The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas

This is one of my favorite Christmas TV specials by the animation team that did the "Pink Panther" cartoons. I vaguely remember watching this special on the channel Teletoon in its early days, and it never crossed my mind to tape it. But thank God, I recently discovered YouTube, which I watched through my smart TV.

The special is about a bear named Theodore Edward Bear (or Ted. E. Bear) who has wanted to know what Christmas is since he was young. Every year he tried to stay awake to see Christmas, since bears sleep through the winter and never see Christmas. So one year, despite naysayers who laugh at him and getting fired from his job at the Organic Honey Works plant, Ted sets out to the big city (in the human world) to find Christmas. Will he succeed? Well, you will have to watch and see what happens. You know, in 1983, there was another Ted E. Bear TV special for Halloween called "The Great Bear Scare." Of course, I didn't know it existed until I watched it online, and after that, I thought, "I love this special way better."

I really consider this and other Christmas specials criminally underrated and never seen on TV anymore! I mean that the next generation of kids, including my young nephew, should watch these for their Christmas holidays. So anyway, I love every bit of this special, and I really wish it was on a DVD and not on those crappy M. O. D. Discs.

This cartoon, directed by Pink Panther regular Hawley Pratt, features a bear who manages to stay awake for Santa, despite what the title may lead you to believe.

Theodore E. Bear (get it?) works in a honey factory (wait...doesn't it come from bee farms?) and decides he doesn't want to hibernate for winter. He is laughed at and mocked but is determined to find out what Xmas really is.

The animation is similar to the minimalistic schemes found in Pink Panther but there is plenty of dialogue and a decent amount of characterization. Not quite a classic, but pleasant festive viewing.

This is my absolute favorite Christmas special. I have not gone a year without watching it. There are several stories about bears not wanting to hibernate through Christmas. But this one is unique and not one of the others holds a candle to it. I have a VHS but would love a DVD. This special is cute, funny, and catchy. Ted is my favorite character ever (aside from Mickey). In fact, I still have a plush Ted E. Bear that I got when I was one for Christmas. I wouldn't give up my Teddy for anything! I seem to be the only person out there who has one of these bears. My poor Ted lost his clothes and bow-tie. But he looks great for being almost 30 years old!

This strange piece of 70s ephemera from a long-lost 70s Christmas is really fascinating. It's a beautifully designed little animation crammed with strange rococo props and fussy backgrounds but it's a shame that narratively it's a tale of two fairly illogical halves that don't seem to match up. You've got this whole... almost proto-Pixar "world of bears" which is fascinatingly high concept and full of bear airports and honey factories and the like. It's all very weird but as it spills over into our reality it loses momentum and becomes a rather atypical Christmas heartstring-tugger that seems at odds with what came before. A big fan of the beautifully dated pink-eyed delivery of the Smothers brother.

I recorded this made-for-TV holiday special and later purchased the VHS video. As a bear collector, I enjoyed the animation in this story about a bear who searches for Christmas. The main character, Ted Edward Bear (Ted E. Bear), decides not to join his fellow Bear City community who are getting ready for their long hibernation. Instead, he sets out on a journey to find out if there is such a thing as Christmas music, lights and a fat human who goes down chimney's. Ted tries to buy a plane ticket to "Christmas" and soon learns that Christmas is not a destination. He sets out on a long walk, fighting to stay awake. He wonders into a big city and starts asking where he can find Christmas. Confused and frightened, he finds the big Christmas Tree with all its beautiful lights and hears some Christmas music. In delight, he gets into a store window and plays with all the animated toys. He wonders if this is what Christmas is. The toys tell him that he is close to it. They tell him if they don't get bought, they will not find Christmas. To his dismay, he gets locked in the store but accidentally gets out. He runs into Santa and tells him he's trying to find Christmas. Santa tells him Christmas isn't a place, or a thing, or even a time. It's something you carry around in your heart and something you give. Thinking he doesn't have anything to give, Santa tells Ted he has very much to give and helps him find the true meaning of Christmas.