The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox television
| image = The_Berenstain_Bears_Meet_Bigpaw_(1980)_title_screen.jpg
| caption = Title screen from the original NBC TV special (1980)
| image_size =
| image_alt = see caption
| genre =
| creator = Stan and Jan Berenstain
| based_on = The Berenstain Bears by Stan and Jan Berenstain
| writer = Stan and Jan Berenstain
| screenplay =
| story =
| director = Mordicai Gerstein
Al Kouzel
| starring = Ron McLarty
Pat Lysinger
Jonathan Lewis
Gabriela Glatzer
Bob Kaliban
| narrated = Ron McLarty (uncredited)
| theme_music_composer = Elliot Lawrence
| country = United States
| language = English
| num_episodes =
| producer = Buzz Potamkin
| editor = Neil Lawrence
| cinematography =
| runtime = 23 minutes
| company = Perpetual Motion Pictures
The Joseph Cates Company
| budget =
| network = NBC
| released = {{Start date|1980|11|20}}
| related = {{Plainlist|
}}
}}
The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw is a Thanksgiving-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 November 20, 1980.Shaw, Jane. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GJ9RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yW0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6743,295616 "Christmas tree is focus of Berenstain Bears' newest adventure."] Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1980-12-02, p. 32. The television special inspired a book, The Berenstain Bears' Thanksgiving, published by Scholastic in 1997.{{cite web
| url =https://berenstainbearscollectors.com/
| title =Berenstain Bears Bibliography
| last =Mariska
| first =Bradley
| date =2015
| website =Berenstain Bears Complete Bibliography & Blog
| access-date =18 October 2015
| title =The Berenstain Bears' Thanksgiving
| isbn =0590947311
| last1 =Berenstain
| first1 =Stan
| last2 =Berenstain
| first2 =Jan
| year =1997
}}
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.
Cast
- Ron McLarty as Papa Bear and the Narrator
- Pat Lysinger as Mama Bear
- Jonathan Lewis as Brother Bear
- Gabriela Glatzer as Sister Bear
- Bob Kaliban as Bigpaw
- Animators (Vinnie Bell, Vincent J. Cafarlli, Jack Dazzo, Candy Kugel, Jan Siochak) as The Bear Country Forces Members?
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 special and was familiar to audiences since a similar type of writing was used in the Berenstain Bears Beginner Books series.{{cite book
| last =Berenstain
| first =Stan and Jan
| title =Down a Sunny Dirt Road: An Autobiography
| publisher =Random House
| date =2002
| url =https://archive.org/details/downsunnydirtroa00bere
| isbn =978-0375814037
| url-access =registration
}}
The special is officially the first appearance of the Bigpaw character in the Berenstain Bears series. A precursor to Bigpaw, Great Natural Bear, appeared in The Bears' Almanac in 1973 and is the basis on which Bigpaw was developed.{{cite web |url=https://berenstainbears.wordpress.com/2014/01/27/who-is-bigpaw/ |title=Who Is Bigpaw |date=27 January 2014 |publisher=Berenstain Bears |access-date=18 October 2015}} Bigpaw appears in several subsequent books and the CBS cartoon series.
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: "Thankfulness", "Bigpaw", and "A Stranger's Just Somebody (You Don't Already Know)".{{cite AV media
| title =The Berenstain Bears Double Feature
| medium =DVD
| publisher =GoodTimes
| date =2002
}}
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.{{IMDb title|id=0493216|title=The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw}}
It was the second of five Berenstain Bears animated specials that aired on NBC from 1979 to 1983.{{Citation
| title =Berenstain Bears History
| publisher =The Berenstain Bears, Inc.
| year =2015
| url =http://www.berenstainbears.com/about.html
| access-date =11 October 2015 }}
Premiere
The program premiered on NBC on Thursday, November 20, 1980, at 8:30 PM ET. Its lead-in was Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special and it competed against The Waltons on CBS and NFL football on ABC.{{cite news |title=Thursday [TV listings] |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1980/11/16/112057960.html?pageNumber=197 |format=newspaper |work=The New York Times |page=197 |date=16 November 1980 |access-date=18 October 2015}} The special was sponsored by Kellogg's.
Plot
File:The_Berenstain_Bears_Meet_Bigpaw_-_VHS_releases.jpg (1987) and then by Kids Klassics (1989). The special has also been made available on LaserDisc and DVD.]]
Thanksgiving is approaching in Bear Country. The Bear Family attempt to discern their fortunes by reading the harvest honeycomb when an ominous footprint appears in the bottom of the pan. Mama interprets this as a sign that the Thanksgiving Legend of Bigpaw is coming to pass. According to this legend, Mama states and warns the cubs that if the bears were selfish, greedy and unkind to the needy and do not share in the bounties of nature, Bigpaw will come and gobble up Bear Country county by county. Papa believes the story to be nonsense.
