#69 - The Berenstain Bears : A look back at their literary legacy!

Hello and thank you for tuning in!  On today's show, we will be taking a look back over the decades-spanning, and literary phenomenon that is the Berenstain Bears! You'll learn about how the series got started, what the brand has expanded to besides the books, and what the series looks like today!  

Sorry for the delay in publishing this episode!  I had previously recorded it and then I accidentally deleted it!  My recovery missions were unsuccessful!  Thank you for your patience! 

Transcript

Hello and thank you so very much for tuning in to the Pop Culture Retrospective Podcast, a show inspired by, and in memory of, my big sister Rebecca and her love for all things pop-culture, especially the people, places and things of the 80s, 90s and early 00s.  My name is Amy Lewis and I am your captain aboard this pop culture time machine. You are tuning in to episode #69, the story of the Berenstain Bears.  I imagine most of the people listening to this show grew up pronouncing the infamous name as Berenstin but it’s actually pronounced Berenstain.  As in, thanks to my spaghetti and meatballs dinner, I know have a huge Berenstain on my shirt. Get it?  It’s going to be very hard as we go through this show for me to pronounce it correctly so please bear with me.  Hahaha, anyways.  So with that said, lace up your shoes,  grab your old fashioned family values and get ready for some nostalgia, we’re headed to bear country! 

The origin of the Berenstain Bears technically dates all the way back to 1923, which was the year that Stanley Berenstain and Janice Marian Grant were born, herein thereafter referred to as Stan and Jan which you’ll learn more about that abbreviation later.  They were both born in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area and grew up during the hardships of the Great Depression.  Stan was born into a Secular Jewish Family and Jan was born into an Episcopalian family.  You’ll learn why I have shared this with you in a little bit. 

They met on their first day of college at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Arts. It was during a drawing class, taught by an instructor named Mr. Sweeney.  They worked on all of their projects together and ended up spending the rest of their lives together.  Related story?

Stan was drafted into the army during WWII but was actually blind in one eye so he was tasked with being a medical illustrator.  Jan also offered up her talents to the war effort, she was a riveter.  Stan started drawing cartoons during his time in the military and they got published.  

Stan and Jan were reunited after the war and shortly thereafter got married, in 1946.  For a short time, they worked as art teachers when they first got married, but their passion for illustration continued nonetheless.  They started working together as cartoonists.  Eventually, their cartoons ended up in the Saturday Evening Post, the Saturday Review of Literature, and Colliers.    

Their first son, named Leo was born in 1948.  Their second son, Mike, was born in 1951.  Despite Stan and Jan growing up in somewhat religious households, neither Leo or Mike was raised in a religious manner by their parents.  Both of their children absolutely loved the books written by none other than Dr. Seuss.  It gave them an idea- if their kids loved Dr. Seuss books so much, perhaps they could use their talents as artists to create their own children’s books.  The Berenstains felt like they had a lot of stories to tell about being parents and what better way to do that than through children’s books? They wanted to create a book series that had an emphasis on parents and good ol’ fashioned values.  

Coincidentally when it came time for the Berenstain’s to bring their idea to life, they ended up working with none other than Dr. Seuss himself who was an editor at Random House.  His real name is actually Theodor Geise but for the purposes of this podcast episode, we’ll stick with Dr. Seuss. 

It had taken some time for the Berenstains to land the right publisher as they faced a lot of rejection due to the cartoon drawings they wanted to use. The first concept of the book they worked on was originally titled “Freddy Got Spanked” but eventually it changed to “The Big Honey Hunt,” thank god.  In the book, we meet Mama and Papa Bear as well as Small Bear.  The Berenstains wanted to use bears as their characters because they felt like bears were relatively easy to draw and mother bears are quote “terrifyingly good mothers.”  Father Bears are allegedly not as committed as mother bears, and in some of the early books, you’ll see this theme around Papa Bear being a bit absent-minded and clumsy.  Initially, Dr. Seuss discouraged the Berenstains from focusing their stories on bears.  

