The FOX animated series, Bob's Burgers, became popular among fans for its witty and developed character study of a lower-middle class family running a burger restaurant. It seemed like a simple concept, but, the unique personalities of each individual character paired with their hysterical mishaps in their seaside community make for an instant hit. And the show’s creator Loren Bouchard thinks he’s put a finger on why it is so successful. It’s all about the music.
The Emmy Award-winning series has an incredible knack for placing musical numbers seamlessly into the plots of episode. You can always count on Gene, the enthusiastic 11-year-old brother, to whip out his keyboard and impress us with his silly yet skillful musical capabilities. His mother, Linda is also known to spontaneously break out into song even while completing mundane daily tasks (like brushing her hair). But while Gene and Linda are the more regular songbirds, musical numbers are never necessarily limited to them, and every member of the Belcher family has gotten a piece of the action. To Bouchard, these musical numbers are the main reason the show is so successful.
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bouchard explained that the idea of pairing animation and music together is a classic formula for success. From The Muppet Show to Sesame Street and Disney movies, it’s proven to be the perfect pair, and Bouchard thinks it’s all because of science. The way that music enters our brains in a different way, he believes animation does as well:
...I'm starting to suspect that when you like a character that's animated, it goes in a little deeper and might light up some of the same parts of your brain that music does. So in a way I think we're doubling the potency of our formula. Maybe unconsciously without really thinking about it. When we started adding music to Bob’s — which we pretty much wanted to do from the beginning — we were figuring out ways to make this chemical compound stronger, if that makes sense.
Whether or not there is a true science behind viewing Bob’s Burgers the style of the show is undoubtedly working. Some of the more memorable moments from the show are the musical numbers. One I fondly remember off the top of my end is Gene’s "Fart Song":
Bob’s Burgers returns to FOX for its midseason premiere tonight at 7:30 pm ET, so we can take a peek at what new musical moments the creators have up their sleeves this time around.
