Talk:Bamse

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[edit] Anti-drug story/Political standpoints

Might be interestiong to mention the story with the villain "Eragord" which became notorious in sweden for it's hidden reference to drugs ("Eragord" is "Drogare" i.e, drug dealer, in reverse, and there were also some henchmen with drug names)

Yeah, "Nifrom" and "Nioreh". =P Some weird white flying demons. Also, that his youngest daughter has some kind of brain damage, plus political standpoints against french nuclear bombing, illegal hunting, bullying etc. I think one of the most interesting standpoints was a brief praise of Mao. More about communism, in one comic, "Habibu", starring a young poor African boy, it ends with him stealing some food from a hotel in the tourist spot. (Panel 1) Father: -"You haven't stolen it?" Habibu -"No, I only distributed it MORE FAIRLY." (Panel 2) Habibu: -"But actually, who is stealing from who?" Caption: "In Africa, the tourists get more food than they need, while poor africans are starving. It isn't strange to pose this question like Habibu." In another comic, Bamse is a policeman, and when trying to catch the thief that has stolen toys from the store, he finds out that it is only a poor mother who hasn't money to buy presents for her childrens' birthday. He lets her go, and after getting a long lecture from the merchant about how stealing is bad and how criminals need to be punished, he shouts back a "Shut up!". His nice grandmother walks by, -"But Bamse, you usually never use words like that..." - "No, but sometimes you HAVE TO!". (When this comic was printed again a second time, his expletive was changed to the milder "Quiet!")
Or maybe better translated...to the milder "Shut your mouth!"

[edit] Old English translation

Allegedly, there were a few translations of the series "Bamse's skola" in the 60's, where the characters were given English names:

"Bamse" - "Bamsy" "Skalman" - "Professor Shellback" "Lille Skutt" - "Little Frisky" "Katten Janson" - "Sooty Johnson"

Source: http://www.bamsesamlarna.com/level6-forum.html?typ=SAML&action=view&msg=120

[edit] Communist discussion

I removed the information that there were made pro-Chinese and pro-Vietnamese statements made in the 70's, 'cause actually, historically fitting as they might be, I'm not sure if they were true. I don't know if there were made any particular Pro-Vietnamese statements in Bamse, although I think Rune Andreasson wrote some allegorical tale about a powerful country invading a smaller country in another one of his comics, "Little Richard and his Cat". The Pro-Chinese statements were made in the School Pages in issue 4/1983 in April, I try to write a straightforward translation into English:

Outside parks, there used to be signs with the text: Forbidden for dogs and Chinese! In China! 
Not strange, that they talk about the liberation. (Another caption with an arrow pointing towards the previous:) 
In Beijing, the world's biggest square - tiananmen square - The Gate of Heavenly Peace - is located.
There, millions of people were gathered 1 October 1949 to hear Mao Zedong proclaim the Peoples Republic of China. 
The land was liberated from the warlords, businessmen and foreigners who earlier ruled the  country.
Before this liberation, during certain years, millions of people starved to death. 
After 1949, the food has  been shared more fairly. 
It is one of the 20th Century's most important events - every fourth person on  earth is a Chinese.

(The text in bold letters is written in bold writing inside the comic book. Basically, everything in the school pages is written in comic book capital lettering.) When I told this to a friend, he stated that it's basically historically correct, and although there are no explicit praising of Communism, Rune's political conviction is clearly seen between the lines. In another part of the school, he writes:

According to Guinness Book of Records, China borders more countries than any other country - thirteen of them.
But then, Hong Kong and Macao are counted, and they're parts of China, 
even though England and Portugal is borrowing them in the meantime.

While I don't know about the political climate in 1983, to read the statement about Hong Kong in 2005 seems a little too straightforward for such a controversial issue in a children's comic book.

The very first serialized story in the Bamse magazine 1973 ends with Bamse proclaiming "Yeah, poor people always have had to fight the rich to get some justice! (after going back in time to the Sherwood Forest to team up with Robin Hood",) so it's of course likely he had that politicial world-view, back then. 85.226.122.222 06:24, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

Yes, I'm also not sure of all political statements that were made throughout the 30 years of the magazine, but it seems clear that he had a leftist political opinion, but from there to accuse him of being a communist, like some people have done, seems like an exaggeration. The comics make statements about rich businessmen (like Krösus Sork) exploiting people in general, natural resources, wildlife or people's superstition (about comets, etc) for their own financial gain. (Entheta 13:27, 4 December 2005 (UTC))
Well, there are two different things being a socialist/communist and defending the atrocities committed by communist states. It's often forgotten nowadays. The stories are entertainment more often than propaganda, though. 85.226.122.222 22:34, 4 December 2005 (UTC)


Yep, Bamse is great :) (Entheta 19:13, 7 December 2005 (UTC))
Note, when this part was reprinted, (in issue 15/2004, after the author Rune A.'s death,) it was heavily edited and toned down. The part was reduced from a full fold to one page, and all controversial claims about Mao had been removed. 惑乱 分からん * \)/ (\ (< \) (2 /) /)/ * 14:58, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

The comment about Vietnam was made in issue 7/1990 惑乱 分からん 12:35, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Characters

What about the two brothers often hired by "Krösus" to carry out his good deed, but are often shown are being good on the inside (though also initially unhelpable) Knocke and Smocke? They are quite important characters

There are several important characters missing. (Reinard, Burre, Farmor, Katten Janson, Husmusen, Mormor Anna-Cilla etc.) You could add more if you'd like... 惑乱 分からん 19:41, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Title

In the article it says: "Bamse – Världens starkaste och snällaste björn". I have been reading the comic for ages, and the name of it is "Bamse - Världens starkaste björn". It is true that he is also the kindest, but that is not the name of the comic. I will change it if no-one has any other opinion. --Spiby (talk) 17:22, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Done --Spiby (talk) 16:01, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Article

I re-did the page a bit. Feel free to comment my changes --Spiby (talk) 14:22, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Missing images

Would be nice if someone could upload an image of this character which would be shown on top/right corner of the page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.211.188.115 (talk) 17:56, 11 May 2008 (UTC)