After all, everyone and their grandma had a teddy bear, and there was Yogi Bear of course and who could forget the Chicago Bears.  However, “The Big Honey Hunt,” which was released in 1962, was an incredibly successful book, so the bear theme was going to stick. The next book to follow was “The Bike Lesson” in 1964.  With this next book, Seuss decided to shorten the author and illustrator’s names to Stan and Jan, and he also added “The Berenstain Bears” to the title of the book, something that continues to this day.  Seuss did not get permission to shorten their names, he just sort of did it.  And again, that has stuck, too.  In 1974, the Berenstain bear family welcomed a new member, Sister Bear, and small bear’s name was changed to Brother Bear.  

The creation of the Berenstain bear books typically followed a consistent pattern between Stan and Jan.  For most of their career, they worked out of their home studio. The couple would generally come up with the plots together, then Stan would revise the manuscript.  They always collaborated on illustrations.  Now I realize that sometimes the fantasy is better than the reality, but how awesome of a job setup did those two have?  Could you imagine waking up each day next to your best friend, and then you get to head to your home studio and collaborate on writing children’s books together?  Again, I’m sure that had its set of challenges, but this is all pre-pandemic, pre-overuse of technology, etc.  I would love to do something like that with my wife because even though she is a pain in the butt, I never get tired of being around her and I think collaborating on a creative project with her would be incredible.  

The themes in the books started to evolve into what we have grown to know and love as the books increased in popularity.  In the words of The Washington Post's Paul Farhi, "The action usually starts when the kids face a problem. They turn to Papa, who offers a "solution" that only makes the problem—or the kids' fears about it—even worse. Enter Mama, who eventually sets everyone straight."  The BB were sort of intentionally old-fashioned.  They didn’t use any potty language, the books never discussed anything specific related to pop culture like movies or music, it was really written from the lens of being nostalgic for a simpler time.  And as a child, the stereotypical gender roles and predictable plots in each book didn’t bother me at all.  I think for many children and likely their parents, there was something comforting about how predictable the books were.  Parents knew the books were appropriate and tame and kids knew that whatever problem arose for the family, they would be able to resolve it.  The familiarity of the characters was really part of its appeal.  Caregivers and children alike knew what to expect. It sort of reminds me of my last episode where I interviewed Chris Clews and we talked about how 80s movies were often predictable, but that was part of the appeal.  It’s not too stressful to watch, you know there is happy ending.  And sometimes, at least for me, that’s kind of a good thing.  The BB stories faced a fair share of criticism though, like this article, written by Charles Krauthammer in 1989.  The title of the article?  Drown the Berenstain Bears.  

I think a more appropriate title would be the BB and the morib journalist.  Here’s a bit from that article and it’s interesting to hear his perspective because it was written around the time, maybe a few years later than when my parents, too, were reading these books to me and my sister.  EXCERPT HERE.   The author does go on to say that there are other books which are also frustrating to read to children due to their terrifying undertones like Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk.  And I must admit, he kind of has a point there.  

The BB reside in a big treehouse down a sunny dirt road deep in Bear Country.  Papa Bear was a Carpenter and Mama Bear was a housewife.  The bears outfits don’t really change in the books at all.  Papa Bear is often wearing overalls and a yellow shirt, Mama Bear wheres a blue and white polka dotted dress, Brother Bear wears blue pants and a red shirt and Sister Bear is often clad in pink overalls.  

If you grew up in the 70s or 80s like my sister and me did, then you knew that a book series or perhaps a hallmark card character had REALLY made it when they ended up with their own TV special or specials.  The BB had not one, but five TV specials over the years. 

There was the BB Christmas Tree in 1979, BBs Meet Big Paw aka the BB Thanksgiving in 1980, the BB’s and the Real Easter Egg in 1981, the BB’s Valentine’s Day Special in 1982 and finally, the BBs Littlest Leaguer in 1983.  All of these specials aired on NBC.  The first TV series began airing in 1985 and carrying on for several seasons. The Berenstain Bears Opening Theme 🎼 There was also another edition in 2003 that ran for 2 seasons The Berenstain Bears - A Opening Theme Song .  You can watch a ton of BB seasons on amazon prime.  I can’t say my kids are as in to BB as I was, but we watch the episodes periodically and have some DVDs for long car rides.  We are also the proud owners of several BB books and because of this episode and me being reminded of the BB, my youngest son will be the recipient of several BB titles next month when he turns 7!   

