Web Animation / Baman Piderman

"We're best fwiends!"

"I'm Bamaaaan..."
"I'm Pidermaaan..."
"I come over da house..."

Baman Piderman is a Web Animation by Alex Butera and Lindsay Small, featured on Mondo Media. It follows the lives of Baman, Piderman, and several others who inhabit a white, empty landscape while having surreal adventures. New episodes were sometimes featured on Attack of the Show!.

In the earliest episodes, Baman and Piderman were cartoon parody versions of popular comic book heroes, but they and their world soon take on unique characteristics. Baman and Piderman live in separate houses, with Baman coming over to Piderman's house in nearly every episode. Their friends, Pumkin and Tuba, live in Piderman and Baman's houses, respectively. Later episodes introduce characters like Dese Guys (off-color versions of Baman and Piderman with deeper voices who live in Piderman's basement), Baman's boss (a giant, yellow cat-like creature), and Squib (a mass of green plant tendrils that initially seems hostile but is gradually revealed to have a softer side), among others. The show was initially about the day-to-day interactions of the protagonists, while later episodes have them confronting some of the mysteries of the world around them, all with an ultimately either goofy or heartwarming atmosphere. Most episodes have strong themes of friendship and neighborliness. In 2012, the series was Cut Short, with "Play Da Concert" being the final episode to be funded by Mondo Media. In April 2014 a Kickstarter campaign was announced, with the base goal being to make 5 more episodes to conclude the story that developed around episode 7. The Kickstarter reached its target funding in two days, and closed in May 2014 with 225% of its target funding. The stretch goals reached included a "Making Of" video, two special episodes, a music video by Neil Cicierega, and two additional full episodes for a total 7. As of December 2018, four new episodes have been released. The second most recent one, "Ghost Night 2", is 14:32 long (between two and three times as long as other episodes), and contains some of the most dynamic and nuanced animation to date. The latest video "Noir Detective" was animated by fellow web animator Worthikids.

This show is particularly known for its bizarre Worldbuilding, surprisingly near-perfect continuity and it’s fluid, dynamic animation not seen in most shows.

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This series provides examples of:

• Acrofatic: The leads are pretty hefty, but at least Baman runs (or rolls) fast. Piderman generally has trouble with bipedal movement but can be surprisingly dexterous when using his webslinging to drag himself around (as seen in Happy Winter Friends Part 1 when he drags himself out of the way of an incoming snowflake).
• Alien Sky: The sky is usually shown in a completely white color with no signs of clouds or anything else up there. During "Happy Winter Friends" time (this world's version of Winter/Christmas), the sky is blue, implying that their world is usually in a perpetual overcast.
• Ambiguous Gender: Pumkin and Squib. When asked what genders they were during the livestream, Lindsey responded "Pumkin is a vegetable and Squib is a squib. Hopefully that clears things up." However, Pumkin is almost exclusively referred to as "he" outside of this statement.
  • She later said that he identifies as male, but is still a pumpkin. Squib has No Gender.
• Ambiguously Human: The two leads, who according to the creators are actually monsters that happen to look like humans, Baman a little more so than Piderman.
• Answer Cut: In "Play Da Song", Baman says that they should do something about "dis", and in reply to what "dis" is, the camera pans out and reveals their red squib blockade.
• Angrish: Baman lethargically mumbles in frustration over getting fired on his way over to Piderman's house in "Fimd Da Jobs."
• Anthropomorphic Objects: Pumkin and Tuba.
• Art Evolution: The quality of the art improves dramatically over the course of the series. While childish style of the character designs remains consistent, Baman and Piderman shift from being comical renditions of human superheroes to humanoid creatures with distinctive movements and abilities. Also, the series steadily includes more environments, dynamic shots, and nuanced character movement.
• Art Shift:
  • "Drawing Song" has the characters look like they're being drawn by Piderman.
  • During "Weirdy Feeling", the scene turns into Film Noir for a few seconds. A future episode called "Da Mystery" will be based on this gag.
