Old Bear Stories

Old Bear Stories is a BAFTA award-winning stop-motion animation television series for children based on the Old Bear and Friends books by Jane Hissey. Jane Hissey also created the television series, starting it on 22 September 1993, and creating 3 seasons, which ended on 24 December 1997 with a double-length Christmas special. In all, 41 episodes were made.

The series was produced by Ealing Animation (El Nombre) and was originally broadcast in the United Kingdom on ITV. Episodes have subsequently been repeated on Channel 5 in the UK, and are also broadcast in the United States and other countries worldwide. The show also aired for a short time on the CBC morning children's block in Canada. It also aired in the United States as part of Cartoon Network's 'Small World' as well as ABC in Australia, M-Net, SABC 2 and Bop TV in South Africa, MediaCorp Channel 5 in Singapore, Channel Eye in Sri Lanka, ČT1 in the Czech Republic, TVP1 in Poland, SVT Barnkanalen in Sweden and TV2 and TV One in New Zealand. The series was also screened on armed forces television on BFBS (and its former network SSVC Television) where it was shown in several countries such as Germany and the Falkland Islands.

Episodes of the series were released on VHS by Carlton Video.

Plot
In a play room which is home to a variety of sentient toys, their leader, the wise and caring "Old Bear" had disappeared some time ago, having been put into the loft and forgotten. After the toys rescue him and bring him back down to the play room, Old Bear again becomes their most respected toy and guides his friends in their many adventures, both in the play room and in the garden.

Characters

 * Old Bear: an elderly dusty teddy bear, he was put up in the attic when he reached an advanced age, but was rescued by the other toys. They now looked up to him as a fearless, yet wise, leader.
 * Bramwell Brown: a wise and intelligent old bear, often considered second to Old Bear. Liked to cook things for the other toys.
 * Duck: a gloomy but amiable toy duck. He sometimes wished he could fly, and he didn’t like to get his feet wet.
 * Rabbit: an impulsive and energetic toy rabbit.
 * Little Bear: a small white bear who wore overly baggy orangey red trousers. Being the youngest of all the toys, he was very enthusiastic and inquisitive, rather like a young child. He also sometimes had good ideas for solving problems or playing games.
 * Jolly Tall: a toy giraffe who despite his height didn’t like heights - he said his head thought it was high enough already.
 * Sailor: a toy sailor who enjoyed sailing in his toy boat.
 * Zebra: a female toy zebra.
 * Hoot the Owl: a toy owl living in the attic. Originally had a nest made of a bunch of socks that didn't match, until Little Bear gave her an old bobble hat to use instead.
 * Ruff the Dog: a bouncy toy dog which resembled a Fox Terrier.
 * Dog: a toy black Scottish Terrier who liked to bury his rubber bones in some plant pots.
 * Camel: a toy camel who was almost as tall as Jolly Tall. Once tried to use Little Bear's trousers as hump warmers.
 * Cat: a toy cat who liked to nap in any place she found.
 * Rabbit's cousin: female cousin of Rabbit, who occasionally stayed with the toys. She wore a straw hat, and seemed to like to cause mischief, and didn’t like cleaning.
 * The dolls: a family of 3 dolls (a father, a mother (Mrs. Doll) and a daughter) who lived in a dolls' house in a corner of the play room.

Series 1

 * 1) Old Bear
 * 2) Little Bear Lost
 * 3) There Were Five In A Bed
 * 4) Jolly Tall
 * 5) Little Bear's Trousers
 * 6) The Circus
 * 7) The Rainy Day
 * 8) The Fancy Dress Competition
 * 9) Little Bear's Big Race
 * 10) The Apple Tree
 * 11) The Winter Picnic
 * 12) Jolly Snow
 * 13) The Doll's House Christmas

Series 2

 * 1) Ruff
 * 2) The Play
 * 3) The Boat Race
 * 4) Jigsaw
 * 5) Little Bear's Book
 * 6) The Birthday Band
 * 7) Hot and Spotty
 * 8) Hoot
 * 9) Ruff Follows His Nose
 * 10) Spring Clean
 * 11) Old Bear's Chair
 * 12) Market Day
 * 13) The Car

Series 3

 * 1) Hoot and the Mystery Eggs
 * 2) The Clock
 * 3) The Castle
 * 4) The Colour Chase
 * 5) Little Bear's Snowmen
 * 6) The Painting
 * 7) Duck Tries to Fly
 * 8) The Jolly Dragon
 * 9) Rabbit and the Visitor
 * 10) Little Bear's Cold Day
 * 11) Ruff and the Big Wheel
 * 12) The Birthday Camp
 * 13) The Treasure Hunt

Christmas Specials

 * 1) Little Bear and the Christmas Star
 * 2) The Perfect Presents

Cast and crew
Copyright Carlton Television UK 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997
 * Writer: Jane Hissey
 * Director: Kevin Griffiths
 * Assistant Director: Liz Whitaker
 * Producer: Richard Randolph
 * Executive Producer: Peter Gillbe
 * Composer: Paul Castle
 * Film Editor: Nick Follows
 * Assistant Editor: Nick Aleck
 * Dubbing Mixer: Nick Glynn-Davies
 * Puppet Makers: Monique Brown, Alix Hardwood, Val Johnston, Helen Ranch
 * Animators: Fin and Humphrey Leadbitter, Tobias Fouracre, Geoffrey Walker, Dan Ryan, Aziz Samuels
 * Props: Pippa Randolph, Sue Phillips, Geoffrey Walker, Donna Joy
 * Sets: Colin Armitage, Graeme Owen
 * Production Manager: Lynne Pritchard
 * Production Assistants: Jilly Clarke, Geoffrey Walker
 * Narrator: Anton Rodgers
 * Characters Copyright by Jane Hissey, licensed by Random House UK Ltd.
 * An Optomen Television Production in association with Ealing Animation and Carlton Television
 * A Carlton Programme for ITV

Theme music
The theme tune was composed by Paul Castle and consists of the lyrics: Please read us a story Old Bear, we'll all gather round

Dear Old Bear.

Sit in your favourite chair,

We'll sit all around, all around dear Old Bear.

The harmony vocals were provided by Alison Goldfrapp of the band Goldfrapp.

Awards
The series was very well critically received and won a lot of awards:
 * 1995 Chicago International Children's Film Festival - Outstanding Achievement Award
 * 1994 Royal Television Society - Best Children's Series
 * 1993 BAFTA - Best Children's Programme
 * 1993 New York Film Festival - Gold Medal
 * 1993 Chicago International Film Festival - Silver Plaque