The BB really became a household name in the 1980s and 1990s and this was evident by the diverse array of products featuring their likeness during this time. In the early 1980s, the furry family became the poster bears for encouraging vaccination.  BB stuffed animals and books could be found in tons of pediatrician offices across the United States.  After a child received say a tetanus vaccine, they may have been given a BB sticker that read “BB award.  I’m immunized.”  In 1982, Fisher Price released plush BB stuffies.  In the 80s your parents could purchase you one of those terrifying Halloween costumes in which you could get a BB face mask complete with a garbage bag-like shirt to match.  In 1986 for example, you could find BB toys in happy meals in Mcdonald's.  I know for sure that I had several of these if not all of them.  Berenstain Bears Happy Meal - USA, 1986.  Sister Bear was in a wagon, Brother Bear was on a skateboard with handlebars, Papa Bear was pushing a wheelbarrow and Mama Bear was pushing a basket with wheels. The one bummer about these figurines though and is that they were partially a stiff, sort of felt like materials so they collected every piece of dust and crumbs that a child could play in so they got dirty as hell super quick.  In 1992, you could purchase BB trading cards. To coincide with the Beanie Baby craze, in 1999 you could find the BB in a line called “Signature Superstars” which had a similar design to their bean-filled counterparts.  At one point there was even a tin Bear Country picnic basket.  There were also action figures, keychains, and many different versions of the plush characters.

My sister and I absolutely LOVED the BB books.  We read them constantly and were excited to see the books come to life on our cabinet tv.  Our favorite of course was “The BB and the Messy Room.”  In this book, Brother and Sister Bear keep letting their room go to crap and Mama Bear, who was a perfectionist was NOT having it.  She gets fed up with the bears and demands they clean up their filthy room.  Papa Bear comes to the rescue when Mama and the cubs are in a power struggle. He helps build some organizational features in their room like a peg board to hang things off of and they work together to label boxes to organize miscellaneous items in their closet.  We so badly wanted to have an organized room like Brother and Sister Bear.  I’m quite certain my sister and I tried to achieve the immaculate look of their space but were unsuccessful since we were just two imaginative elementary-aged kids.  Then there was “The BB and Too Much Vacation” which we also owned and loved.  In this story, the family heads out on what is supposed to be a relaxing vacation, but they end up getting attacked by mosquitoes, poured on by a rain storm, and other travel nightmares!  Also, we enjoyed “The BB and Too Much Junk Food” where Papa and the cubs are starting to pack on a few pounds so Mama Bear scolds them like she usually does and then they go to the doctor to get their health back on track.  

For decades it was just Sister and Brother bear, however Honey Bear was introduced in the early 2000s.  Apparently, a lot of young female readers requested that a baby bear get added to the family and the Berenstains obliged.  

Sadly, Stan Berenstain passed in 2005.  He died of lymphoma. He had been married to Jan for 59 years at the time of his death.  His youngest son, Mike, decided to start contributing to the family’s book series on a more routine basis.  Mike had already been an employee at Random House for many years, the company that had published BB books. 

He too was an author and an illustrator and when his father passed, he worked with his mom to continue the literary legacy.  Jan continued to illustrate the books and he added his writing to the books until her passing of a stroke in 2012.  At the time, Mike Berenstain also had children of his own.  His children attended Quaker schools in Philadelphia and during this time he found the Presbyterian church.  He apparently became very committed to his faith and this started to dribble over to the BB books.

In 2006, Mike got permission, or perhaps I should say blessing, from his mother to approach Harper Collins with an idea for a new BB book series.  Over the years, the Berenstain family received many letters from Christians who appreciated the morals and values so often present in the books.  The books were especially appealing to Christians who homeschooled their children.  The combination of bears and the bible was brilliant to say the least.  The books have actually been incredibly successful for the BB brand.  Sales have increased by about 30%.  Many people are eager to read these particular books which fall under the “Living Light Series.” These books continue to be published and are some of the current best -sellers on Amazon.  I must admit that I was really caught off guard with this shift.  I don’t think all of the BB books have a twist of Jesus in them, but I didn’t realize this had happened.  A few years ago I saw a BB book called “The Joy of Giving” which I thought would be perfect for our kids around the holidays.  

