Rupert Reviews

Not everybody wants to murder that character who's, you know, the nice kid. 

Here's what Wikipedia says about the main character: 

"Rupert Bear is a considerate, smart, resourceful, brave, trusty, good spirited white bear who is extremely popular with all the residents of Nutwood."

Sad to say, some people just don't appreciate kindness, but personally if I am to meet a white bear, I'd prefer that it be the kind type, and not the infamous type. 

I think there is something to be said for kindness and idealism; "this is a nice kid". 

It's also a very clever show. To give a few examples I hope to expand upon later: in "Rupert and the Leprechauns" we meet with the troubles of Northern Ireland or sectarianism in general-- and again, if kindness is such a plague, we have only to see what kind of plague unkindness is! ("They stole it; then we stole it; then they stole it; then we stole it....") In "Rupert in Timeland" the children are given a bird's eye view of the happy ("we're your girlfriends!") and unsettling moments of their life span before being returned by Father Time to the eternal now. 

In "Rupert and the Mulp Gulper" we consider the relationship between bragging ("I can't see him, but the strange thing is, I think I can hear him bragging!") and bravery. In "Rupert and the Tiger's Eye", the relationship between leisure ("Nothing ever happens in Sandy Cove!") and excitement. 

The show isn't stupid, and perhaps Rupert's greatest gift is that he's not an idiot. He's considerate.

.......................

It's also a great example of childhood/comedy adventure/sci-fi.

Everybody hated Rupert. It was on Thursday after school and bored EVERY kid in the land.

I'd run out of school straight to my nan’s house, ready for the hour and a half of television that children were delegated in those days (before Sky and ADHD). Like dogs, half an hour seems like a life time for a child...and Rupert ruined the precious moments of television we were allowed. All he ever seemed to do was fly a bloody kite.

I don't know anyone alive now (who was a child of the Rupert years) who wouldn't readily see him hung by his yellow scarf....Thundercats, He-Man or even The Shoe People could have taken that precious slot..and made my childhood.