Bear in the Big Blue House: The Movie

Bear in the Big Blue House: The Movie is a 2006 American musical adventure comedy film. It is based on the children's television series Bear in the Big Blue House, and stars Noel MacNeal reprising his role of Bear alongside Peter Linz, Tyler Bunch, Vicki Eibner, Carmen Osbahr, Matt Vogel, Anney McKilligan, James Kroupa, Eric Jacobson, Tim Lagasse, Jennifer Barnhart, Victor Yerrid, and the voices of Gilbert Gottfried (in one of his last film roles before his death), Brad Garrett, Geoffrey Holder, and Lynne Thigpen/Carol Dennis.
Produced by The Jim Henson Company, and is scheduled to premiere on Playhouse Disney in February 2006 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the television series. It received acclaim from critics and audiences, with praise for the puppetry, story, musical numbers, and tributes to Gottfried, Holder, and Thigpen/Dennis. 
==Official synopsis==
Bear lives in the Big Blue House where he is caregiver for his friends bear cub Ojo, mouse Tutter, lemur Treelo, otters Pip, Pop, and narrator Shadow. He and his friends have many adventures together. Those normally include solving problems, sharing, cooperating with each other, and developing social/life skills.
==Cast==
===Muppet performers===
* Noel MacNeal as:
** Bear:A large orange bear who is very kind and lovable. He is tall and has light brown fur. Bear acts a caregiver to Pip, Pop, Ojo, Treelo and Tutter. He was designed by Paul Andrejco and James Wojtal.
** Moss: A mouse who attends Mouse School with Tutter.
* Vicki Eibner as:
** Ojo:A curious red bear cub who has a wild imagination and is good friends with Treelo. She was designed and built by Paul Andrejco.
** Grandma Flutter: Tutter's grandmother who has a dance called "The Grandma Mambo". She has a granddaughter named Baby Blotter. She was designed by Paul Andrejco and built by Michael Schupbach and Kip Rathke.
** Lois: A blue-footed booby living in Woodland Valley. She usually mishears things that her friends are saying.
** Etta Otter: Pip and Pop's grandmother who works at the Woodland Valley Library.
** Christine: A rabbit friend of Ojo.
** Annette: An armadillo who runs the Woodland Valley Cinema and is very shy.
** Ms. Henrietta Vanderpeen: An ostrich who is the editor of Woodland House Wonderful, a magazine of interest to residents of Woodland Valley.
** Keisha: A mouse who attends Mouse School with Tutter.
** Baby Blotter: Tutter's little cousin.
* Peter Linz as:
** Tutter:A small light blue mouse who loves cheese. He lives in a mousehole in the kitchen of Bear's house. He was designed and built by Paul Andrejco.
** Pip:A purple otter and Pop's twin. Pip was designed by Paul Andrejco.
** Jack the Dog: A hound dog who is the fire chief of the Woodland Valley Fire Department.
** Big Old Bullfrog: A bullfrog living in Woodland Valley.
** Jacques the Beaver: A French beaver living in Woodland Valley.
** Skippy: A blind red squirrel living in Woodland Valley that wears sunglasses and uses a cane. He is good friends with Treelo.
* Tyler Bunch as:
** Treelo:A white, blue, and green lemur who is playful, loves to dance, always active and good friends with Ojo. He was designed by Paul Andrejco and built by Kip Rathke.
** Pop:A purple otter and Pip's twin. Pop was designed by Paul Andrejco.
** Doc Hogg:A pig who is the local physician. He was designed by Paul Andrejco and built by Eric Englehardt.
** Cousin Jitter: One of Tutter's many relatives.
* Carmen Osbahr and Matt Vogel as Ursa:Bear's special friend from Spain. While Osbahr voiced and Vogel operated Ursa in the previous series, they both shared their performance of the character, with Osbahr as a stand-in for Ursa for some scenes opposite Bear.
* Eric Jacobson as:
** Harry the Duck: A duck who has been seen several times through the show who addresses bear as "Mister Bear" and quacks repeatedly when he is upset. He was designed by Paul Andrejco.
** Yukker Tutter: Tutter's joker relative who wears a bucket on his head.
* Anney McKilligan as Rita Mouse: A mouse who attends Mouse School with Tutter. She needs some help with painting but is very good at soccer.
