Die Bambus-Bären-Bande

Die Bambus-Bären-Bande
Created by	Sicco Kingma
Directed by	Bernard Deyries, Christian Choquet
Theme music composer	Nena, Sebastian Krumbiegel
Opening theme	Das Lied dieser Welt Voice (In Summer) by Takeshi Kusao (Japanese) Girls Be... by Girls Be (Japanese)
Ending theme	Freunde Kimi ni aete ureshii by Pakitsu (Japanese)
Composer	Axel Kroell
Country of origin	Germany Japan Netherlands France Spain United Kingdom
No. of episodes	52
Production
Running time	25 minutes
Original release
Network	TF1
Release	1996 (1996)

Die Bambus-Bären-Bande (Bambou et Compagnie in French, バンブー・ベアーズ Bambū Beāzu in Japanese, or Bamboo Bears in English) is a German-French-Spanish-Japanese 52 part animated television series, broadcast from 25 March to 30 November 1996. The series production was supported by World Wildlife Fund. The series was produced by ZDF in Germany, TF1 in France, TVE in Spain, and Mitsui & Co. in Japan with SEK Studio responsible for the animation and Visual 80 PRoduction (though uncredited) being responsible for the series' 2D layout and composition.

Due to Mitsui & Co. Ltd. and Visual 80's involvment with the series, it is often considered an anime as the series was broadcasted on Japanese television on April 04 1997 on Kids Station.

Each episode is dedicated to one animal species. Most of the species are either endangered or their habitat is suffering from human activity. Some of the animals featured in the series are already extinct.

The series aims to make children interested in nature and animals. It teaches viewers about human activity, environmental problems and wildlife conservation.

Characters

Although all animals in the series are capable of speaking the main casts and antagonists are more anthropomorphized (wearing clothes, walking upright) than the animals they help. The human-like characters are contrasted by the local animals they encounter, which seem to be normal animals behaving and moving more like their real-life counterparts.

Main cast

• Bamboo-Lee is a red panda and the boss of the pack.
• Dah-Lin is a bamboo rat and smallest of the four.
• Sio-Lee is a giant panda and the only true bear of the cast. He is gluttonous.
• Ai-Ai is a pink dragon and the biggest of the cast. Ai-Ai can fly (often having some trouble with landing) and acts as the group's vehicle. She has a backpack-computer the group can use to contact her master, No-How.

Supporting cast

• No-How, a researcher who provides information and support to the group. He usually sends the gang on a mission to find a certain animal. In the first episode he gives Bamboo-Lee a magical bamboo stick that can be used to summon Ai-Ai.

The main antagonists are RATCO, a greedy corporation that is responsible for most of the destruction in the series, either by poaching animals or exploiting their habitat. As the name suggests the company mostly consists of rats or other rodents. The corporation seems to dabble in all kinds of business ventures, from construction and oil to fashion and entertainment.

• Rataleone. Ruthless businessman and president of RATCO corporation. His true identity is unknown until the end of the series, his face and upper body always obstructed by cigarette smoke, blueprints, lighting, back view, etc.
• Rats One, Two and Three. The RATCO employees don't seem to have names, instead being referred by numbers. One, Two and Three are the main group's most common adversary, always showing up to cause trouble on their boss' orders.
• Rat One is the leader of the group. He is always giving the others orders, blaming them for everything and trying to get on his boss' good side.
• Rat Two is dim-witted and quite passive in his demeanor.
• Rat Three is equally dumb, but has more of a sarcastic attitude.

Episodes

The series consists of 52 episodes aired between 1995 and 1996. Each episode focuses on one endangered animal species, but many feature other animals from the same region.

