Some more Belgian -Bumba...Blogging Marathon 2014 Post 6


A bit of a cheat post today, maybe the first of more to come. Goes well  with the Belgian theme I started yesterday.

Bumba was our first introduction to popular Belgian TV characters. A Belgian friend gifted my daughter with a board book 'Bumba en Bumbalu'. In the story, they are bitten by an angry bee who is disturbed when the ball they play catch-catch with lands on a  flower! The book has some 7 odd pages with single sentences, short but very entrancing narrative. That's Bumba, the adorable bumbling clown who tries to make things right for his friend Bumbalu. Oh and the book, we've probably gone over that book a 1000 times. Repeat with daughter 2.

We noticed that Bumba in his yellow clown robes, big red nose waving his magic wand is everywhere, especially where little kids are the target audience. Never alone, always with his friend Bumbalu in red. Bumba, on TV, is particularly popular. The shows are all about small adventures, and clowning about in a circus tent, with an assortment of characters like Nanadu -the Bear, Tumbi - the elephant, a Kiwi bird, Pantoef - the rhino, etc. The program is especially created for pre-schoolers and are full of situations which they can relate to. Sound and colour are the main focus here with stage decor being uncluttered and colourful. I was surprised to learn that Bumba is a very recent introduction to Belgian TV and subsequently the folklore - around 2004.

The character of Bumba was created by Jan Maillard and rights are now owned by Studio 100. The shows are characteristically 5 minute long, not much of talking, a lot of nodding, each character can probably only repeat their names. All characters supposedly speak 'Bumbalees',  the human voice-over speaks Dutch.

 Bumba and Bumbalu have become a huge hit with the kids. In fact, this series is also exported to Germany, Canada and Spain. There is a whole merchandising industry that Bumba and friends have launched- books, CDs, puzzles, school bags, toddler tableware, online stores, photo frames, birthday party decorations, cards, etc. In fact, in every visit to the very popular theme-parks for Studio 100 characters here in Belgium called Plopsaland (there are 3 of them in Belgium), you can be sure to bump into life-size Bumba and Bumbalu and have a great chance of  posing for a photo with them. In two of the parks, there are also daily stage-shows with Bumba having the main role where they enact bits and pieces of some of their TV programs.

If your toddler is a Bumba fan, you may even want to download the Bumba app on your iphone or Ipad. You may even recall these times fondly when they grow up and develop other favourites.
Also published at Indian Moms Connect here 

Comments

  1. pankti7 January 2014 at 14:05

    Bumba looks familiar!! Don't know why?!
    Do they have a similar looking character in Tintin?

    ReplyDelete

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