"Bear in the Big Blue House" (1997) TV series 1997-????

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Creator:

Mitchell Kriegman
(more)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

20 October 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Musical

Plot:

Bear lives in a Big Blue House with several of his muppet friends: Treelo the lemur, Ojo the bear cub...

Plot Keywords:

Bear | Muppet | Character Name In Title

Awards:

6 wins & 18 nominations

Cast

Lynne Thigpen	...	Luna (5 episodes, 1997-2003)
Noel MacNeal	...	Bear (5 episodes, 1997)
Vicki Eibner	...	Ojo (5 episodes, 1998)
Tyler Bunch	...	Treelo (5 episodes)
Peter Linz	...	Tutter (5 episodes)
Tara Mooney	...	Shadow (4 episodes, 1997)

(more)

Series Directed by
Hugh Martin		(2 episodes)
Chuck Vinson		(2 episodes)
Richard A. Fernandes		(unknown episodes)
Jim Martin		(unknown episodes)

Series Writing credits
Andy Yerkes		(25 episodes, 1997-2004)
Mitchell Kriegman		(2 episodes)
P. Kevin Strader		(2 episodes)
Ajamu Walker		(unknown episodes)

Series Produced by
James Sabatini	....	coordinating producer (1 episode, 2003)
Matt Laesch	....	producer: live production (unknown episodes, 2004)
Stacey Adams	....	associate producer (unknown episodes)
Sally K. Cohen	....	line producer (unknown episodes)
Richard A. Fernandes	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Brian Henson	....	executive producer (unknown episodes)
Mitchell Kriegman	....	executive producer (unknown episodes)
Erica Levin	....	coordinating producer (unknown episodes)
Margaret Loesch	....	executive producer (unknown episodes)
Halle Stanford-Grossman	....	producer (unknown episodes)
P. Kevin Strader	....	co-producer (unknown episodes)
Andy Yerkes	....	producer (unknown episodes)

Series Original Music by
Peter Lurye		(1 episode)
Tyler Bunch		(unknown episodes)

Series Cinematography by
Patrick Minietta		(unknown episodes)
Jimmie Scurti		(unknown episodes)
Larry Solomon		(unknown episodes)

Series Film Editing by
Bryan Shelton		(1 episode, 2003)
Tom Heckbert		(unknown episodes)
Erica Levin		(unknown episodes)

Series Art Direction by
John Pollard		(2 episodes)

Series Art Department
William Depaolo	....	propmaker (unknown episodes)
James Pesce	....	assistant art director (unknown episodes)
Chris Renaud	....	graphic designer (unknown episodes)

Series Sound Department
Suzie Hollander	....	adr recorder / sound designer / ... (26 episodes)
Chris Floberg	....	sound designer (5 episodes)
Danny Caccavo	....	sound re-recording mixer (unknown episodes)
Neil Cedar	....	adr recordist (unknown episodes)
Matt Foglia	....	sound editor (unknown episodes)

Series Visual Effects by
Don St. Mars	....	digital artist (unknown episodes)
Michael Sullivan	....	model maker (unknown episodes)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Sid Curtis	....	lighting director (unknown episodes)

Series Editorial Department
Bryan Shelton	....	assistant editor (unknown episodes, 2001-2002)

Series Music Department
Peter Lurye	....	supervising music producer (1 episode)

Series Other crew
Madeline S. McEneney	....	segment associate producer (26 episodes)
Danielle Schleif	....	production assistant (2 episodes, 1999)
Lisa Faranda	....	production assistant (unknown episodes, 1998)
Paul Andrejco	....	muppet designer (unknown episodes)
Ulla Eleiana Davis	....	assistant production accountant (unknown episodes)
Bill Griffith	....	production assistant (unknown episodes)
Joyce Hsieh	....	production accountant (unknown episodes)
Rick Lyon	....	stand-in: "Bear" (unknown episodes)
Anney McKilligan	....	puppet wrangler (unknown episodes)
Kate Rorick	....	script production assistant (unknown episodes)
Brian Sales	....	production assistant (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• Disney Channel
• Jim Henson Company, The
• Jim Henson Productions
• Jim Henson Television
• Shadow Projects

Distributors

• Disney Channel (1997) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment
• Buena Vista Television
• Disney Channel (2002) (Argentina) (TV)
• Disney Channel (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• Disney Channel (2003-2006) (Portugal) (TV)
• Katholieke Radio Omroep (KRO) (2000-2004) (Netherlands) (TV)
• Walt Disney Home Video (2004-2005) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

Argentina:30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-Y | Australia:G | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Disney Channel

Quotes:

Bear: A bear's three favorite words are: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Not Sesame Street but warm, engaging and good for preschool kids

For readers that think I have slowly started to crumble into a world of watching television for the sake of seeing colourful images moving, I must clarify that I came to The Bear a year ago as part of helping out some friends. A young family stayed with me in my house and they included two children of about 2 and 3 years old. Each morning as I was eating breakfast, the children would be merrily watching the Bear on channel 5 and joining in with his fun. So, from their critical point of view the show certainly appears to have worked – but they cannot type so damn them and damn their opinions.

Watching it as an adult I must admit that it is a good product that has the strengths of the genre but has none of the major weaknesses that you would associate with something like Barney. Bear is actually quite a warm character and he has a bit of personality behind him rather than just churning out phrases and corny clichés. The fact that the other characters are pretty good also helps as, although they are cute of course, they are not so sickly that I ever feared becoming diabetic from just watching it. It has a nice warm feel to it and Bear approaches the audience like a kindly Uncle rather than doing patronising baby talk. It isn't quite Sesame Street but it has more of that feel than the dreaded dinosaur. The characters all look good and are well delivered (although Shadow as an idea is just plain creepy if you ask me) and the voice work matches it all well.

Overall this is an enjoyable show for pre-school kids that can be watched by adults without getting annoying in the way that some others do. Like I said, not Sesame Street but effective nonetheless.