CATEGORY:
BOD
[available
on DVD - click here]
His name was Alberto Frog and he had an Amazing
Animal Band. But I had nothing at all to do with that bit of the
show! The stories were written by Michael Cole and the illustrations
were drawn by his wife Joanne Cole. There wasn't any animation as
such. They were still drawings which the camera panned around.
Bod knows!! I don't actually know for sure
myself, though I'd always assumed he was a boy. Maybe it was his
bald head? But then he did wear something that looked suspiciously
like a dress! Maybe he was refered to somewhere in the programme
as being a "he", but if so I can't remember where. Anyway
to me he's a boy. Perhaps part of Bod's enigma is that he/she can
be whatever you want him/her to be?
Another question I can't answer for sure!!
I know that Mike wanted him to be an "everyman" (or...
er maybe everywoman?). Bod is kind of short for "body"....an
every body? A lot of the inspiration for the Bod stories came from
Buddist Zen tales that Mike liked a lot, and I often wondered if
there was a vague reference to Bodhisattva in the name Bod, ie in
Buddist thinking that would mean someone who is motivated by compassion
and seeks enlightenment not only for him/herself but for everyone.
I never asked Mike this so I don't know for sure. Also finally I
think Mike probably wanted a name that came without connotations
of other characters. A name that hadn't been used before. I don't
think "Trevor" would have had the same ring! Though it
would at least clear up the mystery from the previous question!
We were asked this very question in a recent interview. See my next
answer.......
Don't know the answer to this either! Not
much use am I?! The series may be being shown on some channel somewhere
right now, but if so I'm not aware of it. I do know that therte
has always been talk from time to time of making a new series. So
far these talks hve never resulted in anything happening, but you
never know.
Me and 2 of Mike and Jo Coles children - Ali and Lo Cole, along
with the musician/composer Derek Grifiths were recently interviewed
as part of Bod's fortieth anniversary. The interview, along with
all of the Bod music and some narration excerpts from several episodes
of the series have been released on CD by Trunk Records. You can
buy or order the CD online on Amazon or in the shops at outlets
like HMV. It's called BOD -Words and Music.
I didn't create Bod. The TV series was based on a series of books
by Michael and Joanne Cole, first published in 1965. By the time
I turned up, the BBC had already commissioned the series and a fairly
rough pilot animation had been made. This version was never transmitted
on TV cos the characters were then re-worked by an animator called
Denise Shackell. I worked initially with Denise then later did episodes
on my own and later still with another animator called Colin White.
This was my first job, straight out of art college. I'd only graduated
two weeks before the job came up! Pretty lucky break I think.
If you want more background detail, then you might want to get the
CD I mentioned at the end of question 4. As for Bod's sex.....see
question 2!
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Many thanks to Alan for his great answers, and
his time and patience!
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