No.	Name	Written by	Originally aired	Short summary
01	Bamboo Bears	Jonathan Peel Michael Stuart Dennis Livson	Oct 7, 1995	The bamboo forest is dying. Young red panda Bamboo-Lee is sent to find a new home, but this plan quickly goes awry when he meets bamboo rat Dah-Lin, giant panda Slo-Lee and dragon Ai-Ai. He and his new friends start their mission to travel around the globe protecting endangered wildlife with the guidance of No-How.
02	Brown Bears	A. Kempton	Oct 14, 1995	The group travels to Pyrenees Mountain Range in Europe to find brown bears. Ratco is trying to blast a tunnel through mountain to win a contract to build a new highway.
03	Blue Parrot	L. Daniel	Oct 21, 1995	Parrots have become a fashion accessory. The group finds a caged hyacinth macaw for sale in a city and decide to take him home to Amazon rainforest.
04	Sea Otter	J. Hibbert	Oct 28, 1995	Oil transportation on America's West Coast threatens sea otters and the abalones they feed on.
05	Cuban Solenodon	J. Trueman	Nov 4, 1995	The gang crash lands to Cuba. There they find a friendly almiquí who tells them RATCO is destroying jungle to make room for sugarcane farms.
06	American Manatee	R. Stennet	Nov 11, 1995	Rats One, Two and Three are causing trouble, this time by reckless boating. Upcoming motor boat race arranged by RATCO is threatening peace and manatees in the Florida coast.
07	African Wild Ass	C. Cuenca	Nov 18, 1995	RATCO has set up a ranch. They are capturing wild donkeys to use them as labor.
08	Giant Anteater	J. Hibbert	Nov 25, 1995	RATCO is building a leisure complex. To provide electricity they plan to cut down the forest and build a dam that will flood the valley where giant anteaters live.
09	American Beaver	J. Hibbert	Dec 2, 1995	The Bamboo Bears travel to Canada. RATCO has built a paper mill on the shore of Night Hawk Lake and is dumping arsenic into the water, poisoning local beaver population. The episode mentions both Lake Erie and Night Hawk Lake. Whether this is a coincidence or  the real Night Hawk Lake in Ontario is not clear.
10	Galapagos Iguana	P. Palmer	Dec 9, 1995	No-How sends the gang to Galápagos Islands to observe their unique eco system. Meanwhile rats One, Two and Three come there to capture an iguana for Rataleone's theme park.
11	Brown Howler	I. Aymes P. Symonds	Dec 16, 1995	The gang is in Brazil enjoying the carnival when Slo-Lee spots Brown Howler Opera Company, an opera group he is a fan of. Rataleone wants to buy their opera house to continue construction for a dam he is building. Interestingly, out of all the animals the gang helps, the brown howler is the only species anthropomorphized like they are. They wear clothing, have human-like proportions and operate an opera house.
12	Prairie Dogs	J. Trueman	Dec 23, 1995	RATCO is drilling oil on the Texas prairie. Instead of disposing of the waste oil properly they pump the dirty oil into underground cavities. This is poisoning the prairie dog burrows and the roots they eat.
13	Humpback Whale	J. Boyle	Dec 30, 1995	RATCO has expanded its business ventures to the illegal activity of whaling near the coast of Hawaii. The gang helps a humpback whale and her calf fight back.
14	Quetzal	L. Daniel	Jan 6, 1996	No-How's sister Ting-a-Ling comes to visit, only to tell her husband, a famous explorer has gone missing in the jungles of South-America, somewhere between Guatemala and Mexico. Turns out he was kidnapped by RATCO who are cutting down the forest to obtain exotic timber for furniture. Quetzals are a group of birds. The episode is most likely referring to Resplendent quetzal that can be found in Southern Mexico and Guatemala.
15	Snow Leopard	Jonathan Peel	Jan 13, 1996	The gang travels to the Nepal mountains to find a snow leopard. Apparently they are not the only ones, because they're being followed. Rats One, Two and Three are going to poach an adult snow leopard for its pelt and capture its cub so they can sell it to a zoo.
16	Arabian Oryx	F. Boublil	Jan 20, 1996	Rats One, Two and Three are tasked to steal a sick Arabian oryx from a zoo. Rataleone wants to secure drilling rights to a recently found oil deposit located in a protected area, and his plan is to return the sick individual into the wild where it can infect other oryxes with unnamed disease.
17	Peregrine Falcon	R. Stennet	Jan 27, 1996	The gang travels to Rocky Mountains and finds a family of peregrine falcons. The falcon family quickly becomes under threat as RATCO's new fruit orchids are using pesticides that will kill the falcon's food and poison their eggs. Out of all the animals helped in the series the peregrine falcon is the only one who doesn't speak.
18	Philippine Tarsier	F. Giraud	Feb 3, 1996	RATCO is cutting down forests in the Philippines. Not only does Rataleone want the forest cleared out to build a hotel complex on the island, he wants to collect native species to display in his "nature preserve". The gang helps a family of Philippine tarsiers to rescue their child and put an end to the hotel plans.
