The Upstairs Downstairs Bears | |
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Also known as | Upstairs Downstairs Bears [1] [2] |
Genre | Preschool Stop motion [3] |
Created by | Carol Lawson Gresham Films |
Based on | The Upstairs Downstairs Bears series by Carol Lawson |
Voices of | Sonja Ball Kathleen Flaherty Oliver Grainger Harry Hill Emma Isherwood Sally Isherwood Michael Lamport |
Theme music composer | Mark Giannetti |
Opening theme | "The Upstairs Downstairs Bears" |
Ending theme | "The Upstairs Downstairs Bears" (instrumental) |
Composer | Jeff Fisher |
Country of origin | United Kingdom Canada |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 13 (26 shorts) |
Production | |
Executive producers | Elizabeth Partyka Poul Kofod David Ferguson |
Producers | Charlotte Damgaard Cassandra Schafhausen Kath Yelland (for FilmFair) |
Running time | 22 minutes (11 minutes per short) |
Production companies | Scottish Television CINAR Corporation CINAR Europe Egmont Imagination FilmFair [4] |
Original release | |
Network | ITV (CITV) (UK) Teletoon (Canada) |
Release | September 3 – December 7, 2001 |
The Upstairs Downstairs Bears is anchildren's stop-motion animated series. Produced by Scottish Television Enterprises and Canada's Cinar (now WildBrain) in co-production with Egmont Imagination in Denmark, in association with Imagination Production and FilmFair Animation, [5] it is based on the eponymous series of books by the show's creator Carol Lawson. The series was broadcast on CITV in the United Kingdom and Teletoon in Canada. It consists of a single season of 13 half-hour episodes, or 26 shorts. [6]
The show is about two families of teddy bears who live in an Edwardian townhouse, and emphasizes the importance of sharing for the preschool audience. [7]
No. [8] | Title | Written by | Canadian air date [9] |
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1a | "The Magic Hat" | Sally Ann Lever | September 3, 2001 |
1b | "The Lost Kite" | Sally Ann Lever | September 3, 2001 |
2a | "Mrs. Bumble's Birthday" | Simon Jowett | September 4, 2001 |
2b | "Henrietta's Cleaning Day" | Simon Jowett | September 4, 2001 |
3a | "Bears Who Go Bump in the Night" | Mike James | September 5, 2001 |
3b | "Family Portrait" | Mike James | September 5, 2001 |
4a | "The Telephone" | Sally Ann Lever | September 6, 2001 |
4b | "The Chimney Sweep" | Sally Ann Lever | September 6, 2001 |
5a | "The Lovely Day Outing" | Jeanne Willis | September 7, 2001 |
5b | "The Music Lesson" | Jeanne Willis | September 7, 2001 |
6a | "The Treasure Hunt" | Mike James | September 10, 2001 |
6b | "An Abundance of Peas" | Jennifer Lupinacci | September 10, 2001 |
7a | "Wash Day" | Simon Jowett | September 11, 2001 |
7b | "Arthur's Art Attack" | Simon Jowett | September 11, 2001 |
8a | "A Visit From Aunt Agatha" | Mike James | September 12, 2001 |
8b | "Fix-it Freddy" | Peter Hynes | September 12, 2001 |
9a | "The Bring 'n' Buy Sale" | Mike James | September 13, 2001 |
9b | "The Last Card" | Simon Jowett | September 13, 2001 |
10a | "Who's Calling?" | Jeanne Willis | September 14, 2001 |
10b | "Jumping to Conclusions" | Peter Hynes | September 14, 2001 |
11a | "Singing Contest" | Jeanne Willis | September 17, 2001 |
11b | "Star Maker" | Peter Hynes | September 17, 2001 |
12a | "The Pantomime At No. 49" | Adrian Besley | November 19, 2001 |
12b | "Babysitting Baby Arthur" | Adrian Besley | November 19, 2001 |
13a | "A Winter's Day" | Simon Jowett | December 7, 2001 |
13b | "Christmas Bears" | Jeanne Willis | December 7, 2001 |
Illustrator and teddy bear collector [10] Carol Lawson was reportedly inspired to create the franchise when she came across "a 'downstairs' bear dressed as a maid". [8] It follows in the vein of the similarly-titled 1971 ITV drama Upstairs, Downstairs , [8] which also features the stories of two families living together under one townhouse roof.
Production of the series began in late 1998, with an anticipated budget of US$3 million. [11] By early 2000, this had increased to US$3.7 million, similar to that of comparable children's television. [7] The cost per episode was $430,000 as of October that year. [6]
Egmont Imagination headquarters in Denmark handled construction of the puppets and backgrounds, which were then sent to the FilmFair studio in London for filming. [8]
The Upstairs Downstairs Bears was first broadcast in English on CITV in the United Kingdom on April 9, 2001. [12] On Teletoon in Canada, it originally aired from September 3, 2001 to December 7, 2001. [9] In the United States, it was broadcast on Smile. [2]
On the French-language Canadian channel Télétoon, it was aired as Les oursons du square Théodore. [13] Internationally, it was also seen on Minimax in Hungary, [14] and Hop! Channel in Israel. [15]
Czech Television's ČT Déčko has made the full series available for digital streaming. [16]
Toonhound had a positive impression of the series, stating: "With its period set details, golden brown shades and soft, sepia light this little show evokes just the right Edwardian atmosphere..." [8]
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