The Berenstain Bears (2002 TV series)

The Berenstain Bears is a Canadian preschool children's animated educational television series based on the children's book series of the same name by Stan and Jan Berenstain, and produced by Nelvana, which aired on Treehouse TV. Acting as a revival of the 1985–1987 cartoon series of the same name, 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.

Premiering on September 9, 2002, a total of 40 episodes were produced, with the series airing until September 12, 2003.

Synopsis
The series is set in a nearby forested land populated only by anthropomorphic bears and primarily centers around the Berenstain Bears. The Berenstain Bears are a family residing in the rural community of Bear Country. The family consists of Mama Bear, Papa Q. Bear, Brother Bear, and Sister Bear.

Although a 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 following 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 generosity and responsibility, as well as the daily lives of the bears.

Main

 * Michael Cera (seasons 1–2) and Michael D'Ascenzo (season 3) as Brother
 * Tajja Isen as Sister
 * Benedict Campbell as Papa
 * Camilla Scott as Mama

Family

 * Leslie Carlson as Grizzly Gramps
 * Corinne Conley as Grizzly Gran
 * Marc McMulkin as Cousin Fred

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
 * Maryke Hendrikse as Hillary

Citizens

 * Chris Wiggins as Squire Grizzly
 * Ellen-Ray Hennessy as Miss Grizzle
 * Philip Williams as Farmer Ben

Production
The show was produced by the Canada-based animation studio Nelvana for PBS Kids in the United States and Treehouse TV in Canada. 80 15-minute episodes were produced, adapted from the books and also a few new stories as well, similar to the 1985 production.

Due to Canadian laws requiring Nelvana to employ Canadian writers and artists, the Berenstains' involvement in the program was limited; they sought to exert their influence on some details, according to Stan: "Our bears don't wear shoes, and Papa wouldn't wear his hat in the house...And we try to keep complete, total banality out of the stories". Common practicalities of animation did force some minor costume changes from the books, such as eliminating polka dots and plaids (this issue also occurred in the previous animated series and specials and only a limited amount of polka dots was allowed in the five specials ).

The series is supposed to supplement the 1985 series because new books were released since then, even though the two series have a radically different production style as well as a change of in-universe elements. Another issue is the two series are not seen together.

Music
Country music singer-songwriter Lee Ann Womack performed the theme song and written by Stan Meissner for the series.

Broadcast
In Canada, the series aired on Treehouse TV and Ici Radio-Canada Télé in Quebec. It also briefly aired on YTV as part of the short-lived YTV PlayTime block.

It debuted in the United States on PBS Kids on January 6, 2003. Originally, it aired together with Seven Little Monsters in a shared half-hour timeslot, but the two shows were eventually separated. The original broadcast run on PBS ended September 10, 2004, and reran until February 1, 2009, along with Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat and Zoboomafoo, though a small number of local PBS stations still air reruns as of 2024.

Reruns aired on PBS Kids Sprout (later known as simply Sprout) from its inception up until the channel rebranded into Universal Kids on September 9, 2017, after Sprout's rights to air the series expired.

Lakota dub
Twenty episodes of the series were dubbed in Lakota language and aired under the title "Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe" on PBS stations in the Dakotas beginning September 11, 2011.