THE BEAR WHO SLEPT THROUGH CHRISTMAS

When I was a kid, I constantly watched a short cartoon called "The Great Bear Scare", and to see if it holds up, I was planning to review it during the Month of Halloween. However, to my surprise, there was a cartoon before this one, and that cartoon is...



I was not aware that there was a Christmas Special starring these characters from the short Halloween cartoon I watched as a kid. So to be fair, I decided to review the cartoon that came before it. Is it any good? ON WITH THE REVIEW...

All the bears that live in a town inhabited by bears do what all bears do during the winter, and that of course is hibernating. However, a bear named Ted E. Bear, doesn't want to hibernate because he has a curiosity of finding out what Christmas is, since he can never see or experience it due to the fact that he hibernates during Christmas time. So, Ted not only decides NOT to sleep through Christmas, but also decides to search for Christmas as he leaves his town (Or world, I can't tell which) and visits the big city, which apparently none of the humans are shocked that there's a bear who's walking and talking around the city. First off, the title of this cartoon is really misleading and is the complete opposite of what the viewers are expecting. At the very least, couldn't they have called it, "The Bear Who Didn't Sleep Through Christmas"? That alone is not only true to its story, but sounds like a more interesting title, then the cartoons actual title, it just sounds...well, boring.

Our main character Ted E. Bear (Voiced by Tom Smothers) while being very cute, and innocent, I don't only get a huge "Winnie The Pooh" vibe from him, but I really don't find him all that memorable. Don't get me wrong, kids will indeed find him cute; even I found him cute, however, as I let the days go by, he just becomes more and more forgettable. The only thing that really stood out about this character is, he reminds me a lot of "Winnie The Pooh", which does become distracting at times. The rest of the Bear characters for the majority of the cartoon, are forgettable too. Ted's tall and lazy best friend does get a few laughs, but at the same time, I not only find him forgettable, but he can be very dull at times. Ted also has a girlfriend named Patti, and I honestly didn't find her interesting, cute, or memorable in the slightest; she's just forgettable. Casey Kasem narrates the cartoon and he too is sadly forgettable.It's good and flows with the cartoons tone, but it is still forgettable. Even Santa Claus voiced by Bob Holt is forgettable as well; in fact, the way he looks and talks, you could swear that he came right out of a Dr.Seuss cartoon. Also the fact that Santa doesn't know why we celebrate Christmas comes once a year, is complete bull, he does know damn well why it comes once a year. Joking aside, the moral he teaches is good, and I think him not mentioning Jesus like in most fantasy Christmas Specials with Santa, work within the fantasy Christmas world. Getting back to characters, the only characters I do remember are Ted's boss, a newscaster, and a professor, and while, they have very little screen time, I at the very least find them way more memorable and funny, compared to all the other characters I just talked about.

The animation does look colorful, and creative at times, especially when I see the Honey Factory where the bears work at; the Toy Shop with Toys that come to life; and the Christmas look that the film has. But with that said, since it's done by the same studio that brought you the Dr.Seuss cartoons, I at times can't help, but separate this cartoon from the Seuss cartoon's due to the tone, style, animation, and that choir that you hear in most of the Seuss cartoons. Don't get me wrong, it's all nice, but for me, it's pretty hard to separate the two on many occasions. The story as you may have guessed, is weird, but with that said, the special does at least do a good enough job of making you go along with it. It does have a good story; it does have some creative looks and ideas; it does have a Christmas feel and moral to it, it's just the cartoon itself just suffers by having some forgettable characters and making you feel like you're watching a Seuss cartoon starring "Winnie The Pooh". I should also mention, the ending, while cute and very Christmassy, I can't help but wonder if Ted will ever see his friends again.

While it's not a bad Christmas cartoon, since it does have plenty of stuff for kids to enjoy, I just can't help but find it forgettable, and its cliches to be very distracting. However, with that said, I do recommend it, especially for kids, because it is cute, innocent, entertaining, and Christmassy. After seeing this, does its sequel/spin-off that I grew up watching as a kid still hold up...well...ehhh...wait till the Month of Halloween for that review.

RATING 3/5