The Little Polar Bear facts for kids
The Little Polar Bear (which is Lars de kleine ijsbeer in Dutch) is a popular story series about a young polar bear named Lars. These stories first appeared in books written by a Dutch author, Hans de Beer.
The first animated version of the books was a Japanese original video animation (OVA), released on April 28, 1990. It was made by a studio called I.G Tatsunoko, which is now known as Production I.G.
Later, in the 1990s, the stories became an animated TV show for BBC TV called Lars, der kleine Eisbär. This show became very popular, especially in Germany. The show was brought back for new episodes between 2001 and 2003.
For the first movie, called Der Kinofilm, Warner Bros. and the animation studio Rothkirch Cartoon Film bought the rights to turn the children's books into a full-length film. This movie was released in 2001. After the movie was successful, several more films were released straight to video. One of these new films even introduced a tiger cub character. In 2005, another movie, The Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious Island (known as Der kleine Eisbär 2: Die geheimnisvolle Insel in German), was released and also did very well.
The music for the first The Little Polar Bear movie was created by Nigel Clarke and Michael Csanyi-Wills. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London recorded the music, and it was nominated for several awards.
Contents
The Little Polar Bear TV Show
Quick facts for kids The Little Polar Bear |
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| Genre | Animation |
| Created by | Hans de Beer (Novel) |
| Written by | Birgit Quastenberg Josef Schelle Hans de Beer |
| Directed by | Theo Kerp |
| Voices of | Susan Sheridan Jimmy Hibbert |
| Theme music composer | Manfred Schoof |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | German English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 21 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Siegmund Grewenig |
| Producer(s) | Theresa Plummer Andrews |
| Running time | 5-6 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Rothkirch/Kringel Cartoon Films |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC TV |
In the mid-1990s, the BBC created a TV show based on the books. It featured the voices of talented actors like Susan Sheridan and Jimmy Hibbert. The animation for the series was done by Sinan Gungor.
Main Characters in the TV Show
- Lars: The main character, a curious little polar bear.
- Frieda: Lars's mother.
- Mika: Lars's father.
- Lena: An Arctic hare who is Lars's friend.
- Peeps: A snow goose and another one of Lars's friends.
- Brownie Brown Bear: A friendly brown bear.
TV Show Voices
- Susan Sheridan voiced Lars, Lena, Peeps, and Mummy Polar Bear.
- Jimmy Hibbert voiced Daddy Polar Bear and other male characters.
- Vanessa Feltz voiced Brownie Brown Bear.
TV Show Episodes
The TV series had 21 episodes, each lasting about 5-6 minutes. Here are some examples of the adventures Lars and his friends had:
| No. | Cartoons | Original airdate | |
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| 1 | "The Ice Floe" | 1994 | |
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Lars floats away on a piece of ice and makes new friends before finding his way home.
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| 2 | "The Snow Storm" | 1994 | |
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Lars meets Lena, and they get caught in a snow storm.
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| 3 | "The Egg" | 1994 | |
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Lars finds a goose egg and helps it hatch. He names the baby gosling Peeps.
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| 4 | "The Polar Station" | 1994 | |
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Lars and Lena explore a human polar station and have to escape.
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| 5 | "The Net" | 1994 | |
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Lars gets caught in a fishing net and meets a ship's cat named Nemo.
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| 6 | "The Trap" | 1994 | |
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Lena and Peeps get caught in a trap, and Lars helps them get free.
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| 7 | "The Mission" | 1994 | |
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Lars goes on a trip to get honey medicine for his sick parents.
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| 8 | "The Ice Cave" | 1994 | |
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Lars, Lena, and Peeps explore a dangerous ice cave.
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| 9 | "The Hunter" | 1994 | |
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Lars and Brownie are captured by a hunter and work together to escape.
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| 10 | "The Labyrinth" | 1994 | |
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Lena and Peeps get lost in a foggy ice maze.
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| 11 | "The Weather Balloon" | 1994 | |
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Peeps gets carried away by a weather balloon, and Lars helps save him.
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| 12 | "The Boat" | 1994 | |
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Lars, Lena, and Peeps find a deserted boat and go on an adventure.
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| 13 | "The Barrel" | 1994 | |
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Lars finds a barrel of fish and gets help moving it for his parents.
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| 14 | "The Book" | 1994 | |
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More icy adventures with Lars and his friends.
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| 15 | "The Honeycomb" | 1994 | |
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Lars goes on a quest for honeycomb.
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| 16 | "The Flower" | 1994 | |
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Lars finds a rare flower and protects it with his friends.
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| 17 | "The Teddy Bear" | 1994 | |
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Lars, Lena, and Peeps discover a mysterious box with a teddy bear inside.
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| 18 | "The Sled Dog" | 1994 | |
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Lars meets a sled dog and learns about its life.
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| 19 | "The Camp Fire" | 1994 | |
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Lars and his friends encounter a human campfire.
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| 20 | "The Competition" | 1994 | |
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Lars takes part in a friendly competition.
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| 21 | "The Concert" | 1994 | |
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Lars and his friends put on a concert.
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The Little Polar Bear Movies
| The Little Polar Bear | |
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DVD cover
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| Directed by | Piet De Rycker Thilo Rothkirch |
| Produced by | Willi Geike |
| Written by | Piet De Rycker Bert Schrickel Thomas Wittenburg |
| Music by | Nigel Clarke Michael Csányi-Wills |
| Editing by | Bettina Behrens Nadia Hennrich |
| Studio | Warner Bros. Rothkirch Cartoon Film |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures (Germany) Warner Home Video (United States) |
| Release date(s) | October 4, 2001 (Germany) April 11, 2003 (United Kingdom) December 2, 2003 (United States) |
| Running time | 77 minutes |
| Country | Germany United States |
| Language | German English |
The Little Polar Bear is a German-American film from 2001, also based on the popular books. It was directed by Piet De Rycker and Thilo Rothkirch, and produced by Willi Geike. Warner Bros. Germany released the film in Germany on October 4, 2001.
Warner Bros. also created an English version of the movie. This English version was released in America and Britain in 2003, allowing more children around the world to enjoy Lars's adventures.
Movie Sequels
After the first movie's success, several direct-to-video films continued Lars's story:
- 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)
Movie Voice Cast
Many talented actors lent their voices to the characters in the movies. Here are some of the main voices:
| Character | German Version | English Version |
|---|---|---|
| Lars | Mijail Verona | Wesley Singerman |
| Robby | Maximilian Artajo | Brianne Siddall |
| Kalle | Jochen Busse | |
| Nalle | Mike Krüger | |
| Palle | Bernd Stelter | |
| Mika | Ingolf Lück | Michael McConnohie |
| Manili | Vanessa Petruo | |
| 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 | |
| Mutter Eisbär | Anke Engelke |
Other English voices included Daran Norris as Brutus, Neil Kaplan as Bert, Tom Fahn as Boris, Rebecca Forstadt as Anna, Mari Devon as Nina, Edie Mirman as Grandmother, and many more.