  Baman: "Why don't you draw your feels? Like I did?"
  Piderman: "What's da mystery?"
  Baman: "I... am da mystery."
  • And speaking of film noir, the episode "Noir Detective" flip-flops from a film noir style to the traditional style.
• Artists Are Not Architects/Alien Geometries: Baman's house has no way of moving, and Piderman's house is just absurd.
• Basement-Dweller: Dese Guys
• Base on Wheels: Baman is able to drive his house.
• Berserk Button: Do not tell Baman's boss or Squib a joke.
• Bizarrchitecture: Baman is able to drive his house using a ship's steering wheel. It has no wheels, tracks, or any other plausible way of moving — although it does sprout legs (briefly) in the "I've Got A Feeling" episode.
  • Piderman's house is two stories, but the top story has at least five stories worth of stairs up to it.
    • There's a floor under that one that can only be accessed through a trap door in Pumkin's bedroom, and the only exit is through a hallway too long to exist inside the house that leads to a laundry chute to the basement.
• The Blank: Pumkin. And, technically, Squib and the Tubas.
• Blank White Eyes: Baman, Piderman, and the Dese Guys have these all the time. Judging by Baman's eyes, they aren't caused by their masks.
  • When Baman got pupils, he gained telepathic powers.
• Bottle Episode: "In Da Basement" and "Drink Da Tee" entirely take place within the basment of Piderman's house. Both episodes coincidentally focus primarily on Those Guys.
• Blush Stickers: Pumkin has some for a moment in Revealations (Part 1) when he thinks Piderman might read his diary.
  • And again in "Squib Week" when Squib kisses him on the cheek.
  • All over the place once Wanda, the Ghost of the Happy Winter Friends Wish is allowed to move in.
• Book Ends: "Squib Week" begins with Pumkin hiding in his bed sheets because he's afraid of the ghost that's haunting the house. The episode ends with him, a week later, once again hiding in his bed sheets, only this time it's because of Squib kissing him on the cheek.
• Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: One of the ingredients needed to make the Dese Guys' "cookie pie" is blood.
  • Even in-universe. During a tea party, they offer Baman some stew.
  Baman: What kind of stew?
  That guy:BLOOD stew.
  Baman: Eeeeeww.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: In Make Da Cards, a Youtube ad appears at the bottom of the screen. They both stare at it until Piderman clicks to close it with his hand.
• A debatable instance appears in Happy Winter Friends Part 1 when Piderman refers to their band's song as the theme song.
  • Subverted in "In Da Basement". We are made to believe at first that Dese Guys are speaking to the viewer, but they are actually speaking to Pumkin, who they have tied up in a chair.
• Brick Joke: In "Frow Da Party", Baman sings about a thing in the corner. Piderman askes "Baman, what is that thing?!" to which Baman quickly responds "I don't know." The thing shows up again on Ghost night, and the same exchange is repeated line by line.
  • The exchange shows up again in the Season 3 Opener.
  • During "Make Da Band", Piderman gets turned green by eating some cereal to avoid getting confused. The Other Guy is shown eating some cereal during Happy Winter Friends Part 2, and is likewise turning green as he chews.
• Butt-Monkey: Pumkin got carved (seemingly painfully), rotted, and is always tossed around (even after getting his body).
  • Baman's started to go toward this. Boss kicked his house, Tuba's Dad makes him uncomfortable, a giant snowflake destroyed his house, and then he lost his job to Squib.
• Calvinball: A board game called "Take Turns" is seen in "Happy Winter Friends". How it's played is never made clear.
• Catapult Nightmare: Pumkin has one in "Weirdy Feeling."
  • And "Play da Concert". Explanation included this time.
• Cerebus Syndrome: Happy Winter Friends is Darker and Edgier than the preceding animations. Although that really isn't saying a lot considering how light the show is.
  • It gets better again afterward.
• Chained to a Railway: Piderman is victim to this by Wanda in "Noir Detective".
