Berenstain Bears Books and 1985 Cartoon Series

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listening to the GeekCast Radio Network! Ha -cha

-cha -cha -cha! Hello and welcome to the 57th

episode of TuneCast brought to you by the GeekCast

Radio Network. I am your host, E of Joe and Mike,

and today I'm joined once again with Kevin Optimus

Solo Thompson. Hello! What do you mean? You are

not Dracula. Yeah, tonight we're going to be

covering the Berenstain Bears. Well, I know that

there was a 1985 series about these guys. I first

started with these. I'm just kind of doing something

just general. So what's been going on with you?

Not a lot. Still, like a couple weeks ago, still

doing a lot of work around, not doing a lot of

stuff on the computer. But I did, kind of forgot

about this. I did just post a few weeks back.

by the time this airs a new top ten list that

BehindTheVoiceActors .com that everyone should

go check out as well as all my other top ten

lists. And the newest one that I've added is

the top ten, missing this way back when, I just

never added it, but the top ten animated duck

voice role, something I just added to the site.

And I also have made a Facebook post on BehindTheVoiceActors

.com, our fan page, whichever place you should

be a fan of so you can see our updates. I'm basically

asking what other people, what kind of top ten

list other people would want to see because I

have lots of stuff I could do next. I've got

bears and dogs and cats and rabbits and, or I

could go with some top ten bear factors like

the night bees or different stuff like that.

So, leave me what you have to see as top ten

on my page and, or on our page and I'll work

on that next. But, how many ducks is up there

right now? I just had such a horrible idea and

you're gonna kill me for me telling you this.

the top ten female cat voices of all time. Shut

up. Especially the cheetah ones. I am going to

do a top ten cat voice, but it's not going to

include Chitara. Oh, come on. There's way too

many better ones out there. So once again, you

know, Kevin, of course, doesn't feel like printing

out a sev - Ah! See? You can't complain about

the script being too damn long this time, because

this one's only seven pages, whereas most of

the other ones are like 14, 15, 25. Yeah. Our

Christmas special script, I think, was 57 pages.

Oh, really? Let me look. Oh, I'm gonna look.

Well, we had, you know, we had six cartos to

talk about. Teamcast, episode 30. Come on, Lone

Wolf. Well, at least 40 pages long. But while

you're looking for that... Oh, you're right.

It's 47 pages long. I've actually got a guess

as to, uh, the top animated stuff of all time.

The top what of all time? Animated stuff. Oh,

well, Scrooge, Donald, Dewey, Dewey, Louie. Um,

Darkwing. Launchpad, Gizmoduck, uh, Daffy. Who

would be number one? Oh, God. It has to be a

tie between Donald and Daffy if only for their

first ever and only collaboration in Who Framed

Roger Rabbit. Yeah, I think there are one and

two, but what put one over the top was the uniqueness

in his voice. And that's Donald Duck. That's

what I put in number one. Very cool. Oh, you

know what? Oh, it doesn't really count. I was

going to say you should include Megatron's rubber

ducky from Beast Wars. Oh God. Yeah! Well, it

did have a squeaky voice. I did give an honorable

mention to the entire show, the animated Mighty

Duck. Oh, cool. Cool. Alright, so getting into

the history lesson here. I'm not exactly sure

where the history lesson ends. Holy crap. What

the hell? Oh no, I know what I did. I basically

made this episode like M -Wire and has none of

the other categories. Oh, I got a history lesson

for you. Here we go. Berenst and Berenst started

as a bunch of popular children's books. Wait,

you printed out the script? No, I just wrote

Berenst and Berenst. Oh, jeez. So it started

as why it's popular, a book in the 70s by Edward

Illustrator Dan and Jan Henson. Between 1979

and 1984, there was a spirit of animated substance

that occurred, which led into a series in September

of 1985, which ran until September of 1987 on

PBS, with Hannah Rubiner and some other people

involved. And basically, after that, 16 years

later, we had a second baritone, a baritone series

on PBS in 2000. So, uh... The book? Yeah. You're

breaking up. Oh, I'm sorry. Um... I remember

reading these books. I think I remember the first

two books of the 80s, like when they were out

in the 80s, when they were really popular. I

mean, I know they've been around since 62, but

whatever the... I believe it was the... Let me

look here. Inspiration... Population... There's...

