Bosko's Bubbles Bonanza Trivia Quiz

Answer: Looney Tunes

The Looney Tunes cartoon series was produced by Warner Bros. and was shown in many movie theatres from 1930 through 1969. 'Sinkin' in the Bathtub' was the very first one. Although the cartoon does not feature any of the Looney Tunes characters who rose to fame in later years, the classic Warner Bros. sense of humour is evident. If you're a Looney Tunes fan, it's well worth checking out.

Answer: Soap

The painting in question was originally titled 'A Child's World', but is now often known as 'Bubbles', because it has become so closely associated with the A&F Pears soap advertising campaign. Millais used his grandson William James as the model, and the original intention of the work was to make a commentary on the fragility of life.

As an adult, William James rose to the rank of Admiral in the British navy, but his image in the soap advertising campaign was so widely recognised that for the rest of his life he was known by the nickname Bubbles.

Answer: Castille soap, liquid glycerine, distilled water and essential oils

The favoured soap for use in bubble bath is castille soap, though there are other alternatives. For a great bubble bath, grate a bar of castille soap (115g), mix it with 125ml of liquid glycerine, a litre of water and your favourite essential oils. For a cheering and energising combination, try a mixture of orange, grapefruit and lemon oils.

Answer: Macbeth

As many of you may have known, this quote comes from the famous Scene I, Act IV of "Macbeth" which features the three witches. Although one would be reluctant to call it a theme, this is not the only time bubbles are referred to in this play. In Act I, after the witches vanish, Banquo says: 'The earth hath bubbles, as the water has; And these are of them. Whither are they vanish'd?'

Answer: The Marangoni Effect

The Marangoni Effect (also known as the Marangoni-Gibbs Effect) refers to liquids, and describes the role that differences in surface tension have on mass transfer. According to this theory, adding soap to water allows us to blow better bubbles not because it strengthens the bubbles but because it stabilises them.

The other answers were all famous physics theories: Newton's Third Law states that 'For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction'; the Doppler Effect describes the change in wavelength of a wave for an observer moving relative to the source of the wave; the Lorentz Transformation describes how mass, length and time change for an object in motion.

Answer: A droplet of liquid surrounded by a thin film of gas

As the name suggests, antibubbles are the opposite of bubbles. An antibubble is not simply a bubble of air in a liquid. A true antibubble is liquid, surrounded by a thin film of gas, surrounded by liquid. You can spot the difference because an air bubble will rise quickly to the surface of the liquid in which it is submerged, whereas an antibubble will take a long time to surface.

Answer: Light years

For the last five to ten million years, our solar system has been travelling through an old superbubble known as the Local Bubble. Scientists believe the Local Bubble is the remains of the supernova Geminga.

Answer: Elephant

Tai the Asian Elephant, who weighed over 8,800lbs and stood over 8.5ft tall, was the animal in question. The event was delayed by animal rights protesters, but was eventually rescheduled and held at an invitation-only venue. There are some great photos of the 'enbubbling' that show Tai being enveloped by enormous bubbles and, apparently, rather enjoying the experience.

Answer: Pretty bubbles in the air.

The song in question, 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles', was first performed as part of the Broadway musical 'The Passing Show of 1918', in 1918. Helen Carrington was the person who sang the number, but also amongst the cast of the show was a young Fred Astaire.

Answer: Gave up bubble blowing when she had children because she thought it set a bad example

Sadly, Susan Montgomery Williams died in 2008, but by all accounts her passion for bubblegum lasted her entire life. Although the size of the bubbles she managed to blow gained her much attention on various international television programmes, the sound she made with her gum actually got her into trouble. Twice she was landed in court for making incredibly loud cracking noises with her gum - once at a concert and once in a courthouse hallway outside the room where a murder trial was being conducted.

Answer: Champagne

All of these drinks are French classics. Champagne, a name which refers to the wine-making region of France where all true champagnes are produced, is not a sparkling wine when it is first bottled. The base wine, or cuvee, is bottled along with a mixture of yeast and sugar.

A secondary fermentation then takes place inside the bottle and this is what produces the bubbles. The bubbles are such a defining feature of the drink that champagne has earned the nickname 'bubbly'.

Answer: Effervesce

While there are a number of words that make excellent synonyms for the verb 'bubble', I am yet to find a word that is a really good synonym for the word when used as a noun. Who needs more options when the word you have fits the bill so well? The word bubble is first known to have existed in English in 1398. According to the 'Online Etymology Dictionary', it is thought to have been an onomatopoeic modification of the Middle Dutch word bobble (noun) and/or the Middle Low German bubbeln (verb).

Answer: Bubble and squeak

Bubble and squeak is an English dish which sometimes goes under other names (bubble, bubble and scrape, and fry up are some examples). Essentially, it is a combination of the leftovers from the previous night's roast dinner mixed together and pan fried until crispy on both sides. Potatoes and cabbage are commonly part of the mixture, but it can be made from whatever is on hand. Legend has it that the name was coined because of the sound the food makes as it fries.

The other options are all foods, too. I assume everyone is familiar with bubblegum, but the other two may be unfamiliar to some of you. Bubble tea originated in Taiwan, but has become popular in many places. It is sweetened tapioca served in tea of various kinds. Bubble O'Bill is an ice-cream shaped as a cowboy's face and featuring a bubblegum ball for his nose. Today, Australia is the home of Bubble O'Bill, though they are not as readily available as they were during the 1980s.

Answer: 'Bubbles', a 1966 film subtitled 'Attack of the Killer Goldfish'

It might sound hard to believe, but apart from the film I invented, these are all real movies! For his 1966 film 'The Bubble', director Arch Oboler developed a 3D technique known as Spacevision which is clearly the real point of the film, since the plot is virtually non-existent! In 2006 Steven Soderbergh directed a film called 'Bubble' which had an outline written, but which required all the actors to improvise their lines.

This was the first of six films that Soderbergh had plans to create in the same manner. Eytan Fox is director and co-writer of the 2006 film 'The Bubble'.

The film's plot begins when an Israeli soldier and a Palestinian man meet at a checkpoint and ends ... well, I don't want to give too much away, but it ends with a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.

Answer: A chimpanzee

Yes, that's right, Michael Jackson and his chimpanzee Bubbles appeared at awards ceremonies in matching outfits and made headlines (at least in the gossip columns). Bubbles sat in on some of Jackson's recording sessions, had a personal assistant, and is even rumoured to have had his own bodyguard.

What a wonderful world of bubbles! I hope you enjoyed the journey.