Amazon.co.uk Review
Those who remember the children's animation
Bod from the 13 episodes broadcast by the BBC in 1975 generally recall, with considerable precision, not stories but images. This is because the stories that constitute
Bod, created by Joanne and Michael Cole, are mere wisps of narrative, in which, almost always, almost nothing happens (in "Bod and the Cake", for example, no cake arrives), serene anti-dramas which are elusive and thus hard to remember as stories. Its images, by contrast, are the heart of its minimalist charm and its unforgettable strangeness, from narrator John Le Mesurier's unvarying announcement, "Here comes Bod", to the moment the unvarying fivefold cast sashay towards the horizon at the end. Bod is small and bald, with a yellow dress and a Buddha-like imperturbability. He and his four eternal companions--Aunt Flo, Farmer Barleymow, Frank the Postman, PC Copper--are animated as sparely as a 60s cartoon from the Eastern bloc. In each episode, the five gather one by one, each arriving to their own characteristic perky jazz-folky theme, in their own characteristic gait (indeed, like a zen riddle, the walk itself is far more important than where they're walking to, or why). Some viewers consider the cartoon's mysterious pastoral stillness alarming, as if something terrible were going on that we're never told about or shown--"Waiting for Bodot", as it were--but most found its calmness both beguiling and addictive. As in the original
Watch with Mother format, Bod is paired with
Alberto Frog and his Amazing Animal Band (in which an all-animal orchestra plays the classics, then guesses what flavour milkshake their frog conductor will reward himself with). Who knows how tots so exposed to the over-active kids-fare of today will respond, but the grown-ups in their charge will find
The Complete Bod soothing, seductive and bizarre. --
Honey Glass On the DVD: the DVD contains all 13 episodes of Bod. Five of these are extended, as originally broadcast, to feature animal identification games, counting songs, Bod snap and Alberto Frog and his Amazing Animal Band.
Synopsis
This programme contains all the thirteen episodes of 'Bod' including 'Bod's Dream', 'Bod In The Park', 'Bod And The Rain', 'Bod And The Apple', 'Bod On The Beach', 'Bod And The Cake', 'Bod And The Birds', 'Bod And The Grasshopper' and 'Bod And The Cherry Tree'. Also features the five surviving episodes of 'Alberto Frog And His Amazing Animal Band'.