''The Upstairs Downstairs Bears'' is a

children's A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person young ...

stop-motion

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...

. The series was co-produced by

Scottish Television Enterprises STV Studios (previously STV Productions, SMG Productions, and originally known as Scottish Television Enterprises) is the television production arm of the STV Group plc. Headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, and with an office in London, England ...

and Canada's

Cinar Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc. (also known as Cookie Jar Group and originally known as CINAR; renamed as DHX Cookie Jar Inc. from 2012 until 2014, or simply just Cookie Jar) was a Canadian media production and distribution company owned by DHX ...

in co-production with

Egmont Imagination The Egmont Group (formerly The Gutenberghus Group) is a Danish media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark. The business area of Egmont has traditionally been magazine publishing but has over the years evolved to comprise mass me ...

in Denmark, in association with Imagination Production and FilmFair Animation. The series was broadcast on

CITV CITV (short for Children's ITV, also known as the CITV Channel) is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6 am to 9 pm which ...

in the United Kingdom and

Teletoon Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and "cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts an ...

in Canada. It consists of a single season of 13 half-hour episodes, or 26 shorts. Based on the eponymous series of books by the show's creator Carol Lawson, the show is about two families of

teddy bears A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy bear ...

who live in an

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...

, and emphasizes the importance of

sharing Sharing is the joint use of a resource or space. It is also the process of dividing and distributing. In its narrow sense, it refers to joint or alternating use of inherently finite goods, such as a common pasture or a shared residence. Still ...

for the

preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary sch ...

audience.

Episodes

Production

Illustrator and

teddy bear A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy b ...

collector Carol Lawson was reportedly inspired to create the franchise when she came across "a 'downstairs' bear dressed as a maid". It follows in the vein of the similarly-titled 1971 ITV

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

'' Upstairs, Downstairs'', which also features the stories of two families living together under one townhouse roof. Production of the series began in late 1998, with an anticipated budget of US$3 million. By early 2000, this had increased to US$3.7 million, similar to that of comparable

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

. The cost per episode was $430,000 as of October that year.

headquarters in Denmark handled construction of the puppets and backgrounds, which were then sent to the

FilmFair FilmFair was a British production company and animation studio that produced children's television series, animated cartoons, educational films, and television advertisements. The company made numerous stop motion films using puppets, clay animat ...

studio in London for filming.

Broadcast

''The Upstairs Downstairs Bears'' was first broadcast in English on

in the United Kingdom on April 9, 2001. On

in Canada, it originally aired from September 3, 2001 to December 7, 2001.Alt URL
/ref> In the United States, it was broadcast on

Smile of a Child TV Smile (shortened from its former name of Smile of a Child) is an American Christian free-to-air television network owned and operated by the Trinity Broadcasting Network. The network is aimed at children between the ages 2 to 12, and offer ...

. On the French-language Canadian channel

Télétoon Télétoon (styled as TĒLĒTOON) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of " télévision" and "cartoon". As of 2013, along with its Englis ...

, it was aired as ''Les oursons du square Théodore''. Internationally, it was also seen on Minimax in Hungary, and Hop! Channel in Israel.

Czech Television Czech Television ( cs, Česká televize, italics=no ; abbreviation: ČT) is a public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting seven channels. Established after the Velvet Revolution in 1992, it is the successor to Czechoslov ...

ČT Déčko Czech Television ( cs, Česká televize, italics=no ; abbreviation: ČT) is a public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting seven channels. Established after the Velvet Revolution in 1992, it is the successor to Czechoslov ...

has made the full series available for

digital streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

Reception

Toonhound had a positive impression of the series, stating: "With its period set details, golden brown shades and soft,

sepia Sepia may refer to: Biology * ''Sepia'' (genus), a genus of cuttlefish Color * Sepia (color), a reddish-brown color * Sepia tone, a photography technique Music * ''Sepia'', a 2001 album by Coco Mbassi * ''Sepia'' (album) by Yu Takahashi * " ...

light this little show evokes just the right

atmosphere..."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Upstairs Downstairs Bears, The 2001 British television series debuts 2001 Canadian television series debuts 2001 British television series endings 2001 Canadian television series endings 2000s British animated television series 2000s Canadian animated television series Animated television series about bears British stop-motion animated television series British television shows based on children's books Canadian stop-motion animated television series Canadian television shows based on children's books English-language television shows ITV children's television shows Teletoon original programming Television series by Cookie Jar Entertainment