Meester Bas Buldog

Meester Bas Buldog
Character
Meester Bas in Episode 4
Species	Bulldog
Birthplace	Groot Waterland
First appearance	Episode 4
Character Model Sheet number	43/4, sheet 30
Character Model Sheet name	Bars Buldog
Name in different languages
Dutch name	Meester Bas
Japanese name	バート先生 (Bāto-sensei) Mister Bart
German name	Herr Bas
English name	Mister Bart Bulldog

Meester Bas Buldog (lit. "Mister Bas Bulldog") is a fictional character from the animated show and several books and comics. He is a teacher at the Polderstad primary school and taught Alfred Jodocus Kwak, Ollie de Ooievaar, Pikkie de Ekster and Dolf de Kraai among other characters. As Alfred grows up Meester Bas disappears from his life.

Appearance

Meester Bas is a grey English bulldog with a white belly starting at his lower lip. He has short hair on his head and small black ears. He has one golden tooth. He is always seen wearing a black bow tie and wears big browline glasses. In his character design, and often throughout the episodes he is seen carrying a bendable pointing stick.

Alfred's middle ages version of Meester Bas from his imagination depicts him as a judge. He looks quite different from his non-dream counterpart. There is no golden tooth, he has long wild hairs on the sides of his head and a little moustache. He wears an elaborate red and yellow judges robe, a beaded necklace and no glasses. On his sash there are crosses visible on his character sheet, but not in the episode, where they are replaced with question marks. He also has dark circles around his eyes and the white of his belly now reaches to his nose. His character sheet, however, does not depict this version of Bas with any white.

Personality

Bas Buldog is a sensitive man who tries very hard to teach his students multiple subjects. What else is he going to do with all the knowledge, but pass it on? It bothers him if kids aren't able to learn well, be they dozing off or finding it hard to follow the lessons.

He is a man of equality, always making sure he pets all of his students the same way, especially when there are multiple siblings involved. In that sense he also finds it difficult when this equality isn't extended to him as well. While he usually isn't very keen on cats, he takes a liking to one Anton Snorman after he has retired. He felt like he was giving Anton some good company, when in fact Anton's fling coming was reason enough to ask Bas to leave early, which Bas didn't appreciate, as well as not receiving a cookie with his coffee.

He's a caring family man, who doesn't want to be alone. Even in his retirement he can't help but care for his grandchildren and help them with their homework.

The character Alfred Jodocus Kwak depicts him as in his daydream, is a loud and judgmental medieval judge, who would like nothing more than for everyone to fit the dominant social norm. For that reason he banished Alfred from Polderstad for having a mole father.

Storyline

Teacher in Polderstad

Meester Bas Buldog is an aging teacher at the Polderstad school where he teaches primary school students. He teaches many subjects, among which are history, math, and geography. He is nearing his retirement when Alfred Jodocus Kwak is a student of his, but is still discussing with himself whether or not he should retire early. However he cares too much about his students and he's afraid he'll feel lonely.

Meester Bas Buldog in the role of medieval judge during Alfred's dream.

Alfred's dream

During one of Meester Bas' lesson about the middle ages Alfred Jodocus Kwak starts dreaming away and imagines how it would be like during that period in Polderstad. Later on he imagines the people of the city deciding that being a duck having a mole as a father is preposterous enough to banish someone. Alfred imagines Dolf de Kraai, dressed in medieval garb, telling Bas Bulldog, who is dressed and acts like a medieval judge, what the situation is. This imagined version of Bas then tells Alfred he's banished from the city.

Retirement

He had a wife who passed away a while ago and had two daughters with her. One of them, Florance, married a doctor, Albert, who works and lives in Dor Hongerland with their twins, Basje and Bella. The other daughter, also called Bella, lives with four children at the far end of Polderstad Noord. When Bas eventually retires he is invited to live with her and her kids, her daughter requesting that he help them with their homework in exchange; Charley with history, Tommy with everything including physical education, Danny with staying on task, Woody perhaps with some sexual education as she thinks her husband Marcel should do that, however he has not been home for 13 months because he works at sea. He accepts graciously and doesn't regret it.

