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*The Berenstain Bears*
The Berenstain Bears
Genre	Children's series; Educational
Based on	Berenstain Bears by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Voices of	Camilla Scott; Ben Campbell; Michael Cera; Michael D'Ascenzo; Tajja Isen; Corinne Conley; Leslie Carlson; Amanda Soha; Marc McMulkin
Theme music composer	Stan Meissner
Opening theme	"The Berenstain Bears" by Lee Ann Womack
Ending theme	"The Berenstain Bears" (Instrumental)
Composers	Ray Parker; Tom Szczesniak
Country of origin	Canada; Hong Kong
Original language	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	40 (80 segments) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Stan and Jan Berenstain; Steven Ching; Scott Dyer; Michael Hirsh
Producer	Lan Lamon
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Nelvana Limited; Agogo Entertainment
Original release
Network	Treehouse TV
Release	September 9, 2002 –; September 12, 2003
Related
	The Berenstain Bears (1985 TV series)

The Berenstain Bears is a preschool children's animated educational television series based on the children's book series of the same name by Stan and Jan Berenstain, which centers on the lives of a family of anthropomorphic bears who learn a moral or safety-related lesson during the course of each episode. The series functions as a revival of the 1985–1987 cartoon series of the same name, and is co-produced by Nelvana Limited and Agogo Entertainment, produced in association with Treehouse TV (Canada) and PBS (United States).^[1]

Premiering on September 9, 2002, a total of 40 episodes were produced,^[2] with the series airing until September 12, 2003.

Premise

The series is set in a forested land populated only by anthropomorphic bears and primarily centers around the Berenstain Bears. The Berenstain Bears are a family residing in the rural community of Bear Country. The family consists of Mama Bear, Papa Q. Bear, Brother Bear, and Sister Bear.

Although a numerous episodes are based on the books and promote the same morals as encouraged in the picture books from which their plots originated, the program's faithfulness to the original series is slightly mixed on account of a number of later episodes following original storylines.

Nonetheless, they mostly portray the same environment depicted in the original Berenstain Bears storybooks quite accurately and concentrate on the messages and lessons learned by the family through their different experiences, such as generosity and responsibility, as well as the daily lives of the bears.

Production

The show was co-produced by the Canada-based animation studio Nelvana for PBS Kids in the United States and Treehouse TV in Canada. 80 15-minute episodes were co-produced, adapted from the books and also a few new stories as well, similar to the 1985 co-production.^[3]

Due to Canadian laws requiring Nelvana to employ Canadian writers and artists, the Berenstains' involvement in the program was limited; they sought to exert their influence on some details, according to Stan: "Our bears don't wear shoes, and Papa wouldn't wear his hat in the house...And we try to keep complete, total banality out of the stories". Common practicalities of animation did force some minor costume changes from the books, such as eliminating polka dots and plaids (this issue also occurred in the previous animated series and specials and only a limited amount of polka dots was allowed in the five specials^[3]).

The series is supposed to supplement the 1985 series because new books were released since then, even though the two series have a radically different production style as well as a change of in-universe elements. Another issue is the two series are not seen together.

Music

Country music singer-songwriter Lee Ann Womack performed the theme song and written by Stan Meissner for the series.

Broadcast

In Canada, the series aired on Treehouse TV and Ici Radio-Canada Télé in Quebec. It also briefly aired on YTV as part of the short-lived YTV PlayTime block.

It debuted in the United States on PBS on January 6, 2003.^[4] Originally, it aired together with Seven Little Monsters in a shared half-hour timeslot, but the two shows were eventually separated.^[5] The original broadcast run on PBS ended September 10, 2004,^[6] and reran until February 1, 2009,^[7]^a along with Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat and Zoboomafoo,^[7] though a small number of local PBS stations still air reruns as of 2024.

Reruns aired on PBS Kids Sprout (later known as simply Sprout) from its inception up until the channel rebranded into Universal Kids on September 9, 2017, after Sprout's rights to air the series expired.^[8]

Lakota dub

Twenty episodes of the series were dubbed in Lakota language and aired under the title "Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe" on PBS stations in the Dakotas beginning September 11, 2011.^[9]

Episodes

Season	Episodes	Originally aired
Season	Episodes	First aired	Last aired
1	13	September 9, 2002 (2002-09-09)	October 30, 2002 (2002-10-30)
2	13	September 30, 2002 (2002-09-30)	February 18, 2003 (2003-02-18)
3	14	April 25, 2003 (2003-04-25)	September 12, 2003 (2003-09-12)

Voice cast

Main

Michael Cera (seasons 1–2) and Michael D'Ascenzo (season 3) as Brother Bear
Tajja Isen as Sister Bear
Benedict Campbell as Papa Q. Bear
Camilla Scott as Mama Bear

Recurring

Family

Leslie Carlson as Grizzly Gramps
Corinne Conley as Grizzly Gran
Marc McMulkin as Cousin Fred

Friends

Amanda Soha as Lizzy Bruin
Nikki Marshall as Queenie
Mark Rendall as Ferdy Factual
Gage Knox as Too-Tall
Billy Rosemberg as Skuzz
James Eckhouse as Smirk
Maryke Hendrikse as Hillary

Citizens

Chris Wiggins as Squire Grizzly
Ellen-Ray Hennessy as Miss Grizzle
Philip Williams as Farmer Ben

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Recipients and nominees	Outcome
2004	Gemini Awards	Best Pre-School Program or Series	Stan Berenstain, Jan Berenstain, Michael Hirsh, Steven Ching, Scott Dyer	Nominated
2004	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role – Young Actress	Tajja Isen	Nominated