Miś Uszatek( Polish: ''Miś Uszatek''), in English rendered as Teddy Drop Ear, also spelled as Teddy Drop-Ear, and known as Teddy Floppy Ear is a Polish animated television series produced by

Se-ma-for Se-ma-for was a Polish film and animation studio. Founded in Łódź, Poland in 1947, the company has created many animated cartoons and stop motion animations for young and older audiences. The name, meaning literally ''Se-ma-phore'', is an acr ...

from 1975 to 1987, for a total of 104 episodes. He was created jointly by Polish writer Czesław Janczarski and cartoonist Zbigniew Rychlicki.Muzeum Zabawek w Kielcach: Miś Uszatek

History

Miś Uszatek's (Teddy Drop Ear's) first appearance was in a Polish comic magazine for children, " Miś", on 6 March 1957. Later, he was the main character of several children's books, which were translated into many languages. However, Miś Uszatek became very popular in 1975, when

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

Animated Forms Studio (''Studio Malych Form Filmowych''),

, created a series of stop motion animation for the Polish TV network, featuring actor

Mieczysław Czechowicz Mieczysław Czechowicz (28 September 1930 in Lublin – 14 September 1991 in Warsaw) was a Polish actor, one of the most famous of all time. Career A graduate of Warsaw's State Theatrical Academy ( Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Teatralna), Czechow ...

, who voiced the characters.Nostalgia: Miś Uszatek
/ref> In all-time Polish rankings of animated programs, the show usually comes second only to '' Bolek i Lolek''. The teddy bear Teddy Drop Ear and his friends - ''Prosiaczek'' (''Piglet''), ''Króliczki'' (''Little Rabbits'') and ''Zajączek'' (''Little Hare''), as well as ''Kruczek the Puppy'' - were loved by preteen kids. At the same time, Teddy Drop Ear played the role of a friend from kindergarten. He was also liked by parents, as he would always go to bed at an appropriate hour, singing the goodnight song: All together, Se-ma-for created 104 episodes of the animation series; the last one was made in 1987. In the 1960s, two theatrical movies about the friendly bear were made.Historia polskich dobranocek
, polska.pl Also, in the fall of 2007, the Se-ma-for studio announced that it was planning to make more episodes, but later these plans changed in favor of a possible full-length movie, to be created with help from the Japanese company Eden Entertainment. As of 2008, ''Mis Uszatek'' airs on Polish TV every Thursday. In July 2007, local authorities in Łódź decided to construct a monument dedicated to Miś Uszatek, to be placed along Łódź's main street, Piotrkowska.

Miś Uszatek abroad

The animation series is also popular in other countries; it is one of the best-selling exports of Polish television. All together, Polish TV have sold it to 22 countries, including

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, and a number of African nations. * In

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

(post-

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

) as ''Аблавушак'' * In

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

(

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) as ''Les històries de l'osset Faluc'' * In

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

as ''Medvídek Ušáček'' and aired on ČST1 as part of Večerníček. * In

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

it is known as ''Nalle Luppakorva'' and it was so popular there that dolls featuring the series' characters were once stolen from an exhibition. * In

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

as ''Füles Mackó'' and aired on MTVA as part of TV Maci. * In

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

as ''הרפתקאותיו של דובון'' * In

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

as ''Oyasumi Kuma-chan'' (おやすみ、クマちゃん, ''Good night, little bear''). * In the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

as ''Teddy Hangoor'' * In

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

as ''Мечето Ушко (Mecheto Ushko)'' * In

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

as ''O urso Teddy'' * In

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

(post-

) as ''Мишка-Ушастик'' * In

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

as ''Macko Uško'' * In

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

as ''Medvedek Uhec'' * In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

as ''Teddy Drop Ear'' with voices by Jeni Barnett as part of the

TV-am TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchise ...

children's magazine programme Rub-a-Dub-Tub. In June 2010, Mennica Polska S.A. minted 8,000 silver 1-dollar coins depicting Miś Uszatek on behalf of the government of

Niue Niue is a self-governing island country in free association with New Zealand. It is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is part of Polynesia, and predominantly inhabited by Polynesians. One of the world's largest coral islands, Niue is c ...

. In the UK, the footage from this animation series was also shown on '' Tots TV'' as animated illustrations for some of Tom's stories which he makes up and writes “himself”.

References

External links

Virtual museum of Polish cartoons, with photos of Uszatek and his friends

MIŚ USZATEK on nostalgia.pl

* {{Teddy bears Fictional teddy bears 1970s Polish television series 1980s Polish television series 1975 Polish television series debuts 1975 animated television series debuts 1987 Polish television series endings Polish children's animated television series Animated television series about bears Telewizja Polska original programming