"Hocus Dopus" is an episode of the stop motion animated series, Bump in the Night.
(Aired on November 5, 1994)
Plot[]
The episode opens up in the bathroom, with Squishington sitting up on top of the toilet lid, feeling sick and coughing. His eyes are watery and he feels dreadful, he is about to sneeze but trying to hold it in. Squish then says that he needs to get a tissue, he swings onto the toilet paper, he leaps into the air, lands on a bar of soap, starts slipping out of control in the bath tub, grabs onto a wash towel and uses the towel as a parachute. Squish then lands in the tissue box and sneezes.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bumpy is eating pages from a book titled "Book of Magic", Bumpy hears Squishington sneezing and spits out one of the pages. Bumpy says that sounds like Squishington, he walks to the bathroom but is then sneezed back by the impact. Bumpy is impressed by the sneeze and said that he hasn't "heard a sneeze that hard since I sneezed myself an hour into my own past" (probably referring to "A Sneeze in Time"). Bumpy thinks that Squish is trying to break his sneeze record and goes to see it, he then starts hopping to the bathroom.
In the Bathroom, Bumpy calls out for Squishington and the sick blue monster emerges from the tissue box. Bumpy looks at Squish, seeing his hair petals tangled, nostrils purple and complexion gooey-er than usual, Bumpy then concludes that either Squishington is sick or he's a fashion leader.
Squish tells Bumpy that it's the former and that he's been up all night sniffling and coughing, he tugs onto the toilet paper and pulls himself up on the toilet lid. While Bumpy thinks being sick sounds fun, Squish says he's not having a good time. Squish then says he has a cold, Bumpy feels bad for his friend, seeing that it's no fun being sick.
Bumpy gets an idea and decides to cure Squishington himself, Bumpy then pulls out an operating table and wearing a head mirror, and saying the solution is an operation. Squishington is unsure of the idea, he then starts moaning that he is too sick and maybe when he feels better. Bumpy feels bad for Squishy, seeing that his buddy is blue, (well, bluer than usual). He then pushes the operating table away and says he should just go to bed.
Squish then apologizes to Bumpy and says he didn't mean to spoil the show, but he just feels rotten all over. Suddenly Bumpy gets another idea, he then leaps onto the tissue box and leaps onto the toilet lid to see Squishington. Bumpy then tells Squish that maybe he can't cure him, but he can still cheer him up and make him feel warm and jiggly inside. Squish is happy and said that would be the most wonderful super duper thing ever.
Bumpy says "what are friends for", Squish replies that friends are for everything. Squish then starts rambling about things that friends are useful for, such as "tea parties, rainy days, waffle making, you can use them for stools, or flying buttresses and you can even substituted them for bay leaves in Hasenpfeffer rabbit." Bumpy then hears "rabbit" and then realizes the solution, that he is going to pull a rabbit out of a hat to help cheer Squish up.
Squish hears the rabbit idea and loves the sound of having a "soft white hoppity, pink eyed little wiggle nose bunny." Bumpy then promises the very same, he then shows Squishington the magic book he was reading and he gobbles up a page. Squishington loves the idea of a bunny to comfort him in his hour of need.
Squishy begins coughing and hacks up blobs of mucus over the book. Bumpy tells Squish to take it easy and he is getting lung on the book, but he also admires the color. Bumpy then swears on all the dirty socks in the universe to cheer up Squishy by pulling a rabbit out of a hat, as soon as he can swipe one.
Later, Mr. Bumpy puts on a magic show with a stage and red curtains, Bumpy announces himself as "Bumpy the magificent and really good". The curtains go up and he leaps onto the stage, Squishington is sitting on top of the tissue box, and starts clapping. Mr Bumpy thanks the audience and announce the moment everyone has been waiting for, especially for the rabbit lovers. Squishington cheers for Bumpy, but then begins to sneeze and pulls out a tissue from the box.
