The Upstairs Downstairs Bears Explained

Alt Name:Upstairs Downstairs Bears[1] [2]
Genre:Preschool
Stop motion[3]
Creator:Carol Lawson
Gresham Films
Voices:Sonja Ball
Kathleen Flaherty
Oliver Grainger
Harry Hill
Emma Isherwood
Sally Isherwood
Michael Lamport
Theme Music Composer:Mark Giannetti
Composer:Jeff Fisher
Country:United Kingdom
Canada
Language:English
Num Seasons:1
Num Episodes:13 (26 shorts)
Executive Producer:Elizabeth Partyka
Poul Kofod
David Ferguson
Producer:Charlotte Damgaard
Cassandra Schafhausen
Kath Yelland (for FilmFair)
Runtime:22 minutes (11 minutes per short)
Company:Scottish Television
CINAR Corporation
CINAR Europe
Egmont Imagination
FilmFair[4]
Network:ITV (CITV) (UK)
Teletoon (Canada)

The Upstairs Downstairs Bears is a British-Canadian children's stop-motion animated series. The series was co-produced by Scottish Television Enterprises and Canada's Cinar in co-production with Egmont Imagination in Denmark, in association with Imagination Production and FilmFair Animation.[5] The series was broadcast on CITV in the United Kingdom and Teletoon in Canada. It consists of a single season of 13 half-hour episodes, or 26 shorts.[6]

Based on the eponymous series of books by the show's creator Carol Lawson, the show is about two families of teddy bears who live in an Edwardian townhouse, and emphasizes the importance of sharing for the preschool audience.[7]

Production

Illustrator and teddy bear collector[8] 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 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.[9] By early 2000, this had increased to US$3.7 million, similar to that of comparable children's television. The cost per episode was $430,000 as of October that year.

Egmont Imagination headquarters in Denmark handled construction of the puppets and backgrounds, which were then sent to the FilmFair studio in London for filming.

Broadcast

The Upstairs Downstairs Bears was first broadcast in English on CITV in the United Kingdom on April 9, 2001.[10] On Teletoon in Canada, it originally aired from September 3, 2001 to December 7, 2001.[11] In the United States, it was broadcast on Smile.[2]

On the French-language Canadian channel Télétoon, it was aired as Les oursons du square Théodore.[12] Internationally, it was also seen on Minimax in Hungary,[13] and Hop! Channel in Israel.[14]

Czech Television's ČT Déčko has made the full series available for digital streaming.[15]

Reception

Toonhound had a positive impression of the series, stating: "With its period set details, golden brown shades and soft, sepia light this little show evokes just the right Edwardian atmosphere..."[16]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Archived copy . www.teletoon.com . 28 September 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20020107082911/http://www.teletoon.com/cgi-local/program.cgi?value=Upstairs+Downstairs+Bears&type=title&match=exact . 7 January 2002 . dead.
  2. Web site: Smile of a Child TV // Television Program Schedule . https://web.archive.org/web/20090427113400/https://smileofachildtv.org/watch/schedule_programs.php?p=201 . 2009-04-27 .
  3. Web site: WildBrain - Distribution Catalogue 2021 by WildBrain_Official - Issuu . September 2021 .
  4. https://playbackonline.ca/2000/04/17/28750-20000417/
  5. Web site: About | Carol Lawson .
  6. Web site: Canadians specialize at MIP .
  7. Web site: What's developing in kids production .
  8. Web site: Porterfields Art Licensing - Carol Lawson .
  9. Web site: Cascade's kid-friendly agenda .
  10. Web site: Bear-loving author sees books come to life on television . 8 February 2001 .
  11. Web site: [ftp://support.crtc.gc.ca/logs/ Television Program Logs]. 2016-03-02. Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. Alt URL
  12. Web site: Archived copy . www.teletoon.com . 28 September 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20020106112448/http://www.teletoon.com/cgi-local/programFR.cgi?value=Oursons+du+square+Th%e9odore,+Les&type=title&match=exact . 6 January 2002 . dead.
  13. Web site: Minimax.hu . https://web.archive.org/web/20020616105823/http://www.minimax.hu/rajzfilm.php?id=821 . 2002-06-16 .
  14. Web site: Israeli pre-school channel on UK shopping spree .
  15. Web site: Medvědí rodinka - iVysílání | Česká televize .
  16. Web site: Toonhound - Upstairs Downstairs Bears (2001-2002) .