Understand popularity, cover... Maybe I'll find

it later, but whatever... It wasn't Golden Books

that put these out, it was something through

Scholastic that put them out. And... I think

the first two books I ever had were Messy Room

and Too Much TV. I love those books. There are

so many of these. I always remember every time

that, you know, in elementary schools in the

80s, and I know they still do this today now,

you know, Scholastic would have like every three

or four months during the school year a book

fair. And you can get your parents to, you know,

either go or get your parents to fill out the

order form and give you the money, you know?

Because books back then, especially the Scholastic

books, a lot of them, back then, if I remember

correctly, they weren't that much money. No,

they weren't at all. I mean, maybe five, six

bucks? Something like that? I don't even think

it was that much. No, I think it was more because

I remember now, I would say it was between $5

and $11 maybe, something like that. It just depended

on the book. It depended on the category of book

as well. But, you know, I remember getting a

lot, you know, some of these through them. My

cousin Rachel, Rachel Malone Briggs, she had

almost all of them. I had... Not as many as she

did, but she had almost the entire original collection

And I used to love reading all these books. It

was just awesome actually Seriously, I think

these were the first books I like started like

reading or reading like just reading to enjoy

to read And not really trying to learn to read

It was just awesome and the the cartoon series

they basically just animated the stories from

the books. Yeah, they did an excellent job of

bringing the books to life. Very much so. Very,

very much so. And just like you, I remember reading

these books, like, big time. I remember, uh,

we had a ton of old books, but I think, like

you, this is one of the first types of books

where I really started to enjoy reading. Mm -hmm.

Yup. There have been over 300 Berenstain Bears

books that have been published since the 1960s,

and the bears have appeared in three animated

series. The original series, the following NBC

holiday specials were produced in the 1970s and

early 80s. Berenstain Bears, In the Christmas

Tree, Berenstain Bears Meet Big Paw, The Easter

Surprise, Valentine's Special, Littlest Linger,

and then the 1985 series, The Man's Thing Bears.

The 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 Archweasel

McGreed, who was out to, quote -unquote, take

over Bear Country, Rock, Stock, and Honeypot.

Oh boy, I sense, uh, plenty of food reference

there. 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. Uh, Frank Mantlemania was licensed in

1985, uh, was licensed to the 1985 TV series.

The voiced cast included Ruth Buzzi, Brian Cummings,

Christina Lang, Josh Rodin, David Mendohal, and

Frank Walker. Ralphish Ralph. Yeah, everybody

loves Ralphish Ralph. And you know earlier, they

mentioned Weasel McGreed. I do not remember Weasel

McGreed in the cartoon. I remember Ralphish Ralph.

Yeah. I don't remember it. I don't agree with

that much of a conversation. Yup. You recognize

David Benninghaw, right? Uh, yeah, a little bit.

Refresh my memory. It's been a while. He was,

uh... I don't want to say the wrong one. Daniel

or Spike from Transformers? Uh, he's probably

Spike. No, no, no, no, no, no. He's probably

Daniel. Spike was Corey Burton. Yeah, so he was

the other one. Wow. Yeah. And Brian Cummings

is interesting. He was, imagine these two roles.

Papa Bear, Dr. Mindbender. Ooh. Nice. I'm pretty

sure he did both of those, so that's kind of

a weird combination. And Christina Lang obviously

is from Scooby -Doo. Yeah. Just an awesome cast.

even though at the time I didn't know who was

what and who was doing this and honestly by you

know when I was watching these I was watching

them for I wasn't like trying to pay attention

if Megatron was gonna be Balfish Ralph honestly

really I mean you know and again it just goes

to show you and I will be saying this the entire

time we are not doing any cartoons that don't

involve Frank Walker. If we ever get to interview

Frank Walker, my brain will explode trying to

get research for that man. Because he's done

so much. There is a 2003 series. The latter cartoon

is currently running on PBS and internationally.

