Good News for Gummi Bears Fans
There have been online petitions for years, and now it’s finally happening! Come November, at least in North American Region 1 format, Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears Seasons 1 – 3 will be available on DVD.
It’s something I’m particularly excited about because as far as I’m concerned the series is probably the finest Saturday morning cartoon series ever made. Apart from continuing to have fond memories of my childhood favourite, I borrowed some video tapes from Ashley last year, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the series still holds up superbly, offering entertainment for children and adults alike.
My mother showed the same tapes to her Grade 1 class and, despite having never been exposed to the Gummi Bears in their lives, the children loved it.
Zummi, Tummi, Cubbi, Gruffi, Sunni, Grammi. I remember donning my Zummi mask, drinking grape juice and bouncing everywhere, pretending I had taken gummi berry juice. Then there was the appeal of poor little Toadwart and the comic relief he and the other ogres provided as they incompetently followed Duke Igthorn’s schemes
Anyway, Gummi Bears is an important 80’s cartoon series for a number of reasons. From Wikipedia:
The Adventures of the Gummi Bears was Disney's first foray into television animation. At the time of its first premiere, very few, if any, animated television series were on par with Gummi Bears' production values. It even exceeded the quality of much Japanese animation made for TV at the time. Gummi Bears is often credited by animators and animation historians as having helped jump start the massive boom of television animation in the late 1980s all through the 1990s.
Gummi Bears also became the forerunner for Disney's famous Disney Afternoon timeslot, which gave way to classics such as DuckTales, Darkwing Duck, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, and Gargoyles. Although shows created in its wake such as the above mentioned exceeded Gummi Bear's budget and length, it is often credited as the sort of prototype to all of the subsequent animation which followed it, while DuckTales really jump started the trend. Nevertheless, it was a gamble which paid off tremendously in the long run.
It should also be noted that this show has the most number of seasons of any Disney animated series. Even though it did not have the most episodes this shows that Gummi Bears was approved for 6 straight seasons, something no other show has done before or since. Even some of the big non-Disney animated series like Batman: The Animated Series, X-Men, or Spider-Man can't claim that. Some shows like DuckTales have more episodes but fewer number of seasons. The significance of this is that there were new episodes contracted and made from 1985 to 1990.
Paul and I will definitely be arguing over whose Christmas list this timeless classic goes on.
It’s something I’m particularly excited about because as far as I’m concerned the series is probably the finest Saturday morning cartoon series ever made. Apart from continuing to have fond memories of my childhood favourite, I borrowed some video tapes from Ashley last year, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the series still holds up superbly, offering entertainment for children and adults alike.
My mother showed the same tapes to her Grade 1 class and, despite having never been exposed to the Gummi Bears in their lives, the children loved it.
Zummi, Tummi, Cubbi, Gruffi, Sunni, Grammi. I remember donning my Zummi mask, drinking grape juice and bouncing everywhere, pretending I had taken gummi berry juice. Then there was the appeal of poor little Toadwart and the comic relief he and the other ogres provided as they incompetently followed Duke Igthorn’s schemes
Anyway, Gummi Bears is an important 80’s cartoon series for a number of reasons. From Wikipedia:
The Adventures of the Gummi Bears was Disney's first foray into television animation. At the time of its first premiere, very few, if any, animated television series were on par with Gummi Bears' production values. It even exceeded the quality of much Japanese animation made for TV at the time. Gummi Bears is often credited by animators and animation historians as having helped jump start the massive boom of television animation in the late 1980s all through the 1990s.
Gummi Bears also became the forerunner for Disney's famous Disney Afternoon timeslot, which gave way to classics such as DuckTales, Darkwing Duck, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, and Gargoyles. Although shows created in its wake such as the above mentioned exceeded Gummi Bear's budget and length, it is often credited as the sort of prototype to all of the subsequent animation which followed it, while DuckTales really jump started the trend. Nevertheless, it was a gamble which paid off tremendously in the long run.
It should also be noted that this show has the most number of seasons of any Disney animated series. Even though it did not have the most episodes this shows that Gummi Bears was approved for 6 straight seasons, something no other show has done before or since. Even some of the big non-Disney animated series like Batman: The Animated Series, X-Men, or Spider-Man can't claim that. Some shows like DuckTales have more episodes but fewer number of seasons. The significance of this is that there were new episodes contracted and made from 1985 to 1990.
Paul and I will definitely be arguing over whose Christmas list this timeless classic goes on.
Comments