Tv Show With Blue Bear and Big House

Door is open, come on in! Now you're here, so let's begin!

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the page for Bear in the Big Blue House! It's the program that proves that maybe, just maybe, everything isn't worse with bears, at TV Tropes!

Hmmm, wait a sec... what's that smell? *snifsnifsnifsnifsnif* *gasp* It's you! Mmmm, you smell like troping! ^note But maybe you smell you this good all the time.

Premiering on October 20, 1997, Bear in the Big Blue House was part of a group of programs that ushered in a new era for Playhouse Disney. In each episode, the titular character would invite viewers into his home, the cozy Big Blue House, for a day of fun and learning with his young friends Tutter Mouse, Ojo the bear cub, Treelo the lemur and Pip & Pop the twin otters. Together, they learn about the world around them and their places in it — everything from how to share with others to toilet-training. As they grew, the series likewise opened up, taking viewers into the wider Woodland Valley in which the characters lived.

Bear in the Big Blue House was a Muppet show, a production of the Jim Henson Company. It aired for four seasons on Playhouse Disney; the final season featuring a vastly expanded set and an additional cast of characters. The program's final episodes were not aired in the United States until April 2006, with the final episode airing on April 28, 2006, well over three years after the previous original airings, though they had long been airing in non-U.S. markets. Reruns of the show continued to air until May 6, 2007. Though no longer seen on Playhouse Disney in the United States, numerous DVD and videocassette releases are available for the program.

Wiki-wise, the show is covered at the Muppet Wiki, which features detailed information about the series and a detailed episode guide. The program is also covered in a number of articles at the wiki's sister site, Tough Pigs, including My Week with Bear, My Week with More Christmas, My Week with Muppet Breakfast and the Tough Pigs Maturity Test, a supposed test to gauge one's maturity using two potty-training books released by the series.

---

This series provides examples of:

• Adaptation Distillation: A number of tie-in books were released for the series and many of them were watered-down versions of television episodes. A couple even combined elements from two separate episodes.
• Adults Are Useless: Generally subverted - Bear is far from useless, in fact, he's so on the ball, it's fantastic.
• Alliterative Name: Tutter's Great-Grandpa Tutterly T. Tutter (all his names begin with Ts!)
• Alternate Catchphrase Inflection: Usually Shadow sounds enthusiastic when she says, "Just try and catch me!", but in "The Big Sleep", she whispers it so as not to wake Ojo, Pip, Pop, Tutter, and Treelo, who are having a slumber party in the living room.
• And Starring: Brad Garrett and Gilbert Gottfried received a "with" credit for voicing possums in the second half of "Welcome to Woodland Valley," while Whoopi Goldberg received an "and" credit for voicing "The Great Bandini." Regular cast members Lynne Thigpen and Tara Mooney (Luna and Shadow) also normally received a "with" credit, though in the second half of "Welcome to Woodland Valley," they received an "and" credit, despite being billed before Garrett and Gottfried.
• Art Evolution: For season three, Treelo's puppet was rebuilt, now equipped with mobile eyelids to allow for a wider range of expression.
  • Bear's puppet also received an overhaul by season four, the most notable change being more pointed eyes.
• Aside Glance: Bear frequently does this by bunching his eyebrows and staring directly at the camera with a look that clearly says, "Can you BELIEVE this crap?" Oftentimes these are the funniest parts of the episode. In fact Bear's expressions in general can be treated as hilarious more often than not.
• Assuming the Audience's Age: The episode "When You've Got to Go" has Bear assume the viewer is a toddler who isn't potty trained yet. He sings a song called "Your Potty Chair" about how it will be great once you're potty trained.
• Bait-and-Switch Comment: In "This Is Your Life, Bear" the radio station W-CHA-CHA is holding a contest to identify a particular cha-cha song and its artist. Bear calls in and identifies it to the DJ, Harry O'Hare, as Cha Cha Party by Swifty Sloth and the Cha Cha Chimps. Harry tells him "Ohhhh... so close and yet so absolutely right !"
• Banana Peel: This is referenced in the song "Oops, I Goofed Again!", in which Bear sings "If I slip and trip on a banana peel, I say 'oops, I goofed again'."
• Barefoot Cartoon Animal: Every animal character on the show. Technically, the Big Blue House kids, in particular, don't wear anything, but whenever they dress up in an outfit, it usually, if not always, comes without any footwear.
• Baths Are Fun: There was a song called "Everybody in the Tub" in which all of the main characters sang about how great bathtime was, used in several episodes.
• Best Friend: This is the central source of conflict in "Friends at Play." Tutter is greatly hurt when Ojo refers to the rabbit Christine as her "best friend." Bear eventually helps smooth things over by explaining that it's possible for someone to have more than one best friend, which everyone is willing to go along with, the traditional definition of "best friend" notwithstanding.
• Be Yourself: The entire episode "I've Gotta Be Me," to name just one example.
• Big Eater: Tutter's relatives are shown to be big eaters. Tutter himself also demonstrates this on occasion, such as in the sleepover episode when Bear keeps discovering that the various snacks he was hoping to eat have been eaten by Tutter, including his triple-berry pie and "whole mess of cooked and buttered string beans."
• Bigger on the Inside: The Big Blue House, despite its name, really doesn't look on the outside like it could really fit a big ol' Bear, a lemur, a mouse, two otters and a bearcub, yet it does, quite cozily.
• Bindle Stick: In the song "What If (There Was No Big Blue House)," Tutter the mouse imagines being homeless and carrying his possessions in one of these.
• Birthday Episode: "You Never Know" for Ojo, "Mouse Party" for Tutter, "Bear's Birthday Bash" for Bear.
• Black Bead Eyes: Of the main cast, Bear, Ojo and the otters Pip and Pop all had these.
• Bottle Episode: The episodes take place only in and around the titular location, no place more. In later seasons however, we get to see more of Woodland Valley.
• Character in the Logo: The logo is a blue house with what appears to be the eponymous Bear's face on it.
• Character Title
• Cheesy Moon: Discussed in "Eat, Drink Juice and Be Merry." Luna tells Bear she doesn't know how that one got started, other than it proving folks always have food on their minds, even when they look up at her.
• Christmas Episode: And Hannukkah, and Kwanzaa and other non-denominational holidays. They still called it a "A Beary Bear Christmas," though, and it's a two parter.
  • Christmas Special: Take the above two-parter episode, edit the parts together, and you have the same special which is available on VHS.
• Claiming Via Flag: In his Imagine Spot in the "When I'm Older" song from "Mouse Party," Tutter plants a flag with the logo of Bear in the Big Blue House as "the very first mouse on the moon."
• Cloud Cuckoolander: Treelo has been known to exhibit tendencies of this.

