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Maurice Sendak's Little Bear is an educational Canadian children's television series based on the Little Bear series of books which were written by Else Holmelund Minarik, and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. Originally produced by Nelvana for Nickelodeon, it currently airs on Treehouse TV in Canada and Nick Jr. in the United States. It was first shown in the UK on the Children's BBC, and a part of Toy Box BBC video collection in the late 90s. It was also shown on Nick Jr UK and now airs on Tiny Pop. A direct-to-video/DVD full-length feature film was also created after the series ended.

Characters

Bear family

Little Bear (voiced by Kristin Fairlie) is a 6-year-old small, curious grizzly bear cub who lives in the forest with his family and friends around the 1880s. Throughout the series, he has grown somewhat, as his voice is slightly deeper, and he doesn't take naps as often. He is the only character whose parents are shown with the exception of Duck's mother in one show who is a chicken. Little Bear lives in a stucco, timber, plaster, and brick house. He is always kind and loves to explore. He and all his other animal friends are, and always play barefoot and without clothes, while the adult characters such as Mother and Father Bear are usually seen wearing shoes and clothes. Despite this, He has worn clothes on certain occasions, like a scarf and winter hat when the weather is cold, a fishing hat when taken fishing or hiking, and finally on one occasion a black dress suit with a red necktie and black shoes.

Mother Bear (voiced by Janet-Laine Green) is Little Bear's mother. She enjoys cooking and is always there to help Little Bear if he needs it. She also seems to be very tidy and does not like it when the house becomes messy. She normally wears a pink shirt and a blue skirt with a white apron.

Father Bear (voiced by Dan Hennessey) is Little Bear's father and Mother Bear's husband. His occupation is a fisherman and sometimes takes Little Bear out fishing. He has been to many places and likes to keep things that are old, even if they have to be thrown away. He usually wears a blue suit with a purple tie and brown shoes. Throughout the run of the show he is sporadically absent in appearance, as he is "away, fishing".

Grandmother Bear (voiced by Fiona Reid) is Little Bear's grandmother and Mother Bear's mother, and Grandfather Bear's wife. She likes to cook and tell stories.

Grandfather Bear (voiced by Sean McCann) is Little Bear's grandfather and Mother Bear's father. He once worked at a circus with his wife and sister. He wears a green suit but with khakis and a dark-red tie with brown shoes.

Rusty Bear - Rusty is Father Bear's younger brother. He mentions that he lives in the woods, and that he would prefer to live there because it is quiet and peaceful. He is a very big bear, slightly taller and huskier than Father Bear. He has a deep voice, wears overalls, and has a red handkerchief around his neck. He is seen in only a few of the Little Bear episodes. Little Bear is fascinated with Rusty's outdoor ethic, and whenever he shows up, Little Bear is tempted to emulate his rustic character.

Emily's family

Emily (voiced by Jennifer Martini) is Little Bear's 7-year-old human, female friend. In the summer, she vacations with her parents by the river near Little Bear's home. Emily carries around a doll named Lucy everywhere she goes and is very attached to her. Emily gave Little Bear Lucy when she was leaving to go back to school but then took her back, saying that she just remembered that "Lucy has to go to school", too. Emily eventually moves to the forest permanently and lives there with her grandmother.

Granny - Emily's Grandmother, who she lives with in the summer and then permanently, has traveled the world and has many odd pieces of furniture. She is the owner of Tutu.

Tutu (voiced by Tara Strong) is Granny's corgi dog. She acts very hyper and she can understand humans. According to Granny, she only speaks French, yet she understands English.

Lucy - Lucy is a female doll who belongs to Emily. She has short blond hair and wears a red dress and bonnet with brown shoes. In one episode, Lucy fell from a tree and her porcelain arm was broken. Little Bear fixed it with tape. Another time, Duck sat on Lucy mistakenly and they had a funeral, where she was proved to be "alive" in the end. Emily is the only one who can "understand" and "talk" to Lucy.

Little Bear's friends

Owl (voiced by Amos Crawley) is a male Short-eared Owl, who is sometimes pompous, but he is very wise. He lives in a treehouse, and can be quite serious at times. Although Owl enjoys fun games, he'll only participate if the gameplay is sensible. It is also shown that reading is his hobby.

Cat (voiced by Andrew Sabiston) is a laid back, slothful male tuxedo cat who enjoys prowling at night, playing tricks on passersby, and eating. When he and his friends must get to a certain place in the woods, Cat often leads them through one of his shortcuts. However, in one episode Hen and Owl think the shortcuts are helpless.

