"Baby Snail" is an episode of the stop motion animated series, Bump in the Night. (Aired on September 17, 1994)
Plot[]
The episode begins with Mr. Bumpy and Squishington playing Pirates, with folded newspaper hats, a newspaper ship and a wind-up mechanical parakeet. Bumpy finds a silver snail trail and claims that there is a leprechaun's "pot of mold" at the end, Squish and Bumpy follow the trail and it is revealed to be a sleeping Baby Snail.
Bumpy is disappointed that there is no treasure and Squish points out that the treasure map is actually a map of Kansas. The Baby Snail latches itself to Bumpy and he tells Squish to get it off, Squish pulls off the Snail and falls back. Bumpy then tells Squish it's time to leave but Squish thinks the Snail is lost. Bumpy shows that he has a great dislike for babies and doens't care about the Snail.
The mechanical parakeet swoops down and snatches the Baby Snail and Bumpy and Squish go to rescue her. Bumpy sits on the edge of a see-saw while Squish jumps of the other end, Bumpy is launched in the air and knocks the parakeet. Squishington catches the Baby Snail and Bumpy crashes badly, Squish decides to go find the Baby Snail's mother while Bumpy is left with the baby.
Bumpy claims to dislike babies, and tries to ignore the Baby Snail, the Cute Dolls come driving in their pink car and start to go gaga for the baby. The Cute dolls take the baby, but then Baby Snail starts crying and Bumpy takes the snail from the girls.
Meanwhile, Squishington is searching for the Mother Snail inside a video player, he sticks his arm in the VCR and gets sucked inside it.
Later, Mr Bumpy lets Baby Snail sleep in his bed, although he still denies that he likes the baby. Bumpy sings a lullaby to the Baby Snail and she then falls asleep. Bumpy tells her not to get too use to it, because when Squish finds the mother, she's out of here. Bumpy then goes of to find Squishington.
Molly Coddle then appears and shouts to Bumpy if he's seen Squish around, Bumpy tells Molly to be quiet and that Baby Snail is asleep in his nest. Molly is confused and that she didn't know Bumpy liked babies, Bumpy denies it and goes to find Squish.
Molly and Bumpy then leave to find Squishington, just then Squish appears wrapped up in video tape. Squishington see's a shell on top of the shelf, he thinks it's Baby Snail's mother and climbs up to investigate.
Bumpy and Molly check the bathroom for Squish, Bumpy hears Baby Snail crying and he is worried. He tells Baby Snail he's coming and Molly then says she wants to see this.
Bumpy returns to his nest where Baby Snail is crying, but she soon stops when she see's Bumpy. He then starts to move away and Baby Snail cries again, he then moves back and she stops. Bumpy notices the pattern and starts moving away and coming back. Bumpy then starts dancing to Baby Snail's mambo like crying.
Squishington reaches the top of the shelf, but it is only a sea shell from The Boy's shell collection. Squishington then accidentally backs up to a stuffed blowfish, he pricks himself and falls of the shelf. Squish lands on the floor and says there is no Mother Snail up there.
Meanwhile, Baby Snail won't stop crying, Bumpy tries comforting the baby but then thinks she doesn't like him anymore. Molly comes in to comfort the baby and ask if she's been fed yet, Bumpy realizes that Baby Snail is hungry. Bumpy then tries feeding the baby a sock but Molly says it's too big. Bumpy then tries chewing up the sock and spits it out for Baby Snail, but she doesn't like it.
Bumpy and Molly then try to find different food for Baby Snail, Bumpy tries different things like toothpaste and kiwi. Bumpy then panics when Molly hands him salt, he then tells Baby Snail to stay away from salt. Molly then worries that Baby Snail doesn't like anything, so Bumpy decides to cook up something for Baby Snail.
Bumpy then pretends to be a french chef on a cooking show, he then hooks up the bowl to a TNT bomb. He pushes down the lever and the food explodes. Bumpy claims that the bomb was instant cooking and Baby Snail happily eats up the messy food. Baby Snail then lets out a large burp and Bumpy is impressed, and says that she is a "chip off the old bump."
Molly then starts laughing and reminds Bumpy that he hates babies. Molly then reminds Bumpy that Squish will eventually be back with the baby's mother. Bumpy then feels dreary that soon he will have to take Baby Snail back to her mother, but then decides to go have more fun before they have to part.
Later, Bumpy and Baby Snail are sitting together at the top of the curtain rail overlooking the Boy's bedroom. Bumpy admires the view, then Baby Snail ask Bumpy in baby talk why he doesn't have a shell like her. Bumpy then says to Baby Snail that he has too many warts on his back to have room for a shell. Bumpy then gives Baby Snail a small parting gift, he removes one of his warts from his back and attaches it to her face so she will have something to remember Bumpy.
Mr Bumpy then gets misty eyed because he knows he will miss Baby Snail. Just then, Squishington enters the bedroom with Baby Snail's mother. Squishington is excited to find the mother, but Molly is worried that Bumpy will be upset. Bumpy then decides he doesn't want to give back Baby Snail and then tries to run away and hide.