  Bear: (regarding a tomato) But, Treelo, I have to put in the basket along with the other foods we're going to eat.

  Treelo: Eat! Eat?! Bear, no! Shhh! Be careful, tomato hear you. Tomato Treelo's friend.

  Bear: The tomato is your friend?

• Crossover: Bear made a few appearances on the 1998-2004 version of The Hollywood Squares. Wait, what? (He actually appeared in Whoopi Goldberg's final episode among others, possibly as a counterpart to the original series having Big Bird as an occasional star.) He also appeared a couple of times on Donny And Marie.
• Dances and Balls: "Great Ball of Firefighters" is about those in Woodland Valley attending the Annual Woodland Valley Firefighter's Ball. However, Ojo is upset because she expected a fancy dress ball with an elaborate ballroom, fancy furniture, a chandelier and marble fountain, when actually it's being hosted in a barn with a hay bale and a dirt floor. Meanwhile, Tutter is upset because his classmates from Mouse School are all dancing something called the "Mumble Mambo" that he doesn't know. Bear helps both Ojo and Tutter to get into the swing of things by kicking off a song called "Go With an Open Mind," which Ojo is pleased with, because it's a waltz.
• Dance Sensation: In an episode in the fourth season, the mice at Tutter's school all do the "Mumble Mambo," but Tutter is uncomfortable with it and can't seem to get into it.
• Deadpan Snarker: Despite his generally kind and caring nature, Bear can be surprisingly capable of this, especially in his nonvocal mannerisms. Tutter is very good at it too.
  • Bear also was this when he appeared on Hollywood Squares (see above).
• Delicious Daydream: Downplayed in "Call it a Day". We don't get a fantasy sequence, but Bear does appear to be deep in thought about lunch, judging by the fact that he says, "Mmm, peanut butter".
• The Diaper Change: In the episode, "Ooh, Baby, Baby" when Bear has to look after Tutter's baby cousin, Blotter, he changes her diaper at one point. He also suggests that Tutter might help because he's becoming a "real baby expert," but Tutter says that it's not his area. He then turns to Pip and Pop.

  Pip and Pop: Don't look at us, Bear!

• Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: Around the beginning of "A Beary Bear Christmas," Bear sings a line from the theme song in order to get the kids to notice him when they're arguing over how to help out to get ready for the holidays.
• Disappeared Dad & Missing Mom: Most, if not all of the main kid characters. Treelo certainly, all of the rest almost certainly. It is never, ever talked about.
• A Dog Named "Dog": A bear named Bear and a shadow named Shadow. Everybody else gets a proper name, except perhaps, Doc Hogg.
• Every Episode Ending: Bear performs the "Goodbye Song" with Luna. He then gives a brief goodbye to the viewer, summing things up for the episode, and turns off the Big Blue House's attic light. He then remembers that he has something else to say, turns it back on, says it, and then turns the light back off.
• Excited Show Title!: Used for quite a few episodes, including the last episode "This is Your Life, Bear!"
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: In "The Best Thanksgiving Ever," following the pageant, Bear and the kids smell something burning.

  Bear: Yeah, it is a burning smell.

  Ojo: Probably just the food.

  Treelo: Oh, yeah.