Holding the flatten top hat in his hand, Bumpy then says "open sez me", but nothing happened. Bumpy, is slightly annoyed and repeats "open sez ME," he then is confused and fall backwards. Bumpy then guesses that it might be a trick latch or something, he then touches the hat and feels around for a secret latch.
Bumpy then finds the latch, but the hat then pops up, he is sprung into the air and hits the ceiling where he is flattened into a green blob. Bumpy then falls off the ceiling, screaming and hits the floor, where he is flattened like clay. He morphs back into his original form and shouts out "Ta-da," even though he hurt himself a little.
Now Bumpy is ready to pull a rabbit out of a hat, he tells Squishington to "hold on to you alakazam's" and promise him that he will be petting a bunny in no time. Bumpy then reaches into the hat and searches around, Squish is filled with joy and is super excited. Bumpy pulls his hand out and realizes that he is holding "nothing," Squish is disappointed and Bumpy tells him it is a small set back. Bumpy then leaps onto the hat and calls out for a rabbit, first his eye is sucked into the hat, then the rest of his body disappears inside the hat.
Squish sees that Bumpy is in trouble, he goes up to the hat and ask if Bumpy is alright. Squish is still sick and sniffing, Bumpy's voice is heard from inside the bottomless hat and he tells Squish to keep sniffling, so he can find his way back. Squish begins to sniffle and ask Bumpy if he can hear him now, Bumpy then appears with a pick axe and wearing a mountain climbing outfit, while a comedic yodel is heard in the background. Squishington helps pull Bumpy out while he says "Civilization at last."
Squishington is upset and ask Bumpy "what about my bunny needs", Bumpy tries to cheer up his friend and promises him a "genuine soft and cuddly bunny coming right up". Squish goes back to sit on his tissue box, while Bumpy is becoming frustrated and says he will pull a rabbit out of the hat. He cracks his knuckles and says that he hoped that the hat would cooperate.
Mr Bumpy then says this time he will say the magic words, he then chants "Hocus Dopus Inexeclius Calamari, Bumpy says Rabbit appear!" Bumpy then pulls out a vicious snarling Crazy Squirrel with big angry blood shot eyes. Bumpy sees the Squirrel and realizes he is not a rabbit, the Squirrel then says "You got that right, Jerky, I'm your worst furry nightmare."
The Crazy Squirrel then chases Bumpy around the room while snarling viciously, Bumpy tries to escape the evil squirrel and says "let's be reasonable." Squishington watches Mr Bumpy and acts like a color commentator at a race track. Bumpy then runs up the walls while the vicious Squirrel snarls after him, Squishington grabs the top hat and tells Bumpy that he can lose him in here. Bumpy runs inside the hat while the Squirrel follows after him.
Bumpy is heard inside the hat, where it sounds like the Squirrel is beating him up. Squishington is worried and Bumpy comes out of the hat. Bumpy brushes himself off and claims that they "won't be seeing that mangy fur ball for a while." Inside the hat a loud ringing noise is heard, Bumpy and Squish look inside the hat and see the Squirrel is trying to run them down with a speeding train. Bumpy and Squish start freaking out and pushes the hat away from them, a crash is heard inside the hat and the Squirrel is gone for good.
Bumpy is relieved and says that was a close one, he thanks Squishy for helping him, Squish then says what are friends for and Bumpy remembers that he promised Squish a rabbit. Bumpy then announces he will deliver what he promised, Squish on the other hand is no longer concerned and tries to tell Bumpy that he can get get a long without a rabbit, but Bumpy interrupts Squish and doesn't listen. Bumpy then starts tossing random things in the hat like dentures and carrots. Bumpy then promises Squish he will get a rabbit no matter what, and it will be soft, cute, white and hungry.
Bumpy then starts mixing the hat with his magic wand and starts chanting "Hubble Bubble, toil and trouble, get me a rabbit on the double." Bumpy reaches his hand into the hat and get excited and tells Squish he believes he caught a rabbit. Squish is delighted and starts cuddling his tissue like a bunny, and says he can feel it's little pink tongue licking him already.
