BUMP IN THE NIGHT
POLYURETHANE COME TO LIFE
It was 2 a.m. in the morning when Mr. Television popped onto my computer screen:
“The name’s Mr. Television, I’ve long been trapped in your world and I need your help to get home.”
It was like something out of the Matrix seeing this TV-headed apparition on my screen, but this was the start of my journey to help him return home.
I’m M.R. O'Mara, a podcaster and avid television watcher. I grew up in the 90’s and have been searching out all of the old shows I used to watch. Maybe that’s how Mr. Television found me… I was already following the same path he’s been on to return to his home.
His ask of me was simple: Watch every episode of a variety of TV shows, write down what I thought about them, and then speak to the show’s creators or an actor from the show to uncover a secret ingredient for a Galactic Stew he's making that will get him home!
And The first show we’ll be exploring is 1994’s Bump in the Night, one of TV’s first major stop-motion animated programs — preceded by shows like Fireman Sam and Plonsters.
It starred Mr. Bumpy, (Jim Cummings) a sock-eating monster who lives under a bed with his friends Squshington (Rob Paulsen) and Molly Coddle (Gail Matthius).
It’s had a huge influence on both fans and in the development of the stop-motion animation industry that’s lead to shows like Robot Chicken and Tumble Leaf.
To further research what the secret ingredient might be in this series, I spoke with David Ichioka and Ken Pontac, the co-creators of Bump in the Night.
We talked about the creation of the show, the past and future of stop motion animation, and their long-lasting friendship.
David Ichioka remembers the feeling of infinite possibility when looking out onto the soundstage where his team was building the set for Bump in the Night. This is a memory he'll always remember although meeting him wife on set, he says, eclipses it.
David Ichioka is the co-creator of Bump in the Night and the producer on Harmon Quest, Happy Tree Friends, and The Boxtrolls.
Here’s my talk with David Ichioka:
Mr. Bumpy’s design sprang forth from Ken Pontac’s mind like Athena from Zeus. Pontac says his big features and even bigger personality were designed to make him an exciting character to animate.
Ken Pontac is the co-creator of Bump in the Night and a writer on shows like LazyTown and Happy Tree Friends, and on video games like MadWorld the Sonic series.
Here’s a listen to my interview with Ken Pontac who had a few props during our talk including this older version of Molly Coddle:
After speaking with David and Ken, I’m starting to understand the secret sauce Mr. Television was looking for: Friendship.
It may sound cheesy, but it’s really at the core of the creation and production of Bump in the Night.
So, that’s our first ingredient to the Galactic Stew!
That’s one ingredient down and six more to go.
Mr. Television, in his overly cryptic ways, gave me a hint for the next show: FREAKY.
You’ll just have to wait until next month to find out what we’ll be watching next and who’ll we’ll be chatting with.
Until then!
M.R. O'Mara
I finally got around to listening to these interviews, and they warmed my heart (and distracted me while I burned 666 calories on the Wheel of Pain). Great job editing me so I didn't sound like a complete doofus! I'm putting up the link on my social media now.