  Everyone: (big gasp) The food?!

  • In "A Strange Bird", Bear picks up a postcard from a relative of Puck the penguin, who is flying back home to the South Pole and will make a stop in Woodland Valley on Tuesday the 5th...which Bear soon realizes is today. Even worse, postman Jeremiah Tortoise reveals he received the postcard a couple of weeks ago.
• Face Palm: Treelo does it in "It's All In Your Head" when Bear is helping him to retrace his steps to find his backpack. Treelo says that he went the bathroom to take a bath, and Bear asks "You took a bath with your backpack on?", causing Treelo to facepalm.
• Fake Interactivity: Using a method in which Bear asks a question related to the topic of the episode and a video of real kids answering it is shown. This was dropped in the fourth season. Other than that, there is No Fourth Wall and Bear talks to the viewers in a manner similar to Mister Rogers.
• Fantasy Helmet Enforcement
• Feather Fingers: For Lois, a blue-footed booby.
• Finishing Each Other's Sentences: Bear and Luna are close so she sometimes finishes his sentences.
• First Day of School Episode: One episode focuses on Tutter attending "Mouse School".
• Forgiveness: In one installment, Ojo and Tutter have a great big fight. In the end, they forgive each other because, in Ojo's words, "It's okay, 'cause in the end, I really can't stay angry at a friend, and you're my friend!"
• Friendship Song: "Friends For Life" has two of them, "Friends For Life" and "When You Make Yourself a Friend".
• Friend to All Children: Bear.
• Furry Confusion: While most of the animal characters speak perfect English, Harry the Duck (who's a bit younger than the others) often quacks loudly, especially when excited. There are also other animals within the series that are much less anthropomorphic.
• Gentle Giant: Bear.
• Glad I Thought of It: Tutter does this to Bear, regularly, but Bear's always so calm and mild-mannered, he never minds. Doc Hogg has also been known to do this.
• Gratuitous English: The Japanese dub of the theme song adds in the English phrase "come on" at the end.
• Halloween Episode
• Happy Birthday to You!: For Tutter's birthday, there was an original song titled "Happy, Happy Birthday."
• Height Angst: In "As Different as Day and Night", Tutter suffers from this at first because he is much smaller than Bear and his favorite things are out of his reach. When Bear accidentally drops his spoon, it falls under the refrigerator, and Tutter is the only one small enough to recover it. When he does, he finds out there are advantages to being small.
• I Can't Dance:
  • Bear's problem throughout "I For-Got Rhythm!?".
  • Tutter, in one of the Playhouse Disney stage shows. Bear tells him that everyone can dance.
• I Can't Hear You: This is a regular Running Gag with Lois, a blue-footed booby bird seen on the series who is chronically hard of hearing. For example, from the "Good As New" song:

  Doc Hogg: Now, Lois, take a warm birdbath in the sink.

  Lois: I stink?

• Immediate Self-Contradiction: In "First Day at Mouse School," Tutter talks with Miss Maxwell, saying that he wants to play with Keisha and Luke, but that he's shy, except that he doesn't complete the thought, leaving Miss Maxwell to supply it. "Me, shy?! Ha ha ha ha! I don't think so, Miss... Me! Well, yeah."
• In Case You Forgot Who Created it: The show's two music albums were "Songs from Jim Henson's Bear in the Big Blue House" and "More Songs from Jim Henson's Bear in the Big Blue House."
• Injection Plot: "The Big Blue Housecall" has a subplot regarding Doc Hogg giving all the children in the Big Blue House a shot and Ojo being scared of it and hiding. Bear teaches her the song "Just say ow, say it now, and it's over."
• Insistent Terminology: In "Music to My Ears," Ojo, Pip and Pop don't have pan lids and a pot for their "orchestra," which is not a band. They have "cymbals" and a "drum." And Ojo is their "constructor," who helps them to make musical "combustions."
• I've Heard of That — What Is It?:
  • It's a fairly regular Running Gag for Pip and Pop to say that they love something, only to then ask what it is. For example, in "Clear as a Bell," Bear is learning Spanish from a tape. They say that they want to learn with him.

    Pip and Pop: We love Spanish! B, b, but, Bear? What's Spanish?

  • In "A Wagon of a Different Color," Bear and Tutter are going through the mail and Bear says that they got coupons from the market. Tutter says that he loves coupons.

    Tutter: Ya'ay, coupons! ... Bear, what's a coupon?

