Bump in the Night: A Delightful Claymation Series from the 1990s

I am from what was perhaps the last great generation of Saturday morning cartoons, namely the 1980s and 1990s. Those were the days when lots of truly entertaining cartoons were shown, and there were not very many (if any) Japanese, educational, or cable shows in sight. If there were any, they were more enjoyable and did not pander to younger kids. It was during the 1990s-specifically, between 1994 and 1996-that one of my favorite Saturday morning shows aired on ABC. Bump in the Night was unusual in that it was a stop motion animated series instead of being hand drawn (though archaic computer animation was occasionally used), but with its quirky nature, it became popular with young audiences everywhere. In my continuing quest to talk about shows from my generation, I shall explain more about this rather enjoyably silly series.

Taking place in the house of a young boy, the series featured the adventures of the creatures and toys who lived there. Thriving under the boy's bed was Mr. Bumpy, a green creature known for making mischief and eating socks. This crazy fellow would share adventures with numerous characters, chief among them Squishington (Squishy for short), a blue creature who lacked feet and who resided in the toilet; and Molly, a rag doll who was one of several toys who came to life a la Toy Story. The zany adventures would take place not only in the boy's house, but also in other locations such as outer space, jungles, and the North Pole. Among the plots featured were Bumpy trying to do the boy's homework after eating it up, he and Squishy doing battle with mutant bread, and Bumpy's attempts to help some aliens conquer the world.

Bumpy would have other friends, including a trio of singing girls who helped him sing the theme song (which sounded like Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy from Company B), and numerous occasional and one-shot characters. However, he and the other creatures and toys also had their adversaries. One such foe was Destructo, a robot who considered himself the authoritative figure of the bunch and tried to get everyone to obey him. In one episode, he took the boy's advice of not making a sound to heart and tried to silence everyone, telling them "Not a peep!" Sometimes, Bumpy would also encounter the vicious Closet Monster, who tried to attack him and the other creatures from time to time. Somehow, Bumpy would always escape from sticky situations, and all would be well until the next crazy adventure.

Most half-hour episodes would consist of three segments. The first two segments consisted of two separate episodes, which were mostly self-contained, but some episodes were in two parts separated by a commercial break. The final segment was Mr. Bumpy's Karaoke Cafe, in which Bumpy and friends would sing mostly original songs as scenes from various episodes were shown. These songs were in various styles-rock, polka, rap, and more-and they were often silly and enjoyable. At one point, an entire VHS tape was released featuring a variety of songs featured on the show, but it has long since gone out of print.

26 half-hour episodes, 13 per season, aired during the two years the series was shown on ABC. Some episodes in the second season contained episodes and songs repeated from the first season. Airing during the second season was Twas the Night Before Bumpy, a 90-minute holiday special which featured Bumpy and Squishy traveling to the North Pole so that the former would try to swipe Santa's bag and get all the gifts for himself. Other plot points included Squishy's dream of having feet and Molly's attempts of directing the Christmas pageant back home, and losing her lovable personality for a while in the process. The lengthy, but fun, special benefited from these qualities as well as memorable songs, hilarious moments, and even a guest spot from Cheech Marin as a worm who wishes for a pair of arms.

Viewers had a chance to be exposed to the characters during the year before the series aired. In the 1993-1994 season, Bumpy and his friends would appear in short bumpers in between commercial breaks, in which they found themselves in silly situations. The bumpers have found a new life on YouTube, as have a variety of Bump in the Night episodes and Karaoke Cafe segments. Episodes have also been released sporadically on VHS and DVD over the years. Shout Factory plans to release a DVD set of all 26 episodes in April 2010 to the delight of many fans who have been waiting for a complete series release for years. All of these are ideal ways of catching the series again or for the first time, as it has not been seen on network television since 1996, when it was canceled as a result of Disney's takeover of ABC.

Bump in the Night was proof that, even with the rise of computer animation, stop motion animation could still be used to tell worthwhile stories. The series had its morals, but also had plenty of hilarious moments which undoubtedly delighted young viewers back in the day. It also benefited from a wonderful voice cast, led by Jim Cummings (Winnie the Pooh) as Bumpy, Rob Paulsen (Yakko Warner from Animaniacs) as Squishy, and Gail Matthius (Shirley the Loon from Tiny Toon Adventures) as Molly. The painstaking process of stop motion animation paid off beautifully, and the result was an enjoyable series of the kind that simply is not made anymore. Today's kids need something like Bump in the Night to see what quality Saturday morning television used to be like.

Stop motion animation is not quite dead, as the recent release of The Fantastic Mr. Fox has shown, but it has largely been pushed aside in favor of computer animation. However, we still have Bump in the Night as a great example of how stop motion animation could be used to create a wonderful series with memorable characters and stories. If you watched the series way back when, or if you wish to check it out for the first time, you owe it to yourself to look up episodes online, track down older VHS and DVD copies, or obtain the DVD set when it is released on April 20th. Saturday morning shows like Bump in the Night used to be so good, and today's generation of children have no idea what they are missing.