''The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw'' was a

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

-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 Marshall "Buzz" Potamkin (October 22, 1945 – April 22, 2012) 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 ...

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 books. He illustrated the comic mystery fiction series '' Something Queer is ...

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 November 20, 1980.Shaw, Jane
"Christmas tree is focus of Berenstain Bears' newest adventure."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1980-12-02, p. 32. The television special inspired a book, ''The Berenstain Bears' Thanksgiving'', published by Scholastic in 1997.

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.

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 * Jonathan Lewis as Brother Bear * Gabriela Glatzer as Sister Bear *

Bob Kaliban Robert Dean Kaliban also known as Bob Kaliban (November 6, 1933 – December 12, 2020) was an American actor, singer, and musician. He was most known for being the president of the New York branch of SAG-AFTRA, voicing the police chief in Top Cat ...

as Bigpaw 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'' (19 ...

series. The special is officially the first appearance of the Bigpaw character in the Berenstain Bears series. A precursor to Bigpaw, Great Natural Bear, appeared in ''The Bears' Almanac'' in 1973 and is the basis on which Bigpaw was developed. Bigpaw appears in several subsequent books and the CBS cartoon series.

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: "Thankfulness", "Bigpaw", and "A Stranger's Just Somebody (You Don't Already Know)". The special starred

, 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''. Bob Kaliban was the voice of Bigpaw. It was the second of five Berenstain Bears animated specials that aired on NBC from 1979 to 1983.

Premiere

The program premiered on NBC on Thursday, November 20, 1980, at 8:30 PM ET. Its lead-in was ''Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special'' and it competed against

The Waltons ''The Waltons'' is an American historical drama television series about a family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and World War II. It was created by Earl Hamner Jr., based on his 1961 book ''Spencer's Mountain'' and the 1963 film ...

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

and

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

football on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. The special was sponsored by

Kellogg's The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toaste ...

Plot

Thanksgiving is approaching in Bear Country. The Bear Family attempt to discern their fortunes by reading the harvest honeycomb when an ominous footprint appears in the bottom of the pan. Mama interprets this as a sign that the Thanksgiving Legend of Bigpaw is coming to pass. According to this legend, Mama states and warns the cubs that if the bears were selfish, greedy and unkind to the needy and do not share in the bounties of nature, Bigpaw will come and gobble up Bear Country county by county. Papa believes the story to be nonsense. Papa considers himself a bear "for all seasons", telling the cubs how he takes care of the Earth and all of its creatures year-round - and especially on days like Easter, Christmas, and Arbor Day. But when it comes to Thanksgiving, Papa seems to care more about eating a feast than giving thanks. Meanwhile, Mama continues the Thanksgiving preparations at home ("Thankfulness"). While visiting a pumpkin patch, Papa learns that his selfishness debt that the legend of the terrifying Bigpaw is real and is on the move through Sinister Bog. On their own, Brother and Sister decide to go and gather (no ifs, ands, or buts) mixed nuts for Papa. They set off into the woods and into Sinister Bog. Gathering nuts in a tree, Brother and Sister feel the earth trembling as Bigpaw approaches ("Bigpaw"). Terrified, the cubs lose their balance and begin to fall from the tree. They are saved from injury, though, by landing in the enormous hand of Bigpaw. Instead of hurting them, Bigpaw gently places them safely upon the ground and the cubs immediately realize that Bigpaw is not a creature to fear. Meanwhile, back at the village square, Papa has gathered members of Bear Country, rallying a group of citizens to seek out Bigpaw and "get him before he gets us". Mama thinks the bears are getting carried away and convinces them to use their heads and think things through ("A Stranger's Just Somebody (You Don't Already Know)"). Bigpaw has climbed a high mountain to take a nap and his yawn echoes through the valley. But the fearful bears interpret his yawn as a terrifying roar and Papa - seeing Bigpaw's giant shadow - assembles a mob. Brother and Sister try to tell Papa of Bigpaw's kindness, but he doesn't listen. Upon the mountain, Bigpaw was setting in for his nap when he heard the sound of the angry mob approaching. Afraid of the approaching bears, Bigpaw built a tall stack of boulders to use as weapons against the approaching mob until Sister and Brother intervene, placing themselves between Bigpaw and the angry members of Bear Country. Bigpaw holds back his tower of rock, gently picks up Brother and SIster, who explain how kind the giant is. Everyone celebrates and the Bear Family invites Bigpaw to Thanksgiving dinner the following day, at which time Bigpaw presents Papa with his favorite treat - mixed nuts ("Thankfulness - Reprise").

Book adaptation

A storybook version of the film was published by Scholastic in 1997 under the title ''The Berenstain Bears' Thanksgiving''. The book closely follows the plot of the television special. As of August 2016, the book is out of print but can be easily found on the secondhand market. ''The Berenstain Bear Scouts Meet Bigpaw'' (1995) has a similar plot.

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 ''The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree'', 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''. This is the only Berenstain Bears special that was never required with the 1980s TV series by Sony Wonder, possibly due to a scene in which a lone hedgehog explains about Big Paw as he smoked a

cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder l ...

briefly during the explanation.

External links

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

Berensatin Bears Meet Bigpaw
full video

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw Thanksgiving television specials 1980s animated television specials NBC television specials 1980 in American television 1980 television specials 1980s American television specials Berenstain Bears American television shows based on children's books NBC network original films 1980 films