• Chekhov's Skill: Subverted with Pumkin's origami skills...when almost everyone's entangled in red squib in "Play Da Song", Pumkin quickly folds two tentacles into an oragami crane to save them. It doesn't stop the squib, but Piderman and Baman thought it looked nice!
• Chest Insignia: Piderman's is real a spider, though. Baman uses his as a storage shelf.
• Christmas Special: Both "Happy Winter Friends" and "Revealations"
• Cloudcuckooland: This show would be in an Eldritch Location if it wasn't as funny as it is.
• Cloudcuckoolanders: Everyone
• Companion Cube: Tuba and Pumkin are sentient versions of this.
  • Tuba communicates by making tuba sounds. She moves by dragging herself along the ground, and drinks "Peabnut Bubber" as medicine.
  • Pumkin can be seen moving around on his own and can operate a phone. He also functions as a video game console. After he's carved by the Dese Guys, he can scream and later rots.
    • As of Happy Winter Friends (Part 2) Pumkin is restored and given a humanoid body, which gives him the ability to walk. He also seems pretty well-read and a lot smarter than the heroes.
• Continuity Porn: Virtually everything that happens has lingering effects and consequences, even the smallest of things, and the show retains pretty much perfect continuity.
  • For example, since Make da Cards Piderman's door has been shattered from when Baman came inside.
  • There have been tracks in the dirt where Baman drove his house ever since Pwactice Da Counting.
  • Looks like Baman's living with Piderman now, since his house got destroyed by that giant snowflake.
  • Piderman's spider always has only 5 legs, both the one on his chest and on his back.
  • When Piderman is writing a letter to Baman and is finished, he drops a pen into his leg and his leg absorbs it. In the first episode of season 2, he ejects the same pen from his hand and writes with it.
  • The cereal that turns you green makes a reappearance in Happy Winter Friends (Part 2).
  • The two thought bubbles containing Baman that Piderman makes in Revealations stay around for subsequent episodes and there is even a tiny subplot with sofa-Baman refusing to eat and becoming thinner as a result, which Wanda fixes in Play Da Concert.
  • The ghost that appears at the end of Weirdy Feeling came out of Baman's wish wand when Red Squib broke it in Play Da Song.
  • When Pumkin walks past the spooky mirror that shows everyone's skeletons in "Ghost Night", his skull resembles the face that the Dese Guys carved into him at the end of "Guess da Number".
  • Baman's arms are repeatedly popped off by Red Squib in "Play Da Song"; in "Weirdy Feeling", he can be seen reattaching them all.
• Cool Gate: The Dese Guys' pie portal.
• Cool Mask
• Crapsaccharine World: The show always maintains a bright and goofy style, but darker elements are introduced over time (even if they do eventually revert back into the goofiness).
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: In Happy Winter Friends, Baman makes a snowman explode with his mind.
• Cut Short: Much to the chagrin of the creators, the series originally ended in a relatively low-key normal episode with no Grand Finale or Sequel Hook.
  • Later, a twitter post suggested they may have worked something out, considering Lindsay's excitement. No promises by that point, though.
    • Later, in April 2014, they came over to Kickstarter. It was a success, and they began work on Season 3, with "Paint Da House" premiering on June 20th.
• Cute Ghost Girl: The specter that was haunting Piderman is revealed to be this in "Ghost Night." She's called Wanda.
• Dastardly Whiplash: Played by Wanda in "Noir Detective".
• A Day in the Limelight: "Squib Week" for Pumkin and Squib.
  • Baman and Piderman don't appear at all in "In Da Basement", which mostly focuses on Dese Guys and Pumkin.
• Depth Deception: Happy Winter Friends starts with a traditional opening credits set on a closeup of falling snowflakes... until you realize this isn't a close up. They're actually giant snowflakes.
• The Ditz: The two leads.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: The way Pumkin cowers from Squib's tentacles in Fimd Da Jobs.
• Dramatic Unmask: When Baman takes off his mask for Pumkin, Piderman is shocked.
