The passage of time makes memories blurry, especially those of childhood, but if there is one that Millennials have vividly as if it were relative to yesterday, it concerns Bim Bum Bamthe children’s cartoon container, broadcast from 1981 to 2002, which kept the little ones company every day on the Fininvest networks. Initially, it was launched by the Rusconi group’s television station, Antenna Nord.
A far-sighted idea, that of the publishers Rusconi and Berlusconi, who thought about entertaining the younger age groups of viewers. In an era in which tablets, PCs and video games did not exist, the most pleasant way to spend the afternoons at home, especially when the weather did not allow being outdoors, was to tune in to the small screen. The program was broadcast from the studios of Palazzo dei Cigni, in Milano 2, but there were periods in which the presenters left the production center to record special episodes in the large amusement park of Gardaland.
Today, if we look back, we may not even remember who was at our side during those long afternoons, whether it was our grandmother, our nanny or our mother, but we certainly have imprinted in our memory the face of the person who emerged from the video. Like that Paolo Bonolis there, with a shrill voice and a good gift of the gab, he addressed the children as if he were the young uncle, the one who knows how to entertain his nephews, finding the right words and chords.
At 4pm, the children were ready in front of the TV, trying to juggle, until 6pm, between homework and watching TV. cartoons of the heart, almost all Japanese, like Cat’s Eyes, The Smurfs, Georgie, Nana Supergirland then again Candy Candy, Kiss Me Licia, Lady Oscar, Lovely Sara. They ranged from realistic stories to those centered on magic, where the protagonist waved her magic wand and shouted the winning formula, such as “Pampulu, pimpulu, parim pampum”, de The Enchanting Creamyor “The magic of flowers with a thousand colors that cheer the hearts!” by Sandy with a thousand colorshis wish came true. Thinking about it, now there was something for all tastes and all ages. Those cartoons made us discover sports, like football Holly and Benjivolleyball of Mila & Shiro and rhythmic gymnastics of Hilarybut they also conveyed positive messages, such as the perseverance of Lulù, who travels all over Europe in search of the seven-colored flower. But they also made us discover the special relationship that can be established between a child and his pet, as we learned from Spank, a stubborn white dog, who helps Aika, his owner, to overcome a difficult period: the girl’s father, in fact, is missing at sea, her mother has moved to another country for work and she goes to live with her uncle, in a small town by the sea, where she will meet the one who will become her faithful four-legged friend.
In short, children’s TV was not only entertainment, but also had a educational purpose because it transmitted pedagogical teachings that the little ones absorbed like sponges. Even the first pre-adolescent crushes are cleared by Bim Bum Bam, like Johnny’s for Sabrina in It’s Almost Magic Johnny or like the tormented love stories of Small heart problemsbroadcast in 1997, and even followed by high school students. And how can we not mention the theme songs, written by Alessandra Valeri Manera, who recently passed away, and performed by Cristina D’Avena, who gave voice to the soundtrack of many of our childhoods and lent her face to Licia in the films inspired by the cartoon Kiss me LiciaSimple, carefree afternoons, made of bread and jam and clumsy attempts to imitate the voices and movements of our favorites.
Figures who welcomed us with a smile even though almost all of them were orphans, like Candy, Sara, Pollon, Georgie and Licia. They did not make us feel sad or melancholy, on the contrary, they conveyed a great desire to live, to smile at life. And there was no shortage of small scandals, like the censored part in the acronym of We are made like thisa 1987 French animated series, which showed two people making love, a scene never broadcast in Italy in the 1980s and 1990s, but inserted by Netflix in 2020. Or an episode in which Georgie, dying after having risked drowning, and completely naked, finds her stepbrother Arthur on top of her, who tries to save her life, warming her with the heat of his body.
The decline of broadcasting and the theft of Uan
The little ones, however, thanks to the naivety of their age, did not notice anything and did not get involved in the controversy, taking only the good from the animated series. In addition to Bonolis, keeping us company were Licia Colò and then Manuela Blanchard, now a Tai Chi instructor, a type of martial arts that the presenter discovered at the age of 17 and that two years ago brought her back to TV with the program Tai Chi One on DeAJunior (Sky, 623). And then again, Debora Magnaghi, Marco Bellavia and many others.
The hosts were accompanied by a pink talking puppet, the mythical Uan with fuchsia eyebrows, whose voice was provided by Giancarlo Muratori, the author of the program, who died in 1996 and was then replaced by Pietro Ubaldi. Uan was shown half-length because down below, right behind the counter where he was sitting with the hosts, were those who lent him his voice, but the young viewers couldn’t know this and so they flooded the program with letters asking why the puppet was never shown from the chest down. The program, in fact, was interactive, children could call live and participate in games with prizes up for grabs, write letters and send drawings that were shown on the program. In addition to Uan, other cute mascots will be introduced such as Ambrogio, Four and Five, the latter two symbols, respectively, of Rete 4 and Canale 5. In 2001, the puppets Uan, Four and Five were donated to the “Paolo Grassi” School of Dramatic Arts in Milan, but in 2005 they were stolen and never found again.
Returning to Bim Bum bam, in the early 2000s, the birth of pay channels and on demand TV marked the unstoppable decline of the program and sanctioned its the final closure.
But all is not lost, because even if the program is no longer on the air, those nostalgic for the good old days can periodically watch the unforgettable and timeless 80s cartoons again early in the morning on Italia 1.