The Departure was the 1st episode of Season 6 and the 66th episode of the series. This episode first aired in the year 2000.
Plot[]
Flora, Pom, and Alexander get excited about the circus that they cause trouble running around the palace, and are forced to clean the attic as their punishment, but when they sneak off to the circus, a tightrope walker introduces herself and tells them about travelling, however, Cornelius catches them at the circus and how the attic is coming, just as their cleaning up, they find a travelling map and tell their parents about it. Babar explains to his kids that ever since he was a kid, a wizard named Max says that the map is magic with appearing crown marks to show where to travel first and after that, it even interest Flora, Pom, and Alexander about doing it too, Babar considers the same thing and decides the family will be taking a long vacation around the world visiting new places and interesting lands meeting new people and making new friends. Zephir goes with them but Celeste has Isabelle stay in Celesteville as she is too little. The whole city congratulates Babar and his family throwing them a goodbye party on their biggest vacation and they travel by hot air balloon instead of car, when it's time to go, they travel off and explore.
Characters[]
Trivia[]
- This is the first episode taking place in a similar animation style from the 1986 special Babar meets Father Christmas.
- Neither of the other characters Madame, Lady Rataxes, Lord Rataxes, Victor and Basil appear in any of these Season 6 episodes, because the family is travelling, it's unknown why the Rataxes family or Madame never attended the goodbye party to say their goodbyes to their friends.
- Pompadour makes a brief appearance as the conductor but does not speak, this is considered his final appearance.
- Cornelius does appear and speak in this episode.
- Babar as a child is voiced by Kristin Fairlie, same as Babar: King of the Elephants.
- Celeste says that Isabelle couldn't go with the rest of her family because she's not old enough.
- Flora still wears her same pink dress like always, but Pom and Alexander changed their clothes, only this time, Pom is most likely wearing Alexander's shirt with blue designs like he wore in the early episodes, and Alexander is wearing a completely white shirt, but the difference is that it's not a collared shirt.
- Many have deemed this season not part of the series, not only because the animation, but the fact that this aired years after the series 5th season.
Goofs[]
- Babar as a kid looks older, but he says the story happened before he became king, when he is clearly older than 10 and 11, which was Babar's age in the childhood episodes before and after he became king. The writers could have easily said Babar was a teenager in the flashback in this episode (much way after he became king) and was just out mountain climbing.
- As a child in this episode Babar has tusks and is taller, in the earlier seasons, Babar did not have tusks until he was an adult.