Little Bear, also known as Maurice Sendak's Little Bear, is a Canadian children's animated television series co-produced by Nelvana Limited in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is based on the Little Bear series of books, which were written by Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. In the United States, the show premiered on Nickelodeon as part of the Nick Jr. block on November 6, 1995, until the final episode aired on June 1, 2001. The show also aired on CBS on Saturday mornings from September 16, 2000, until September 15, 2001. Every half-hour episode of Little Bear is divided into three seven-minute segments. Most segments are new stories, but some are retellings of Else Holmelund Minarik's books (both she and Sendak were "closely involved in the creative process" when developing the new stories). A direct-to-video feature film titled The Little Bear Movie was released in 2001.

Premise

Little Bear follows the titular character as he goes on exciting adventures in the forest and learns new things with his friends, including Emily, Duck, Hen, Cat, and Owl. His parents are Mother Bear, who is always there when he needs her, and Father Bear, a fisherman who is often at sea.

Episodes

Characters

Main

Recurring

Others

Telecast and home media

In Canada, Little Bear premiered on CBC Television on October 7, 1995, at 8 in the morning. Episodes continued to air on Saturdays at 8 a.m. as well as on weekday mornings during the preschool programming block CBC Playground until 2007. Corus-owned Treehouse TV aired the show from 1998 to 2010. In the United States, the show premiered on Nickelodeon as part of the Nick Jr. block on November 6, 1995, at noon. The last new episode premiered on Nickelodeon on June 1, 2001, and the last rerun aired on December 25, 2002. The show was also aired on CBS on Saturday mornings from September 16, 2000, until September 15, 2001. Noggin aired repeats (as part of the "Nick Jr. on Noggin" block) from 2001 to 2009. Its replacement, the Nick Jr. Channel, aired repeats from 2009 until 2018. The series has been re-aired on various foreign channels, including ABC and ABC2 (Australia), RTÉ (Ireland), TV2 (New Zealand), and CBBC and CBeebies (United Kingdom).

Streaming

On December 15, 2014, Nelvana Limited released all seasons of the show, as well as the movie, free to watch on the Official Little Bear YouTube channel. In 2015, Little Bear was added to the Noggin app, which streams shows from the classic Noggin channel. The show was added to Paramount+ (which was called CBS All Access at the time) in January 2021.

VHS

United States

Paramount Home Video / Paramount Home Entertainment: NOTE: * = Also available in Canada Blockbuster: Reader's Digest Young Families:

Canada

Alliance Atlantis:

DVD

United States

Paramount Home Entertainment:

Canada

Alliance Atlantis: Treehouse TV:

Film

In 2001, the show was adapted into a direct-to-video film, again co-produced by Nelvana Limited, called The Little Bear Movie. It was distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment in the U.S. The film's featured song, "Great Big World", was nominated for Best Original Song at the 2001 Video Premiere Awards.

Music

Austrian composer Franz Schubert's Allegro vivace from his Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Major is used as the theme tune to Little Bear (used in the Canadian broadcast of the series). A separate opening theme consisting of a woodwind ensemble, by composer Arnold Black, was used in the American broadcast of the series. The music score in the series is composed by Lesley Barber.

Other media

Live show

In Canada, Little Bear was adapted into a live theatrical show, Little Bear: Winter Tales. It originally toured across Canada in 2007 and returned in late 2009. Both tours were presented by Paquin Entertainment, and were produced by Koba Entertainment.

Video games

In 1999, The Learning Company developed two "edutainment" games based on the Little Bear franchise, "Rainy Day Activities" and "Preschool Thinking Adventures". In 2000, the company developed another game, this time for a younger audience, titled "Toddler Discovery Adventures".