• Kid-Appeal Character: Treelo. In fact, in one of the songs, Bear sings that Treelo is "faster than a bumblebee."
• The Kiddie Ride: A Bear on a boat ride was made in the early 2000s. It played a running commentary made by Bear through the ride.
• Lemonade Stand Plot: In "A Trip to the General Store," the kids of the Big Blue House decide to set up a stand outside the Big Blue House selling lemonade and cookies in order to raise money to spend at the Woodland Valley General Store. However, when they tell Bear that at the rate they're going, they expect to raise enough money by tomorrow or the day after, he agrees to buy out their entire stock, as he has things he needs to get from the store today. He ends barely choking down the lemonade and Ojo explains that the secret ingredient is salt because after all, it looks like sugar, so surely it's the same. Bear passes on eating the cookies, claiming to be saving them for later.
• Less Embarrassing Term: In "Rockin' Rocko," Ojo, Treelo, Pip & Pop, and Tutter declare their intention to play "The Further Adventures of Snowbear, Rockboy, Clammy and Mr. Cheese". Rocky asks what what those are, if they're dolls or something. Ojo replies that Snowbear is a stuffed animal, Pip says that the rest of them prefer the term "action figures."
• Licensed Games/EdutainmentGames: Ubisoft released one for the PlayStation and the Game Boy Color back in the early 2000s. There were also a few PC Edutainment titles.
• Literal-Minded:
  • In "Worth the Wait," Tutter is making some ice cheese pops and is tired of waiting for them to freeze. Bear sets him up with a timer, telling him that "When the timer dings, the pops will be done." Tutter manually resets the timer to zero. Bear is forced to explain to him that it doesn't work this way.
  • In "Let's Hit the Road," Tutter tells the other kids of the Big Blue House that he's going on a school field trip, but that he doesn't know where, that it's a surprise. Pip and Pop figure that if he's going on a field trip, he must be going to a field. Amusingly enough, it turns out that they're right. Tutter and the other kids at Mouse School are going to a field to observe nature.
• Living Shadow: One of Bear's friends is a living shadow named Shadow. She appears in most episodes to relate a story, which is told as a shadow play—though the stories are often bizarre in nature.
• A Lizard Named "Liz": In "A Plant Grows in Bear's House," Pip and Pop are excited at a letter from the Otter World Magazine because they have entered the Otter World Name the Clam Contest with the name, wait for it, "Clammy," and are hoping to have won the grand prize of 100,000 clams. Unsurprisingly, they did not win. They receive a consolation prize of a packet of seeds.
• Logo Joke: The logo for the company Shadow Projects shown at the end of each episode featured a dog barking, but sometimes it would make other noises, such as quacking like a duck or meowing like a cat.
• Male Sun, Female Moon: The show's characters include a female moon named Luna and a male sun named Ray.
• The Man in the Moon: The moon on the show is Bear's good friend, Luna, voiced by the late Lynne Thigpen. He talks to her every night, talking about what happened that day and performs the "Goodbye Song" with her while clips of what happened on the episode play. Occasionally, other characters, and once, the full cast, would join in singing the song.
• Medium Blending: The series was mostly a puppet show, but used animated elements to show things from character's imaginations or to show the word of the day from each episode on the screen. Up until the fourth season, there was also a regular segment in which real kids talked about stuff related to the theme of the episode. Additionally, Shadow was a shadow puppet instead of the normal puppetry and presented Shadow stories in this style.
• "Metaphor" Is My Middle Name:
  • In "Home is Where the Bear Is," Pop claims that "Fun" is his and Pip's middle name. Pip replies that "Fun" is Pop's middle name and that "Mine is Angelica, remember?"
  • In "Welcome to Woodland Valley, Pt. 2," Doc Hogg tells Bear that he has everything under control, and tells him that "Control" is his middle name.
• Minimalist Cast: For a good portion of the first season, the main characters of Bear, Ojo, Tutter, Treelo, Pip and Pop, Shadow and Luna were the only characters ever seen. The very first guest, Grandma Flutter, would not appear until the show's sixteenth episode, although the rabbit who would become known as "Christine" had appeared in the background in previous installments. Regular guests, such as Ray the sun and Doc Hogg would not debut until the program's second season.
• Mistakes Are Not the End of the World:
  • Played with in one episode. Pip and Pop are having trouble with their hula hoops, but they think that the hoops are broken or need batteries. When Bear tells them that the hoops are fine, they just need practice, they don't mind, but when they nail it, their song has the lyric "If it hits the ground [unintentionally], then that's OK".
  • In "When You've Got to Go", Ojo cries about having wet herself, but Bear tells her that accidents "can happen to anyone".
  • In "Oops, My Mistake", Bear sings a song called "Oops, I Goofed Again" about how mistakes aren't a big deal.
• Moniker As Enticement: In "When You've Got to Go", Pip and Pop come up with the name "toileteers" for everyone who uses, or is going to use, the toilet, in other words, everyone (however, the name is meant to signify that someone's interested in using the bathroom). The full name is actually the "Mystic Order of the Toileteers," which is clearly intended to riff on the idea of a Secret Circle of Secrets, except that for the fact that as the song states, basically anyone can join the club.

  Let's see - that leaves about enough room for... all of you!