• Drone of Dread: In That Guy's and The Other Guy's first appearances, there is a very subtle drone playing in the background.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: The first two episodes are less episodes of show and more pure, distilled idiocy in animated form. Character Development starts in "Make Da Band", when the theme song is established and Tuba is introduced. The episodes before "Guess Da Number" are much more nonsensical, being barely comprehensible piles of Mind Screw and Baman and Piderman are just barely a step above The Unintelligible.
  • Episode 2 also shows Baman and Piderman climbing on the top of a tall building. Later episodes establish that the characters live on a featureless white landscape with no sign of structures other than Baman and Piderman's houses, and other locales are only accessed via the Pizza portal.
• Evil Counterpart: Dese Guys. They differ in that they are colored differently, and their costumes are switched except for the masks. The mask shows who they're the counterpart for. More mischievous than evil though.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Dese Guys have deep voices. They aren't evil, but they do like causing trouble.
• Expressive Mask
• Expository Theme Tune: Multiple:
  • Baman actually runs through it once when things seem amiss. ...Piderman come over da house? Piderman also makes Baman recite it when Baman's acting Not Himself to prove it's him in Revealations.
  • Dese Guys get one as well.
• Form-Fitting Wardrobe: Baman and Piderman's costumes - as they appear to be similar to the superhero costumes by which they're inspired. Exaggerated however once we find out that the ears on Baman's cowl are shaped exactly the same as his horns underneath, and the blue in Piderman's costume is actually a vest.
• Foreshadowing: In "Fimd Da Jobs", Those Guys suddenly emerge out of the wall to mess with Pumkin. "Ghost Night" reveals that there are all sorts of hidden passageways in the house.
• For the Evulz: Dese Guys. Although they mostly prank the other characters, there's always something very unsettling about their shenanigans. Also, they enjoy the taste of blood.
• For Doom the Bell Tolls: In "Ghost Night", right when the digital clock changes to 7 PM and the outside world goes pitch black.
• Four-Legged Insect: The grumpy-looking ladybug.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus:
  • Sometimes Baman loses pieces of his body, but only for a split second.
  • In "Squib Week", the book Pumkin is reading is shown to be Pride and Prejudice.
• Funny Background Event: In "Frow Da Party", Tuba is seen near the beginning jumping into the pie-pizza-portal-thing, and later one of the doors in the background of Piderman's house mysteriously has a new sticky note attached to it in every shot.
• Gasp!: Piderman when Baman takes off his mask.
• George Jetson Job Security: Baman lost his job to Squib pretty quickly.
• Giant Squib:
  • After hatching from a tree in "Happy Winter Friends: Part 2", a green mass of tentacles comes to live with Baman and Piderman under the name of Squib, takes Baman's job, and becomes a love interest for Pumkin.
  • And a Red Squib shows up later.
• Gilligan Cut:
  Piderman: "I hope everything's okay at da house."
  [cut to the kitchen where Dat Guy is punting Tuba around while twirling Pumkin, Other Guy is eating cereal and turning green, and the counter suddenly catches fire.]
• Good Colors, Evil Colors: Dese Guys sing that they want the main best buddies to see "that blue and pink can coexist with green and brown". Interestingly, the lyric seems to be more centered on symbolic colors, as Dese Guys are more mischievous than evil.
• Good-Times Montage: Hab Da Sleepover
• Hell Is That Noise: Piderman feels this way about Pumkin's screaming in Hab Da Sleepover.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: The leads with each other, and Dese Guys.
• Hidden Depths: Baman, Pumkin, and surprisingly, Squib.
• Hold Up Your Score: The Other Guy gave That Guy a 10 for his little dance in the basement.
• Hollywood Darkness: Averted (for the most part), darkness is almost always very dark.
• Homemade Sweater from Hell: Averted, Pumkin actually seems to like the sweater Squib gave him, and it's not that bad looking.
• Hostile Show Takeover: Dese Guys want to sing their theme song instead of the shows in the beginning of "Weirdy Feeling."