19	Pardel Lynx	I. Aymes P. Symonds	Feb 10, 1996	Rataleone is not happy with faux fur and wants to add authentic furs to his fashion collection. The gang must travel to Spain to rescuen an Iberian lynx and her cubs. For unknown reason the lynx cubs are sometimes animated walking on two legs, while their mother is animated as a normal feline.
20	Adelie Penguin	M. Locatelli	Feb 17, 1996	RATCO is illegally pumping oil in the antarctic. Their equipment is poorly maintained and the pipeline is leaking, pouring oil into water and threatening Adélie penguins and the fish they feed on.
21	Andes Condor	A. Kempton	Feb 24, 1996	Rataleone is backing up a drug cartel in the Andes, forcing locals to either work for them or leave. Local people's hatred and increased cartel activity have made life harder for Andean condors. The episode not only references hard drugs, it also explains why people use them, why they don't stop even if they know it's bad for them and why many have no choice but to work for the cartel.
22	Giant Squid	S. Knight	Mar 2, 1996	As our group is flying over the ocean they see a rundown ship dumping waste - and an angry giant squid taking matters into his own tentacles. The gang helps the squid and other sea creatures to stop RATCO's illegal dumping of oil waste. Giant squid was known to science from stranded specimen, but the first photos and recordings of a living squid were taken only after the series was completed.
23	Common Frog	C. Cuenca	Mar 9, 1996	RATCO is turning a pond into scrap metal dump. This habitat destruction is especially harmful to local frog population.
24	Arctic Fox	J. Boyle	Mar 16, 1996	The gang is vacationing in the arctic and finds a destroyed animal nest and a secretive base. Traffic and construction has disturbed local wildlife and destroyed arctic fox family's den. The facade of a heater factory soon reveals RATCO's high-tech laboratory.
25	Javan Tiger	C. Carr	Mar 23, 1996	Vacation in Java turns into expedition for rumored Javan tiger. Meanwhile RATCO is cutting down the forest to build a hotel and mall complex and trying to turn locals against the tigers by framing them for killing cattle. Javan tiger is one of the species that has become extinct since the shows concluded. It has not been seen since 1976, but the rumours of surviving individuals persisted until the 90s.
26	Polar Bear	J. Trueman	Mar 30, 1996	RATCO is dumping their unsold cooler units into an ice cave in Greenland. Their freon gases are depleting the ozone layers, which is bad news for polar bears and other animals dependant on ice.
27	Tasmanian Wolf	M. Kiritze	Apr 6, 1996	The gang travels to Australia when sightings of the extinct Tasmanian wolf are reported. Rataleone wants to capture the thylacine both for the cash reward and to put it in a zoo. Last known thylacine died in captivity in 1936 and the species was declared extinct in 1982, long before the show's creation. Interestingly the sheepdog and goat featured in the episode seem to be a normal animals that can't speak.
28	Malaysian Tapir	J. Boyle	Apr 13, 1996	RATCO is cutting down forests in Malaysia. Ai-Ai gets hurt while trying to rescue a baby Malayan tapir from the logging machines.
29	Japanese Macaque	Jonathan Peel Michael Stuart	Apr 20, 1996	Rats One, Two and Three want to get rid of the Japanese macaques to build a luxury resort near their hot springs to please their boss.
30	The Grey Wolf	P. Palmer	Apr 27, 1996	The gang is horse-backing in North American wilderness, enjoying the sights. Rataleone wants to open a copper mine on grey wolf habitat and plans to use local superstition and fear to drive the wolves away.
31	Smalltooth Sawfish	M. de Jardin	May 4, 1996	RATCO is destroying coral reef to make way for an underwater complex. The gang teams up with local tribes and a pair of smalltooth sawfish to prevent the construction project. The episode mentions they are on an island somewhere on the Pacific ocean. Smalltooth sawfish only live in the Atlantic Ocean. It is possible that the location mentioned is wrong or the episode might be talking about largetooth sawfish.
32	Russian Desman	F. Boublil	May 11, 1996	Rataleone is making business by dumping nuclear waste into a lake in Siberia. The radioactive material is harming local wildlife, including Russian desmans. On top of the environmental disaster a crazy Russian scientist is using the radiation for his experiments. In the episode a researcher is observing the radiation levels, equating them to real-life event of Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
33	African Elephant	B. Duquesne	May 18, 1996	Rataleone has found a new business venture in dealing ivory. To harvest ivory from African elephants RATCO goons are using tsetse flies and the sleeping sickness they spread to stun the elephants.
34	Burrowing Bettong	J. Hibbert	May 25, 1996	Rataleone wants to expand his sheep farm by burning down the Australian bushland. The Bamboo Bears must stop them and help protect the burrowing bettongs that live in the area.
35	Nile Crocodile	M. Seck	Jun 1, 1996	RATCO is partaking in the lucrative business of crocodile skin fashion accessories. The gang helps Nile crocodiles find their brother and stop poachers from hunting crocodiles. Episode shows game keepers and other officials as corrupt people willing to take bribes - but also explains why this is so common in poor countries and how many do it out of necessity.
