Berenstain Bears

The Berenstain Bears are a fictional family of anthropomorphic bears created by Stan and Jan Berenstain in a series of very popular children's books.

The popularity of the books subsequently spawned numerous child-friendly television shows and computer games.

The family consists of Papa Bear, the woodworker father; Mama Bear, his homemaker wife; and their three children: Brother Bear, Sister Bear, and Honey Bear.

Stories are set in Bear Country, a society composed entirely of bears. Story lines typically follow the Bear family as they deal with topics relevant to both children and parents.

Each Bear's role in the family was well defined. Brother, being the oldest sibling, was controlling and protective of Sister while also being more cautious in his manner. Sister, being the younger sibling, was more laid-back, energetic and free spirited. Mama typically was the source of wisdom and knowledge. Papa, while also being wise at times, was more bumbling and clumsy in his demeanor.

Inspiration

The inspiration for the characters came when the Berenstains' sons, Leo and Mike, were learning to read, and their parents decided to try their hands at creating children's books themselves. This book became "The Big Honey Hunt", which was published in 1962 by Dr. Seuss's Beginner Books imprint.

Evolution of characters

The bear family in "The Big Honey Hunt" consisted of Mama Bear, Papa Bear, and son Small Bear (later Brother Bear). They began their own line of books about the bears in 1974 with "The Berenstain Bears and the New Baby" which added daughter Sister Bear to the family and changed Small Bear's name to Brother Bear. In 2000, baby sister Honey was introduced with "The Berenstain Bears and Baby Makes Five," after having dealt with Mama Bear's pregnancy in the previous book "The Birds, the Bees, and the Berenstain Bears". Between the two books, there was a contest for readers to name the baby.

upporting characters

*Too-Tall Grizzly, the school bully
*Queenie McBear, Too-Tall's on-and-off girlfriend and friend of Brother and Sister
*Fred Bear, Brother and Sister's cousin and friend
*Lizzy Bruin, One of Sister's best friends
*Bonnie Brown, Originally introduced in the Big Chapter Book series, she is a part-time model who attends Bear Country School and becomes friends with Brother and Sister and at times the love interest of Brother's and vice versa.
*Raffish Ralph, a Bear Country crook, typically working as a con man, who also goes by the name Ralph Ripoff
*Professor Actual Factual Bear, runs the Bearsonian Institution
*Farmer Ben, local farmer, neighbor, and family friend
*Mrs. Ben, Farmer Ben's wife
*Grizzly Gramps and Gran, Papa Bear's parents
*Mayor Honeypot, The mayor of Bear Country, known for numerous spoonerisms.

Berenstain Bears media

Books

Over 300 Berenstain Bears books have been published since the 1960s.

Television

The Berenstain Bears have appeared in three animated series.

Original series

The following NBC Holiday specials were produced in the late 1970s and early 1980s:

* "The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree" (1979)
* "The Berenstain Bears Meet Big Paw" (1980)
* "The Berenstain Bears' Easter Surprise" (1981)
* "The Berenstain Bears' Valentine Special" (1982)
* "The Berenstain Bears' Littlest Leaguer" (1983)

1985 series

This series was produced by Southern Star Productions in 1985, and featured two 11-minute stories per episode. While the first story to be shown was usually an adaptation of one of the books, a new story would make up the second half of the program. Some of these new stories prominently featured a villain in the form of Archweasle McGreed, who was out "to take over Bear Country lock, stock, and honeypot." Unlike most of the characters from the books, McGreed was created entirely for the cartoon, but managed to find his way into several novel books.

2003 series

The latter cartoon is currently running on PBS and internationally. It has since been released on DVD The series also aired on PBS Kids with Seven Little Monsters from 2003–2004, and the full 30 minutes since September 2003.

Computer software

They have appeared in a variety of edutainment software. One example is "," a game released on the Sega Genesis and Sega Game Gear. Also in 2005, another video game was released for Game Boy Advance by Namco entitled "Berenstain Bears and The Spooky Old Tree".

They have also appeared in a game for the uncommonly known CD-i game system, entitled "The Berenstain Bears On Their Own, and You on Your Own."

Praise

Over the years, the Berenstain Bears books have been the subject of much favorable comment from education professionals and the reading public.

"The Berenstains have the extraordinary ability to communicate universal experiences and uplifting messages,"

Laurie Norton Moffat, director of the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass.; NY Times, Nov. 30, 2005

"They were able to take the real issues of children's lives and make them entertaining and not preachy,"

Ilene Abramson, director of children's services at the Los Angeles Public Library; LA Times, Nov. 30, 2005

"Among the generation of children growing up in the '70s and early '80s, The Berenstain Bears books are spoken of like zen koans, or like biblical allegories."

Aemillia Scott, "Flak Magazine" Online, Nov. 30, 2005

Controversy and criticism

The Berenstain Bears books have drawn criticisms of Papa Bear portraying a bumbling, inept father figure. ["He is often wrong but never in doubt." Berenstain Bears website.] [Charles Krauthammer in The Washington Post 1989, referred to "the postfeminist Papa Bear" as "the Alan Alda of Grizzlies, a wimp so passive and fumbling he makes Dagwood Bumstead look like Batman."] [Mary Jo Kochakian, The Hartford Courant, 1989 asked "You have to wonder, doesn't Stan Berenstain have any self-respect?"] As summarized in Stan Berenstain's November 30, 2005, obituary in the New York Times:

"...In what might be seen as a tribute to the Berenstain Bears' ubiquity, critics for years have commented on the ursine clan's adherence to gender stereotypes, including Mama Bear's ever-so-brief fling at working outside the home, only to retreat to the cubs. Papa Bear's bumbling incompetence, compared with Mama Bear's warm, wise effectiveness, has spawned particular ire." [Stan Berenstain obituary, November 30, 2005, New York Times.] "

The authors have in the past stated that the parent bears merely reflected their own personalities. "Papa and Mama are roughly modeled after us," Stan Berenstain said in a 1991 Philadelphia Inquirer article. "I'm not quite as dumb as he seems to be sometimes, and Jan is not quite as wise and patient as Mama, but she is Mama."

In 2000 "Extreme Sports with the Berenstain Bears" was released for the Game Boy Color. The game was rated "One of the worst games in the history of electronic games" by popular video game magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly.

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.ytv.com/ "Berenstain Bears" launches on YTV, Fall 2006]
* [http://www.berenstainbears.com/ Official site]
* [http://pbskids.org/berenstainbears/ PBS Kids: Official Site]
* [http://www.berenstainbears.net/ Bear Country Online]