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The Berenstain Bears (1985 TV series)

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This article is about the 1985 series. For the 2002 series, see The Berenstain Bears (2002 TV series). For other uses, see Berenstain Bears (disambiguation).
The Berenstain Bears
The main shot from the opening, showing all four main characters.
GenreChildren's series
Comedy
Based onBerenstain Bears by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Developed byJoe Cates
Directed byBuzz Potamkin
Creative directorChris Cuddington
Voices of
Opening theme"We Are The Berenstain Bears"
Ending theme"We Are The Berenstain Bears" (instrumental)
ComposerElliot Lawrence
Country of originAustralia
United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes26 (list of episodes)
Production
ProducerBuzz Potamkin
EditorRobert Ciaglia
Running time22 minutes
Production companiesThe Joseph Cates Company
Southern Star/Hanna-Barbera Australia
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseSeptember 14, 1985 (1985-09-14) –
December 6, 1986 (1986-12-06)
Related

The Berenstain Bears Show (also known as "The Berenstain Bears") is an animated children's television series based on the children's book series of the same name by Stan and Jan Berenstain, produced by Southern Star/Hanna-Barbera Australia.[1] It aired in the United States from September 14, 1985, to December 6, 1986[2] on CBS with 26 half-hour episodes (or 52 11-minute shorts) produced. Reruns of the show would continue to air on the network until September 5, 1987.[3] 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.

A second Berenstain Bears series aired on Treehouse TV from 2002 to 2003 and on PBS Kids from 2003 to 2004, but animated in Toronto.

Plot

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The series is set in a forested land populated only by anthropomorphic bears and primarily centers around the Berenstain Bears. The Berenstain Bears are a family residing in the rural community of Bear Country. The family consists of Mama Bear, Papa Q. 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 (siblings).

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, Cousin Fred, and Grizzly Gramps & Gran.

Characters also added are Officer Marguerete, Scout Leader Jane, Lizzy Bruin, Queen Nectar, and Old Jake the Catfish (Queen Nectar and Jake are not bears, but they do talk and interact with the cubs).

The main antagonists of the series are the "swindler" con artist Raffish Ralph and occasionally Weasel McGreed, seen in six episodes. To a lesser extent, Too-Tall Grizzly is another antagonist, serving as the school bully.

Other episodes involve "The Bear Detectives" and their sniffer hound Snuff, Papa Q. Bear's attempts of honey collecting, interaction with forest animals, and attempts by Weasel McGreed to take over Bear Country.

Episodes

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Main article: List of The Berenstain Bears (1985 TV series) episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally released
First releasedLast released
113September 14, 1985 (1985-09-14)December 7, 1985 (1985-12-07)
213September 13, 1986 (1986-09-13)December 6, 1986 (1986-12-06)

Voice cast

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  • Brian Cummings as Papa Q. Bear, Actual Factual, Bigpaw, Horace J. Honeypot, Too-Tall, additional voices
  • Ruth Buzzi as Mama Bear, Grizzly Gran, Scout Leader Jane, Queen Nectar, Teacher Jane, additional voices
  • David Mendenhall as Brother Bear
  • Christina Lange as Sister Bear
  • Marissa Mendenhall as Lizzy Bruin, additional voices
  • Josh Rodine as Cousin Fred
  • John Stephenson as Bill Bunny
  • Frank Welker as Raffish Ralph, Weasel McGreed, Grizzly Gramps, Farmer Ben, Mr. Skunk, additional voices

Production

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From 1979 to 1983, The Berenstain Bears made their first television introduction on a series of holiday specials that aired on NBC. The specials were created and written by Stan & Jan Berenstain, produced by Joe Cates, and directed by Buzz Potamkin. They continued to make one holiday special each year for five years.

After the release of The Berenstain Bears Play Ball, the team began developing a TV series based on the books and to a lesser extent, the same TV specials produced. Joe Cates and Buzz Potamkin produced this TV series as well and Elliott Lawrence continuing to score music for the episodes which were based on his compositions from the five specials, but in a faster tempo. Some of the production staff who worked on the specials would continue to help out on the show's development. In addition to creating the original books, Stan and Jan Berenstain were producers on the show, and wrote some of the scripts.[4]

Since Joe Cates was responsible for contracting NBC to fund the TV specials, he tried to pitch the show to the network, but his efforts would be ineffective due to a change in network leadership at the time. However, CBS got interested in the project and would soon struck a deal to pick up the series for a first 13-episode season as an attempt to lure a new audience for their Saturday morning "Kids Just Wanna Have Fun" lineup.

In addition to adapting existing works, CBS executives wanted the series to have an original story tied in to the episodes. Rumoredly, some of the pre-existing episodes that were planned (mainly the adaptation of the books "Too Much TV" and "Too Much Junk Food") were turned down by the executives because of unhealthy eating. This actually frustrated Stan and Jan Berenstain, although many of the original segments would end up being turned into books.[5]

The program was produced by Southern Star Productions/Hanna-Barbera Australia with new voice actors. The characters no longer talk in rhyme, and the TV series has an updated appearance, no longer carrying the rustic design of the earliest books. The series expanded tremendously on Bear Country which includes many characters and landmarks as well as the economy and government. As a result, the episodes have faster timing, and the characters seem much busier compared with the TV specials. The stories are now told without a narrator and are 11–12 minutes in length.

One of the major focuses on the program was Papa Bear as the comic relief, more so than he was in the books. Stan Berenstain was not a fan of this, explaining that Papa Bear came off as a "selfish, bumbling idiot." He was more complimentary of the way Papa Bear was portrayed in the 2002 TV series.

Some of the characters that were introduced on the TV series, such as Raffish Ralph, would be featured in future books.

Broadcast

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The show aired briefly on TLC's Ready Set Learn! block from November 2, 1998[6] to January 8, 1999, when a contract dispute forced TLC to pull the show off the schedule.[citation needed]

During the early-mid 2000s, reruns were later seen on DIC Kids Network syndicated programming block which primarily aired on some stations of FOX, the also now-defunct UPN, and The WB, but the episodes were edited and time-compressed by DIC (now as "WildBrain"), The series never been seen on American television since 2008.

In Australia, where Southern Star is based in, the series was aired on Network Ten.

Home media releases

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A few episodes were released on VHS and DVD from various home entertainment labels, such as Random House Home Video, Goldstar Video, Feature Films for Families and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly known as "Columbia-Tristar Home Video"), albeit with slight alterations (such as an alternate design for the episode title cards).

All of the episodes are available to watch for free on YouTube via the official Berenstain Bears channel, though with varied video quality.

References

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  1. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 77–78. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  2. ^ US Copyright Office Registration No. PA0000898325 / 1998-09-14
  3. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 133–134. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  4. ^ Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 57. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  5. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 133–134. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  6. ^ Cox, Ted (November 2, 1998). "In the Air". Daily Herald. Arlington Heights, Illinois. p. 6. Retrieved September 16, 2024 – via ProQuest.
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