History Anime / Bannertail

* {{One Shot Character}}: The mother bunny only shows up in one episode where she's searching for her missing baby. She is never seen again after she learns the truth.

* ThoseTwoGuys: Radōru and Gocha.

* AnAesop: Several.
** The one with the rabbit teaches how it's better to tell the truth, as horrible as it may be, than to lie to avoid upsetting someone. Even if the truth is devastating, it's always better for everyone in the long run.
** In another episode, a particularly arrogant chipmunk takes credit for the death of a marauding fox, even though it was completely an accident. His supposed bravery makes him a local hero and his tale keeps getting more improbably grandiose with each telling - which gets him into hot water when another fox begins terrorizing the squirrels and everyone (of course) turns to him. [[spoiler:Banner ends up needing to defeat the fox and save him.]]

''Bannertail: The Adventures of Gray Squirrel'' is a 1979 Creator/NipponAnimation anime based on the novel ''Bannertail: The Story of a Gray Squirrel'' by Canadian author Ernest Thompson Seton. It follows the birth, life and eventual old age of Banner, a young squirrel in what appears to be Europe. [[HeartwarmingOrphan Orphaned]] as a baby when the tree his nest is in is cut down, he is adopted by a kindly farm cat, who raises him as if he were her own kitten. When a fire destroys the farm, Banner, separated from his mother, has to flee into the woods to escape. On his own, he has to come to terms with the fact he is a squirrel and not a cat, while joining his own kind, a community of wild squirrels.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In one episode, Banner is afraid to tell a mother rabbit her baby has been killed, so he lies and impersonates the baby with a PaperThinDisguise. [[spoiler:When the disguise falls off and the rabbit learns the truth, she is so hurt that she flees the forest and never reappears.]]

** [[TheOneWith The one with]] the rabbit teaches how it's better to tell the truth, as horrible as it may be, than to lie to avoid upsetting someone. Even if the truth is devastating, it's always better for everyone in the long run.

* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Banner's adoptive mother makes a HeroicSacrifice to save him from the fire in the first episode, however in a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming, Banner eventually finds her alive and well again at the end of the series.]]

* WickedCultured: Akācho has impeccable manners, wears impressive [[BowTiesAreCool bowties]], and carries fancy walking sticks.

** In the Spanish dub, Gocha, who is physically the largest male squirrel, is given a very high-pitched, whiny voice nearly indistinguishable from Radōru's.
* MyBelovedSmother: How Clay views his mother, she doesn't get along with Banner into a later episode where she gets rescued.

** Played straight with the the guy who shoots [[spoiler:Uncle Owl]]. He and another guy are just wandering through the forest, blasting away at everything that moves, and upon killing [[spoiler:Uncle Owl]], he just sort of pokes at him and then he and his friend walk off, leaving him there to die. ForTehEvulz, indeed.

** [[TheOneWith the one with]] the rabbit teaches how it's better to tell the truth, as horrible as it may be, than to lie to avoid upsetting someone. Even if the truth is devastating, it's always better for everyone in the long run.

* BigOlEyebrows: Gocha has bushy orange eyebrows.

** Played straight with the the guy who shoots [[spoiler:Uncle Owl]]. He and another guy are just wandering through the forest, blasting away at everything that moves, and upon killing [[spoiler:Uncle Owl]], he just sort of pokes at him and then he and his friend just walk off leaving him there to die. ForTehEvulz, indeed.

''Bannertail'' (full title: ''Bannertail: The Adventures of Gray Squirrel'') is a 1979 Creator/NipponAnimation anime based on the novel ''Bannertail: The Story of a Gray Squirrel'' by Canadian author Ernest Thompson Seton. It follows the birth, life and eventual old age of Banner, a young squirrel in what appears to be Europe. [[HeartwarmingOrphan Orphaned]] as a baby when the tree his nest is in is cut down, he is adopted by a kindly farm cat, who raises him as if he were her own kitten. When a fire destroys the farm, Banner, separated from his mother, has to flee into the woods to escape. On his own, he has to come to terms with the fact he is a squirrel and not a cat, while joining his own kind, a community of wild squirrels.

* HumansAreBastards: Averted for the most part. Even the lumberjacks who threaten the forest are just doing their jobs and earning a living, and are portrayed neither positively nor negatively. Even the guy who shoots [[spoiler:Uncle Owl]] was presumably just living off the land for his dinner.

* HumansAreCthulhu: The animals are mystified at every turn by humans. In one episode, a music box is treated as if it's some kind of ancient, mystical artifact. Even Puschel, who lived with them on a farm for much of his life and knows more about them than the other squirrels, can sometimes find them mysterious and intimidating.

* EngineeredHeroics: In an effort to get Clay's mother Lori to like him, Banner concocts a scheme of the ScoobyDooHoax, wherein he "saves" her from a monster (actually Radōru and Gocha in disguise). In the German dub, he even invents his own heroic theme music - "Da-ta-''taaa''! Hier kommt Puschel!" ("Here comes Puschel!"). It actually works... until Banner overdoes it and punches the "monster" so hard that Radōru and Gocha get fed up and take the costume off, exposing the lie.