
Captain Bluebear (
German: ''Käpt'n Blaubär'') is a fictional character created by novelist and comic artist
Walter Moers. Bluebear, an anthropomorphic talking bear with blue fur who originally appeared in the German children's television program ''
Die Sendung mit der Maus
' (''The Show with the Mouse''), often simply ' (''The Mouse''), is a German children's television series, popular nation-wide for its educational content.Bernhard Borgeest"Von Mäusen und Machern"''Focus, official website. (March 12, 2001) Retr ...
'', has since then appeared in a film, a novel, a stage musical and various other media, all of which chronicle the character's life as a sailor and adventurer. Outside of Germany, Captain Bluebear is best known for being the protagonist of Moers' novel ''
The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear
''The 13 Lives of Captain Bluebear'' is a 1999 fantasy novel by German writer and cartoonist Walter Moers which details the numerous lives of a human-sized bear with blue fur. Though the novel was originally written in German, an English translati ...
''.
The name pokes fun at the relative homophony between the German vowel ''e'' and umlaut ''ä'', when pronounced in a more colloquial, everyday style of language, especially in Northern Germany. In a compound noun the final ''-e'' from ''-beere'' (e.g. ''Erdbeere'' "strawberry", ''Himbeere'' "raspberry", etc.) would very often not be pronounced at all:
''Bär/Beer(e)'' - 'bear/berry' ... 'bluebear/blueberry'
''Die Sendung mit der Maus''
Captain Bluebear originally appeared in ''Käpt'n Blaubärs Seemannsgarn'' (“Captain Bluebear's Sailor's Yarn”), a regular segment in the educational children's television series ''Die Sendung mit der Maus''. Other regular characters of the ''Seemannsgarn'' episodes are Bluebear's sailor companion Hein Blöd (an anthropomorphic rat whose name translates as “Harry Dim”) and his three grandchildren (little bears who have yellow, green and pink fur), all of which live with Bluebear in a ship stranded on a cliff. One episode would usually consist of Bluebear telling a
cock-and-bull story to his grandchildren, with the frame narrative being made with animated
puppet
A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...
s and Bluebear's story itself being a
traditionally animated
Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation.
Pro ...
short film. The stories always take the form of a
tall tale and usually have Captain Bluebear overcome some unbelievable obstacle or a seemingly all-powerful adversary who threatens to sink the Captain's ship. The little bears habitually doubt the veracity of their grandfather's tales, while Hein Blöd acts as a
buffoon character.
The episodes sometimes contained allusions to other popular characters of German children's television like the
Sandmännchen, and also to other aspects of Walter Moers' work, e.g. in some episodes one of the little bears wears a pin-back button of Moers' adult comic character ''Das Kleine Arschloch'' (The Little Asshole). Bluebear, Hein Blöd and the three little bears later became part of other children's TV shows as well, such as ''
Käpt’n Blaubär Club'' and ''
Blaubär und Blöd
''Blaubär und Blöd'' is a German children's comedy television series which aired from 14 September 2002 to 17 February 2008. The series is based on the novels by German author Walter Moers.
See also
*'' Käpt’n Blaubär Club'' (1993 – 2001 ...
''.
Captain Bluebear also was a part of Mister Moose's Fun Time on
Fox Family Channel.
Film and novel
In 1999, Captain Bluebear simultaneously appeared in a
made-for-television feature film and in ''The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear'', Walter Moers' first
fantasy novel. The novel reveals that Bluebear is a Chromobear (''Buntbär'') and thus belongs to a fictional race of ursines who inhabit the continent of Zamonia, which became a regular setting for most of Moers' fantasy novels. ''The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear'' is presented as the autobiography of its eponymous hero, which nevertheless covers only the first half of his 27 lives—implying that the other half is covered by the television episodes and making the novel a kind of
origin story for the character. The novel ends with Bluebear rescuing his fellow Chromobears from slavery. The Chromobears (although not Bluebear himself) return in Moers' second Zamonia novel ''
Ensel and Krete'', in which they are shown as having established a touristic paradise in their native forest that the Chromobears nevertheless rule in a militaristic, semi-totalitarian way. The novels depart from the concept of the television program in that they are suited not only for children, but for adult readers as well.
The
traditionally animated
Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation.
Pro ...
film ''
Käpt'n Blaubär – Der Film'' was written by Moers and directed by Hayo Freitag. It is based on the television episodes rather than the novel. Its plot centers around the
mad scientist Prof. Dr. Feinfinger, who, in kidnapping the little bears, seeks revenge against their grandfather, who once thwarted Feinfinger's plan to achieve world domination. Feinfinger is voiced by German comedian
Helge Schneider, who had previously participated in the film adaptations of Moers' Little Asshole character, while Bluebear's voice is provided by actor
Wolfgang Völz, who already voice-acted the Bluebear puppet in the ''Seemannsgarn'' episodes. The film also features an end title theme written and performed by Berlin rock group
Die Ärzte. ''Käpt'n Blaubär – Der Film'' was awarded a
Deutscher Filmpreis
The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the German film industry. Besides being the most important ...
in 2000.
Musicals
In 2006, ''The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear'' was adapted into a
stage musical composed by Martin Lingnau and written by Heiko Wohlgemuth. It premiered in the
Musical Dome in Cologne. It was followed by two television musicals in 2008 and 2009 respectively, ''Die drei Bärchen und der blöde Wolf'' ("The Three Little Bears and the Dim Wolf") and ''Abenteuer im Pizzawald'' ("Adventures in the Pizza Forest"), both of which were in turn based on the television episodes.
Video game
In 2001, a Captain Bluebear puzzle video game titled ''Käpt'n Blaubär: Die verrückte Schatzsuche'' () was developed by
Shin'en Multimedia
Shin'en Multimedia is a German Independent video game developer. Based in Munich, the company was founded in 1999 by former members of the demoscene group Abyss and is an official third-party developer for Nintendo. They develop games primarily ...
and published by
Ravensburger for the
Game Boy Color
The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...
.
References
External links
Official website for the television episodesOfficial website for the stage musical
{{Authority control
Animated characters
Fictional bears
Fantasy television characters
Characters in fantasy literature
Characters in fantasy novel series of the 20th century
Fictional anthropomorphic characters
Bears in literature
Fox Family Channel original programming