36	The Black Stork	J. P. Henry	Jun 8, 1996	RATCO is constructing a holiday resort in an area dedicated as wildlife sanctuary. To save the nesting site of a black stork family the gang must try to play politics and convince the minister of environment to stop the project.
37	Mountain Gorilla	J. Boyle	Jun 15, 1996	Mountain gorillas are threatened by hungry local villagers who are both trapping them for meat and expanding their farmland. RATCO is not helping the matters. They're trying to convince locals to cultivate a plant that is not edible but used as insecticide instead to rake in the profits.
38	Mouse-eared Bat	I. Neyret	Jun 22, 1996	Rataleone has acquired a genuine haunted English Castle, and considers the bats who live there to be an expendable nuisance. Ai-Ai and Our heroes save the Bat colony and give the Rats a serious scare.
39	Vicunas	F. Boublil	Jun 29, 1996	On a quest to find the only surviving male dragon in the world to cure Ai-Ai's depression, the Bamboo Bears also stop RATCO along the way who is rounding up rare Peruvian Vicunas for the Bezoar stone, which is said to enhance immortality.
40	Orang Utan	J. Hibbert	Jul 6, 1996	Rataleone can make a fortune from poaching orangutans from the wild and selling them to cosmetics companies and for medical research. No-How sends the Bamboo Bears on a mercy mission to put a stop to this dreadful trade before the Orangutans disappear in the name of greed and vanity!
41	Przewalski's Horse	L. Daniel	Jul 13, 1996	Rataleone is building a new superhighway across Siberia and straight through the Gobai National Park, home of the Przewalski's Wild horse. Thanks to Slo-Lee’s striking resemblance to Kublai Khan, the Bamboo Bears manage to persuade the herdsmen to rescue the horses and stop construction.
42	Capybara	A. Kempton	Jul 20, 1996	Mercury poisoning from Ratco gold mines in Brazil has been polluting the river habitat of the Capybaras. Sent on a mercy mission by No-How, Our heroes succeed in closing down the mine and saving the Capybara’s environment.
43	Green Turtle	A. Kempton	Jul 27, 1996	Thomas and Toba are Turtles who have no known enemies. All sea creatures are their friends, even the evil-tempered Shark, Sam. Rataleone’s Fish Farm project however poses a serious threat to their lives. Bamboo-Lee has to become a temporary undercover agent in order to save them.
44	Black-headed Uakari	I. Aymes, P. Symonds	Aug 3, 1996	Rataleone is destroying the Brazilian rainforest to open up a new cattle ranch, putting the Neblina uakaris under threat. The Bamboo Bears save one of the Uakaris, Winston from the illegal pet trade and shut down the grand opening celebration to save the forests. This episode covers the topic of Amazon deforestation to clear the way for cattle ranching, which is one of the many relevant issues when it comes to environmentalism.
45	Alpine Woodschuck	A. Kempton	Aug 10, 1996	The Bamboo Bears set off on a new adventure to the Alps in celebration of Ai-Ai's Birthday to visit an old friend, Medric the Mountain Troll. They also learn about Rataleone's plans to build an Alpine ski resort in the Alpine Marmot's habitat. They discover a secret resource that may save the Marmots and make it into a protected wildlife resort.
46	White Rhinoceros	M. Locatelli	Aug 17, 1996	The White rhinos are under threat due to the poaching for their horns, which are said to contain magical healing powers and RATCO goons are hunting as many as they can. Now it is up to the gang to shut down the rhino horn powder for good! In this episode, the species is somewhat irrelevant as the White rhinos resemble more of Black Rhinos.
47	European Viper		Aug 24, 1996
48	Common Seal		Aug 31, 1996
49	Koala Bear		Sep 7, 1996
50	Edible Nest Swiftlet		Sep 14, 1996
51	Volcano Rabbit		Sep 21, 1996
52	White Baiji Dolphin		Sep 28, 1996

Fantastical elements

The animals and locations the show introduces are real. However Bamboo Bears also feature some fantastical elements by throwing in mythical creatures like dragons, magical items and non-existent technology.

Episode 01 - Bamboo Bears

Episode one introduces the first mythical creature. Ai-Ai is a large, pink dragon and is seen in almost all episodes.

Episode 06 - American Manatee

The group uses the legend of Bermuda Triangle and sea monsters to scare away RATCO. In the final shot of the episode we see monstrous eye open in a dark ocean cave.

Episode 24 - Arctic fox

The episode features a futuristic machine able to manipulate time. Time travel is an essential part of the episode's plot.

Episode 29 - Japanese Macaque

To scare away the monkeys rats use a mechanical monster, visually similar to Bigfoot with a Japanese-style mask. No-How tells the gang about a Japanese legend where a boy beats a mountain monster with the help of a basket of dumplings, a dog, a monkey and a pheasant. This is most likely a reference to the folktale of Momotarō.

External Links

• Bamboo Bears (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia