''Bernard'', known as ''Backkom'' (
Hangul
The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...
: 빼꼼) in South Korea and ''Berni'' in Spain, is a
computer-animated
Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...
television series produced by RG Animation Studios, with the investment of the French broadcaster
M6.
The animation style is of a combination of computer-generated and
cel animation
Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation.
Proce ...
. The stories are written by the creative studio ''Screen21'', the directors are José Luis Ucha Enríquez and Claudio Biern Lliviria. The music was written by Oscar Maceda Rodríguez. ''Bernard'' also was a part of
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
's ''Sunday Pants''.
In
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, season 1 aired on
EBS EBS may refer to:
Broadcasting
* EBS TV (Ethiopia)
* Educational Broadband Service, US TV service
* Educational Broadcasting System, South Korea
** EBS 1, a South Korean television channel
* Emergency Broadcast System, former US Warning system
...
TV in 2006 and consists of 52 episodes. Season 2 aired in 2009, and it also consists of 52 episodes.
Plot
The show centers on a circus
polar bear
The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...
named Bernard, whose bumbling
slapstick
Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...
antics and clumsiness typically result in the bear being knocked unconscious or being severely injured by the end of an episode. Bernard almost doesn't speak, but he does communicate through guttural sounds. Bernard’s friends include Lloyd and Eva the
penguin
Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...
s, Zack the
lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...
, and Goliath the
chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to:
Places
*Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state
**Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state
**Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state
**Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state
**Chihuahua Mun ...
.
Episodes
Films
A feature film based on ''Bernard'', titled ''
Mug Travel'' in South Korea and ''My Friend Bernard'' in English, was first released in South Korea on 22 March 2007. It was directed by Lim Ah-ron and produced at RG Animation Studios.
Another film, titled
Backkom Bear: Agent 008 was released in China on 13 January 2017 and South Korea on 3 May 2017.
A third film, titled
Agent Backkom: Kings Bear was released in China and South Korea on July 23, 2021.
Award history
''Bernard'' has been nominated for a number of awards, including ''Best Animation series'' at the Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film (2006), Mipcom Jr. Licensing Challenge Award (2004), Prize in ''Children and Education'' at the Dong-A International Festival of Cartoon & Animation (2004) and was a finalist at the
Annecy International Animation Festival
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...
(2003).
# Nominated for The Best Animation Series at Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film (2006)
# Mipcom Jr. Licensing Challenge Award (2004)
# Won the Prize in Children and Education at DIFECA (Dong-A International Festival of Cartoon & Animation) (2004)
# Was the finalist in Annecy International Animation Festival (2003).
See also
*''
Mug Travel''
*''
Backkom Bear: Agent 008''
*''
Agent Backkom: Kings Bear''
References
External links
*
''Screen21'' Website*
{{Authority control
2006 South Korean television series debuts
2000s South Korean animated television series
2010s South Korean animated television series
2006 French television series debuts
2000s French animated television series
2010s French animated television series
French children's animated comedy television series
Spanish children's animated comedy television series
South Korean children's animated comedy television series
Surreal comedy television series
Computer-animated television series
Animated television series about bears
Animated television series without speech