Oliver B. Bumble

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Oliver B. Bumble (Olivier B. Bommel in Dutch language) is a fictional anthropomorphic bear and one of the two main characters, the other being Tom Puss (Tom Poes in Dutch), of an originally Dutch series of comic books bearing the name of either one main characters in their name, written by Marten Toonder.

1 Publication history
2 Character
3 Catch phrases
4 External links

[edit] Publication history

The first Tom Puss stories were told as illustrated novels, published in daily installments in the Dutch newspaper, De Telegraaf. "Tom Puss" first appeared as a replacement for the Mickey Mouse-strip in 1941. Although every page of the book is accompanied by three little comic drawings, some Dutch people consider the stories Literature. Later on, Tom Puss was turned into a comics series in a stricter sense.

Sir Oliver Berendinus Bumble was introduced in the third Tom Puss story in 1941. At first, he was just a supporting character, but he quickly became the series' main character; as Tom Puss was noble and heroic, most stories depended on the more flawed Oliver B. Bumble to initiate the events of the stories. The last story, published in 1986 ends the story with Bumble getting married to his neighbor, Miss Doddel and settling down.

In total there have been over 600 Tom Puss stories, most of them featuring Oliver B. Bumble as one of the main characters. Bumble and Puss' stories have been translated into many languages and published worldwide. There has also been an animated movie called "Als je begrijpt wat ik bedoel" ("If you know what I mean", one of Bumble's catch-phrases), released in 1983. Toonder created various short animated movies as commercials for Philips in the 1940s starring Puss and Bumble.

[edit] Character

Sir Oliver is a bear of nobility (or rather, so he portrayes himself), an eloquent gentleman (though with a stutter when upset) who enjoys the finer things in life. He is quite wealthy, but always tells others that money is of no importance and is generous to his friends. He lives in castle Bommelstein, where his butler Joost sees to his every need. He is a modest bear though; he always dresses in a simple, checkered coat and his car, nicknamed "De Oude Schicht" ("The Old Bolt (of lightning)"), is reliable, but not extravagant. Extravagance is a trait Bumble doesn't possess, following his dear father^[1]'s lessons of modesty and common sense. Sir Oliver is a kind being, though he does tend to act before he thinks. He also tends to blame others for his own mistakes. As he is a "gentlemen of weak constitution", he has no heart for conflict, but in the end he will always help his friends in need.