Lo Bob! You have pie?

In 2002, Jonti Picking¹ created two egg-shaped fellows with moderately foul mouths and a lust for pie. Since then, the duo have appeared in over a hundred short Flash² cartoons alongside an ever-growing supporting cast, with each new episode receiving at least 200,000 viewings. Weebl and Bob have since appeared under the guise of Wobbl³ and Bob on MTV and in their very own DVD, which includes a documentary narrated by Brian Blessed. Weebl and Bob are probably really only suitable for adults, and so many of their favourite sayings can't be covered in this Entry.

Beginnings

The everyday happenings of Weebl and sometimes Weebl's friend, Bob made its first online appearance on 6 June, 2002 with the ground-breaking episode, 'pie'. The episode explored the basis of the two main characters - Weebl wants pie as a matter of urgency, as does his friend Bob. However, the clever timing and delivery of just a few simple lines and a comic ending made this the first of many episodes that would appeal to people with a certain sense of humour, and so Weebl and Bob began to make regular appearances on their very own website. The introduction of Weebl and Bob was quickly followed by episodes which included a range of characters, including Hairy Lee, Angry Paul, Donkey, Derek the Monkey, Chris the Ninja Pirate and Wee Bull, Weebl's arch-nemesis.

The Basics

The cartoon is usually set against a dark pink background⁴, with Weebl appearing as a white egg with a grey outline, two grey eyes and a gap halfway down where his mouth isn't. The eyes are usually filled in, but can become hollowed out to create a look of shock, or can have various eyebrow shapes added to show other emotions such as bemusement, sadness or anger. Bob Bobertson is similar to but notably smaller than Weebl⁵, and the two both sway from side to side constantly, moving from place to place by rolling completely over. Many episodes begin with Weebl singing a ditty: this is one of his favourite ways of expressing his love of pie, before he is interrupted by goings-on.

Part of what makes Weebl and Bob brilliant is the way in which their speech is slurred and difficult to understand, with the real communication taking place using speech bubbles - though the changes in the characters' tones of voice - which become clearer through the words being unimportant - adds to the whole set-up.

Common staples include the use of various catchphrases, ranging from the innocuous 'How rare' and 'How handy' to a selection of some rather original insults and swearwords. Weebl will stop at nothing to lower Bob's self-esteem, either through stealing his thunder, insulting him, ruining his relationships with millionaire supermodel scientists, or selling his house. Despite this, Bob remains Weebl's friend and the two live in the middle of a field where their house would probably be if only they had one.

Characters

• Donkey and Chris the Ninja Pirate - First to be introduced as Weebl's other love in life apart from pie⁶, Donkey soon runs off with Chris the Ninja Pirate, a mushroom with attitude. Chris is a mix of the pirate and ninja stereotypes, thus making him popular enough to appear in his very own game. Donkey eventually marries Chris, but in the cartoon's 100th episode Donkey is badly hurt after falling through a porthole, and sadly passes away.

• Hairy Lee - Hairy Lee first appears in the third episode for the sake of a punchline, but later makes several appearances, most of which involve the grunted line 'u-huh'.

• Monkey - Monkey, who arrives as a freebie 'trained monkey' with some pie-scented cleaner, speaks in an English accent and makes a point of never visiting the toilet. Monkey is most famous for his singing appearances in 'anywhere' and 'anyhoo'.

• Others - Angry Paul and his French cousin Angry Pierre both make appearances, though both fall foul to orange-flavoured drinks, while Wee Bull turns up repeatedly, getting one up on poor old Weebl every time and soon revealing that he is in fact Weebl's father. The episodes occasionally feature the Mysterious Chicken, who likes dancing and hiding things, a shopkeeper who speaks in a Northern accent, and Apple Dave, an obtuse character who seems to have been created as a mockery of other random characters who simply appear from nowhere. An army of renegade jam jars also feature, fighting against the authority of the lemon curds, as do a host of other minor characters.

• Special 'Guests' - Stephen Hawking, Michael Moore and Barry Scott⁷ also make 'appearances' in different episodes.

Songs and Parodies

As well as inventing many ditties, Weebl has appeared in a handful of very musical episodes, the most infamous of which is 'paper', where Weebl sings his own lyrics to a-ha's 'Take On Me'. Weebl has also sung a version of 'White Christmas' and heads the odd jazz performance.

Weebl and Bob have also appeared in several parodies of various aspects of popular culture, with episodes including an Apple PiePod advert, a trailer for a ninja film, a 1980s-style documentary about the dangers of cheese, an episode in which Bob's car is 'pimped', and an imitation of the worlds of Hello Kitty and Japanese anime. They also appear in their own series of documentaries, 'The History of the World According to Weebl and Bob'. Meanwhile, Weebl and Bob also star alongside Wee Bull in Ultimate Pie Theft, their very own rip-off of Pacman.

Most peculiarly, Weebl and Bob occasionally star as members of Team Laser Explosion, where they appear as their alter-egos Captain Laserous Explosion and Boy Exploserous Laser. Their job consists of saving Mayor Haggar from various squads of evil superheroes, which are always led by Monkey in some cunning disguise.

Incredible Edible

Weebl and Bob were effectively the forerunners of the Anchor Spreadable Cows, which first appeared in a rather egg-shaped form in 2003. Like their doppelgangers, one cow was slightly smaller than the other and they mumbled and slurred their words while rocking from side to side. They were replaced in 2005 by 3-D animated cows voiced by Stephen Fry and Tony Robinson. While the original 'cows' were of ambiguous gender, the new pair had udders despite being voiced by men.