Bumpy continues to pull out the creature and hoping it will be a "soft cute fuzzy-", but then pulls out a big scary yellow Land Squid. Bumpy screams in horror, and Squishy freaks out, Bumpy starts tapping the Squid with the wand but the Squid wraps Bumpy in his tentacles and starts squeezing him tight. Bumpy's eyes bulges out and Squish is scared. Squish tells Mr Bumpy that he will help him, but then sneezes himself away.
The Land Squid lifts Bumpy into the air and stars shaking him vigorously, Squish gasp in fear that "Mr Bumpy is being tenderized by that no good hairy Land Squid" and declares that he has to help him. Squish dashes off, but returns to face the viewers and says "even if I am sick." Squish calls out to Bumpy telling him to hang on, the Land Squid swats him away and starts hissing at him.
Bumpy tells Squish to not be a fool and says that he doesn't stand a chance. Squish realizes that he is no match for the Squid, he then dashes off and returns with a frying pan on his head, holding a spatula in one hand and in the other hand holding a box labeled "Squid Helper." Squish faces the viewers and says "If you can't beat 'em, EAT 'em," he then runs up to the Land Squid and starts hitting him with the spatula and the frying pan. Squish then accidentally whacks Mr Bumpy, and he tells Squish to be careful.
The Land Squid then grabs both Squishington and Bumpy and pulls them inside the top hat. Squish sneezes, Bumpy says "gesundheit" and Squish says "I'm hope I'm not contagious." The Land Squid screeches and Bumpy and Squish are shot right out of the top hat. They both hit the ceiling and splat into blobs, then they hit the floor and they are flatten like clay.
Bumpy and Squish morph back into their normal forms, they begin to celebrate their victory, that they survived the Land Squid. Squish then starts coughing and claimed that they won. However, Bumpy is upset and claims that he failed, he swore that he would pull a rabbit out of a hat and and becomes melodramatic. Bumpy believes that he let down Squish and thinks he will never forgive him, Squish in contrast is optimistic and tells Bumpy that he does forgive him.
Mr Bumpy becomes depressed and starts calling himself worthless and useless, and says he is lower than a dung beetle doing the limbo, but Squish tries to tell Bumpy again that he does forgive him. Bumpy becomes suicidal and says that the world is better off without him, and claims that he failed his "best-est friend." Bumpy slinks towards the closet, Squish then becomes worried and starts shouting to Bumpy that the Closet Monster lives in there. Squish then starts screaming out to Bumpy "I FORGIVE YOU" and his face becomes distorted.
Bumpy then turns to Squish and tells him that he promised him a rabbit and he has no choice but to end it all, he then says goodbye to his pal. Squish then starts screaming "WAIT!!!" with a grotesque face. Bumpy then stops and Squish desperately tries to look around for a way to fix this, he then begs Bumpy to stay right there. Bumpy tells Squish he is only delaying the inevitable, and he promised Squish a bunny, he then declares that he is going and begins to open the closet door.
Squish then starts looking around the room and finds a white fluffy bunny slipper, Squish dashes off and grabs the bunny slipper and hides it in the hat. Squish then zips over to Mr Bumpy and tries to raise his hopes and tells him to try the hat one more time. Bumpy is still depressed and tells Squish that it's hopeless, then the Closet Monster roars at Bumpy and he screams in terror. Bumpy then immediately changes his mind and says that it wouldn't hurt to try the hat again.
Back on the stage, Squishington stands beside Mr Bumpy as he tries the magic trick one more time. Bumpy then starts chanting the magic words, "Hocus Dopus Inexeclius Calamari, Bumpy says Rabbit appear!", he pulls out the white fluffy bunny slipper, he remains oblivious and drops the slipper, believing that it's hopeless. Bumpy then pauses, he instantly snaps out of it and realizes that he made a rabbit appear. Bumpy picks up the rabbit slipper and his confidence is restored. He is filled with joy that he finally did the magic trick.
