The Berenstain Bears' Easter Surprise

The Berenstain Bears Easter Surprise
Created by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Written by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Directed by Mordicai Gerstein
Al Kouzel
Theme music composer Elliot Lawrence
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
Production
Producer(s) Buzz Potamkin
Running time 25 minutes
Production company(s) Perpetual Motion Pictures
The Joseph Cates Company
Distributor NBC
Embassy Home Entertainment
Release
Original network NBC
Original release
  • April 14, 1981 (1981-04-14)
Chronology
Preceded by The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw (1980)
Followed by The Berenstain Bears' Comic Valentine (1982)

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 Tuesday April 14, 1981.

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, plays along. As Fall passes to Winter, the pattern continues.

During the long cold winter, no one has any explanation for why it doesn't seem to want to end. Both Mama and Papa Bear are 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 asks about what Easter is, Papa focuses his answer on candy and the Easter Bunny, but Mama sings about new life and miracles.

The family decides to pay Boss Bunny, who is responsible for signaling spring and Bear Country's true Easter Bunny, a visit. However, to their horror, the find out that he has quit. Papa, while initially just as grieved as Brother about the loss of Easter, decided to be the Easter Bunny, but it ultimately ends in failure.

Brother, eventually decides to take matters into his own hands, and goes to find Boss Bunny on his own. He encountered his friend Bill Bunny, who is Boss Bunny's son. They find the Easter Factory all abandoned and in cobwebs and Boss Bunny who complains that 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 refuses to reconsider until the Great Spring Rainbow and sunlight revives his energy, and puts his factory back in business.

On Easter morning, Brother finds his Easter candy, but Mama and Papa have an additional Easter surprise for him: a baby sister. When he asks where she came from, Mama reminds him of the miracle of new life, (and Brother notices that Mama has her lap back).

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]

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. 1 2 The Berenstain Bears Double Feature (DVD). GoodTimes. 2002.
  6. ↑ The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw on IMDb
  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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