Why isn't Disney acknowledging Bear?

[MikaelaMuppet]

Honestly, I don't get why Disney+ won't have Bear at launch. It was the flagship show of Playhouse Disney during the Late 90's and Early 2000's and I know for a fact that it has no copyright issues at all, unlike OG Muppet Babies (Though it might not have copyright issues since I heard the clips were licensed for perpetuity use), The Muppet Show, Muppets Tonight, Muppets Take Manhattan (Sony has distribution rights), and Muppets From Space (Same as Manhattan).

I really hope Bear gets here at launch. It could be a big draw for Disney+ as it was a very popular pre-school show back then and i'm sure little kids would still love it today.


The idea of Bear shorts sounds interesting

So is it not coming to Disney+ at all?

 

[MuppetsBear17]

So is it not coming to Disney+ at all?

At least not at launch. I'm not sure if it will ever be on Disney+, but I really hope Disney will eventually add it to their service. Of the first 4 Playhouse Disney Original Series, it's the only one that i'm not sure if it will come to the service. Out of the Box has been confirmed for launch and PB&J Otter and Rolie Polie Olie (The latter is a Nelvana show, but Disney has the US Distribution rights) are inevitable since Disney still acknowledges them from time to time (Example: They've popped up on Disney Junior's On Demand service every now and then with the most recent occurrence being Early 2017). Bear is the only one left of those 4 that Disney USA hasn't acknowledged this decade.

With how it took 14 years for Disney to acknowledge "Out of the Box" again here in the US, I am really hoping they'll bring Bear to Disney+ soon. It's been 12 and a half years since they've last acknowledged it (It last aired in the US on May 6, 2007 and hasn't really been acknowledged by Disney since).

 

[MuppetsBear17]

Well, months later and Disney STILL hasn't brought Bear over to Disney+, which is a shame.

Disney should realize that just because a show has ended doesn't mean you can't legally stream it or make it available. It's been almost 13 years since this show stopped airing on US TV (It's last airing was May 6, 2007).

Honestly, i'm fine that Bear ended. It had a great run and it had a lot of episodes. Also, I feel like Disney really is missing out on potential new viewers. I think kids of today would love Bear but Disney isn't doing anything with it and when it comes to nostalgia, they instead want to put the Disney Afternoon shows on Disney+.

Bear is a source of comfort and joy for me. Whenever I watch it, I feel really happy and all my stress gets lowered. I love the calming nature of the show and how gentle Bear is. I would be really happy if Disney+ carried all the episodes. I think Disney has forgotten that this show was huge back then. Sure, Blue's Clues and Barney were more popular, but Bear was still really big and was the most popular show for Playhouse Disney back then.

I really do hope that Bear will be on it. I know that it's a good strategy to continue adding shows from their library each month so that people can look forward to it, but I feel like Bear should have been on Disney+ from launch. At the very least, i'm glad Out of the Box and Book of Pooh got there at launch since they were neglected for years and I have a very good feeling PB&J Otter and Stanley will be on there eventually, but Bear really needs to be on Disney+ honestly. With how impactful it was on many children with autism and special needs and how important it was to people, it should be on there

 

[Cookie3001]

I know someone who has Disney plus and The Book of Pooh is there. Disney owns 100% of Bear so I really don't understand why they can't include it on Disney plus or anything else for that matter.

 

[Phillip]

If you really want to see "Bear in the Big Blue House" on Disney+, everyone reading this should take a few minutes and fill out the form below. Send a kind note and let Disney know that you want to see "Bear in the Big Blue House", "The Muppet Show", "Muppets Tonight" and "Muppet Babies" (1984-1991) on Disney+. Let your voice be heard.

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[MuppetsBear17]

I did request Bear in the Big Blue House (As well as Muppet Babies (1984) and The Muppet Show).