• The Moving Experience: In "This is Your Life, Bear," the kids believe that Bear is moving away from the Big Blue House when actually he's just won a vacation. They're actually right on a meta-level, though, in that the episode is the show's series finale.
• The Musical: The first season episode "Mouse Party" was turned into a stage musical, which was later released on DVD.
• Musical Chores: Given how musical the show is, this isn't a great surprise. "Clean Up the House" is a full-on song number about Bear and the kids cleaning up the Big Blue House and was even included on one of the show's music albums. "Surprise!", in which Bear sings about cleaning the bathtub, is another example.
• Neat Freak: Tutter is well known for this. He always seeks to tidy up anything he can and even has his own song about it: "Why Won't the Dirt Just Leave Me Alone?"
• Nice Guy: Bear, he never gets angry and is just so warm and friendly he's incapable of saying no to anybody. And yet he's not an Extreme Doormat.
• No Antagonist: It's a slice-of-life type show targeted at toddlers, so this is expected.
• The Nose Knows: Bear has a really strong sense of smell, and can detect any scent nearby. He even starts every episode by sniffing the camera after inviting the viewer inside.
• Oh, Crap!: In "Bear's Birthday Bash", Bear wants to spend his birthday sitting around and relaxing, but Ojo and the other kids insist on giving him something for his birthday. To keep the gift a surprise, the kids make sure Bear stays upstairs until they're ready. In one such instance, Bear and the kids take a bath, and after, they try to return to planning the surprise party for Bear. However, Bear announces he's going to the kitchen for a mess of cooked and buttered string beans. Cue the horrified look on the kids' faces as they panic and scramble to hide everything. It's only a well-timed appearance from Shadow that keeps Bear from going downstairs too early.
• Once per Episode: Nearly every episode starts with Bear sniffing the camera.
  • Also, the Bear Cha Cha Cha and the good-bye song.
  • Shadow presents a shadow story and real kids discuss something related to the episode. However, the Shadow segments were very occasionally absent, while the real kids segments were dropped entirely for the fourth season.
• The Operators Must Be Crazy: The Woodland Valley telephone operator is Lois, a blue-footed-booby who is chronically hard-of-hearing and regularly comically misunderstands what people are saying. Now how could this go wrong?
• Out-of-Context Eavesdropping: The catalyst for the plot of "Let It Go." Tutter overhears Bear and Doc Hogg having a conversation about it having not rained much lately. As usual, it's Doc Hogg who's doing most of the talking and he says that it's going to get mighty dry. He says he's starting to wonder if it's ever going to rain again. Tutter takes this to mean that it's never going to rain again in Woodland Valley and spreads this around to all of the other kids of the Big Blue House. However, he didn't hear the rest of it.

  Bear: (shaking his head) Oh, Doc. Don't worry, I'm sure it will rain very soon. In fact, let's see if we can get a weather report on the radio. (turns on radio, the forecaster says that there's a storm coming)

