Opening credits tell the audience a lot about the show they’re about to enjoy. Murder mysteries often have an orchestral arrangement, for example, while comedies have an upbeat tune or song playing. The cast or animated characters are prominently shown as the music plays, giving some background to the show. Animated shows, likeBob’s Burgers, take the audience on a journey by layering in elements of the primary setting for the show. InBob’s Burgers, the Belcher family lives in their apartment above their restaurant, sandwiched between a funeral home and another business that hasa punny namein every episode.
An upbeat tune and a burger dropping from the top of the screen into Bob’s hands opens the intro. Linda appears next to Bob and their children appear one by one as the restaurant comes forward. The funeral home and business next door appear on either side of the restaurant against a blank background. A street, telephone pole, sidewalk, and mailbox appear last before a car crash, fire, and rats occur around the Belcher’s. Each segment of the intro leads some fans to believe that, asThrillistexplains, Bob is a failed businessman who lost his family to three separate accidents. A fan on Reddit has even suggested that the first three episodes of season one support this theory. Though it’s worth noting that the creator of the show, Loren Bouchard, has confirmed the theory is simply a theory to Thrillist.
Layered Intro
While the burgers Bob creates are elaborate, the beginning of the intro shows a simple burger with five layers. Not including the sesame seed bun, the burger in the intro has pickles, tomatoes, a layer of lettuce, a slice of cheese, and a burger. The burger and its layers may represent a couple of clues for fans. First, the five burger layers can represent thestages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Even Bob’s family of five is representative of the five stages. Linda represents denial, Louise represents anger, Tina is bargaining, Bob can be considered as the depression stage, and Gene is acceptance.
A second possibility of the burger’s solo appearance could be representative of Bob waking up in the morning and reliving the grief of losing his family and failed businesses. Though sleep is studied more extensively than waking up from sleep, it’s possible one of the first things Bob thinks about is comfort food. According toBrains Way, people who suffer from depression may binge-eat to cope. It’s possible that through his failed businesses and the loss of his family, Bob indulges in burgers when feeling depressed.
Related:Bob’s Burgers Characters We Hope to See Return in Season 13
The Accidents
Once the Belcher family appears, a series of accidents occur, leading to the restaurant having a series of re-openings. The first accident shown is a kitchen fire, followed by a rat infestation, and concludes with a fallen telephone pole onto the restaurant. As these events happen, Bob and his family become blocked by an exterminator’s van and as the final accident occurs, the camera closes in on the Re-Re-Re-Opening banner on the restaurant. Reddit theorizes that each accident is symbolic of each of Bob and Linda’s children dying from youngest to oldest. Louise, the youngest, supposedly died in a fire. Gene was theorized to have died due to a prank gone wrong; he caught rats to release into the restaurant, but a rat bit him and the sore became infected. Finally, Tina supposedly died by electrocution. In the series, Louise loves fires, Gene makes inappropriate jokes, and Tina played Topsy the Elephant, who was electrocuted by scientist Thomas Edison. Yet to add to the tragic accidents is that Bob opens the restaurant after Linda dies as a means of providing for his children.
Related:Bob’s Burgers: 13 Times Mediocrity Is Acceptable
Punny Business
Though the sequence of the intro remains the same, two elements change in every episode. Between the rat infestation and the telephone pole crashing into the apartment, an exterminator’s van drives up in front of the restaurant, blocking the Belcher family. Each van is the same design, but the van’s color changes. Although, the more apparent change is the name of the exterminator business servicing the restaurant. Bob’s Burgers is sandwiched between a funeral home, operated by a regular of his named Mort, and another business. While the building color remains the same, the business changes due to each episode.
As the fan theory suggests, Bob is a failed restaurant owner. The ever-changing name of the vacant building next door suggests these are Bob’s failed business ventures. Additionally, both the exterminator and vacant building names are puns. In the show, each of Bob’s burgers of the day are puns as are his turkey preparation for Thanksgiving. One of the failed businesses, for example, is Rude A-Bake-Ening: Cake For People You Hate. More of these pun-inspired businesses can be found in this list article byInverse.
Reddit Theory
A fan theory on Reddit goes much deeper than the intro for their theory. According to their thread, episodes 1-3 of the first season give solid proof for their theory. During the first episode, health inspectors Hugo and Ron show up to the restaurant due to a rumor started by Louise that they use human flesh in their burgers. Hugo, as it turns out, is Linda’s ex-fiance. The fan theory suggests that Hugo blames Bob for Linda’s death. In the first episode, Hugo spends most of the episode angry at Bob for stealing Linda. During the second episode, Bob finds himself trapped in the walls of the apartment while trying to avoid his in-laws, which is where Teddy is introduced. His avoidance of his in-laws, as well as Teddy, are a common theme in the show.
The purpose of the second episode in the fan theory is that Teddy and Mort are helping Bob run the restaurant and cope with the death of his family. Finally, in the third episode, Bob meets Randy, a vegan documentarian who places a cow named Moolissa outside the restaurant. As the theory explains, the episode outlines Bob’s guilt in remembering the death of his family.