Papa considers himself a bear "for all seasons", telling the cubs how he takes care of the Earth and all of its creatures year-round - and especially on days like Easter, Christmas, and Arbor Day. But when it comes to Thanksgiving, Papa seems to care more about eating a feast than giving thanks.
Meanwhile, Mama continues the Thanksgiving preparations at home ("Thankfulness").
While visiting a pumpkin patch, Papa learns that his selfishness debt that the legend of the terrifying Bigpaw is real and is on the move through Sinister Bog. On their own, Brother and Sister decide to go and gather (no ifs, ands, or buts) mixed nuts for Papa. They set off into the woods and into Sinister Bog.
Gathering nuts in a tree, Brother and Sister feel the earth trembling as Bigpaw approaches ("Bigpaw"). Terrified, the cubs lose their balance and begin to fall from the tree. They are saved from injury, though, by landing in the enormous hand of Bigpaw. Instead of hurting them, Bigpaw gently places them safely upon the ground and the cubs immediately realize that Bigpaw is not a creature to fear.
Meanwhile, back at the village square, Papa has gathered members of Bear Country, rallying a group of citizens to seek out Bigpaw and "get him before he gets us". Mama thinks the bears are getting carried away and convinces them to use their heads and think things through ("A Stranger's Just Somebody (You Don't Already Know)").
Bigpaw has climbed a high mountain to take a nap and his yawn echoes through the valley. But the fearful bears interpret his yawn as a terrifying roar and Papa - seeing Bigpaw's giant shadow - assembles "The Bear Country Forces". Brother and Sister try to tell Papa of Bigpaw's kindness, but he doesn't listen.
Upon the mountain, Bigpaw was setting in for his nap when he heard the sound of the angry bears approaching. Afraid of the approaching bears, Bigpaw built a tall stack of boulders to use as weapons against the approaching mob until Sister and Brother intervene, placing themselves between Bigpaw and the angry members of Bear Country. Bigpaw holds back his tower of rock, gently picks up Brother and SIster, who explain how kind the giant is.
Everyone celebrates and the Bear Family invites Bigpaw to Thanksgiving dinner the following day, at which time Bigpaw presents Papa with his favorite treat - mixed nuts ("Thankfulness - Reprise").{{cite book |last=Woolery |first=George W. |date=1989 |title=Animated TV Specials: The complete directory to the first twenty-five years, 1962-1987 |url=https://archive.org/details/animatedtvspecia0000wool/page/32 |location=Metuchen, NJ |publisher=The Scarecrow Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/animatedtvspecia0000wool/page/32 32] |isbn=0810821982}}
Book adaptation
File:The_Berenstain_Bears'_Thanksgiving_-_book_cover_(1997).jpg
A storybook version of the film was published by Scholastic in 1997 under the title The Berenstain Bears' Thanksgiving. The book closely follows the plot of the television special. As of August 2016, the book is out of print but can be easily found on the secondhand market.{{cite book
| last =Berenstain
| first =Stan and Jan
| title =The Berenstain Bears' Thanksgiving
| publisher =Scholastic
| date =1997
| location =New York
| url =https://archive.org/details/berenstainbearst0000bere_t2v4
| isbn =978-0590947312
| url-access =registration
}}
The Berenstain Bear Scouts Meet Bigpaw (1995) has a similar plot.
Home media
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".{{cite AV media
| title =A Berenstain Bears Celebration
| medium =LaserDisc
| publisher =Embassy Home Entertainment
| date =1984
}}
In 1987, the special was made available on VHS by Embassy Home Entertainment as part of their "Children's Treasures" series.{{cite AV media
| title =The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw
| medium =VHS
| publisher =Embassy Home Entertainment
| date =1987
}} In 1989, the special was distributed on VHS by Kids Klassics.{{cite AV media
| title =The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw
| medium =VHS
| publisher =Kids Klassics
| date =1989
}} The special was re-released in 1992 by GoodTimes Home Video, in a double-feature with The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree.{{cite AV media
| title =The Berenstain Bears Double Feature
| medium =VHS
| publisher =GoodTimes
| date =1992
}}
In 2002, the special was released on DVD by GoodTimes, also in a double-feature with The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree. This is the only Berenstain Bears special that was never reissued with the 1980s TV series by Sony Wonder.
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0493216|title=The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw}}
- [https://berenstainbears.wordpress.com/2014/01/27/who-is-bigpaw/ "Who is Bigpaw"] by Mike Berenstain
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruQozkxioKg|title= The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw] full video
References
{{reflist}}
{{Berenstain Bears}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw}}
Category:1980 in American television
Category:1980 television specials
Category:1980s American television specials
Category:1980 American animated films
Category:1980s animated television specials
Category:Thanksgiving television specials
Category:NBC television specials
Category:Animated films about bears
Category:Animated films about children
Category:Animated films about families