* James Kroupa as:
** Jeremiah Tortoise: An elderly tortoise living in Woodland Valley.
** Otto Otter: Pip and Pop's grandfather who works at the Woodland Valley Library.
** Doc Owl: A kindly owl who is a Doc Hogg's friend.
** Benny the Bat: A fruit bat living in the attic of the house.
* Jennifer Barnhart as Miss Maxwell: A mouse who is a teacher at the Mouse School.
* Tim Lagasse as Jet Setter Tutter: Tutter's uncle.
* Victor Yerrid as Cousin Whiner: One of Tutter's cousins.
Additional characters performed by: Dave Goelz, Alice Dinnean, Rick Lyon, Amanda Maddock, Jim Martin, Alison Mork, and John Tartaglia.
===Voices===
* Lynne Thigpen/Carol Dennis as Luna:A talking moon. At the end of the day, Bear walks out onto the balcony and discusses the film's theme with her. They sing "The Goodbye Song" while playing a montage of the day's events. She was operated by Peter Linz, designed by Paul Andrejco, and built by Ed Christie. "Luna" means "moon" in Italian, Spanish, and Latin. Thigpen/Dennis, who died in early 2003, appeared through the use of previously-recorded material.A playful, sentient shadow who is always laughing, telling stories, and sneaking up on Bear. She was performed by Peter Linz.
* Geoffrey Holder as Ray: A talking sun who occasionally tells Bear what the weather will be like throughout the day. Sometimes, he also sings the "Good Morning song". He was operated by Peter Linz and designed by Paul Andrejco. Holder, who died in late 2014, appeared through the use of previously-recorded material.
* Brad Garrett and Gilbert Gottfried as The Possums: The pair of possums live in a tree that fell on the Woodland Valley Library during a storm, and express concern when Doc Hogg suggests chopping the tree for lumber. The Possums were performed by Tyler Bunch and Peter Linz. This film marked one of the last media appearances of Gottfried, who died in 2022.
==Production==
===Development===
The original Bear in the Big Blue House series was initially produced from 1997 to 2003. The sudden death of Lynne Thigpen, who voiced 'Luna' the moon, led to production being put on hiatus for three years, along with a planned film. In 2005, two years after Thigpen's death, Tara Mooney, who voiced Shadow, told Irish radio station Today FM that "the crew's hearts just weren't in it anymore". After the hiatus and the spin-off Breakfast with Bear, a final run of new episodes aired on the Disney Channel in April 2006, with the last episode airing on April 28, 2006.
==Songs==
* "Good Morning" - Noel MacNeal and Geoffrey Holder
* "What's That Smell?" - Noel MacNeal
* "Welcome to the Blue House (Main Title)" - Noel MacNeal, Vicki Eibner, Peter Linz, and Tyler Bunch
* "The Bear Cha-Cha-Cha" - Noel MacNeal, Vicki Eibner, Peter Linz, and Tyler Bunch
* "Happy, Happy Birthday" - Noel MacNeal, Vicki Eibner, Peter Linz, and Tyler Bunch
* "What's In The Mail Today?" - Noel MacNeal
* "Goodbye Song (Film Variant) - Noel MacNeal, Lynne Thigpen, and Carol Dennis
* "Thank You, Bear" - Noel MacNeal, Vicki Eibner, Peter Linz, Tyler Bunch, Anney McKilligan, and James Kroupa
* "Goodbye Song (End Title (before the credits roll and after the closing song, Bear will "see you soon" with a sign-off and everyone (including Bear) saying goodbye to each other))" - Noel MacNeal, Vicki Eibner, Peter Linz, Tyler Bunch, James Kroupa, Carmen Osbahr, Carol Dennis, and Lynne Thigpen
==Reception==
===Critical response===
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 95%, with an average score of 8.37/10. Metacritic, another review aggregator which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, gave the film a score of 82 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare "A+" grade on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported audience members gave it 5 out of 5 stars, with 85% saying they would definitely recommend it.
==Trivia==
* Brad Garrett previously worked together on The Lion King: Revisited as Boma and Shenzi.
Category:Upcoming Films
Category:Muppet Movies