8 unforgettable quotes from the greatest Hungarian doctor, Dr Bubó

If you grew up in the 1970s-1980s, you’ve probably heard about Dr Bubó, the main character of the favourite Hungarian cartoon of the era. He was the beloved owl-doctor of the Hungarian youth (maybe parents were even bigger fans), who provided useful advice. Let’s see some of his most memorable sayings 🙂

We’d like to start with a brief overview of the cartoon for those who haven’t heard about it. According to magyarorszagom.hu, Dr Bubó is an owl, who is also a doctor of excellent qualification. His consulting room is found in the hole of an oak tree, where he and his assistant, Nurse Ursula, welcome the ill animals of the forest.

The animals usually turn to the doctor with serious psychological issues: the elephant suffers from inferiority complex, the flea is megalomaniac, the goose is hypochondriac, the dear is woozily jealous, the pig is drunken, the hypo is woozily greedy etc.

Dr Bubó, Beak Master and Ursula – Photo: www.youtube.com

The doctor tries to cure all of them, but he usually misunderstands the problem. The mistaken psychological diagnoses and treatments, and the witty dialogues make the cartoon lovely and funny.

Besides the humorous word-plays, the success of the cartoon probably lies in the fact that viewers could identify with the creative caricatures of negative personality traits.

Moreover, Bubó frequently attempts to help his old friend, Falcon Csőrmester (Beak Master) – the sergeant of police in the forest – because he is convinced that the crimes are rooted in psychologic reasons, but his theories turn out crabs similarly to his treatments.

The episodes end with the doctor’s wise sayings, who sums up the given case, and he usually attributes them to his onetime university professors. So finally, let’s see some memorable quotes from Dr Bubó:

“Don’t be scared to diagnose any disease, the patient will catch it sooner or later”
“Keep in mind: a strong body is even capable of overcoming health”
“Psychiatrists make the biggest mistake in case they don’t diagnose anything”
“Never reduce fever so much that the patient gets cold”
“Don’t spread an infection just so you have something to cure”
“A short-sighted politician will always beat his opponent provided that the opponent is blind”
“If you’d like to practice amputation, do it on a centipede”
“The best treatment for certain diseases is to keep the doctor away”

Fortunately, we found an episode on YouTube with English subtitles, so that you can get to know the most famous Hungarian doctor, or take a nostalgic ride back to your childhood 😉