Bamse facts for kids

Bamse – Världens starkaste björn (Error: {{language with name/for}}: missing language tag or language name (help)) is a super popular Swedish cartoon. It was created by Rune Andréasson. First, it was a TV show and a comic strip in 1966. Later, in 1973, it became its own comic magazine.

Rune Andréasson drew and wrote the comics for many years. Other talented artists and writers, like Francisco Tora and Bo Michanek, later joined the team.

The stories changed a bit when Bamse had children in 1982. He had triplets, and then a fourth child in 1986. His friend Lille Skutt also had a child. This made the series focus more on family life. It also talked about important ideas like gender equality. In 1989, Bamse's fourth child, Brumma, was shown to have special needs. This brought up the topic of equality again. The children in the comics grew up for a while. But since about 1990, they have stayed around nine years old. This means they are always in third grade.

Old comic strips and magazines have been reprinted. You can find them in nice hardbound books.

In 1998, a theme park called 'Bamses Värld' ("Bamse's World") opened. It's part of the Kolmården Zoo. There are theater shows, restaurants, and buildings from the comic there.

Meet the Bamse Characters

Main Heroes of Bamse

• Bamse is the main character. He is a brown bear. He becomes the world's strongest bear by eating dunderhonung. This special "thunder-honey" is made by his grandmother. Almost anyone else who eats it gets a stomach ache for three days. Only Bamse's pet bee and his daughter Brumma can eat it without pain. Bamse is also known as the kindest bear. He always helps others. His name "Bamse" means "bear" or "giant" in Scandinavian languages.

• Brummelisa is a forester's daughter. She and Bamse fell in love. In 1981, they went on a boat trip. They saw the midnight sun. When they came home, Brummelisa and Bamse got married. They had triplets: Brum, Teddy, and Nalle-Maja.
  • Brum is good at art but a bit shy.
  • Teddy loves to read and learn.
  • Nalle-Maja is very outgoing and loves sports.
  • Teddy needed glasses because of his eyesight. Nalle-Maja can also get strong from dunderhonung. But her grandmother made a new recipe. Now, Nalle-Maja gets strong but also gets a stomach ache. Later, they had another child, Brumma. Brumma can eat dunderhonung without getting strong or having a stomach ache.

• Lille Skutt ("Little Hop") is Bamse's and Skalman's best friend. He is a very fast but often scared white rabbit. He wears a red bow tie. Even though he's scared, he runs very fast. He also jumps far. He bravely faces his fears when his friends are in danger. This has saved them many times. Lille Skutt works part-time as the village postman. He is also the head chef at the local restaurant. Lille Skutt married his girlfriend, Nina Kanin ("Nina Rabbit"). She is Brummelisa's best friend. Nina and Skutt had a son named Mini-Hopp ("Mini-Hop"). Mini-Hopp is very active and not afraid of much. He has eight siblings, including Happ. Happ is a gay rabbit. He and his partner, Lille Sixten, adopted a little girl named Suddan. She is about Mini-Hopp's age.

• Skalman ("Shellman") is a very smart tortoise. He invents all sorts of amazing things. He has made spacecraft and time machines. He keeps almost everything in his carapace (shell). The only things he can't fit are huge items like trains or spaceships. Skalman has a special food-and-sleep clock. He follows its calls strictly, even during adventures. This clock makes him eat or sleep. This forces Bamse and Lille Skutt to think for themselves. Skalman is very intelligent. He even plays chess against himself and wins.

• Vargen ("The Wolf") was once the main bad guy. He was a criminal and a bully. But Bamse was always kind to him. Over time, Bamse helped Vargen change. Now, Vargen is more of a good guy. He sometimes slips back into his old ways. But he tries to be good.

The Bad Guys of Bamse

• Krösus Sork ("Croesus Vole") is a mean capitalist. He is one of the main villains. He will do almost anything for money. He is the most ruthless of the bad guys.

• Kapten Buster ("Captain Buster") and his three clumsy pirate friends. They are not very good at being pirates. They often get seasick. They have mostly stopped their life at sea.

• Knocke & Smocke are two big thugs. They try to do bad things. But they are usually outsmarted by Skalman or others. They mostly rely on their strength.

• Reinard is a sly fox. He joined the bad guys in 2006. He does all kinds of bad things. This includes shoplifting and even trying to hurt Bamse.

Bamse in Movies and Games

Six short black-and-white animated films were made for TV in 1966. In 1972, seven more animated shorts came out in color. Two more shorts were released in 1981. A direct-to-video movie came out in 1991.

The color films are often shown on TV in Sweden. They are also available on VHS and DVD. The old black-and-white films were hard to find for a long time. But they were released on DVD in 2006. The color movies were made with a small budget. Actor Olof Thunberg did all the voices and narrated them. Still, they are seen as classics. Most Swedes easily recognize the main music theme.

In 1993, a Game Boy game was released in Swedish. It was based on the Bamse characters. The game was not very popular. It was not officially released outside Sweden.

In 2006, Rune Andréasson's son, Ola Andréasson, announced a new animated movie. It would have better animation and a full voice cast. The film, Bamse and the Thief City, was released in 2014. Another movie, Bamse and the Witch's Daughter, followed in 2016.

How Bamse is Translated

In the 1960s, some "Bamse's school" comics were translated. The characters got English names:

• Bamse became Bamsy
• Skalman became Professor Shellback
• Lille Skutt became Little Frisky
• Vargen became Willie
• Farmor (Grandma) became Granny
• Katten Janson (Janson the Cat) became Sooty

In these translations, dunderhonung was called magic honey. But in the 1980s, Andréasson called it thunder-honey in English. This is also how it's translated in the Netherlands and Belgium.

In a movie that was planned for 2009, called Bamse and the Time-Travel Machine, the names were translated differently:

• Bamse stayed Bamse
• Skalman became Shellman
• Lille Skutt became Little Skip
• Krösus Sork became Victor Vole
• Dunderhonung became Superhoney

See also

In Spanish: Bamse para niños