Bumpety Boo (known as Hey! Bumboo in Japan) is a children's anime animated by Nippon Animation that ran between 1985 to 1986 on NHK. It was later dubbed into English in 1989 by Saban Entertainment. The French dub (titled Boumbo) also aired on public television in Canada.
The series follows a boy named Ken (full name Kenny) and his dog Mopsy as they found an egg at a junkyard and a yellow car hatches from it that takes the name Bumpety Boo. Ken was able to stop the excavator operator that was about to crush the newborn car and the two became best friends. After helping a pregnant woman get to the hospital, Bumpety feels a bit sad as he never got a chance to see what his mother is like. Ken tells the car that they can go travel around the world and find out where Bumpety Boo's mother is. Meanwhile, a guy named Professor Honky-Tonk wants to steal Bumpety Boo after hearing about the car while looking at the junkyard.
This show provides examples of:
- 11th-Hour Superpower: Whenever it seems hope is lost, Bumpety Boo will somehow be given flowers to sniff, which gives him a boost of strength and speed.
- Ambiguously Absent Parent: It's never stated if Ken is an orphan or not as the first couple of episodes show him working at a church.
- Babysitting Episode: The episode "Babysitter Bumpety Boo" has the group help a mother watch over her baby, which turns out to be harder than they thought.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: The episode “The Donkey Master” has the group encountering a farmer who constantly abuses his donkey by beating him. Later that night, they set out to change him by having Bumpety Boo and Mopsy pretend to be spooky monsters haunting him in the night. The farmer ends up running into the barn where he ends up hugging his donkey, and by the next day, he completely reforms, even letting his donkey climb onto his back while going over a log in the middle of the road.
- Bears Are Bad News: The group encounters a mean polar bear in "Bumpety Boo at the North Pole" who Bumpety Boo defeats after smelling some flowers.
- Dastardly Whiplash: Professor Honky-Tonk fits this trope as he's the main villain with a twirly mustache as he's trying to catch the talking car.
- Funny Octopus: The episode “Treasure of the Sea” has the group befriend a playful, talking baby octopus while out searching for treasure in the ocean.
- Grand Finale: "Well That Ends Well" has the group finally meeting Bumpety Boo's mother.
- Honorable Elephant: The episode "The Elephant Baby" has the group rescuing a lost baby elephant and later reuniting him with his mother. At first, the mother thinks Ken and Bumpety Boo stole her baby and starts to chase them, but when Ken gets trapped in quicksand during the chase, the baby elephant convinces his mother that Bumpety Boo and Ken rescued him and she agrees to help them rescue Ken.
- Killer Gorilla: "The Giant Ape" has the group stopping a giant King Kong-like gorilla from destroying a village somewhere in the African jungle.
- No Antagonist: Some episodes that don't feature either Professor Honky-Tonk, a jerk that redeems themselves or another villain be the focus of this. This is done to give Ken and Bumpety Boo some free time while traveling around.
- Pink Means Feminine: The car Honey-Boo is pink with a huge bow.
- Piranha Problem: The episode "A Hungry Small Fish " has the group going across a river with a raft, only to see that the river is full of piranhas. The hungry fishes then try to eat the raft so they can feast on the group. Bumpety Boo was able to escape after a tree drop a flower on his nose, which gives him the power to swim across the water.
- Rhino Rampage: The group briefly encounters a rhino while helping a baby elephant find his mother. Fortunately during the chase, they steer in the opposite direction just before the rhino crashes into a boa constrictor.
- Spoiler Opening: The Saban opening shows Bumpety Boo with his mother.
- Sweet Seal: "Bumpety Boo at the North Pole" has the group befriend a seal pup and its mother.
- Tentacled Terror: The group encounters a giant octopus in the episode “Treasure of the Sea” that seemingly wants to attack them, but it’s later revealed by the end of the episode that the giant octopus was really only protecting her children.
- Threatening Shark: Averted in the episode "A Friendly Shark" in which Bumpety Boo and Ken encounter a shark who appears threatening but who really needed help in getting a fishing hook stuck in his mouth. It's later revealed the same shark was the one who rescued Bumpety Boo when he was almost drowning underwater.
- The Tooth Hurts: The episode "Bumpety Boo Has a Toothache" deals with Bumpety Boo having a nasty toothache and Ken and Professor Honky-Tonk (posing as a dentist named Professor Bad Tooth) trying various methods to pull the bad tooth out. In the end, a passing little girl offers Bumpety Boo a bite of her banana, and his tooth finally comes out, much to Professor Honky-Tonk's dismay.
- Three Shorts: The Saban version takes three of the 7 minute episodes into a half hour episode.
- Unknown Rival: Professor Honky-Tonk is chasing after Bumpety Boo, but neither him or Kenny know about him chasing them unless the professor is under a disguise. It was later revealed that Ken knows about Honky-Tonk chasing them down.
