‘The Bob’s Burgers Movie’ Finally Answers One of Fans’ Biggest Questions

Pretty much since the show debuted more than a decade ago, Bob’s Burgers fans have been curious to know: What’s the deal with Louise’s bunny ears?

Louise, the youngest Belcher sibling, is never without her trademark pink bunny ear hat. Well, she was without it once, for part of one episode, and it was so traumatic for her that it spawned an iconic meme.

****Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS for The Bob’s Burgers Movie ahead!***

In the (what felt like an) eternity leading up to the release of The Bob’s Burgers Movie, creator Loren Bouchard revealed on Twitter that the film would reveal the origin of the ears. Now that the movie is out in theaters, the story is even sweeter than we could have imagined.

Early on in the movie, we learn that Bob and Linda gave Louise her bunny ears on her first day of preschool, to help her get through the day because she was so afraid. As we’ve seen time and time again on the show, Louise is intensely brave. She loves terrifying things—she thrives on fear. So while comforting, her reliance on her ears and her need for that comfort is a source of shame for her.

That shame is central to Louise’s arc in the movie, but it turns out her version of events isn’t exactly accurate. (Understandable, given that she was basically a toddler at the time.) She didn’t get the ears before her first day of school to get her through it; she got them after the first day, as a celebration of her bravery for facing that fear head-on.

Even more, we learn that Linda made the bunny ears and sewed them onto an existing hat that belonged to Bob’s mother—one that she, too, wore all the time, even in hot weather. Louise didn’t know her grandmother, but we’re told that the two were very similar, making her attachment to the hat extremely sweet, and Bob gets visibly emotional when telling all of this to Louise.

The relationship between Bob and Louise has always been deeply touching. The two are incredibly similar—sometimes maybe too similar, as we’ve seen in, say, the entire episode dedicated to Louise’s emulation of her father’s debilitating fear of public pooping. We see these similarities and the way they can manifest in the form of nervous attachments in the movie as well. We see it in the way Bob talks about his burgers, whispering because he’s afraid they’ll hear his criticism, reflected exactly in how Louise expresses her hope that her ears can’t hear her talking about them and the shame they evoke in her.

One of the strongest staples of Bob’s Burgers is the extreme bond between Gene and Linda, and for obvious reasons:

But the history of Louise’s most iconic accessory, as revealed by the new movie, puts a spotlight on her intense bond with Bob. It’s not a new component of the show, but it’s a quieter—yet still major—bit of the deep heart of this beloved franchise that’s always sweet to see brought to the forefront of this family’s stories.

(image: screencap)