Mr Bumpy gives the bunny slipper to Squishington, telling him he now has a "cute little furry bunny.... slipper, as promised... sort of." Squishington is happy and starts cuddling the bunny slipper, he says it is just the thing to make him feel better. Squishington says thank you to Mr Bumpy, he then goes up to Bumpy and gives him a big hug. Squish then tells Bumpy that he is the "best friend a sick monster ever had," Bumpy is happy and tells Squish that he is his best friend too.
Bumpy then begins to sneeze, he grabs his nose and sneezes so hard that his eye balls bulge. Squish says "gesundheit", Bumpy then has a runny nose and begins to sniffle and tells Squish that he thinks he gave him his cold. Squish then smiles and says "Well, what are friends for?" the two friends are now sick together and the episode ends.
Trivia[]
- When Mr Bumpy says that he hasn't "heard a sneeze that hard since I sneezed myself an hour into my own past", he could be referring to the episode "A Sneeze in Time", which was the previous episode that aired with "Hocus Dopus."
- The episode's title is a parody of the popular 1993 Disney movie "Hocus Pocus".
- When Mr Bumpy is mixing a magic spell in the hat, he begins to say "Hubble Bubble, toil and trouble" which is a quote from William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, when the witches are making a potion in a bubbly cauldron.
- The Crazy Squirrel has large angry eyes and long front teeth, which also resembles the character Captain Bucky O' Hare from the comic book and animated series "Bucky O' Hare and the Toad Wars."
- The Crazy Squirrel and the Land Squid sometimes appear as background characters at the Karaoke Cafe, the Land Squid also makes an appearance in the episode "Journey to the Center of the Lungfish" but this time is more gigantic in size.
- Molly Coddle doesn't appear in this episode.
- Yellow Bunny has a cameo appearance in this episode.
Quotes[]
Mr Bumpy: Hocus Dopus Inexeclius Calamari, Bumpy says... Rabbit appear!
Mr Bumpy: Hey, you're not a rabbit!
Crazy Squirrel: You got that right, jerky. I'm your worst furry nightmare!
Mr Bumpy: We Did it!
Squishington: We Survived!
Mr Bumpy: We conquered!
Squishington: We (cough) won.
Mr Bumpy: - Failed! I failed! I swore I would pull a rabbit outta my hat! I swore! Oh the shame, the sorrow, the sheer unadulterated let down! How can you ever forgive me, Squishy?
Squishington: Easy. I forgive you, Mr Bumpy.
Mr Bumpy: I'm worthless! Useless! Lower than a dung beetle doing the LIMBO!
Squishington: But I told you I forgive you, Mr Bumpy!
Mr Bumpy: The world is better off without me! For I have failed my bestest friend. My peerless pal, my bosomest buddy!
Squishington: B-b-b-but, Mr Bumpy! That's the Closet! The Closet Monster's in there! I FORGIVE YOU! (screaming) I FORGIVE YOUUUUU!
Mr Bumpy: I swore I would get you a rabbit, Squishman. I see no choice now but... goodbye (sniff) PAL.
Squishington: (screaming) WAIIIIIIIIT!
Mr Bumpy: Well?
Squishington: Umm... Umm (looking around) Stay right there. Promise?
Mr Bumpy: You're just delaying the inevitable, besides, I promised to get you a bunny. No. I'm going. I am off. (Squishington finds a bunny slipper) Fear not, Squishington. Maybe you will have some sleepless nights, but... It'll pass.
Squishington: (hides bunny slipper in hat) Umm, Mr Bumpy. Are you sure you wouldn't want to try the hat one more time?
Mr Bumpy: Squishy, can't you see it's hopeless. (Closet Monster roars and Bumpy screams) Then again, it couldn't hurt to try ONE more time.
Gallery[]
