Theme music composer Elliot Lawrence Original language(s) English Music by Elliot Lawrence Distributed by NBC, Embassy Pictures | Country of origin United States Director Mordicai Gerstein Produced by Buzz Potamkin | |
Created by Stan and Jan Berenstain Written by Stan and Jan Berenstain Directed by Mordicai Gerstein
Al Kouzel Preceded by The Berenstain Bears' Comic Valentine (1982) Similar The Berenstain Bears' Ea, The Berenstain Bears Me, The Berenstain Bears' Ch, The Man Who Walked B, Cartoon All‑Stars to the Rescue | ||
The berenstain bears play ball
The Berenstain Bears Play Ball is a baseball-themed animated television special based on the Berenstain Bears children's book series by Stan and Jan Berenstain. Produced by Buzz Potamkin and directed by Mordicai Gerstein and Al Kouzel, the program made its debut on NBC on May 6, 1983.
Contents
Development
Stan and Jan Berenstain's first animated holiday special aired on NBC in December 1979. The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree was the first of five annual animated specials that would air on NBC, produced by Joe Cates and the Joseph Cates Production Company. The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw was the second in this series.
The Berenstains utilized rhyming couplets in the script - for both the narrator and the character dialogue. This element had also been used in the Christmas Tree special and was familiar to audiences since a similar type of writing was used in the Berenstain Bears Beginner Books series.
Production and casting
The 25-minute special was created and written by Stan and Jan Berenstain and featured original music composed and conducted by Emmy-winning musician Elliot Lawrence, with lyrics provided by Stan Berenstain. The score included three original songs: ."
The special starred Ron McLarty, Gabriela Glatzer, Jonathan Lewis, and Pat Lysinger as Papa, Sister, Brother, and Mama Bear, respectively. McLarty also doubled as the show's narrator. All four actors were reprising their vocal roles from The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree. Bob Kaliban was the voice of Bigpaw.
It was the last of five Berenstain Bears animated specials that aired on NBC from 1979 to 1983. Some of the production staff would continue to work on the next adaptation: The Berenstain Bears Show. This includes Joe Cates and Buzz Potamkin. 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 program is now produced by Southern Star with new voice actors.
Premiere
The program premiered on NBC on Thursday.
Plot
Papa Q. Bear wants more than golden honey to have one of his cubs play baseball. Brother has no interest, while Sister goes unnoticed.
Home media releases
In 1984, Embassy Home Entertainment released the special on LaserDisc as a double-feature with The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree, called "A Berenstain Bears Celebration." In 1987, the special was made available on VHS by Embassy Home Entertainment as part of their Children's Treasures series. In 1989, the special was distributed on VHS by Kids Klassics. The special was re-released in 1992 by GoodTimes Home Video, in a double-feature with The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree. In 2002, the special was released on DVD by GoodTimes, also in a double-feature with The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree.