The Berenstain Bears (1979-1983)

From 1979 to 1983, five holiday-themed Berenstain Bears animated specials were produced and aired on NBC. Lawrence and Berenstain would provide music and lyrics for each the specials.

Why These Specials Make You Feel Like A Bear

 * 1) It stays clearly faithful to the source material sticking to the books based on the same name.
 * 2) The screen debut of the celebrities of the franchise of the Berenstain Bears books.
 * 3) Very good animation and character designs, that fits the art style of the books.
 * 4) Decent voice acting as of the late '70s to early 80's standards.
 * 5) The backgrounds are matching the style of the Berenstain Bears books.
 * 6) Very catchy and memorable musical numbers.
 * 7) Best soundtrack, from Elliot Lawrence.
 * 8) Brilliant writing from Stan and Jan Berenstain who properly relied on their source material.
 * 9) Memorable characters, especially Papa Q. Bear.
 * 10) Many of the funny moments, including the very humorous epilogue of '"The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree''.
 * 11) The Berenstain Bears' Easter Surprise was a very good television adaptation of the 1974 book, The Berenstain Bears’ New Baby.
 * 12) Lots of heartwarming moments. For example, the scene with Mama Bear and all of the animals decorating the house, to make the world's biggest Christmas tree, which was made the audiences melt their hearts.
 * 13) Like most of the Hanna-Barbera shows from the 1970s and the early 1980s, it helped save the American animation during the Dark Age of Animation.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Both the opening and closing credits (which are videotaped, despite the specials themselves being filmed) seem to be cheaply inserted in.
 * 2) The character designs, while very nice, are almost off-modeled.
 * 3) While the voice acting was so good, everyone speaks in rhyme. Yes, even the narrator. This gets very awkward fast.
 * 4) Boss Bunny is reformed by seeing a rainbow in the Easter Special, which makes zero sense.
 * 5) * The ending of the same special makes even less sense. Brother Bear's surprise is Sister Bear, and the special is set shortly before her birth.