The Berenstain Bears Play Ball

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 Mordicai Gerstein and Al Kouzel, the program made its debut on NBC on May 6, 1983.[2][3][4]

The Berenstain Bears Play Ball
Created byStan and Jan Berenstain
Written byStan and Jan Berenstain
Directed byMordicai Gerstein
Al Kouzel
Theme music composerElliot Lawrence
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerBuzz Potamkin
Running time25 minutes
Production companiesPerpetual Motion Pictures
The Joseph Cates Company
DistributorEmbassy Pictures
Release
Original networkNBC
Original release
  • May 6, 1983 (1983-05-06)
Chronology
Preceded byThe Berenstain Bears' Comic Valentine (1982)
Followed byThe Berenstain Bears (1985)

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.[5]

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.[6]

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.

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 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.

Premiere

The program premiered on NBC on Friday May 6, 1983.

Plot

Papa Q. Bear wants more than golden honey to have one of his cubs play baseball. Brother has no interest, while Sister goes unnoticed.

Book adaptation

The Berenstain Bears Play Ball was published by Scholastic in 1998. The plot of the book closely follows that of the animated special.

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.[6] In 2008, Sony Wonder also released the special on DVD. In this edition, it was bundled with few bonus episodes from the 1980s cartoon series.

References
  1. Lenburg, Jeff (2009). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons (3rd ed.). New York: Checkmark Books. p. 265. ISBN 978-0-8160-6600-1.
  2. Shaw, Jane. "Christmas tree is focus of Berenstain Bears' newest adventure." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1980-12-02, p. 32.
  3. Mariska, Bradley (2015). "Berenstain Bears Bibliography". Berenstain Bears Complete Bibliography & Blog. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  4. "The Berenstain Bears' Thanksgiving". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  5. Berenstain, Stan and Jan (2002). Down a Sunny Dirt Road: An Autobiography. Random House. ISBN 978-0375814037.
  6. The Berenstain Bears Double Feature (DVD). GoodTimes. 2002.
  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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