Pompadour and Cornelius tell Babar that they have been running from the Hunter ever since Babar was separated from the herd. The King approaches and tells Babar he is glad that Babar has returned for he has a plan to stop the hunter. Soon enough the Hunter shows up and while Babar did manage to drive the hunter away from the herd, he knew that the hunter was not going to give up.
At the elephants current home, there is hardly anything to eat there and each day the hunter is getting closer. The King decrees a stampede declaring that tomorrow, they will drive the hunter from the jungle. While eating some mushrooms, Babar tries to tell the King that they must outsmart the hunter as he has guns and traps. The elders remind Babar that he has been away for a long time in the city so he doesn't remember what it was like living in the jungle. As they are talking, the king falls over and dies. The mushrooms that the King ate were poisonous, the entire herd is distraught, after the funeral Cornelius declares that they will honor the King's final wish and stampede tomorrow. Babar still believes that deep down the stampede is going to fail. Babar, Celeste and Arthur stay up until dawn while Babar tells his friends about a city he wants to build. It would have buildings, houses, stores, parks and a palace and it would be their home and the best part is that they would be safe from the hunter. They soon agree that they must stop the stampede, however by the time they get back everyone had left for the stampede. Babar still believed that the stampede was going to fail, and it did. The elephants are placed in a cage and they soon hear that they will either be taken to an ivory dealer or placed in a zoo or circus. The three friends decide to use all the gifts they got from the city to use against the hunter, even though there are more of them, they have an advantage. First they set up the gramophone to distract the hunters long enough to open the cage. The elephants destroy the camp and escape while Babar, Celeste, and Arthur use all the gifts they got from the city and drive off the hunter and send him down the river.
Cornelius congratulates them, even though they lost all the city gifts, they finally got rid of the hunter. With the forest finally at peace again the herd returned home, happy and safe. Babar wishes that the King could have seen their home one final time before his passing. Pompadour soon tells the herd that they must choose a new King and knows just the elephant who is fit to lead them. Babar thinks it's Cornelius but it is Babar who is crowned the new King. Cornelius tells Babar that he and Babar's mother always believed that Babar would do great things and she would be proud of him. Babar gives Cornelius his hat and tells the elephants that times are changing but they will get better and that they will never have to run away again.
As the story ends, Babar tells Flora that because he knew the hunters ways he got the better of him. Flora soon realizes that Pom does have a weak backhand which could be an advantage for her. The boys and Celeste had overheard the story and came downstairs. Babar tells them that they all know their opponents and that the tennis game will be a success. Babar gives the children the sandwiches he made and sends them off to bed. Celeste and Babar stay downstairs and Celeste asks Babar to make a triple hot fudge sundae, as Babar looks for the ingredients and Celeste tells Babar to not forget the story.
Characters[]
- Babar
- Celeste
- Arthur
- Cornelius
- Pompadour
- The Old King
- Madame
- Flora
- Alexander
- Pom
- Willamena (mentioned)
Goofs[]
- When Babar first meets Cornelius he is shown to not be wearing his tie, yet when he meets the Old King, it is suddenly there.
- When Arthur is listening closely to the gramophone, and it plays loudly, causing him to jump, he is barefoot. However, he has his shoes on again when he lands on the next shot.
- when Babar says: “The Hunter has everyone trapped” his face is white but it in the next frame it’s grey.
Trivia[]
- In both the episode and the story, when Babar was in the city he missed his friends, family, his mother and even his jungle home.
- In the story Babar is crowned King as soon as he returns and that he and Celeste were engaged, in the episode, after Babar saves the herd from the hunter, he is crowned king when they return home.
- This is the last we see of the Old King until the episode, Ghost for a Day, with the exception of Elephant Express.
- The song heard on the gramophone in this episode is heard again in many future episodes.
- This is also the last time we see the elephants walking on all fours, from the next episode onward, all the elephants walk on two feet.
- Babar witnesses the Old King's Death, in the story however, the King died before Babar returned.
- In the story, Celeste and Arthur's mothers find them in the city with Babar and tell them to come home and Babar decides to go with them. In the episode, Celeste and Arthur tell Babar that they need to return and that the herd needs help.
Gallery[]
