“Bossy Bear,” a new Korean American animated series premieres on Nickelodeon

Bossy Bear and Turtle, besties in the new Nickelodeon animated series, Bossy Bear.

Set in the city of Pleasantburg, a suburban version of the many Koreatowns across the United States, Nickelodeon’s new animated series Bossy Bear is about Bossy Bear and Turtle, two unlikely best friends who are total opposites yet inseparable and emotionally in sync. These two characters represent the duality of what it means to be both Korean and American, and the show follows them on their hilarious and crazy adventures as they learn valuable lessons along the way. Perhaps the first of its kind, the show highlights Korean foods like japchae, bingsu, tteok and kimchi, Korean holidays like Seollal (Korean New Year), K-pop music, and other aspects of traditional Korean culture. The 30-episode series also features Korean words and phrases that aren’t translated to English when the context is enough to explain the meaning for non-Korean language-speaking viewers.

Turtle and his Gran Gran make cabbage mandu for Turtle’s classmates to try.

Bossy Bear is a show that encourages Korean American kids to connect with their Korean heritage, and it exposes others to Korean culture in a positive and educational way. In one episode, “Show and Smell,” Turtle has a nightmare that he gets bullied at school because his classmates don’t like the smell of his Gran Gran’s cabbage mandu. This episode is one many Asian Americans can relate to, as most of us have had our fair share of bullying related to our home-prepped school lunches. Our food is a great source of pride but it also elicits teasing and misunderstanding, especially from young kids who may not have been exposed to other foods outside of their own. In this episode, Turtle brought his Gran Gran’s mandu to school and what ensued was a solid lesson on shaming, bullying, teamwork, and cultural pride.

Nickelodeon was thoughtful and intentional with the show’s casting. Three young Korean American actors voice the characters of Bossy, Turtle, and Bissy.

Jayden Ham is the voice of Bossy, an extroverted bear whose big imagination and endless enthusiasm sometimes find him in hilarious and unexpected situations. Jayden was quick to point out that Bossy Bear is unique and different than other shows, “With Bossy Bear, there’s always a different story. There’s always a new lesson for kids to learn. They also learn a lot about Korean culture like foods, toys, K-pop… it’s good to get them into K-pop at a young age.”

Jaba Keh is the voice of Turtle, Bossy’s introverted, patient, pure-hearted, and empathetic best friend who tends to be the voice of reason. Speaking of the “Show and Smell” episode, “I think it’s such a great episode and it’s a great way to be representing Korean foods,” Jaba said. “I’ve never had a bad experience bringing Korean or Asian food to school. But I know that when my parents were kids, they had negative comments toward what they were eating.”

Viva Lee is the voice of Bissy, Bossy’s older sister who thinks she knows everything about being an adult, can play an okay keytar, and is an aspiring K-pop star. Speaking of Asian representation and the lessons taught on the show, Viva said, “I get to grow up and see people who talk about issues that Asian Americans face. Not all people struggle with the same things and not all people know what it’s like to be called slurs or to have been made fun of because of something that’s part of their culture. Now that Bossy Bear is a thing and other shows like it, differences can be normalized, accepted, and celebrated.”

Hoping that audiences learn as much as they are entertained, Viva says, “I hope the takeaway from the show is that there’s beauty in differences and that not being the same is kinda fun, it’s cool. You don’t want to live in a world where it’s all the same people like robots. You want connectivity, you want colors, you want brightness and energy!”

Bossy Bear premieres on Monday, March 6th at 11am (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon, and new episodes will air every day Monday - Thursday for the month of March. The series will launch on Nick Jr. internationally later this year.

Bossy Bear was created by David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim. The show was produced by Nickelodeon in partnership with Imagine Kids+Family. Chil Kong served as consulting producer.

Parts of this interview have been edited for clarity.