The Berenstain Bears entry into the animated holiday line-up.
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The season is upon us, and so is yet another seasonal animated show. "Christmas Tree" first aired on NBC in 1979, and it's The Berenstain Bears entry into the animated holiday line-up. While the Bears TV show episodes are typically 12 minutes long, this holiday special ran 30 minutes, and it's not bad.
Since 1974, Stan and Jan Berenstain have been educating and entertaining children with their charming stories of Papa, Mama, Sister, and Brother Bear. Each book focused on one problem or shortcoming, with a virtue unveiled by the story's end. There are books about watching too much TV, eating too much junk food, facing a new baby in the house, dealing with bullies, going to the doctor, cleaning messy bedrooms, and getting "the gimmes," where Brother and Sister throw tantrums if they can't get something at the store each time they visit. But the book series has been so amazingly popular because the stories amuse children as much as they instruct them.
The same can be said of the PBS series, which recycles the books into colorful animated installments. If the shows have a retro look and feel, it's because the new round of animated adaptations stays pretty close to the style of the books and the Bear Country cartoons from the '80s.
Jan and Stan Berenstain got their start in children's books at the urging of none other than the famous Dr. Suess (Theordor Geisel), who asked them to write a book that would fit in his Cat in the Hat/Beginning Books series. The Berenstains responded with "The Big Honey Hunt," which was published in 1962. Since then, the married couple has cranked out more than 250 books which have sold more than 240 million copies over the years. "Publisher's Weekly" lists 35 of them among their top 250 titles of all time. In other words, they're an institution in children's literature, and the PBS series has done them proud.
This bargain-priced DVD features a Berenstain Bears holiday special and four episodes from the TV show.
The Christmas Tree is the original holiday special that aired on NBC. In this special, the cubs learn that the best Christmas gifts aren't under the tree, but in your heart. As with many Christmas shows, it all begins when the family sets out to find the perfect Christmas tree. Trouble is, all the best trees are homes to forest animals, and so it's back to town to buy a tree. When they're sold out, the Berenstain Bears' disappointment quickly turns to joy after the woodland creatures whose homes they spared return the favor.
The Ice Monster finds Papa gearing up for the Winter Carnival, which suddenly seems in jeopardy when townspeople find a gigantic Ice Monster stomping through the carnival grounds. This Bigfoot themed episode is a bit of a departure from the normally didactic Berenstain Bears episodes, more reminiscent of a "Scooby-Doo" episode. But there is a lesson: don't let your imaginations run wild.
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[release]25186[/release]