The Little Polar Bear

The Little Polar Bear (in Dutch: Lars de kleine ijsbeer) is a franchise about a polar bear cub named Lars who first starred in a number of books written by Dutch author, Hans de Beer.

The first of several animated adaptations of the books is a Japanese original video animation, released on April 28, 1990, with animation production by I.G Tatsunoko (now known as Production I.G).[1]

It later became an animated TV series for BBC TV and WDR Lars, der kleine Eisbär, in the 1990s. The show proved to be popular in Germany.

The show was later revived between 2001 and 2003. For its first film, subtitled Der Kinofilm, Warner Bros. and animation studio Rothkirch Cartoon Film bought the rights to adapt the children's books into a feature-length film, released in 2001.

Following the success of the feature, several direct-to-video features were released, one of the new characters included was a tiger cub. In 2005, another film, The Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious Island (German: Der kleine Eisbär 2: Die geheimnisvolle Insel) was released and also proved successful.

The score to The Little Polar Bear (1) was composed by Nigel Clarke & Michael Csanyi-Wills and recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London and was nominated for several awards.

Original BBC TV series adaptation
The Little Polar Bear
GenreAnimation
Created byHans de Beer (Novel)
Written byBirgit Quastenberg
Josef Schelle
Hans de Beer
Directed byTheo Kerp
Voices ofSusan Sheridan
Jimmy Hibbert
Theme music composerManfred Schoof
Country of originGermany, United Kingdom
Original languagesGerman
English
No. of episodes26
Production
Executive producerSiegmund Grewenig
ProducerTheresa Plummer Andrews
Running time5-6 minutes
Production companyRothkirch/Kringel Cartoon Films
Release
Original networkBBC One (UK) Das Erste (Germany)
Original release1992 (1992) –
1995 (1995)

In the mid-1990s there was a German-British TV adaptation for the BBC and WDR, featuring the voice talents of Susan Sheridan and Jimmy Hibbert. The Animation of the series was by Sinan Gungor

Voices

Characters
  • Lars - the little polar bear, main character of the show
  • Frieda, Lars' mother
  • Mika, Lars' father
  • Lena - the Arctic hare
  • Peeps - the snow goose
  • Brownie Brown Bear

Episodes
No. Cartoons Original airdate
1"The Ice Floe"1994 (1994)
Lars is carried across the sea on a drifting sheet of ice, until he reaches an island. There he makes friends with Hippo and is given a lift home by Orca.
2"The Snow Storm"8 February 1994 (1994-02-08) (production)
1994 (1994) (TV)
While playing in the snow, Lars meets Lena. They both get trapped in a snow storm, but Lars manages to find his way home.
3"The Egg"1994 (1994)
Lars stumbles across a goose egg and warms it, till out hatches a gosling he names Peeps.
4"The Polar Station"1994 (1994)
Lars ventures into the Polar Station. Lena is almost caught by a man, but Lena and Lars make their escape back to the safety of their home.
5"The Net"1994 (1994)
While swimming, Lars is caught in a fish net and loaded onto a fishing freighter. He is met by the ship's cat Nemo, who helps him off the ship.
6"The Trap"1994 (1994)
In a game of hide n' seek, Lena and Peeps get caught in a cage trap. Lars manages to release them and take them to safety from the hunting dogs.
7"The Mission"1994 (1994)
Lars goes to the forest to get some honey medicine for his ill parents. Daddy Brown Bear provides the medicine and Brownie accompanies Lars back home.
8"The Ice Cave"1994 (1994)
While exploring Lars, Lena and Peeps plunge deep into an ice grotto. They make a hasty exit as the cave collapses and Orca takes them to safety.
9"The Hunter"1994 (1994)
Lars and Brownie are captured by a hunter. Lars releases himself and Brownie, then they release all the other captured animals, before making their way home.
10"The Labyrinth"1994 (1994)
Lena and Peeps are carried off into an ice labyrinth surrounded by thick fog. As Lars finds them, the fog disperses.
11"The Weather Balloon"1994 (1994)
As Lars examines a weather balloon, Peeps gets carried off in it. The seagulls save Peeps, while Lars recovers the seagull's bell clapper.
12"The Boat"1994 (1994)
Lena finds a deserted boat and with Lars and Peeps sails. Lars jumps overboard with the life belt and then saves Lena and Peeps from an iceberg.
13"The Barrel"1994 (1994)
On a journey to find fish, Lars comes across a wooden barrel full of dried herrings. Lena helps Lars to move it, to provide food for Daddy and Mummy Polar Bear.
14"The Book"1994 (1994)
More icy escapades with Lars the polar bear and his friends.
15"The Honeycomb"1994 (1994)
TBA
16"The Flower"1994 (1994)
Lars stumbles across a rare flower and patiently waits for it to grow. Lena and Peeps help Lars protect the flower.
17"The Teddy Bear"1994 (1994)
In the icy land of the North Pole, Lars, Lena and Peeps come across a box, and a teddy bear
18"The Sled Dog"1994 (1994)
19"The Camp Fire"1994 (1994)
20"The Competition"1994 (1994)
21"The Concert"1994 (1994)

Film
The Little Polar Bear
DVD cover
Directed byPiet De Rycker
Thilo Rothkirch
Written byPiet De Rycker
Bert Schrickel
Thomas Wittenburg
Produced byWilli Geike
Edited byBettina Behrens
Nadia Hennrich
Music byNigel Clarke
Michael Csányi-Wills
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros. Germany
Release date
October 4, 2001
Running time
77 minutes
CountryGermany
LanguageEnglish

The Little Polar Bear is a 2001 German film based on the books of the same name. It is directed by Piet De Rycker and Thilo Rothkirch and produced by Willi Geike. The film was distributed in Germany by Warner Bros. Germany through the Warner Bros. Family Entertainment unit on 4 October 2001.

Warner Bros also produced an English dub of the movie that was released in America and Britain in 2003.

Sequels
  • The Little Polar Bear: Lars and the Little Tiger (2002)
  • The Little Polar Bear: The Dream of Flying (2002)
  • The Little Polar Bear: Nanouk's Rescue (2003)
  • The Little Polar Bear: A Visitor from the South Pole (2002)
  • The Little Polar Bear: The Mysterious Island (2005)

Voice cast
CharacterGerman versionEnglish version
Lars Mijail Verona
Raffi (singing)		 Wesley Singerman
Robby Maximilian Artajo Brianne Siddall
Kalle Jochen Busse Daran Norris as Brutus
Nalle Mike Krüger Neil Kaplan as Bert
Palle Bernd Stelter Tom Fahn as Boris
Mika Ingolf Lück Michael McConnohie
Manili Vanessa Petruo Mari Devon as Nina
Greta Jeanette Biedermann RuDee Sade
Caruso Dirk Bach Joe Ochman
Pieps Sandro Blümel Sandy Fox
Henry Harry Rowohlt Steve Blum
Lena Adak Azdasht Kimberly J. Brown
Sopho / Sophocles Wolfgang Völz Ralph Votrian
Großmutter Barbara Adolph Edie Mirman as Grandmother
Mutter Eisbär Anke Engelke Rebecca Forstadt as Anna
Lemmings Hans Werner Olm
Johann König
Thomas Hackenberger
Roberto Capitoni		 Joshua Seth
R. Martin Klein
Edie Mirman
Peter Lurie
Seagulls / Möwe Santiago Ziesmer
Hans Werner Olm
Frank Schaff		 Steve Kramer
Jason Spisak
Robert Axelrod

Additional English Voices

References
  1. "Little Polar Bear: Where Are You Going, Shirokuma-kun?". Production I.G. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
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