France’s Gaumont Television has finalized a broadcast deal with German pubcaster ZDF for its animated series Belle and Sebastian, which is based on Cecil Aubry’s original live-action series of the same name that rose to popularity in the 1960s.

The 52 x 13-minute series, which chronicles the friendship of a boy and his dog against the rural backdrop of the French Alps,  is a co-production with Canadian Producer PVP Group.  The series shares traits with others currently in ZDF’s portfolio, including Lassie, Heidi and Wickie.

The new deal comes on the heels of other recent sales for Belle and Sebastian, including M6 (France), Piwi+ (France), Radio Canada (Canada), VRT (Belgium), RTBF (Belgium), and RTS (Switzerland).

The series aimed at kids ages six to eight joins a growing animation catalog at Gaumont Television, which consolidated its TV lines of business (Animation, International and Europe) into the centralized TV division late last year.