Uh, it's since been released on DVD. The series

also aired on PBS Kids with Seven Little Monsters

from 2003 to 2004. Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. The

2003 series is on DVD, but the 85 series isn't?

What the hell? Um, apparently they've been, uh,

uh, you know, appeared in a variety of computer

software as well. Um, the brand's name bears

Camping Adventure. for the Sega Genesis and Sega

Game Gear. Berenstain Bears on their own and

you on your own for the CDI. Berenstain Bears

Learning at Home Volume 1 for the PC. Extreme

Sports for the Berenstain Bears for Game Boy

Color. Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree

for Game Boy Advance. Yeah, well, five, uh, yeah,

five games. It's not bad. Yeah, I'm surprised.

Uh, as far as a movie, USA Today and The Hollywood

Reporter report that Sean Levy, director of both

Night at the Museum movies, will direct a feature

film adaptation of The Band of St. Bears. Is

it what? Oh, God. Wait, wait, wait, wait! As

a hybrid of CGI and live action that will place

the Berenstain family in the modern world, release

his plan for 2011. I have not heard anything

about this. Me neither, and I'm scared. Anything

about this? He's gonna ruin Berenstain Berries.

Well, Sean Levy, one of the movies that I really

liked that he did was Big Fat Liar with Frankie

Munez and uh... Oh, what's -her -name, um...

Oh, Christ. She was in that WB show with Kelly,

no, not Kelly Bundy, um, shit. Not Kelly Bundy,

yeah! Christina Applegate, Kelly Bundy! Amanda

Bynes, there you go. Oh, okay, gotcha, gotcha.

As far as some praise on the Bears here, over

the years, the Bears N' Bears books have been

the subject of much favorable comment. from education

professionals and the reading public. The Brandstains

have the extraordinary ability to communicate

universal experiences and uplifting messages,"

says Lori Norton Moffitt, director of the Norman

Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

She told that to the New York Times in 2005.

The conception and creation here is the last

thing we're actually going to talk about. Uh,

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 Dan is not quite as wise and

patient as Mama, but she is Mama. Um, just, I

love the books. I love the 85 cartoon series.

I don't think I've seen the 2003 series. I hope

to - Go ahead. I've seen a tiny bit of the 2003

series and it seems very, very, very, very similar

to the 1985 series. Like, it's an updated version,

but it's very close to the same thing. I mean,

that's with me not seeing a lot of it. That's

just from like a couple minutes ago. But just

before you get too far, I gotta ask you something

before we forget to. I gotta know which one's

your favorite bear. Honestly, there's too many

to choose from. Because, you know, seriously,

it's one of those things where, honestly, I don't

think there is a bad character in the books or

in the cartoon series. You know, Papa is... When

Papa wants to be, he can be very wise and he

can be helpful. But Papa is pretty much a giant

size of handy smurf, pretty much. Mama, I don't

think I could really stand her voice at the time

when I was watching the cartoon series as a kid.

Brother and sister just... the mischief that

the two of them get into is really awesome. Just

out of the side characters, Ralph the Shroud

is awesome. I was like Brother Bear the most

when I was a kid, but I think when I was watching

it back I almost started liking Papa Bear more

just because it was funnier and I could understand

it. When I was a kid I probably obviously related

more to Brother. You know, it's really funny.

When I was watching this as a kid, I would always

see the My Buddy commercials. Now wait, wait.

So I kind of associated brother with my buddy,

and then of course once they came out with kid

sister, obviously sister would be... My buddy.

My buddy. I may have to find that audio. I may

have to find that audio and put it in here. My

buddy and kid sister. So yeah, you know, I like

them all. I think it's more of that I hope that

they eventually put the 85 series on DVD so we

can actually see it again without having to find

it on YouTube. One of the things was I got into

the stories like when I was reading the books

I Really got into the stories. I felt like I

was a fly on the wall You know watching them

doing their stuff or adventures or whatever Yeah,

I think I honestly I like these for like preschool

the kindergarten first grade second grade You

know how whatever age group that I don't know

how high they went up to but like for that early

time period I think that they were my favorite.