During the summer holiday, when his four grandkids don't need him for homework, he visits someone he met, Anton Snorman with whom he shares an obsession with books with and lives in Polderstad-West. On his way he borrows some books at the Polderstad Library, including the collected works of minstrel Kukeleku who was referenced in one of the books he had previously borrowed from the library. At the front desk he talks to the hare librarian, who he finds out is also called Bella, Bella Peper-Hazenbloot.. After arriving at the mansion of Anton Snormans they talk about how Anton directs Krab Nagel for voice-overs for Nijlrok Hap-in-slik-door and the works of minstrel Kukeleku.

Later that night Bas finds himself finding something to eat on the Oude Kerkstraat and walks into Politiek Eetcafé De Struisvogel. There he overhears his old students Dolf de Kraai, Hannes Snater and Wannes Snater having a private meeting about their idea for a Nationale Kraaienpartij. Meester Bas also likely sees an old weathered Schor de Kraai through the window outside, but doesn't recognize him. Bas decides to leave until Inspecteur Holmes de Hond enters and questions him, Dolf, Hannes and Wannes about Krabnagel de Kater. Afterwards both Holmes and Bas leave together to Polderstad Noord.

Family Tree

Buldog family tree

Bas Buldog

Bas Buldog's wife

Albert

Florence Buldog

Bella Buldog

Marcel

Basje Buldog

Bella Buldog

Charley Buldog

Tommy Buldog

Danny Buldog

Woody Buldog

Voice actors

Japanese	¦	???	¦	バート先生 (Bāto-sensei) Mister Bart
Dutch	¦	Jan Anne Drenth	¦	Meester Bas Buldog
German	¦	Stefan Wigger	¦	Herr Bas
English	¦	???	¦	Mister Bart Bulldog
Finnish	¦	???	¦	Perttu
Hungarian	¦	???	¦	Mr. Wart tanár

Appearances

TV Series

• Alfred J. Kwak Episode 4
  Alfred J. Kwak Episode 4
• Alfred J. Kwak Episode 5
  Alfred J. Kwak Episode 5
• Alfred J. Kwak Episode 6
  Alfred J. Kwak Episode 6
• Alfred J. Kwak Episode 8
  Alfred J. Kwak Episode 8

Books

• De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: Op school (1989) (Dutch)
  De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: Op school (1989) (Dutch)
• De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: Krab de kat (1989) (Dutch)
  De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: Krab de kat (1989) (Dutch)
• De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: Omnibus 2 (1989) (Dutch)
  De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: Omnibus 2 (1989) (Dutch)
• De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: De zeeverkenners (1990) (Dutch)
  De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: De zeeverkenners (1990) (Dutch)
• 
  Alfred J. Kwak Mijn avontuurlijke leven (1991) (Dutch)
• 
  Alfred J. Kwak Filmstripboek Deel 2 (2006) (Dutch)
• 
  De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: het grote voorleesboek (2010) (Dutch)

Production background

On the left behind Alfred is a background character that seems to have been taken from the same design as the Judge interpretation of Alfred's daydream.

Meester Bas was originally designed as a much smaller character, but at the point when the character sheet was developed, this characteristic was dropped. Meester Bas Buldog is called Bars Buldog on the character sheet which has the number 43/4 on it. It is unknown why his name changed. The character sheet depicting Alfred's daydream version of a medieval judge played by Bas Buldog also has the same name but with an added subtitle, "de Rechter" (lit. "the Judge"). Interestingly the simple shapes used to depict the characters' body structure is pretty different. In the judge's robes Bas has several Christian crosses that are changed to question marks in the series. The judge character sheet is numbered 43/4/A, indicating that despite the diffeent body structure this is an alternate version of 43/4. Both character sheets are dated May 1988.

In episode 5 a character in the background seems to take its character design also from judge Bas Buldog, even though that character is also in the same scene.

Meester Bas Buldog teaching a history class at the Polderstad primary school.