The Berenstain Bears (2003 TV series) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Berenstain Bears |
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| Genre | Children's series Comedy |
| Created by | Stan and Jan Berenstain |
| Voices of | Camilla Scott Ben Campbell Michael Cera Tajja Isen Corinne Conley Leslie Carlson Amanda Soha Marc McCulkin |
| Theme music composer | Stan Meissner |
| Opening theme | "The Berenstain Bears" by Lee Ann Womack |
| Ending theme | "The Berenstain Bears" (Instrumental) |
| Composer(s) | Ray Parker Tom Szczesniak |
| Country of origin | Canada Hong Kong |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 40 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Stan and Jan Berenstain Steven Ching Scott Dyer Michael Hirsh |
| Producer(s) | Lan Lamon Supervising producers: Patricia R. Burns Jocelyn Hamilton Michelle Melanson Cynthia Taylor |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Nelvana Limited AGOGO Entertainment |
| Distributor | Nelvana International |
| Release | |
| Original network | PBS Kids (US) Treehouse TV (Canada) |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | January 6, 2003 – December 6, 2004 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The Berenstain Bears (1985 TV series) |
The Berenstain Bears is a children's animated television comedy series based on the children's book series of the same name by Stan and Jan Berenstain. The series follows the lives of a family of anthropomorphic bears who learn a moral or safety-related lesson during the course of each episode. It ran for 40 episodes in three seasons. The series debuted on PBS Kids as part of the PBS Kids Bookworm Bunch block in the United States on January 6, 2003 and ended on December 6, 2004.
A previous Berenstain Bears cartoon aired in Australia and the United States from 1985 to 1987.
Contents
Synopsis
The series is set in a world 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 consisting of Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Brother Bear, and Sister Bear. Albeit numerous episodes are based on the books and promote the same morals as encouraged in the picture books from which their plots originated, the program's faithfulness to the original series is slightly mixed on account of a number of later episodes following original storylines. Nonetheless, they mostly portray the same environment depicted in the original Berenstain Bears storybooks quite accurately and concentrate on the messages and lessons learned by the family through their different experiences, such as generousity and responsibility, as well as the daily lives of the bears.
Episodes
List of The Berenstain Bears (2003 TV series) episodes
Cast and characters
Main
- Michael Cera as Brother Bear (Season 1-2; 2003)
- Michael D'Ascenzo as Brother Bear (Season 3; 2004)
- Tajja Isen as Sister Bear
- Benedict Campbell as Papa Q. Bear
- Camilla Scott as Mama Bear
Recurring
Family
- Leslie Carlson as Grizzly Gramps
- Corinne Conley as Grizzly Gran
- Marc McMulkin as Cousin Freddy
Friends
- Amanda Soha as Lizzy Bruin
- Nikki Marshall as Queenie
- Mark Rendall as Ferdy Factual
- Gage Knox as Too-Tall
- Patrick Salvagna as Skuzz
- James Eckhouse as Smirk
- Maryke Hendrikse as Hillary
Citizens
- Chris Wiggins as Squire Grizzly
- Ellen-Ray Hennessy as Miss Grizzle
- Philip Williams as Farmer Ben
Production
The show was produced by the Canada-based animation studio Nelvana for PBS Kids in the United States and Treehouse TV in Canada. 80 15-minute episodes were produced, adapted from the books and also a few new stories as well, similar to the 1985 production. However, due to the laws requiring Nelvana to employ writers and artists, the Berenstains' involvement in the program was limited; They sought to exert their influence on some details, according to Stan. "Our bears don't wear shoes, and Papa wouldn't wear his hat in the house...And we try to keep complete, total banality out of the stories." Common practicalities of animation did force some minor costume changes from the books, such as eliminating polka dots and plaids. (This issue also occurred in the previous animated series and specials. Only a limited amount of polka dots was allowed in the five specials.) The show's theme song is performed by country singer Lee Ann Womack. The series is supposed to supplement the 1985 series because new books were released since then, even though the two series have a radically different production style as well as a change of in-universe elements. Another issue is the two series are not seen together.
Music
Country music singer-songwriter Lee Ann Womack sings the series' theme song, which was written by Stan Meissner.
Broadcast
It debuted in the United States on PBS Kids on January 6, 2003. Originally, it aired together with Seven Little Monsters but the two shows were eventually separated. Reruns aired on PBS Kids Sprout (later known as simply Sprout) from its inception up until the channel rebranded into Universal Kids on September 9, 2017, after Sprout's rights to air the series expired.
Accolades
| Year | Award | Category | Recipients and nominees | Outcome |
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| 2004 | Gemini Awards | Best Pre-School Program or Series | Stan Berenstain, Jan Berenstain, Michael Hirsh, Steven Ching, Scott Dyer | Nominated |
| Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role – Young Actress | Tajja Isen | Nominated |