Duck (voiced by Tracy Ryan) is a female domestic duck with yellow feathers, an orange beak and a long neck. Slow and smart at the same time, Duck is one who gets herself into comical situations. She lives in a nest, although in one episode, she expressed longing for a house and tried to live in a house boat. It floated downriver filled with frogs and Duck lived happily in her nest. She loves playing "princess" and pretend. She was hatched in a nest of chicks, because "some eggs got mixed up", and Little Bear taught her to fly when she was a duckling. She never has any ducklings of her own, but she is sometimes seen babysitting a group of them, the youngest named Little Peep. The mother of the group is never seen or heard, but she is probably like most domestic ducks.

Hen (voiced by Elizabeth Hanna) is a fussy, feisty chicken who lives in a large chicken coop. She is classy and sophisticated and enjoys cleanliness, though her several nieces and nephews often mess up her spotless house. However, she never turns down the opportunity for fun. Hen has also been shown to be fond of opera, but it seems that she isn't good at it.

No Feet (voiced by Rick Jones) is a friendly, gentle and green male garter snake (hence the name) that lives in Mother Bear's garden. Little Bear gets along with him very well. But in contrast, Hen isn't fond of him.

Mitzi (voiced by Ashley Taylor) is a mischievous, sometimes rather unthoughtful tomboyish monkey who lives in a tree house in the forest around Little Bear's home. She feels bad after slighting somebody's feelings or misleading them (as when she played for keeps by declaring "keepsies" too fast to be understood, and won all of Little Bear's marbles). She sometimes has green or white eyes. Mitzi is the last to join the supporting cast, not appearing until the end of season two.

Other characters

Otters - Four silly Northern river otter siblings that sporadically appear, reside in the local river. They are frequent in episodes focusing on water activities. In one episode where two teams race to a big tree at the end of the river before lunch, there are only three otters instead of four.

Mermaid - Mermaid is a mermaid who Little Bear occasionally meets when he goes to the lake, she is friendly and takes Little Bear to see places underwater.

Frog - Frog is a male frog that dispenses zen-like wisdom between his meditations. He resides at Little Bear's favorite swimming spot, 'Hop-Frog pond'. He is also very wise, and good friend to Little Bear.

Moose (voiced by Ian Finlay) is a male Eastern Moose, who sometimes helps Little Bear and his friends when they're in need.

Little Ick - Little Ick is a baby raccoon and only appears in an episode where his mother went to visit his grandmother and dropped him off with Mother Bear. Little Bear and Little Ick form a bit of a sibling relationship together like Little Bear feeling left out because Mother Bear seems to be paying more attention to Little Ick. Little Ick is the baby raccoon's nickname from Little Bear because "Ick" is the only thing the baby can say.

Marshmallow - Marshmallow is a baby albino skunk. She is found by Owl and Little Bear in an episode and plays with Duck, Little Bear, Owl, and Cat in the episode "Little Footprints".

Mighty is a male humpback whale who is an old friend of Father Bear's. He only appears in two episodes, where Father Bear tells Little Bear the story of when he helped Mighty when he was beached and when Little Bear met him, he was trying to catch a fish for stew. Mighty appears at the end, with his son, Little Whale and they both help Father Bear and Little Bear back to shore when a storm comes. Although he only appeared in two episodes, Mighty appears in the opening credits of each episode.

Episodes

Movie

In 2001, the show was adapted into a direct-to-video film by Paramount Pictures and Nelvana titled The Little Bear Movie. In the movie, Little Bear and his family go camping and Little Bear meets a bear named Cub and his friend Little Moose.

Availability

DVD

• Rainy Day Tales
• Feel Better, Little Bear
• Little Bear's Band
• At Home
• Halloween Stories
• Hooray for Little Bear
• Outdoor Fun
• Meet Mitzi
• Dreams and Make Believe
• Seasons
• Grandmother's House
• Mother and Father Bear
• New Friends
• Exploring and Other Adventures
• Parties and Picnics
• Mysterious Moments

Canadian Live and New York Musical Theatrical Version

In Canada, Little Bear has been turned into a live theatrical show, "Little Bear: Winter Tales" which originally toured across Canada in 2007. The show toured Canada again in late 2009.

Both tours are presented by Paquin Entertainment, and were produced by Koba Entertainment.

References

1. "now touring | little bear | live on stage | family theatrical". Koba entertainment. Retrieved 2011-12-18.

External links

• Little Bear at IMDb

• Television programs based on children's books
• Television programs featuring anthropomorphic characters
• Television series by CBS Paramount Television
• Canadian animated television series
• Television series by Nelvana
• TFO shows
• Treehouse TV shows
• CBC network shows
• Nick Jr. shows
• 1990s Canadian television series
• 1995 Canadian television series debuts
• 1999 Canadian television series endings
• Canadian children's television series