• Pals with Jesus: Religion doesn't factor much into the show, but Bear is on a first name basis with the Moon and the Sun as well as other forces of nature.
• Parental Abandonment: The Big Blue House seems to serve a sort of combination of daycare and orphanage. Most of the characters have grandparents shown, but not any actual parents. The unspoken rule, though, seems to be that they just don't talk about it.
• Parental Bonus: Tons of it. There's much humor of the POP Culture type in the series that would hit home with the parents and older viewers but fly over the toddler viewers' head. Additionally, some of the episodes talk about things that few other TV shows for the same target demographic dare to tread. This also explains the huge Periphery Demographic following.
  • In the camping episode, Pip (or Pop) asks "yeah, what does a bear do anyway?" They're in the woods.
• Pig Man: Doc Hogg.
• Playful Otter: Pip and Pop.
• Playing Sick: Tutter does this once to try to avoid going to Mouse School.
• Potty Dance: Tutter does in the book version of "When You've Gotta Go." The book even describes him as "dancing from side to side."
• Potty Emergency:
  • In "When You've Got To Go!", Tutter doesn't want to stop playing checkers with Bear to use the bathroom.
  • In the episode "Morning Glory", Pip and Pop have to pee upon waking up.
• Potty Failure: Justified in "When You've Got To Go!" - Ojo, who is still learning, doesn't make it in time and Bear tells her that it's okay, accidents happen.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: Doc Hogg, Jeremiah Tortoise, Lois, Otto, Etta, Jack the Dog and Ray are all added the new opening sequence, "Welcome to Woodland Valley," for the fourth season. Luna also gets a vocal line in the opening song, whereas previously she appeared in the opening but did not sing.
• Pseudolympics: Ojo holds the "Ojolympics" in an episode by the same name.
• Questioning Title?: Used for a few episodes, the first being "What's in the Mail Today?"
• Reactive Continuous Scream: In "A Winter's Nap," Pip and Pop shout Bear's name to wake him up from his nap. He wakes up screaming and then they both scream several times before he asks what's going on.
• "Reading Is Cool" Aesop: There was Bear's Book Club in "Read My Book" and also a two-parter in which Bear and the kids pitch in to fix up a library that was damaged in a storm.
• Regional Bonus: The UK DVD releases of the show usually have a bonus sing-along feature, along with multiple languages and multiple subtitles. Heck, the fact that it's getting DVD (re)releases in the UK is a bonus in itself; Disney absolutely refuses to re-release the older VHS releases on DVD stateside and many older episodes remained VHS only.
• Retool: In Season Four, not only do we get a new intro with different lyrics, but we get to see the world beyond the Big Blue House complete with more characters and locations. Tutter also starts school and begins to take up some subplots in the show. Ray and Shadow are Demoted to Extra and the real kids segments are dropped.
• Reused Character Design: A few of the show's puppets - specifically, characters that mainly show up around Woodland Valley - are recycled from The Animal Show. Specifically:
  • Before this show, the puppet for Lois was used for a character called Milton the Blue-Footed Booby.
  • In a few episodes, a giraffe can be seen around Woodland Valley. This giraffe got their start as a one-shot character named Alexis the Giraffe.
  • Stinky the Skunk, a main character on The Animal Show, has his puppet reused for a skunk named Snook in the episode "Smellorama".
  • Lydia the Ostrich, who appeared in an episode of The Animal Show about ostriches, has her puppet reused as Henrietta Vanderpeen in the episode "Woodland House Wonderful".
  • Jeremiah Tortoise's puppet is reused from a character named Penelope the Yellow-Footed Tortoise (the hair and goatee were added for Bear).
• Ripped from the Headlines: The episode in which the Woodland Valley library was damaged by a storm was loosely inspired by 9/11 and the idea of overcoming disastrous events in the wake of that. Also, the community and community helpers focus of the fourth season in general was inspired by this.
• Running Gag:
  • Tutter tells Bear that he can't do something because "You're too big, Bear! Too big!" and then chuckles.
  • Bear hears the doorbell of the Big Blue House ring and goes to answer it, only to say that there's nobody there, and it turn out to be Grandma Flutter, but he didn't see her. Or Tutter's teacher Miss Maxwell, or another mouse.
  • Pip and Pop appearing out of nowhere to perform backing vocals for a song performed by Tutter and then making an exit just as quickly once the song is over.
  • Bear plays one of the kids at checkers, only for them to beat him using a rapid-fire and seemingly impossible move.
  • Bear shows up outside of Mouse School. Cue massive freakout until they realize it's just Bear and relax.
• Russian Reversal: In "Welcome to Woodland Valley, Part 1" Jack the dog talks about having a dream in which fire hydrants were chasing him.
• Santa Claus: Not actually seen, but the kids get to visit "Santa Hogg" (Doc Hogg), whom Bear says is one of Santa's helpers.
• Selfless Wish: In the Christmas Special, the group invites a homeless dog named Jack to stay with them for the holidays. Later, when Pip and Pop find the magic Winter Berry (which grants a single wish), they use it to wish for a home for Jack.
• Ship Tease: The relationship between Bear and Ursa was as close as this trope could get in a children's show, by design.
• Shout-Out:
  • In "I've Gotta Be Me," Bear dons a grayish sweater and tells us that "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood." Some familiar music plays and he suggests that maybe he should get a pair of sneakers. According to interview with Bear puppeteer Noel MacNeal, this was inspired by a New York critic who referred to Bear as "Mister Rogers in a fur coat."
  • At one point in the episode "Let's Get Interactive," Bear is looking for dirt, water and seeds to help solve a puzzle. He says "You know, these things would be a lot easier to find if we had a couple of guides to help us" and then Pip and Pop show up. When he says this, closed-captioning reads "You know, these things would be a lot easier to find if we had a little blue dog to help us."
  • At the end of "I've Got Your Number," Luna states that "numbers go on and on forever, to infinity and beyond!"
  • According to this, the "What If?" song from "A Beary Bear Christmas" was patterned after the film It's a Wonderful Life, down to it being presented in black-and-white.
  • In "A Wagon of a Different Color," after Ojo, Pip and Pop reveal the newly painted wagon, Ojo says that she thinks it has every color in the world. Bear says that it does and Pip and Pop comment "And we helped!" in a manner that seems very reminiscent of the classic Shake 'n Bake commericals.
  • One of the episodes is titled "The Great Pretender," which is a golden oldie by the The Platters.
  • In "Listen Up!", Pip and Pop's code name for Bear on their phone cup walkie-talkies is "Smokey." Smokey the Bear is a U.S. mascot for fighting wildfires.
  • Tutter declares a "red alert" in "Buggin'" after Ojo reports that the bug has entered the Big Blue House.
  • In "Nothing to Fear," Bear gets a skunk clock from "L.L. Bear," an obvious reference to L.L. Bean.
• Sick Episode: The title character gets a cold in "Need a Little Help Today".
• Similar Item Confusion: In "A Trip to the General Store," the kids of the Big Blue House decide to host a stand selling lemonade and cookies in order to make money to spend at the general store. When they tell Bear they expect to have them all sold either tomorrow or the day after, Bear agrees to buy out their entire stock, as he has things he needs from the store today. However, he can barely choke down the lemonade. He then learns from Ojo that the "secret ingredient" is salt because, after all, it looks like sugar, so surely it's the same. He takes a pass on the cookies, claiming that he'll save them for another day.
• Single-Minded Twins: Pip and Pop, to the point where the first time they disagree is treated as Serious Business.
• Slice of Life: The basic nature of the show, though they try to work themes into it as well. Lamp Shaded - "For some reason, everyone was talking about using the potty today."
• The Smurfette Principle: Unless you count Shadow or Luna, Ojo is the only main female character.
• Something Itis: In "Picture of Health," Ojo and Treelo are playing doctor and diagnose Bear with "Big Bear-Itis." Bear asks if it's bad.

