''Bump'' is a British
animated
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...
children's television series
Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...
which was created by Charles Mills and Terry Brain (who had previously created ''
The Trap Door
''The Trap Door'' is a British animated television series, originally shown in the United Kingdom in 1986. The plot revolves around the daily lives and the misadventures of a group of monsters living in a castle. These include a blue creatur ...
'' and ''
Stoppit and Tidyup''), produced by Queensgate Productions and originally shown on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
from 14 September 1990 to 26 December 1994.
The series' two main protagonists were the eponymous Bump (an
elephant
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...
who was very clumsy, a trait that was emphasised by a bandage stuck onto his forehead) and his friend Birdie (a
bluebird
The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas.
...
who often gave Bump advice on how he could become more graceful). The two series ran a total of twenty-six episodes, each 5 minutes long. The twenty-seventh and final episode was a
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
special that was 10 minutes long. The programme was narrated by
Simon Cadell
Simon John Cadell (19 July 1950 – 6 March 1996) was an English actor, best known for his portrayal of Jeffrey Fairbrother in the first five series of the BBC situation comedy ''Hi-de-Hi!''.
Early life
Born in London, he was the son of theatr ...
(1950-1996) of ''
Hi-de-Hi!
''Hi-de-Hi!'' is
a BBC television sitcom shown on BBC1 from 1 January 1980 to 30 January 1988.
Set in 1959 and 1960 in Maplins, a fictional holiday camp, the show was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who also wrote ''Dad's Army'' and ...
'' fame.
Bump and Birdie regularly encountered animals that had a problem (such as Whizzer the mouse, Munch the tortoise, McDuff the dog, Big Bun and Little Bun the rabbits and Batty the bat) and would help them to find a solution. Most of these animals were recurring characters, and all of the characters' ''Stoppit and Tidyup''-like sounds were generated by analogue synthesizers.
Characters
*Bump
*Birdie
*Whizzer
*Big Bun and Little Bun
*McDuff
*Munch
*Batty
*Mr and Mrs Squirrel
*Old Bear
*Auntie Doreen
*Birdie’s Brothers and Sisters
*Cousin Jay
*Puss
Episodes
Series 1 (1990)
All thirteen of the first series' episodes were initially shown on BBC One as part of the
Children's BBC
BBC Children's and Education is the BBC division responsible for media content for children in the UK. Since the launch of specially dedicated television channels in 2002, the services have been marketed under two brands. CBBC (short for Chil ...
strand on Fridays at 3:50pm.
Series 2 (1994)
All thirteen of the second series' episodes were initially screened on BBC One, again as part of the Children's BBC strand, on Mondays at 3:45pm, and although they were produced in 1993, they were not broadcast until 10 January 1994. The sixteenth episode was also renamed to just "Aunty Doreen's Surprise" when shown in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, while the twenty-fifth one was renamed to "Bump ''and'' the Builder".
Christmas special (1994)
The twenty-seventh episode was initially shown on BBC One, once again as part of the Children's BBC strand, on Boxing Day 1994 at 7:55am.
Broadcast history
*United Kingdom: After the series finished its original run on BBC One, it was later repeated on
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
,
The Children's Channel
The Children's Channel, also known as TCC, was a British-based pan-European children's television channel in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which was owned by Flextech in London, England, UK. It began broadcasting on the original Eutelsat ...
,
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
(alongside that network's own cartoons from that time period, ''
Doug'', ''
The Ren & Stimpy Show
''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' (also known as ''Ren & Stimpy'') is an American animated television series created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi. Originally produced by Spümcø for Nickelodeon, the series aired from August 11, 1991, to Decemb ...
'', ''
Rugrats
''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on a group of toddlers; most prominently— Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, and twins Phil and Lil, ...
'', ''
Rocko's Modern Life
''Rocko's Modern Life'' is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the surreal life of an anthropomorphic Australian immigrant wallaby named Rocko and his friends: the eccentric steer ...
'' and ''
Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
''Aaahh!!! Real Monsters'' is an American animated television series developed by Klasky Csupo for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on three young monsters—Ickis, Oblina, and Krumm—who attend a school for monsters under a city dump and learn to ...
'') and
CBeebies
CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older childr ...
.
*Australia: When the series was exported to Australia, it was shown on
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
,
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
(alongside their cartoons) and
Nick Jr.
Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...
*South Africa: When the series was exported to South Africa, it was broadcast on
SABC2
SABC 2 is a South African family public television channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). SABC 2 broadcasts programming in English, Sepedi, Afrikaans, Venda, and Tsonga.
As of August 2018, the channel started broadc ...
and
e.tv
e.tv (commonly referred to on-air as e) is the first and only privately owned free-to-air television station in South Africa. It is the fifth terrestrial television channel in the country, following three channels that are operated by the sta ...
over there.
*Singapore: When the series was exported to Singapore, it was screened on
Mediacorp Channel 5
Channel 5 (Chinese: 五頻道) is a free-to-air, English-language television channel in Singapore. Owned by state broadcaster Mediacorp, it broadcasts general entertainment, news, and sports programming. The channel's logo is a big white number ...
in that country.
*New Zealand: When the series was exported to New Zealand, it was transmitted on
TVNZ Kidzone
TVNZ Kidzone was a 24-hour New Zealand children's channel service run by state broadcaster Television New Zealand. The channel ran on Digital 106, channel 46 on Sky and channel 14 on Igloo.
History
Kidzone was originally a 12-hour service runnin ...
for that country.
*Republic of Ireland: When the series was exported to the Irish Republic, it was seen on
RTÉ2
RTÉ2 is an Television in the Republic of Ireland, Irish free-to-air television channel operated by public service broadcaster RTÉ. It was launched in 1978 as the Republic of Ireland's second television channel.
History
In the 1970s, the Iri ...
in that country.
*Canada: When the series was exported to Canada, it was screened on both
YTV and
YTV Jr.
YTV Jr. (formerly known as The Treehouse) was a block on YTV for preschoolers that was launched in 1994 and aired weekdays until 2002.
History
When YTV launched, it had a block of programs for preschoolers with a focus on Canadian content. In ...
in all provinces, as well as airing on
Knowledge Network
Knowledge Network, also branded as British Columbia's Knowledge Network, is a Canadian publicly funded educational cable television network serving the province of British Columbia. It is owned by the Knowledge Network Corporation, a Crown corpo ...
in British Columbia.
*Germany: When the series was exported to Germany, it was seen on the military television network
BFBS
The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themselve ...
(and SSVC Television, which was the name the aforementioned BFBS network was known by between 1985 and 1997).
*India: When the series was exported to India, it was screened on
Discovery Kids
Discovery Kids (stylized as Discovery K!ds) is a brand name owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Starting as a television segment within the Discovery Channel, the brand expanded as a separate television channel. Most of its worldwide channels were ei ...
there.
Credits
Series 1
*Narrated by: Simon Cadell
*Animation: CMTB Animation
*Artwork & Music: Steve Augarde
*Stories by: Christopher James
*Executive Producer: Theresa Plummer-Andrews
*Produced by: Dennis Hooper
*© Bump Enterprises Ltd. 1990
Series 2
*Stories by: Christopher James
*Narrated by: Simon Cadell
*Animated by: CMTB Animation
*Edited by: Nick Upton
*Art & Music: Steve Augarde
*Art Director: Peter Corri
*Executive Producer for the BBC: Theresa Plummer-Andrews
*Executive Producer for Abbey Broadcast Communications Plc: Anne Miles
*Directed by: Terry Brain
*Produced by: Dennis Hooper
*© Bump Enterprises Ltd. 1993
*An Abbey Broadcast Communications Plc. Videal Productions - GMBH Production
*© Abbey Broadcast Communications Plc. Videal Productions - GMBH 1993
UK VHS releases
Two VHS tapes, which contain all thirteen episodes of the first series between them, were released by Abbey Home Media in the UK in 1991. The first one was later reissued on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
under the title ''Bump: My First DVD'' in 2004 (three episodes from the second series and the Christmas special were also released on another DVD, ''Bump: Christmas Story'', in 2006, but they were never previously released on VHS).
Bump's Christmas Story (DVD): Amazon.co.uk: DVD & Blu-ray
/ref>
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bump (Tv Series)
BBC children's television shows
British children's animated adventure television series
English-language television shows
Animated television series about elephants
Animated television series about birds
1990s British children's television series
1990 British television series debuts
1994 British television series endings
1990s British animated television series