Making Bob's Ads: A Labyrinth Of Studios, Props ... And Little Bob

MANCHESTER, CT — The commercials for the Bob's Discount Furniture empire seem to be omnipresent, but hidden inside the showroom next to the company's Manchester headquarters is a complex maze of studios, props and even creative minds that left Hollywood itself to try the business sector.

And, of course, there is Little Bob himself.

To commemorate National Day of Puppetry on April 22, officials at Manchester-based Bob's Discount Furniture offered Patch an in-depth look at the inner sanctum and the makings of all those commercials.

At the height of its activity over the past two decades, Bob's produced abut 1,200 ads annually out of its in-house facilities and it is at least in the hundreds to this day, Bob's Creative Adviser Michael Bannon said.

Wait ... did he say in-house?

Yes, he did.

A walk through Bob's showroom adjacent to the Tolland Turnpike headquarters looks like all the other stores in the chain with a fun staff, extensive displays and free cookies. There is also Bob's "pit," where furniture with small scratches is sold at a higher discount.

"But watch this," Bannon said said as he sauntered over to a corner door.

Behind it was a maze of hallways and stairwells that are the portal to another dimension — the place where those commercials are made. Prop builders, animation experts, sound technicians and furniture movers all team up to make them happen. It's been happening in-house since 1993.

"We do everything the old-fashioned way — frame-by-frame," Bannon said. "We can go from concept to media without leaving here."

The "Real Bob," company founder and figurehead Bob Kaufman, was never going to get recruited to play center on the basketball court. Little Bob, the new star of the shows whom Bannon joked was always "Bob's retirement plan," casts a large shadow in the world of animation and puppetry, CGI expert Dan Driscoll said Little Bob is 2-feet tall, about twice the size as typical puppet that is about to become an animated character.

Driscoll was holding a box with a collection of Little Bob mouths, a prop used often to change facial expressions for the frame-by frame approach. He also has near him several replaceable limbs to show off Bob's movement.

In another room, Jesse Gurtowski had Little Bob in front of a green screen, ready to bring him to life.

"That's the key," Bannon said. "Little Bob is not a gecko, he's a part of our lives that is actually believable. We have him on a coach, on a bed, in a dining room ... Little Bob is believable. He exists in the same environment as we do. Unlike Sponge Bob who lives in a pineapple under the sea, Little Bob on a sofa is real."

Psst ... there's more than one Little Bob.

Over in the fabrication studio, Sarah Klotzer, who is actually a Manchester native, and Jason Fitzgerald, who came to Connecticut from Los Angeles to work at Bob's, show off how he comes to life from a bare torso to the many looks he has in commercials, albeit in his traditional yellow golf shirt.

Fitzgerald offered a guess as to what motivated him to give up good West Coast tacos and come East.

"Little Bob is unique in the animation world," he said.

But is it the same as Real Bob?

"Yes ... Bob was Bob and lived his life in these commercials," Bannon said. "But we also have to understand that every company that has a figurehead — Bob's, KFC, Wendys, etcetera — faces the inevitable replacement of the person,:" Bannon said. "With Little Bob, what we present can live on in perpetuity."