September 12, 2015(2015-09-12)[5]– October 1, 2018(2018-10-01)
Goldie & Bear is an American animated fantasy children's television series created by Jorge Aguirre for Disney Junior. The series is produced by Milk Barn Entertainment and Titmouse, Inc in its first and second seasons respectively. Inspired by the fairy tale "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," the show focuses on Goldie and Bear, who become best friends following an incident at his house.
The show was created to preserve children's memories of classic fairy tales and characters. Its episodes try to pay homage to the original fairytales and nursery rhymes while giving additional insight into their storylines and underlying meanings. Maria Tatar, a Disney Junior advisory board member, provided advice on storytelling, fairytales, and folklore as the show's consultant.
The show launched on Disney Junior and Disney Channel in November 2015. Episodes were released on Watch Disney Junior two months prior to their broadcast on the network. The series was renewed for a second season in March 2016, which premiered in September 2017. The final episode aired on October 1, 2018. Goldie & Bear received general positive reviews from critics, with praise for its music and characters.
Premise
After the incident at little Jack Bear's house in "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," Goldilocks (nicknamed Goldie) apologizes to him, and the two become best friends. They go on adventures throughout the Fairytale Forest—often meeting characters from various fairy tales and nursery rhymes, including Little Red Riding Hood, Humpty Dumpty, and the cow who jumped over the moon from "Hey Diddle Diddle."
Voice cast
Main
Natalie Lander as Goldie Locks,[6] a precocious and impulsive 11-year-old girl who befriends Bear
Georgie Kidder as Jack Bear,[7] a neat and tidy bear who becomes Goldie's best friend
Recurring
Jim Cummings as the Big Bad Wolf,[8] a wolf who enjoys scaring other creatures and making trouble; and the Giant, a large humanoid character who lives in the clouds at the top of a beanstalk over Fairytale Forest
Justine Huxley as Red Riding Hood,[9] a clean but somewhat snobby child who delivers muffins from her father The Muffin Man (as revealed in Three's a Crowd) to her grandmother, and Little Old Woman, the mother of many children who lives in the Giant's shoe
Mitchell Whitfield as Humpty Dumpty,[10] an accident-prone egg, and the woodsman who constantly tries to cut down trees throughout Fairytale Forest
David Lodge as Magic Gnome, a small gnome who lives in a tree in Goldie and Bear forest and grants whoever finds him a single wish; Magic Cobbler, a magical gnome that creates magical shoes; Baley, the straw-laying pig from "The Three Little Pigs"
Kath Soucie as Twigs, the wood-building pig from "The Three Little Pigs," and the Tooth Fairy, a legendary figure who replaces a lost tooth with a gold coin
According to Nancy Kanter, executive vice president of original programming and general manager of Disney Junior Worldwide, the network is trying to preserve children's memories of classic fairy tales and characters, especially due to the increased focus on math, science, and document analysis in education. Such stories serve as the inspiration for a large portion of The Walt Disney Company's most well-known and lucrative intellectual properties.[3] Kanter stated, "Disney Junior embraces strong storytelling and memorable characters, and nothing reflects that more than classic fairytales."[14]Goldie & Bear's episodes are intended to highlight the significance of storytelling by paying homage to the original fairytales and nursery rhymes while giving additional insight into their storylines and underlying meanings. Throughout the series, the characters of Goldie and Bear focus on friendship and community, as well as imaginative problem-solving and critical thinking through rationality and strategy.
In February 2015, Disney Junior greenlit the show, to air later that year.[15]Maria Tatar, a Disney Junior advisory board member, acts as the series consultant, providing advice on storytelling, fairytales, and folklore.[13] Tatar noted that because the stories are both seemingly basic and profoundly complex, they are timeless.[3] The first season of the show was produced by Milk Barn Entertainment, while production shifted to Titmouse, Inc. for the second season.[16]
Broadcast
The show premiered on Disney Junior and Disney Channel on November 11, 2015.[17] The first season concluded on August 15, 2016.[18] In March 2016, Disney Junior renewed the series for a second season,[19] which aired from September 18, 2017, to October 1, 2018.[20]
On September 12, 2015, before their premiere on Disney Junior, six episodes of the show were released on Watch Disney Junior. Following this, episodes premiered weekly on the app from September 21 to October 12.[4] Prior to Goldie & Bear, Disney Junior had digitally distributed new series. The company originally offered episodes of Sheriff Callie's Wild West available for download before it aired on Disney Junior in 2014. Callie's premiere had some of the highest viewership on the network, despite the episodes being available ahead of time. Paul DeBenedittis, senior vice president of programming strategy for Disney Channels Worldwide, noted that making the episodes available for mobile and on-demand viewing enables children to connect with the content several times early on.[3]
Goldie & Bear was initially streamable on Netflix, with its first and second seasons being released in September 2016 and October 2018 respectively.[23][24] The series later became available to stream on Disney+.[25][26]
Reception
Critical response
Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave the show a grade of four out of five stars, with praise for its characters, themes, and songs. Describing the show as a "win-win", she stated the stories will be enjoyed by children who are familiar and unfamiliar with the source material. According to Ashby, Goldie & Bear manages to maintain key elements of each of its characters' backstory while blending them into a cohesive cast.[27] Alex Reif of Laughing Place commented favorably on the setting, characters, and music, and praised the decision to include certain fairytale characters that Disney had not yet included in any of their productions.[28]
Ratings
In 2016, it was reported that Goldie & Bear received the highest viewership across all preschool networks in 2015.[29][30]
Lawsuit
In June 2018, the creators filed a lawsuit against Disney for breach of contract after production on the second season was transferred to another studio. Disney was alleged to have "already secretly lined up a rival production company called Titmouse" to produce the second season of the series—and "lured away most of Plaintiff Milk Barn's [the first season's production company] employees in New York to work for Titmouse by falsely claiming that Milk Barn was closing and the employees were being transferred", which "made it virtually impossible for those companies to ever be in the children’s television or feature business again". The suit also alleged that Disney told Korbelin to fire the original executive producer of the show and take over his duties—and that Korbelin is still owed more than $250,000 for his 18 months as an executive producer on the show. Disney commented that the Plaintiffs' damages "are estimated to be a minimum of $20 million".[16][31]
Notes
↑ Each episode consists of two 11-minute segments.[3]
↑ "Voice Of Bear – Behind The Voice Actors". Behind The Voice Actors. Check marks indicates role has been confirmed using screenshots of closing credits and other reliable sources{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
↑ "Voice Of Jack – Behind The Voice Actors". Behind The Voice Actors. Check marks indicates role has been confirmed using screenshots of closing credits and other reliable sources{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
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