One thing i've realized is that many of the big pre-school or kids shows back in the late 90's/early 2000's have legal availability in their entirety except Bear. SpongeBob is still on (And even if you don't count TV, many of it's seasons are on DVD in season sets, plus it's on iTunes and Amazon to purchase, plus the Amazon Prime Service for the first 5 seasons), Rugrats and Powerpuff Girls (1998) are on Hulu, Pokemon has season sets on DVD and still has new episodes, Blue's Clues is on the Noggin app and is currently airing with a new series, etc. Even when you get to shows that were pretty popular but not as popular as the big ones, Rolie Polie Olie is on YouTube in it's near entirety (It's missing the last 4 episodes) and legally as well, Dexter's Laboratory was on Cartoon Network's On Demand Service in it's entirety last year and will be on HBOMax this May when it launches (Plus, it's currently available to purchase on Amazon), and Animaniacs (Though that was much more 90's than 2000's) is on Hulu and is fully available on DVD, plus it's getting a revival.

While I do love Muppet Babies (1984) and The Muppet Show......I do admit I want Bear on Disney+ more than those two. The Muppet Show has most of it's episodes legally released. The first 3 seasons were released and Time Life did release 12 out of the 24 episodes of Season 5 on DVD when they were doing these 3 episode DVDs (Before the Season Sets) and released 9 out of the 24 episodes of Season 4 on DVD. Not to mention there's the Muppet films on Disney+. As for Muppet Babies (1984), they do have a reboot going on, which manages to capture the spirit of the original, while still being it's own thing and I honestly love the show and it's doing really well and the reboot is on Disney+. As for Bear? Nothing.

There's also the possibility of licensing issues with both Muppet Show and Muppet Babies (1984) (Though I did hear before that apparently they paid perpetuity rights for the clips in Muppet Babies so that they could use them forever), while Bear doesn't have any licensing issues. There's nothing in the show that they would have to pay royalties for or anything.

Bear in the Big Blue House is important to me in many ways and it's not just nostalgia. The show has helped me get through sad and rough times and even though i'm 19, I still love this show. I'll admit, I did use to act like I disliked the show (As well as pre-school shows in general) because I didn't want to be made fun of, but I always loved it deep down. I've loved so many shows during my life, but Bear means the most to me. When seeing various videos of him meeting real people, it's clear that he had a big impact. He was lovable and protective. Children loved him and parents loved him too.

The show was also the first Disney Channel show that was a very big hit. Sure, they had some small successes before, but it was a premium channel back then. Bear on the other hand came out when Disney was starting to slowly, but surely get into a lot more homes as a basic cable channel (When it came out, Disney was in 30 Million Homes with 25 Million getting it as a basic cable channel and by 1999, the channel was in 52 million homes, with 50 million of them getting it as a basic cable channel). It became an unexpected hit and while yeah, Blue's Clues and Barney were probably more popular and well known, Bear wasn't too far behind and was considered the flagship show for Playhouse Disney with a ton of merchandise to call it's own. Disney was actually the one who came up with the idea for Breakfast with Bear. That alone shows that they loved Bear.

The fact that it was on (including reruns) from October 20, 1997 - May 6, 2007 is honestly a fantastic run. I don't even care about the fact that it was on at 6:00AM back in Early 2007, it was amazing that it was even still on and pre-schoolers who woke up early on Weekend Mornings could still see Bear back then. It was the only show from 90's Playhouse Disney that was still on. All the other ones like The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, PB&J Otter, Rolie Polie Olie, Out of the Box, Madeline, and The Little Mermaid had been gone from the block for a while, but Bear was still going until it was removed in May 2007. While I am starting to lose my memories of when I was 6, I do vaguely remember Bear still being on back then. Honestly, the more I think of it, Bear honestly does make for a great early morning show. The kind of show you could watch before going to school or before parents would go to work. I think that might be part of why it would air at 6:30AM when I was little. I remember my dad watched it with me before going to work and like Sesame Street, it was a show that prepared you for life, as well as the rest of your day.

With how Bear was only removed from US TV in May 2007, I thought it would come back to TV when Disney Junior: The Channel launched, but that never happened. I thought it would come back legally with Disney+, but that never happened.