I mean I love golden books, but I think the Berenstain

Bearer books were like my early favorite book.

I liked them better than Dr. Seuss. I liked them.

I don't know. I just loved the Berenstain Bearer

books. Yep. My evolution of reading as far as

like reading for enjoyment goes from Berenstain

Bears to the Hardy Boys Case Files to Arl Stein's

Fear Street series. You know you have some Choose

Your Adventure somewhere in there. Probably.

Probably, I'm not denying that. And then I think

I started getting into Grisham. I think the only

one that you missed that I got into was the two

things, the Encyclopedia Brown mysteries and

the Wayside Storybooks. Oh, dude. I have the...

The 3 -pack collection for $12 .22 on Amazon.

I've got it saved in my cart. That's so awesome.

Oh man, we su - Is there - Did they ever make

a cartoon out of Wayside? No. I could've sworn

they did. Oh, maybe they did in the 90s. I don't

think they did in the 80s though. Oh man, I'm

gonna have to research that. We may have to make

a - We may have to make an exception here on

Tooncast. Or you and I may have to do a Geekcast

Radio episode on Wayside. I love me some Wayside.

That was the best thing ever. Oh, geez. I remember

reading that thing front to back, upside down,

to cover to cover, teaching times over. You know

what's funny? I remember, and I know we're getting

way off topic here, but I remember reading, or

I remember us either reading in class or the

teacher reading to us, Charlie and the Great

Glass Elevator. Yeah, I remember that a little.

And it wasn't, we weren't read, Willy Wonka and

the Chocolate Factory. I didn't actually know

anything about that until I heard, you know,

my fourth or fifth grade teacher said, hey, you

know, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator is

the sequel to Willy Wonka and the Child, I was

going to say, Willy Wonka and the Childlike Empress.

Holy crap, that was horrible. Yeah, I think I

could still read the Wayside stories. Yeah, Wayside

stories are just hilarious. It all started with

Berenstein Bears, that's the point. Yeah, that's

the whole point of that. It all started with

Berenstein. Uh, so on that note, we're going

to, uh, go to some promos. Doomcast will be back

after these questions! This is the Brain, and

you're listening to the Geekcast Radio Network.

Yes! Indeed I am, Michael. And I am here to help

you and Kevin take over podcasting! Now back

to Doomcast! So, what are your thoughts, final

thoughts on Berenstain? Um... Basically, I think,

you know, I'm going to relate this back to a

show we did a few weeks ago, because a few weeks

ago we did something kind of similar in a way

where we had a cartoon that was probably more

successful as something else. When we did Teddy

Ruxpin, it was a more successful toy. And while

I will say The Branching Bears was a more successful

book than it was cartoon, the difference is that

it was still a good cartoon. And that they basically

did a spot -on perfect job of taking a book and

taking the characters and making them look exactly

alike and making it very believable as a cartoon.

So it just is a good cartoon. And if you haven't

seen it, you should see it. I think it still

holds up to the time as far as if you had preschool,

kindergarten, first grade age kids. I mean, I

don't know exactly what the age demographic is

for Barents and Bears. But if you had that aged

kid, it's just as good as Sesame Street and some

of those things as just teaching your kid some

basic values and lessons. That type of stuff

is timeless, so it's still a good thing. Oh yeah,

I completely agree. I always, when I was in elementary

school, I always craved that scholastic book

fair twice a year to try to get all of these

books. And I wish I could hunt them down today.

It would be so awesome to do so. Just to have

that. I mean, yeah, I know I'm a 30 -year -old

guy, but still, it's nostalgia. Definitely. Can't

fault you for that. Nope. You got anything you

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Call the voicemail line, tell us the show you're

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-526 -5821. We hope you enjoyed this episode

of Tooncast, and we're sure you'll join us next

time when we have a super special guest in Christopher

Stableton from Chicken Pop Pod, when we talk

about Alvin and the Chipmunks. For now, I am

TFG1 Mike with Optimus Solo. Thank you for listening.

Until next time. To brighten your day When you

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