• Hypocritical Humor: After Squib tears up Pumkin's Feets Day card, Baman complains that Squib doesn't do anything, that he's just fat and lazy and sits at the house all day. Cue Pumkin motioning towards both Baman and Piderman who have both fallen asleep on the floor, with their fat bellies sticking up in the air.
• Incredibly Long Note: It seems Dese Guys' pizza can really hold a note in the Season 3 Opener.
• I Need to Go Iron My Dog: Baman implements this to avoid seeing Dese Guys' painting (or just avoid them in general):

  Baman: Uh, actually, we hab to go outside right now for...some reason.

• Interspecies Romance:
  • Baman and Tuba appear to have had an established relationship before the start of the show; Baman has on multiple occasions declared his love for Tuba, and the two have gone on at least one on-screen date. See I Want Grandkids below.
  • Pumkin and Squib.
• I Want Grandkids
  Tuba's Dad: *in subtitles* Say Baman... when are you going to make my little princess... an honest tuba?
• Left the Background Music On: The spooky theremin-sounding music at the beginning of "Ghost Night" turns out to be Baman just making weird noises.
• Leitmotif: Sometimes when Dese Guys are nearby/appear a faint creepy Drone of Dread can be heard in the background. It's the only real instance of music in the series aside from the Christmas specials and Feets Day song.
  • There's one that plays during Squib's interactions with Pumkin.
  • The Red Squib has one too.
• Lighter and Softer: For Mondo Media. From the channel best known for Dick Figures and the Gorn-filled Happy Tree Friends, the show's Sweet Dreams Fuel-laden kid-appropriate silliness may come as a surprise.
• Magic Feather: In Happy Winter Friends (Part 2), turns out the wish was literally inside of Baman all along.
• Mangled Catch Phrase: This is how Piderman is able to deduce that the Baman that comes over to his house in Revealations isn't really Baman.
• Meanwhile, Back at the…: Piderman invokes this in Happy Winter Friends (Part 2).
• Mind Screw: Yeah. Moreso in earlier episodes.
• Mundane Utility: Piderman has the same abilities as Spider-Man, such as walking on walls and the ability to shoot webs out of his wrists. He uses these for unnecessary purposes, such as grabbing small objects or dragging himself along the ground instead of walking.
• No Indoor Voice: Tuba, who communicates entirely through musical notes, but is unable to control her volume. She accidentally wakes up a napping Pumkin during Escape Da Cakes this way.
• No Mouth: Piderman, That Guy, Tuba, Tuba's Dad, and Pumkin.
• Not What It Looks Like: In "Play Da Concert", Squib sees Wanda and Pumkin holding hands. He's just thankful that she saved him from rotting and gave him a body.
• Obliquely Obfuscated Occupation:
  • Baman/Squib's job with the Boss. What are those shipments, and why do they need to fill out so many forms?
  • Likewise Baman's first job with the bug. He sits in front of a typewriter with two keys saying "Yes" and "6". All we know about it is that it is boring.
• Only Sane Man: Pumkin, as he appears to be the only one who acknowledges just how strange the rest of the cast's antics are.
• Our Monsters Are Different: The two leads. They may look like two certain comic book superheroes, but Word of God says they're actually a white monster in purple clothes and a red monster in blue clothes, respectively.
• Pointy Ears: When Baman takes off his mask, it's revealed that those pointy things really are his ears... or horns... or something else. They do perk up when he's surprised/in danger/excited and do the opposite appropriately. "Ghost Night" shows us that there are bones inside them.
• Purely Aesthetic Glasses: Baman has some.
• The Quest: Baman and Piderman go on "da Journey" in Happy Winter Friends.
• Reactive Continuous Scream: Everyone participates in one at the end of "Guess da Number" when Baman and Piderman find Dese Guys carving Pumkin.
• Rubber Man: Baman can be stretched, squished, and pulled through himself.
  • If you look closely on some videos, you'll see parts of him pop off for a moment. In Happy Winter Friends (Part 2) he is split in half just before jumping through the window.
  • In Frow Da Party he oozes out of the couch, and grows more arms.