My wife and I have always tried to instill in them the importance of giving back and I tell them how much my mom/their grandmother has volunteered over the years etc, etc.  So this book seemed perfect.  However, as I was reading it, I was struck by the contrast of this one compared to the other books we had read as kids.  In place of the bear family reading books in their house, or maybe heading to school, most of the book takes place at the “Chapel in the Woods.”  I’ll share a few lines from the book that made me do this infamous sound in my head:  record/disc scratch sound effects  Now don’t me wrong, I have no problem whatsoever in people believing in God or going to church.  I would actually describe myself as someone who grew up pretty religious and was married by a Pastor who had a significant impact on me as a young adult.  I just find it hilarious that the initial BB stories were about a sort of absent minded Papa Bear in the early days and then a simplistic family for decades and now all of a sudden the Lord has been incorporated into their books . After I read the Joy of Giving I exclaimed, Jesus Christ, what happened to the BB?  Jesus, Joseph and Mary, I was not expecting that!  I can’t say that I really appreciate this change in focus for some of the books per se, but I imagine for people of Christian faith, these books are just what the big guy upstairs ordered.  

In 2002, the Berenstain couple published a memoir entitled “Down a Sunny Dirt Road.”  It was written for middle school aged audiences, but it’s something I think I would be interested in reading some day.  

In 2007, the BB became the spokes bears for Child Abuse USA. 

There are a number of places where you can get your BB fix to this day, which is really a testament to how popular the books are and will be for generations to come.  For example, at one time there was an exhibit entitled “The BBs celebrate the art of Stan and Jan Berenstain” which opened at the James A. Michener Art Museum in the hometown of the authors and illustrators in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  Las Vegas even had an exhibit about the Berenstain Bears.  Also, the National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY has a permanent BB exhibit called:  “The Berenstain Bears- down a Sunny Dirt Road.”  At one point there was even a stage show about the BB.   

The BB even have a youtube channel.  You can watch tons of episodes of the TV series as well as the old television specials.  

There has long been a rumor that there would be a live action/computer animated movie based on the infamous book series, but it has yet to be released.  When it does though, you know who is going to be purchasing a ticket.  

I hope you have enjoyed this look back on the children’s literary phenomenon that is the Berenstain Bears.  What started off as the dream of two talented parents has evolved into a book series which has been loved by millions and millions of people for almost 7 decades now.  Lord have mercy that is amazing!

35 books in the BB’s series have made Publisher’s Weekly list of the top 250 children’s books of all time, 15 of those are some of the best selling children’s paperback books of all time.  There are over 300 different BB books and 260 million copies of their books have been sold.  Further, the books have been translated into 20 different languages.  Even though the books have been around for so long, there is no sign of them stopping and my 5 year old self is incredibly grateful for that.  

Before we wrap up the show I wanted to make sure to give a shout out to a few reviews I received recently.  I need to get better about sharing these because they mean more to me than you will ever know.  Disposable DoubleAUB wrote, 5 stars-  Fantastic. By far one of my favorite pods. Amy is lovely and informative and the pod doesnt nosedive into politics and stuff like others do. Amy stays on topic and is always a lot of fun. Highly recommended for any 80s or 90s kids! Amybeth1126 wrote- 5 stars. Love the flashback to my younger years! I have so many emotions each episode, having so much fun remembering those care free years, and also thinking about life without my own sister is not fun… Also remembering the ‘carefree’ 80s and 90s, and knowing now all the damage that happened to the world during those years, leading to my personal need to have a podcast about sustainability, to work to repair what we did back then. I love the flashback, and all the feelings that come with them.  

Thank you both for your kind words.  I wish I could share them with my sister, especially since I have been missing her so much this month.  

You can find everything Pop Culture Retrospective Podcast related on my website - popcultureretrospective.com  Here you can explore all of my past episodes, read my blog posts, check our podcast merchandise, leave reviews, find my social media links and more!  

I hope you will join me for my next episode where we will be discussing another fascinating facet of the 80s, 90s and early 2000s.  Until then, BKBSAHOTYM.