Bamse is a Swedish cartoon character. He gains extraordinary strength when he drinks from the super-honey his grandma makes. When Bamse drinks it it gives him strength, when someone else drinks it they get a horrible pain in the stomach for three days. Along with friends he stands against the veil forces of millionaire Croesus Vole and the Wolf-cousins. Bamse is not only the strongest bear, but also the kindest bear in the world. He never uses violence, however wicked the bad guys behave. The most he does is throw them into the treetops. But when they fall down, Bamse always catches them.
Bamse has two main companions. Little Leap, a frightened, little rabbit who can run very fast and Shellman, an extremely wise tortoise with many different things in his shell.
His two adversaries are Wolf and Croesus Vole. In the beginning, the wolf was the meanest of them all, but after a while he turned good because Bamse treated him as such. Croesus Vole is the character that never shows any good side. He’s the brain behind everything, but is never caught.
The plot in Bamse is often about serious subject, but there are also real adventures with monsters and dragons. That’s why he not only appeals to youngsters but to the older readers as well. Bamse does have a message. Even though Bamse is very strong, it’s the kindness that makes him a hero.
The cartoon was created by Rune Andréasson and was first published in 1973 as a magazine. Until 1990 Rune himself did all the work, but now he has stepped down to let others run the magazine.
Characters
Now follows a description of the main characters in the Bamse magazines.
Bamse
The main character who gets extraordinary strength from drinking the ‘super-honey’. Bamse was a long time bachelor, but later in the series married his childhood sweetheart Brummelisa. They have four children: Brum, Teddy, Nalle-Maja and Brumma. If you wanna see all the family members, just click here.
Little Leap (Lille Skutt)
He’s a close friend of Bamse. Little Leap is a frightened little rabbit, who can run very fast. When Bamse goes away on a new adventure, he often doesn’t want to come at all, because he is too scared, but Bamse always persuades him. Little Leap is also married, to Nina Rabbit and they have a child called Mini-Jump (Minihopp). Little Leap is a mailman and also has a dog called Fuzzy.
Shellman (Skalman)
The third member of the Bamse gang. Shellman is a very wise tortoise. He carries in his shell almost everything you can think of, and as a real tortoise: he hates to rush. He is an inventor of may things, among which his food-and-sleep-clock. This clock exactly tells him when to eat and when to sleep and Shellman never breaks his routines, even if it is in the middle of an adventure. When he’s sleeping, a hundred canons can’t wake him up. Shellman is still single and will probably never marry, because he’s to busy with his inventions.
Grandma
She is a warm-hearted bear that makes the honey that gives Bamse his strenght.
Katten Jansson & Husmusen
They always fight and tease each other, but they are real friends.
Croesus Vole
A millionaire with a large number of fixing-voles at his service. He’s the worst ‘bad guy’ in Bamse but, there is never proof that he is behind all the tricks. Only his fixing-voles get caught.
The Wolf
In the early episodes, the Wolf was world champion in being bad. Bamse however tried to be nice to him and eventually the Wolf changed. He found that if he acted nicely he got a lot of new friends. His only problem was that he was lonely. Many of the episodes in Bamse are about evil people who are turned good if you are kind to them.
Magazine
This is what the magazine looks like. The first issue came out in 1973 in Sweden and has been one of the children’s favorite in Sweden ever since. Bamse’s father is his drawer Rune Andréasson. Today Runes son Dan also draws Bamse. Nowadays not only children in Sweden can enjoy Bamse, he’s spread all over Scandinavia. The comic is more or less moralizing and teaches the children good behavior and morals.