''The Berenstain Bears Comic Valentine'' is a Valentine-themed

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 anim ...

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

based on the

Berenstain Bears 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 Jan's death. T ...

children's book series by

Stan and Jan Berenstain Stanley Melvin Berenstain (September 29, 1923 – November 26, 2005) and Janice Marian Berenstain (née Grant; July 26, 1923 – February 24, 2012) were American writers and illustrators best known for creating the children's book seri ...

. Produced by Buzz Potamkin and directed by

Mordicai Gerstein Mordicai Gerstein (November 24, 1935 – September 24, 2019) was an American artist, writer, and film director, best known for illustrating and writing children's literature, children's books. He illustrated the comic mystery fiction series ...

and Al Kouzel, the program made its debut on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

on February 13, 1982.Shaw, Jane
"Christmas tree is focus of Berenstain Bears' newest adventure."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1980-12-02, p. 32.

Development

Stan and Jan Berenstain's first animated holiday special aired on NBC in December 1979. ''

The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree ''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 progr ...

'' 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 special ''

The Berenstain Bears' Easter Surprise ''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 ...

''. 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 special and was familiar to audiences since a similar type of writing was used in the Berenstain Bears

Beginner Books Beginner Books is the Random House imprint for young children ages 3–9, co-founded by Phyllis Cerf with Ted Geisel, more often known as Dr. Seuss, and his wife Helen Palmer Geisel. Their first book was Dr. Seuss's '' The Cat in the Hat'' (1 ...

series.

Cast

Ron McLarty Ronald William McLarty (April 26, 1947 – February 8, 2020) was an American actor, playwright, and novelist. He also worked as an audiobook narrator, in which role he recorded over 100 titles and received many Audie Awards. McLarty appeare ...

as Papa Bear * Pat Lysinger as Mama Bear *

Knowl Johnson Knowl Johnson is an American actor born on September 16, 1970, in Greenwich, Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Mas ...

as Brother Bear * Gabriela Glatzer as Sister Bear, Charlene, Honey Bear, Cheerleaders * Jerry Sroka as Bearcaster

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 Elliott Lawrence Broza (February 14, 1925 – July 2, 2021), known professionally as Elliott Lawrence, was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. Son of the broadcaster Stan Lee Broza, Lawrence led his first dance band at age 20, but he pl ...

, with lyrics provided by Stan Berenstain. The score included three original songs. It was the fourth of five Berenstain Bears animated specials that aired on NBC from 1979 to 1983.

Premiere

The program premiered on NBC on February 13, 1982.

Plot

Book adaptation

Home media releases

In 1984, Embassy Home Entertainment released the special on

LaserDisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...

as a double-feature with ''

'', called ''A Berenstain Bears Celebration''. In 1987, the special was made available on VHS by Embassy Home Entertainment as part of their "Children's Treasures" series. In 1989, the special was distributed on VHS by Kids Klassics. The special was re-released in 1992 by GoodTimes Home Video, in a double-feature with ''The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree''. In 2002, the special was released on DVD by GoodTimes, also in a double-feature with ''The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree''. 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.

References

External links

*
"Who is Bigpaw"
by Mike Berenstain
Berenstain Bears Official Website

Berensatin Bears Meet Bigpaw
full video {{DEFAULTSORT:Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw Valentine's Day television specials 1980s animated television specials NBC television specials 1980 in American television 1980 television specials 1980s American animated films Animated television specials 1980s American television specials Berenstain Bears American television shows based on children's books NBC network original films 1982 films