''Santa and the Three Bears'' is a 1970

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

feature film, which aired in syndication on television regularly during the holiday season. The film was originally pitched to TV networks, which rejected it as it lacked a villain, but was then shown in theaters instead. This special has been rerun on TBN,

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

, FOX Family (now Freeform), and on KTLA channel 5 in

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. It also received a "

blue ribbon The blue ribbon is a symbol of high quality. The association comes from The Blue Riband, a prize awarded for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by passenger liners and, prior to that from Cordon Bleu, which referred to the blue ribbon w ...

" award for Best Family Film at the

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in i ...

. The live-action sequences at the beginning and end of the film are often edited out in television reruns. The edited version was later released on VHS in 1992 by Kids Klassics, and distributed by

GoodTimes Home Video GoodTimes Entertainment, Ltd. was an American home video company that originated in 1984 under the name of GoodTimes Home Video. Though it produced its own titles, the company was well known due to its distribution of media from third parties and ...

Plot summary

Two young bears, Nikomi and Chinook, know nothing of

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

until the local park ranger tells them about the legend, and they become curious to meet Santa Claus. Their mother, Nana, is preparing for Winter hibernation and cynically tells her children there is no Santa, but they are determined to believe. Mother finds it impossible to begin their sleep, since the young cubs wish to stay awake until Santa arrives.

Voice cast

* Hal Smith as Grandfather, Santa and Mr. Ranger *

Jean Vander Pyl Jean Thurston Vander Pyl (October 11, 1919 – April 10, 1999) was an American voice actress. Although her career spanned many decades, she is best known as the voice of Wilma Flintstone for the Hanna-Barbera cartoon ''The Flintstones''. In ...

(credited as Jean van der Pyl) as Nana * Christina Ferra-Gilmore (credited as Annette Ferra) as Nikomi * Bobby Riha as Chinook * Joyce Taylor * Ken Engels * Beth Goldfarb as Beth * Brian Hobbs as Brian * Lenard Keith * Kathy Lemmon * Roxanne Poole * Michael Rodriguez

History

The theatrical release of the film contains live-action sequences directed by director

Barry Mahon Barry Mahon, born Jackson Barrett Mahon (February 5, 1921 – December 4, 1999) was an American film director, cinematographer and producer. Early years Mahon was born in Bakersfield, California and attended the Page Military Academy (now Page ...

, running for around four minutes in total. These sequences feature actor Hal Smith and two young children (Brian Hobbs and Beth Goldfarb) sitting in a cabin and conversing by the fireplace and Christmas tree, and a short montage of mechanical toys, Christmas decorations, and a pet kitten, during the opening and closing credits. The film has been also released by Modern Sound Pictures Inc. with the live-action sequences cut. Bill Hutten and Tony Love, the film's animators, created another Christmas

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

special in 1983 named ''The Christmas Tree Train'', also starring a bear cub and a park ranger, which led to a line of specials called ''Buttons & Rusty''. The film is currently owned by Multicom Entertainment Group.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Santa And The Three Bears 1970 films 1970 animated films 1970 television films 1970s American animated films 1970s children's animated films 1970 television specials 1970s animated television specials 1970s Christmas films American films with live action and animation American Christmas films Animated Christmas films Christmas television specials American animated featurettes Animated films about bears 1970s English-language films

Plot summary

Voice cast

History

See also

References

External links