  Ojo: Don't be silly, Bear. It's just pretend.

• Split Screen: This technique is used to show all parties on the phone call in the "Hello Doctor" song.
• Stock Animal Diet: Tutter is a connoisseur of everything cheese and enjoys trying any type of cheese he can, including gouda and feta.
• Strictly Formula: Every episode follows this format. Bear invites the viewer inside, then he suddenly picks up a scent which turns out to be from the viewer themselves. Throughout the episode, he visits his friends who do something according to the theme of the episode, addressing the word of the day after one of them, and with musical numbers interspersed throughout. Sometimes he runs into Shadow, who tells him a story out of shadow puppets. At the end of it all, Bear goes out onto the balcony to talk about what happened with Luna the moon, they sing the Goodbye Song, and Bear gives his final words before leaving.
• String-on-Finger Reminder: In "It's All In Your Head," Bear has a bunch of strings on his paws. One is to remind him to tell the kids of the Big Blue House that they're going to the fair, another is to remember to pack snacks, another to get a basket to put them in, and one to remember to clean up the house before they leave.
• Suddenly Shouting: Tutter tends to do this sometimes. For example, in "A Winter's Nap"...

  Tutter: Oh, and Bear, would you mind awfully, if it's not too much trouble, if you wouldn't mind, Bear...

  Bear: Hmm?

  Tutter: Would you please close the door? You know why?

  Bear: Why?

  Tutter: It's... freezing !

  Bear: Sorry.

  Tutter: Sorry, sorry, sorry! Huh! A bear for a roommate. Uncle Splutter tried to warn me, but no... (Bear shuts the door.) Thank you, Bear.

• Surprise Party: "Mouse Party," about a surprise party being held for Tutter's birthday. This was later adapted for theater as "Bear in the Big Blue House Live!: Surprise Party."
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: One episode has Tutter and the gang going on a treasure hunt for rumored buried cheese. Unfortunately, by the time they get there, the cheese has all turned moldy.
• Talking in Your Sleep:
  • Whenever Tutter is asleep, he can be heard saying "More cheese for King Tutter!"
  • In "A Winter's Nap," Pip and Pop discover Bear napping and try to get him to wake up, but their repeated saying his name just results in muttering, "No, Mommy, just ten more minutes, then I'll eat my porridge." Finally they shout him awake.
  • In "Dance Fever!", Treelo sings "Limbo, limbo" at Tutter while he's napping and dreaming of cheeses to try to get him to get up and dance. Tutter repeats this in sleeptalk as "Limburger, Limburger," before finally startling awake, telling Bear about his dream and saying that he woke up feeling like he had to limbo. In the same episode, Grandma Flutter recites "Shimmy to the left and shimmy to the right" from the "The Grandma Mambo" song to a sleeping Treelo, who repeats this in his sleep before waking up after she recites the next line.
  • In "Morning Glory," Ojo mutters in her sleep "No, Goldilocks, don't eat all my honey."
  • In A Beary Bear Christmas, Jack the dog says in his sleep, "Okay, Billy, I'll fetch the ball, you just throw it. Come on, Billy, throw her!"
• The Tape Knew You Would Say That: A regular Running Gag on the series is that a character, usually Bear, will comment on something heard on the radio and the announcer will say something as they had anticipated that response. However, this is taken a bit further in "This Is Your Life, Bear," when the announcer says that they're going to play a cha-cha song and whoever calls in with the title and artist will win. "Win what?" wonders Bear.

  Announcer: Good question. I mean... uh... I bet you're wonderin' what you win.

