“The Teddy Bears’ Christmas” (1992)

The Teddy Bears’ Christmas 

Brief Description:

Sally would like her very own teddy bear and asks Santa Claus for one. Her brother, Simon, teases her about her letter to Santa, whose existence he is a little skeptical about, and at the same time tries to find out what it is she wants. But for her, it is a secret between herself, Santa, and Simon's teddy bear, Ben. When Slurp, the family dog, eats the letter, Ben sets out to find Santa himself even if it means to go unteddy…

(from Christmas Specials Fandom, edited by me)

Date: 1992

Genre: American animated family Christmas TV special 

Running time: 24 minutes

Cast: 

Jonathan Crombie (Ben)

Stuart Stone (Wally)

Kylie Schibli (Sally)

Ryan Lindsay (Simon)

Samantha Rushforth (Betty)

Jim McNabb (Santa)

Director: Paul Schibli

Production company: Lacewood Productions

IMDb page

(more information here)

Watch on YouTube

Setting/Aesthetic/Feel: 4/5

I watched this specifically because I adore The Secret World of Benjamin Bear and this is one of the three movies that inspired the show. It didn’t quite have the setting and feel of SWBB, but it was close. I liked the warm Christmassy aesthetic. 

Characters: 4/5

Again, I watched this show because of SWBB, and I was delighted to find it a backstory about Ben, Wally, Simon, and Sally!! Wally doesn’t show up much in SWBB, but the others are important characters and I was happy to see Ben as a very young teddy. Wally reminded me of Howie. <3 I also liked how Sally & Simon were similar to Max & Eliza but still quite different. And Betty was sweet. I can’t remember if she shows up in SWBB, but I wish she did if she doesn’t!

Plot: 2/5

I didn’t have a synopsis for the film when I watched it, so I didn’t expect Santa and I was not a fan of that part. The mall Santa turned out to be the real deal and I was disgusted at what I expected to be a sweet, heartwarming, sappy Christmas film to become a mere Santa propaganda. It wasn’t even heartwarming anymore because Ben didn’t get to work everything out—I wish he had, it would have been so much more interesting. The Santa bit felt like a cop-out. Up till then, though, I liked seeing Ben’s journey and I’m particularly aggrieved because the plot could have been super well and been a great teddy film à la SWBB—which was what I was expecting. 

Theme/Message/Topics: 2/5

See the Santa rant above. 

Content: 4/5 (low)

Mild euphemisms; some slight sibling fighting.

Overall: 2/5

It wasn’t what I expected but mostly, it could have been so much better. I will check out the other two films though.