The Berenstain Bears (2003 TV series)

Not to be confused with The Berenstain Bears (1985 TV series).

The Berenstain Bears
Genre	Children's show Comedy
Created by	Stan and Jan Berenstain
Directed by	Scott Glynn Gary Hurst Kervin Faria
Voices of	Michael Cera Michael D'Ascenzo Tajja Isen Camilla Scott Benedict Campbell Amanda Soha Mike McCulkin Corinne Conley Gage Knox Nikki Marshall Mark Rendall
Opening theme	"The Berenstain Bears" by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Country of origin	Canada United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	40 (81 shorts)
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 AGOGO PBS
Distributor	Nelvana PBS
Release
Original network	PBS Kids Treehouse TV
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Original release	January 6, 2003 (2003-01-06) – September 28, 2004 (2004-09-28)
Chronology
Preceded by	The Berenstain Bears (1985 TV series)
External links
Website

The Berenstain Bears is a Gemini Award-nominated animated television 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.

Although most of the earlier episodes in the series were based on the book series, some of the later episodes were not based on any of the books. The series debuted on January 6, 2003 and ended on September 28, 2004.

Synopsis

The series is set in a world populated solely by anthropomorphic bears and primarily centers around the Berenstain Bears, 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 follow 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 gratitude and responsibility, as well as the daily lives of the bears.

Production

The show was produced by the Canadian animation company Nelvana for the PBS Kids, and the Treehouse TV channel. Eighty 15 minute episodes were produced.

The show can currently be seen on YTV (2006-2007, 2009–present) in Canada, Sprout in the United States. The series was also seen on Treehouse TV (Canada) (2002-2009) (and often fluctuated between the two channels), Knowledge (British Columbia), Tiny Pop and KidsCo (UK), and OBS (South Korea).

Cast and characters

Main cast

• Michael Cera as Brother Bear
• Michael D'Ascenzo as Brother Bear
• Tajja Isen as Sister Bear
• Benedict Campbell as Papa Q. Bear
• Camilla Scott as Mama Bear

Recurring cast

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

Citizens

• Chris Wiggins as Squire Grizzly
• Ellen-Ray Hennessy as Miss Grizzle

Country music singer-songwriter Lee Ann Womack sings the series' theme song, which was written by Stan Meissner.

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Recipients and nominees	Outcome
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

Episodes

Season 1 (2003)

No.	Title	Original air date
1	"The Birthday Boy"	January 6, 2003
2	"Too Much Junk Food"	January 7, 2003
3	"Trouble With Pets"	January 8, 2003
4	"Mama's New Job"	January 9, 2003
5	"Lending a Helping Hand"	January 10, 2003
6	"The Trouble With Grown ups"	January 13, 2003
7	"Trouble At School"	January 14, 2003
8	"Too Much TV"	January 15, 2003
9	"Moving Day"	January 16, 2003
10	"The Sitter"	January 17, 2003
11	"The Excuse Note"	January 20, 2003
12	"A Week at Grandma's"	January 21, 2003
13	"Double Dare"	January 22, 2003
14	"The Big Road Race"	January 23, 2003
15	"The Jump Rope Contest"	January 24, 2003
16	"The Slumber Party"	January 27, 2003
17	"At the Giant Mall"	January 28, 2003
18	"Go to School"	January 29, 2003
19	"The Talent Show"	January 30, 2003
20	"Too Much Vacation"	January 31, 2003
21	"Papa's Pizza"	February 3, 2003
22	"Visit the Dentist"	February 4, 2003
23	"House of Mirrors"	February 5, 2003
24	"Get the Gimmies"	February 7, 2003
25	"Go to The Movies"	September 15, 2003
26	"The Giddy Grandma"	September 16, 2003
27	"In The Attic Treasure"	September 17, 2003

Season 2 (2003)

No.	Title	Original air date
1	"The Bad Dream"	September 18, 2003
2	"The Haunted Lighthouse"	September 19, 2003
3	"Say Please and Thank You"	September 22, 2003
4	"The Green Eyed Monster"	September 23, 2003
5	"Trick or Treat"	September 24, 2003
6	"The Baby Chipmunk"	September 25, 2003
7	"The Hiccup Cure"	September 26, 2003
8	"By the Seaside"	September 27, 2003
9	"Go to Camp"	September 29, 2003
10	"White Water Adventure"	September 30, 2003
11	"Hug and Make up"	October 1, 2003
12	"Out for the Team"	October 2, 2003
13	"The In-Crowd"	October 3, 2003
14	"Gotta Dance"	October 6, 2003
15	"Big Bear Small Bear"	October 7, 2003
16	"Visit Fun Park"	October 8, 2003
17	"The Bad Habit"	October 9, 2003
18	"The Prize Pumpkin"	October 10, 2003
19	"Draw It"	October 13, 2003
20	"Lost in a Cave"	October 14, 2003
21	"Trouble With Money"	October 15, 2003
22	"A Wishing Star"	October 16, 2003
23	"Go to the Doctor"	October 17, 2003
24	"Count their Blessings"	October 20, 2003

Season 3 (2004)

No.	Title	Original air date
1	"Go to the Movies/Pet Show"	April 5, 2004
2	"The Car Trip/Pick Up and Put Away"	April 6, 2004
3	"Hug and Make Up/Big Road Race"	April 7, 2004
4	"Gotta Dance/The Bad Dream"	April 8, 2004
5	"White Water Adventure/Say Please & Thank You"	April 9, 2004
6	"Showdown At Birder's Wood/Help Around the Workshop"	September 6, 2004
7	"That Stump Must Go/Draw It"	September 7, 2004
8	"Papa's Pizza/The Female Fullback"	September 8, 2004
9	"Bears for All Seasons/Grow It"	September 9, 2004
10	"Go Up and Down/Big Bear, Small Bear"	September 10, 2004
11	"Too Much Vacation/Trouble with Grown Ups (Final Episode)"	September 28, 2004

External links

• The Berenstain Bears at IMDb
• The Berenstain Bears at TV.com