7 /10 1 Votes
| 7.1/10 IMDb Developed by Joe Cates First episode date 14 September 1985 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Written by Stan and Jan BerenstainEarl KressRowby GorenBill Shinkai Cast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Berenstain Bears Show is an Australian-American animated comedy television series based on Stan and Jan Berenstain's Berenstain Bears children's book series, produced by Hanna-Barbera and Southern Star Productions.
Contents
It aired on the United States from September 14, 1985 until March 7, 1987 on CBS with over 52 11-minute episodes in 26 half-hour shows produced. Each show consisted of two episodes, the first being an adaptation of one of the books, the second being an original story.
The series was nominated in 1987 for a Daytime Emmy award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming; it was also nominated that year for a Humanitas Prize in the category of Non-Prime Time Children's Animated Show.
Availability
Reruns aired briefly on TLC's Ready Set Learn block from September 28 to November 13, 1998 when a contract dispute forced TLC to pull the show off the schedule. During the early 2000s, reruns were later seen as part of a syndicated kids' programming block from now-defunct DiC Entertainment which primarily aired on some stations of FOX and the also now-defunct UPN, but the episodes were edited and time-compressed by DiC. The series has not been seen on American television since 2006 and it is not mentioned on The Berenstain Bears website.
A few episodes were available on VHS, but the opening title as well as the title cards were changed. The introduction scene showing highlights from the episodes was removed. The opening title shot was flipped (The Bear Family now runs in the opposite direction). The opening title was previously accompanied with the caption: "The Berenstain Bears Show: Created By Stan & Jan Berenstain," which was removed entirely. The episode title cards were originally dark green with a round portrait in a wooden frame. The title cards on the VHS releases instead use part of the main title sequence. The end credits now scroll and the end music is sped up. The 2009 DVD releases use the edited versions of the episodes that have previously been released on VHS, but use unedited versions of episodes not previously released on VHS.
Plot
The series tells the story of a bear family that lives in a tree, the bears are just like humans. The family consists of Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Brother Bear, and Sister Bear. The series teaches lessons, continues from the TV specials, and expands Bear Country as well as character development. Each episode follows the struggles of the family, mainly the cubs. Other episodes involve "The Bear Detectives and their sniffer hound Snuff", Papa Q. Bear's attempts of honey gathering, interaction with forest creatures, and attempts by villains to take over Bear Country. It states that Brother Bear is in 2nd grade then in 3rd Grade while Sister Bear is in kindergarten then in 1st grade.
The characters and setting are from various books written by Stan & Jan Berenstain as well as from several television specials by Joe Cates.
Other characters are Actual Factual, Big Paw, Mayor Horace J. Honeypot, Farmer Ben, and Grizzly Gramps & Gran. Characters also introduced are Officer Marguerete, Queen Nectar, and Jake. Queen Nectar and Jake are neither bears nor antromorphic but they do talk and interact with the humanoid bears. Sister Bear plays with many of the forest animals such as Frog & Butterfly. There are many other background characters that live in the nearby forest land; The Bears live among the forest and nature just as they did in the television specials.
The main antagonist of the series is the swindler Raffish Ralph, and occasionally Weasel McGreed, seen in six episodes. To a lesser extent, Too Tall Grizzly is another antagonist.
Production
Stan & Jan contracted with independent producer Joe Cates in 1979 to make a Christmas Special. They continued to make one holiday special each year for five years. They stopped making holiday specials after "The Berenstain Bears Play Ball" and began making a TV series based on the books and to a lesser extent, the same TV specials produced. Joe Cates and Buzz Potamkin produce this TV series as well. Elliott Lawrence continues to score music for the episodes which are based on his compositions from the five specials, although faster pace. While they no longer break out in song, the theme music (matching part of Stars and Stripes Forever) resembles the song lyrics from the specials. The programme is now produced by Southern Star with new voice actors. The characters no longer talk in rhyme, and the TV series has the updated appearance and no longer has the rustic design of the earliest books. This TV series expanded tremendously of Bear Country which includes many characters, economy, and government. As a result, the episodes have a faster timing and the characters seem much busier compared with the TV specials. The stories are now told without narrator and are 11 minutes in length. The Bear Family had complex patterns on their clothes which were changed to solid colours for the animated specials, with the exception of Mama Bear's inside hat. The TV series omitted the spots entirely, but Mama's yellow "Go And Meet" hat was featured in a "Ghost Of The Forest" adaptation. Also it should be noted that "Ghost Of The Forest" resembles a Halloween special, but it is a regular episode.