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The Berenstain Bears' Easter Surprise

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The Berenstain Bears' Easter Surprise
Created byStan and Jan Berenstain
Written byStan and Jan Berenstain
Directed byMordicai Gerstein
Al Kouzel
Theme music composerElliot Lawrence
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerBuzz Potamkin
Running time25 minutes
Production companiesPerpetual Motion Pictures
The Joseph Cates Company
Original release
NetworkNBC
Release
  • April 14, 1981 (1981-04-14)

The Berenstain Bears Easter Surprise is a Easter-themed animated television special based on the Berenstain Bears children's book series by Stan and Jan Berenstain. Produced by Buzz Potamkin and directed by Mordicai Gerstein and Al Kouzel, the program made its debut on NBC on April 14, 1981.[1][2][3]

Development

Stan and Jan Berenstain's first animated holiday special aired on NBC in December 1979. The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree was the first of five annual animated specials that would air on NBC, produced by Joe Cates and the Joseph Cates Production Company. The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw was the second in this series.

The Berenstains utilized rhyming couplets in the script - for both the narrator and the character dialogue. This element had also been used in the Christmas Tree special and was familiar to audiences since a similar type of writing was used in the Berenstain Bears Beginner Books series.[4]

Production and casting

The 25-minute special was created and written by Stan and Jan Berenstain and featured original music composed and conducted by Emmy-winning musician Elliot Lawrence, with lyrics provided by Stan Berenstain. The score included three original songs: ."[5] The special starred Ron McLarty, Gabriela Glatzer, Jonathan Lewis, and Pat Lysinger as Papa, Sister, Brother, and Mama Bear, respectively. McLarty also doubled as the show's narrator. All four actors were reprising their vocal roles from The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree. Bob Kaliban was the voice of Bigpaw.[6]

It was the second of five Berenstain Bears animated specials that aired on NBC from 1979 to 1983.[7]

Premiere

The program premiered on NBC on Thursday.

Plot

This serves as both a holiday special for Easter, and a television adaptation of The Berenstain Bears And The New Baby. The story begins in the present day but quickly rewinds to the time period where Brother Bear was about three years old and learning about life. That Fall, when he wasn't playing with his friends, he bombarded his bumbling, but loving Papa with many questions about such matters. Papa, although having no idea how to answer half his questions, played along. As Fall passed to Winter, this pattern continued.

However, this particular Winter didn't seem to want to end, and no one had any explanation for why the seasons got stuck. Both Mama and Papa Bear were especially anxious for Spring, as they had a special Easter Surprise planned, which neither of them claimed to disclose (although Brother did notice that Mama had a noticeably smaller lap). When Brother asked about what Easter was, Papa focused his answer on candy and treats, while Mama sang about new life and miracles.

The family decided to pay Boss Bunny, the one responsible for bringing about Easter and the change of seasons, a visit. However, to their horror, the find out that he had abruptly resigned, and there was no one to bring about Spring and Easter. Papa, while initially just as grieved as Brother about the loss of Easter, decided to assume the role of the Easter Bunny, to Brother's delight, but Mama's doubt. They convert the chicken coop into an Easter egg dying factory, but it ultimately ends in failure.

Brother, eventually decided to take matters into his own hands, and went to find Boss Bunny. He encountered his friend Bill Bunny, who turned out to be the son of Boss Bunny, and they both went to Boss Bunny's factory. There, they were both dismayed to find the factory abandoned and in cobwebs. Then they found Boss Bunny fast asleep, and went to wake him. Boss Bunny, angrily explained that the workload and responsibility of bringing about Easter and Spring was too much for him to handle in his old age, and he was too tired to continue. Despite Brother's pleading, he refused to reconsider, until opening his main door, where the sunshine and Spring rainbow, revived his old energy, and gave him the will to continue his duties. So with this, Boss Bunny, finally brought about the change of seasons.

On Easter morning, Brother was delighted to receive his Easter candy, but Mama and Papa had an additional Easter surprise for him: a baby Sister. Brother was awed, but delighted at this. When he asked where she came from, Mama reminded him of the miracle of new life, and Brother noticed that Mama had her lap back.

Book adaptation

Home media releases

In 1984, Embassy Home Entertainment released the special on LaserDisc as a double-feature with The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree, called "A Berenstain Bears Celebration."[8] In 1987, the special was made available on VHS by Embassy Home Entertainment as part of their Children's Treasures series.[9] In 1989, the special was distributed on VHS by Kids Klassics.[10] The special was re-released in 1992 by GoodTimes Home Video, in a double-feature with The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree.[11] In 2002, the special was released on DVD by GoodTimes, also in a double-feature with The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree.[5]

External links

References

  1. ^ Shaw, Jane. "Christmas tree is focus of Berenstain Bears' newest adventure." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1980-12-02, p. 32.
  2. ^ Mariska, Bradley (2015). "Berenstain Bears Bibliography". Berenstain Bears Complete Bibliography & Blog. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  3. ^ "The Berenstain Bears' Thanksgiving". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  4. ^ Berenstain, Stan and Jan (2002). Down a Sunny Dirt Road: An Autobiography. Random House. ISBN 978-0375814037.
  5. ^ a b The Berenstain Bears Double Feature (DVD). GoodTimes. 2002.
  6. ^ The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  7. ^ Berenstain Bears History, The Berenstain Bears, Inc., 2015, retrieved 11 October 2015
  8. ^ A Berenstain Bears Celebration (LaserDisc). Embassy Home Entertainment. 1984.
  9. ^ The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw (VHS). Embassy Home Entertainment. 1987.
  10. ^ The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw (VHS). Kids Klassics. 1989.
  11. ^ The Berenstain Bears Double Feature (VHS). GoodTimes. 1992.
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