If i'm being honest, I don't need new episodes or anything. The show has 117 episodes, which is plenty to watch and the show did have a fantastic conclusion if i'm being honest. However, just because a show ends doesn't mean you don't stream it or end it. I mean, Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, Darkwing Duck, Goof Troop, etc. have ended and they're on Disney+. Even Bonkers of all shows managed to get on Disney+.

While Bear may be unknown to most of today's kids, I certainly wouldn't call him obscure in the grand scheme of things. You want obscure, you go to stuff like Henry's Amazing Animals or Katie and Orbie (Or that You, and Me Kid show that I never saw, but was apparently on Disney Channel in the 80's during it's premium days). Bear is well remembered. I went to conventions dressed up as Bear and got many happy reactions. I remember at Rhode Island Comic Con in November 2019, one of the people who was happy to see me dressed up as Bear was 19.

The people who grew up with Bear either now have kids of their own or are ready to have kids which would be great timing to have Bear on Disney+. I really hope they'll have Bear eventually. If i'm being honest, it's the only show that I really want on Disney+. There are shows I would like to be on Disney+, but I don't necessarily want them if you know what I mean. Bear on the other hand, I really do want. It was among the very first shows I really got into. In fact, when I was about 3 or 4, I had an obsession with shadows thanks to Shadow from this show.

For those who were born between 1992 and 2002, Bear was very likely something they loved. Of course, not everyone loved Bear, but that goes for anything. Not everyone is going to like the things you like.

Honestly, this is not only the one show I want on Disney+, but it's also the one show I want legally available in it's entirety. There are a lot of fantastic episodes that never got legally released like "First Day of Mouse School" and "Love is All You Need"

EDIT: I also forgot to mention that even when Disney put Bear on questionable timeslots, the show still performed excellent. The Playhouse Disney promos for the show probably helped as well, as they did promote the show airing at 6:30AM every morning. If you have a show that performed really well even when you put it on very early in the morning, then there's no reason for it not to be on Disney+.

Sorry if this feels like ranting, if it is, I apologize. I just hope Bear eventually comes to Disney+. Until then, i'll do my best to be patient.

 

[MuppetsBear17]

One thing I find coincidental about Bear is that the last episode ever reran on TV was "Let it Go" on Sunday, May 6, 2007. I find that coincidental because after that day, Disney had let go of Bear from their lineup.

The last airing of Bear (Reruns included) on TV even promoted "My Friends Tigger and Pooh" as coming next Saturday and coincidentally enough, that show replaced the reruns of Bear in the Big Blue House

On that note, I was really surprised it didn't air on the Disney Junior channel, considering how the show was only dropped from the Playhouse Disney (Now called Disney Junior) block 4 years and 10 months prior to the Disney Junior Channel's launch. I think they could've gave it a 6:30AM timeslot or something like that. I feel like that, The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (Not a pre-school show, but was a staple of Playhouse Disney back then), The Book of Pooh, and Out of the Box should have been on the Disney Junior channel (Thankfully, though the latter 3 are on Disney+). It baffles me why they picked some non pre-school programming for the Disney Junior channel. Bear deserved to be on Disney Junior Channel more than stuff like 101 Dalmatians, Jungle Cubs, Timon and Pumbaa, and Lilo and Stitch: The Series.

To me, even a bad timeslot is still a timeslot nonetheless and Disney really messed up by not giving Bear a timeslot whatsoever. Oddly enough, it was the only show Disney owns that was airing on Playhouse Disney in Early 2007 that wasn't on the Disney Junior channel. All the other ones (JoJo, Higglytown, Stanley, Mickey, Einsteins, Manny, even Johnny and the Sprites) were on the Disney Junior channel at one point (and Mickey is still airing on the channel). Even non Disney shows like Rolie Polie Olie, Koala Brothers, and Charlie and Lola aired on the Disney Junior Channel. Bear however, was left out for some strange reason that I honestly can't figure out.

Surprisingly, some of the Bear DVDs still perform well for a show that hasn't been acknowledged since 2007, which is a good reason for why this show should be on Disney+.