Bumpy then starts walking across the curtain railing, he loses balance, but Baby Snail is safely holding onto him. Bumpy then jumps onto the shelf with Baby Snail, he says sorry for scaring her but he doesn't want to part with her and wants to be together forever.
Squishington then calls out for Bumpy and he hides Baby Snail, Molly spots Bumpy peeking from the top shelf. Molly ask why he is up there and Bumpy says that he is reading. Squish then tells Bumpy that Baby's Snail's mother is here to take her home.
Bumpy puts Baby Snail down next to a pile of books, he then backs up into the blowfish and pricks himself. Bumpy accidentally knocks the large sea shell off the shelf, which he thinks is Baby Snail. The large pile of books also fall off and then crushes the sea shell.
Bumpy is horrified and thinks that Baby Snail is dead, he becomes upset and blames himself for putting her in danger. Bumpy then starts crying loudly, without realizing that Baby Snail is right there on his shoulder. Squish thinks that Bumpy must have been reading a sad book, Molly ask if Bumpy has really seen Baby Snail. Bumpy tells Molly that Baby Snail is "smooshed" with horrifies Molly.
Just then Baby Snail then comes face to face with Bumpy and he is overwhelmed with joy, he starts giving her kisses and his happy that she is alive. Bumpy tells the other below to never mind and he found Baby Snail, and that he will bring her down to her mother.
Back on the ground, Squishington waves goodbye to the snail family while Bumpy returns Baby Snail to her mother. Bumpy gives Baby Snail one last hug and then give her back to Mother Snail. Bumpy then says he will miss Baby Snail, but the excitedly says that he wants to babysit anytime. He then starts rambling on that he is the best baby sitter and likes babies, especially the slimey ones, ending the episode.
Trivia[]
- In this episode it is revealed that The Boy has a shell collection in his room.
- The stuffed puffer-fish that both Squishington and Bumpy prick themselves on appears again in the season 2 episode, Cold Turkey. Instead of appearing in The Boy's Room it appears on a shelf in the living room.
- When Mr Bumpy sees a salt shaker, he freaks out and warns Baby Snail to stay away from salt. This is because snails and slugs have a higher percentage of their body-weight made up of water, exposure to salt causes the water to dry out and the animal dies of dehydration.
- This episode parallels to the classic Chuck Jones cartoon "Feed the Kitty" (1952). Similar to Mr Bumpy, Marc Anthony the Bulldog finds a little kitten named Pussyfoot, at first he wants the kitten to go away but then eventually adores the kitten and wants to keep her. When Marc Anthony thinks that Pussyfoot is dead and baked into a cookie, he becomes heart broken and cries, but when he sees the kitten is alive he becomes overwhelmed with joy and kisses her all over, similar to Mr Bumpy when he is happy that Baby Snail is alive.
- Mama Snail and Baby Snail appear as background characters at the Karaoke Cafe. Baby Snail makes a cameo in the episode Not a Peep!, and Mama and Baby Snail both appear in the Christmas special T'was the Night Before Bumpy.
- Mr Bumpy hates babies in this episode but as but as the episode progressed Bumpy bonded with the baby and couldn't bear to part with her Bumpy is shown to care deeply for the baby and gives her one last hug before returning her to Mama Snail and at the end of Bumpy told Mama Snail he wants to baby-sit Baby Snail and that he loves babies, A month later the episode Baby Jail where Bumpy gets transformed into a baby and learns how hard a baby's life can be, at the beginning of the episode Bumpy went back to hating babies saying there good for nothing food tubes, and they are noisy, messy and break things and eventually he realizes that he hates the life of a baby and wants real food instead of the gross baby food and feels sorry for them and tries to help Big Mike and The Babies break out of the baby jail with him. However it's probably one of those moments in cartoons like that where everything is completely normal again in the next episode.
- When Mr. Bumpy uses the detonator while cooking for Baby Snail, the logo for Danger Productions (which produced Bump in the Night) is shown on it.
Quote[]
Mr Bumpy: Don't get too use to this here, kiddo. I don't know it I like your kind. (beings singing a lullaby) Hush little Snaily, don't you slime. Mr Bumpy's gonna show you a real fun time.
Bumpy: What do snails eat anyway? Not lint, not toothpaste, not kiwi... NO SALT! You stay away from that, you little ooze muffin.
Mr Bumpy: BABY SNAIL!! (upset) Oh No, Baby Snail. (sobbing) It's all my fault! (pulls on eye stalks) I put her in danger. My poor slimey BABY SNAIIIIL! (sobs loudly)
Mr Bumpy: (screams with joy, starts kissing baby snail) YOU'RE ALIVE! (gives more kisses) Never mind! You know funny thing, I just found Baby Snail up here. Haha! I'll bring her right down to her mother, don't you worry!
Squishington: Hasta a bye bye, Mama Snail.
Mr Bumpy: (returning Baby Snail to her mother) I'm gonna miss you too bright eyes,
Mr Bumpy: Ohohohoh! If you ever need a babysitter, I'm the monster to call. Cause nobody loves babies more than Mr Bumpy, ask anybody. I have a really big heart for the slimey ones too, slimier the better. Have I mentioned that?
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