External links
- The Berenstain Bears Play Ball at IMDb
- The Berenstain Bears Play Ball full video
| The Berenstain Bears Play Ball | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Stan and Jan Berenstain |
| Written by | Stan and Jan Berenstain |
| Directed by | Al Kouzel |
| Starring | Ron McLarty Pat Lysinger Knowl Johnson Gabriela Glatzer |
| Theme music composer | Elliot Lawrence |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producer | Buzz Potamkin |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production companies | Buzzco Associates The Joseph Cates Company |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | May 6, 1983 |
| Related | |
| |
The Berenstain Bears Play Ball, also known as The Berenstain Bears' Littlest Leaguer, [1] is a baseball-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 Al Kouzel, the program made its debut on NBC on May 6, 1983. [2] [3] [4]
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, followed by the third, The Berenstain Bears' Easter Surprise , and a fourth The Berenstain Bears' Comic Valentine .
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. [5]
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. [6]
It was the last of five Berenstain Bears animated specials that aired on NBC from 1979 to 1983. [7] Some of the production staff would continue to work on the next adaptation: 1985's The Berenstain Bears Show , including Joe Cates and Buzz Potamkin. Elliott Lawrence continues to score music for the episodes which are based on his compositions from the five specials, although in faster pace. While they no longer break out in song, the theme music (matching part of Stars and Stripes Forever ) resembles the song lyrics from the specials. The program is now produced by Southern Star with new voice actors.
The program premiered on NBC on May 6, 1983.
Papa Bear learns from the newspaper about Little League baseball tryouts taking place in Bear Country. Elated at the idea of Brother Bear becoming a baseball star, Papa enrolls Brother in the tryouts despite Brother's indifference towards Little League. By contrast, Sister shows enthusiasm, talent, and passion for the game but is overlooked by Papa, who believes that she is better suited to activities more typical of girls her age. Even Mama, who is supportive of Sister's interest in the game, laments that girls not being allowed to play baseball is "the way it's always been". Nevertheless, Sister, defiant towards the idea that her gender should limit her future pursuits, continues to display great interest in baseball.
While Papa tries to teach Brother a baseball lesson, Brother’s friends invite him to go play with them in the woods. A suspicious Papa secretly follows Brother into the woods, where it is revealed that Brother, his friends, and several other cubs who were in line for the Little League tryouts, are playing their own baseball game solely for fun. Papa realizes that he had been focusing too much on competition and helps train Brother and the cubs without the pressure he had put on Brother. Papa also allows Sister to join the practice sessions, where she turns out to be an excellent player.
The Berenstain Bears Play Ball was published by Scholastic in 1998. The plot of the book closely follows that of the animated special.
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 released 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. [6] In 2008, Sony Wonder also released the special on DVD. In this edition, it was bundled with a few bonus episodes from the 1980s cartoon series.[ citation needed ]
The Berenstain Bears is a children's literature franchise created by the late Stan and Jan Berenstain and continued by their son, Mike Berenstain, who assumed partial authorship in 2002, and full authorship in 2012 following his mother's passing. The books feature a family of anthropomorphic grizzly bears who generally learn a moral or safety-related lesson in the course of each story.
Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment was an American production company located in New York City, and known for its seasonal television specials, usually done in stop motion animation. Rankin/Bass's stop-motion productions are recognizable by their visual style of doll-like characters with spheroid body parts and ubiquitous powdery snow using an animation technique called Animagic.
Santa and the Three Bears is a 1970 animated feature film, which aired in syndication on television regularly during the holiday season.
Stanley Melvin Berenstain and Janice Marian Berenstain were American writers and illustrators best known for creating the children's book series The Berenstain Bears.
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! is an American live-action/animated television series that aired from September 4 to December 1, 1989, in syndication. The series is based on the video games Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2 by Nintendo, and is the first of three television series to be based upon the Mario video game series. The animation was provided by Sei Young Animation.
The Year Without a Santa Claus is a 1974 stop motion animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. The story is based on Phyllis McGinley's 1956 book of the same name. It is narrated by Shirley Booth and starring the voices of Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, and George S. Irving. It was originally broadcast on December 10, 1974, on ABC.
Care Bears Nutcracker Suite is an animated television film featuring the Care Bears characters. Produced by the Canadian animation studio Nelvana in 1988, it is loosely based on the 1892 Nutcracker ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The film was directed by Joseph Sherman and Laura Shepherd, and produced by Nelvana's founders: Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert and Clive A. Smith.
The Berenstain Bears is an animated comedy television series based on the children's book series of the same name by Stan and Jan Berenstain, produced by Southern Star/Hanna-Barbera Australia. It aired in the United States from September 14, 1985, to March 7, 1987 on CBS with 52 11-minute episodes in 26 half-hour shows produced. Reruns of the show would continue to air on the network until September 5, 1987. Each show consisted of two episodes, the first being an adaptation of one of the books, the second being an original story.
The Berenstain Bears is a preschool children's animated television educational 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.
Casper's First Christmas is a 1979 animated Christmas television special and crossover produced by Hanna-Barbera. It features Casper the Friendly Ghost and his friend Hairy Scarey from the animated series Casper and the Angels. The special features guest stars Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo, Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Quick Draw McGraw, and Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy. It aired on NBC on December 18, 1979.
Brian Douglas Cummings is an American voice actor, known for his work in radio and television commercials, television and motion picture promos, cartoons and as the announcer on The All-New Let's Make a Deal from 1984 to 1985.
Paddington is a British children's animated television series based on the Paddington Bear books by Michael Bond. Broadcast from 1976 to 1980, the series was scripted by Bond himself, and produced by FilmFair; it was narrated by Michael Hordern, who also voiced all of the characters.
The Big Honey Hunt is a children's book by Stan and Jan Berenstain, the first in the long running Berenstain Bears series. It was first published in 1962, by Beginner Books, an imprint of Random House, co-founded and managed by Dr. Seuss. The book introduces a family of anthropomorphic bears: Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Small Bear.
Marshall "Buzz" Potamkin was an American television producer and director known for founding his own television advertisement production studio, Perpetual Motion Pictures aka Buzzco Associates, and helping to establish Southern Star Productions. Along with advertisements, Potamkin focused on producing made-for-television animation, beginning with several television films based on the Berenstain Bears series of children's books. He went on to produce series for Turner Entertainment and, more specifically, Cartoon Network, including every episode of Cartoon Network's animated showcase series, What a Cartoon!, a project developed for aspiring animators to make pilot shorts that the network could choose to develop into full-fledged series.
The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree is a Christmas-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, the program made its debut on NBC on December 3, 1979. The television special inspired a book by the same name, published by Random House in 1980.
The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw was a Thanksgiving-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 November 20, 1980. The television special inspired a book, The Berenstain Bears' Thanksgiving, published by Scholastic in 1997.
The Berenstain Bears' Easter Surprise is an Easter-themed animated television special based on the Berenstain Bears children's book series by Stan and Jan Berenstain. Produced by Buzz Potamkin and Hal Hoffer, and directed by Mordicai Gerstein and Al Kouzel, the program made its debut on NBC on April 14, 1981.
The Berenstain Bears Comic Valentine is a Valentine-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 February 13, 1982.
A Very Merry Cricket is a 1973 Christmas animated television special. It was directed by Chuck Jones. It originally aired on ABC on December 14, 1973. who also wrote the teleplay with George Selden. It was a sequel to their acclaimed adaptation of the 1960 book The Cricket in Times Square and was followed in 1975 by another sequel, Yankee Doodle Cricket.