• Team Dad: Bear to the other characters.
• Thanksgiving Episode:
  • There's "The Best Thanksgiving Ever," which focuses on Ojo declaring herself a "Thanksgiving commander" and taking charge of setting up the decorations and the Thanksgiving pageant in order for everything to have the best Thanksgiving ever described in the title. Of course, things don't end up going as planned, but Bear helps her to see what's really important.
  • A Comfy, Cozy Thanksgiving is a book release with its own plotline, which involves Treelo feeling unappreciated when nobody seems to want his help at Thanksgiving. He goes off on his own for a while, only to end up drifting back to the Big Blue House after smelling the wonderful smells of the Thanksgiving cooking and finding that everyone does, in fact, want his help.
• That Poor Cat: In "Grandma Flutter's 100th Birthday," Doc Hogg has a flashback of attending the musical Ain't Mousebehavin' and how the star B.B. Squeaksworth tripped and fell into the orchestra pit in the first act, complete with this sound effect. She got a twisted ankle and had to leave, so Grandma Flutter got her part.
• That Reminds Me of a Song: Almost every episode, often more than one per episode. Every episode features the "Goodbye Song" when Bear sings with Luna the moon and there is almost always at least one other song. "A Plant Grows in Bear's House" has no original song for the episode, but it's uncertain if there are any other episodes without one.
• They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: Type 2. Harry the Duck insists on calling Bear "Mr. Bear," despite his repeated assurances that "Oh, and Harry? It's just Bear."
• Third-Person Person: Treelo.
• Title Drop: Bear sometimes refers to himself as "Bear in the Big Blue House" when answering the telephone.
• Toilet Humour: When not teaching serious lessons about potty training, the episode "Potty Time With Bear" pretty much operates on this, with a "Potty Train" song, "The Toileteers" and more. It's therefore unsurprising that the installment won a Video Magic award with its video release, is probably easily the most well known installment of the show, and continues to be a top seller and readily in stock on Amazon, at a higher price than any other DVD release for the show (and even VHS copies still sell.) Much of it is also retained in the picture book adaptation of the story.
• Toilet Training Plot: Downplayed in the episode "When You've Got to Go": Tutter, Treelo and Ojo are already sort of potty-trained but they have questions about the bathroom and Ojo still has accidents.
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Ojo is rather sporty, holds her own well with the boys, and likes to pretend to be various professions such as detective or doctor that aren't traditionally known for being female. She also is quite attached to her snowbear, enjoys playing tea party and dressing up in girly costumes and accessories.
• Totally Radical: In the episode "I've Gotta Be Me," Bear donned a "hip"-looking hat and said "Hey there, hi there, ho there, Daddio? What is up?" He then asked us what we thought and admitted that look wasn't him.
• True Companions: The residents of the Big Blue House are the best of friends and love and care for each other deeply.
• The Unintelligible: Arguably Treelo. While he could talk normally (though even this could be hard to understand), he sometimes descended into a rapid-fire and definitely unintelligible babble that closed-captioning sometimes transcribed as being "Treelo-ese."
• Unmanly Secret: In "Tutter's First Big Sleepover Bash," the other mice have gone to bed, but Tutter tells Bear that he's worried about what they will think if they see him sleeping with his stuffed toy, Kitty. Bear shows him that all of the other mice are sleeping with stuffed animals.
• Very Special Episode:
• Vocal Evolution: Ojo's voice gradually deepens over the course of the series, almost sounding like she's hitting puberty by the end of the final season.
  • Tutter's voice also alters somewhat; becoming slightly lower and raspier by season three.
• Weird Sun: The sun, Ray, was another friend of Bear's, voiced by another late great, Geoffrey Holder. Though he wasn't seen on every episode, like Luna, Bear would sometimes sing the "Good Morning" song with him. He became much more prominent in the show's final season.
• Welcome Titles
• Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Just where is Woodland Valley and the Big Blue House located?
• When I Was Your Age...: Played with. In "A Beary Bear Christmas," when Jack overhears that the kids of the Big Blue House are having trouble thinking of a present for Bear, he tells them that when he was a pup, one had to walk miles and miles just to get to the store. "You did that?!" ask the kids, amazed, and he admits that no, he didn't. He and his friends made gifts for their parents and they loved them all the same.
• With Due Respect: In "Home Is Where the Bear Is," when Bear states to the viewer that the best part of his kitchen his table where he can eat a mess of cooked and buttered string beans, Tutter tells him with all due respect, "With all due respect, Bear," that he's missing the best things about his kitchen.
• Wrap-Up Song: At the end of every episode, Bear and Luna sing a song about saying goodbye at the end of the day. In a few episodes, other characters join as well, including one notable installment in which nearly the entire cast sings the song and some cases adds additional lyrics.
• Wrong Assumption: In "History, Herstory, Bearstory," Jeremiah Tortoise tells Bear, Ojo and Tutter the story of his Great Grandfather Hephaestus Tortoise, who founded Woodland Valley over 200 years ago and who owned the old house that they found. They are so inspired that they go back and tell Treelo, Pip and Pop about it, then decide to install a dedication plaque at the old house. Jeremiah is touched, then states that he can't wait to tell Hephaestus about it when he gets back. Given everyone's reactions, they clearly assumed that Hephaestus was dead.

---

Hey, this was really fun
We hope you liked it too
Seems like we've just begun
When suddenly we're through

Goodbye, goodbye, good friends, goodbye
Cause now it's time to go
But, hey, I say, well, that's OK
Cause we'll see you very soon, I know
Very soon, I know

Goodbye, goodbye, good friends, goodbye
And tomorrow, just like today
The moon, the bear and the Big Blue House
Will be waiting for you to come and play
To come and play, to come and play
Bye now!

---

stanleypadmings.blogspot.com

Source: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse

Share this post