  • In Fimd da Jobs he duplicates, then the doubles melt back into one another. Also, when he is moping around outside, he starts flying like a bird, and his left arm pops off.
  • And in the introduction sequence of one episode, having dealt with Dese Guys stealing the spotlight, he walks through a wall to get back to his previous position.
• Say My Name: An actually pretty creepy one from the ghost at the end of Weirdy Feeling to Piderman. Becomes much less creepy, even a little sweet, when we fully meet Wanda and learn she's got a crush on him.
• Scared of What's Behind You: In Part 2 of Happy Winter Friends, until Baman assures Piderman it's just a moving tree. Played straight when Squib comes out seconds later.
• Ship Tease: Wanda and Piderman having crushes on each other gets teased a few times, most notably at the end of "Play Da Concert". When everyone else pairs off with their significant others to celebrate, she immediately flies over to Piderman and is seen staring at him as they blush. Then she makes his chair levitate, to his alarm.
• Shout-Out: Pumkin wears an Atomic Robo T-shirt in Weirdy Feeling.
  • Another shirt he wears in "Play Da Song" is homage to Keroro from Sgt. Frog.
  • In "Ghost Night", a hallway sports lots of creepy, complicated yellow wallpaper...
• Silly Walk: Baman and Piderman. They rarely really walk, but just sort of roll around. When they do walk, it's like watching a baby's first steps.
• Simpleton Voice: Baman, Piderman, and Dese Guys.
• Sizable Snowflakes: In the Happy Winter Friends episode, the snowflakes are larger than any of the characters.
• Smarter Than You Look:
  • The Dese Guys seem to know more than they let on.
  • Baman is smarter than Piderman, but by how much we don't know.
    Piderman: Baman!! How did you do dat!?!
    Baman: It's better if you don't know...
• Spell My Name With An S: The pumpkin's name, Pumkin, is actually only spelled with one P, similar to how both Baman and Piderman are missing a T and an S respectively.
• Stroke the Beard: Baman and Piderman both do this quite a bit with their fake beards before discarding them in the Kickstarter promotion "Make the Show".
• Stylistic Suck: The whole show is done in Flash animation with copious Squiggle Vision. But the animation itself is incredibly smooth, cute, and at times utterly gorgeous (such as when Wanda transforms in "Ghost Night")
• Tempting Fate: Upon being offered a new job by Dese Guys...
  Baman: Okay, dat sounds like a good idea.
• Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Tuba's Dad is a sousaphone, but with a mustache.
• That Mysterious Thing: Baman doesn't know what "that thing ober there" is.
• That Russian Squat Dance: It seems That Guy has some nice moves, complete with Russian-esque music!
• Transformation Sequence: Wanda goes through one after Piderman signs the contract she drew up.
• Uncanny Valley: Invoked for the Bug and the Pizza, which both have immensely detailed frowny faces. They're considered unsettling in-show and out.
• Undercrank: Wanda undergoes this when Baman and Piderman unexpectedly drop in on her while trying to help a sick-feeling Pizza.
• Unnecessarily Large Interior: Piderman does not need all those stairs. Not with his weight.
• Unusual Euphemism: "Maybe he's having another Squib Week." Bonus points for Baman's Aside Glance and nudge toward a giggling Piderman.
• Use Your Head: Baman tends to smash through doors and windows instead of opening them.
• Vocal Evolution:
  • Piderman's voice got higher after the first few episodes. In the first episode, he sounds nearly indistinguishable from Baman.
  • Dese Guys' voice got more... German?
• Voiceover Letter: Averted in Episode 6, where Baman reads Piderman's letter out loud in front of him.
• When Trees Attack: Trees in their world seem to be able to move.
  Piderman: Baman!! Dat tree's moved!
  Baman: Piderman, it's just a moving tree. Don't you remember?
  • Trees in the pizza portal thing hatch into Squibs if Baman and Piderman stick around too long. Then they really do attack.
• White Void Room
• Whole Costume Reference: Seeing as how Baman and Piderman are just idiot versions of Batman and Spider-Man... technically.

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