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I'm the Bear, I'm the Bear!

The Bear.

I am the Scary Lion!

The Lion.

The Lion and The Bear is one of the 7 Magical Events. It features two characters, The Scary Lion With Big Scary Teeth and The Bear With Brown Fuzzy Hair. The two characters are both made out of wood and travel using the appearance of a skateboard and are not animated. It was the only magical event (other than the Tap Dancing Teddy Bear) to feature the clips with the Teletubbies a lot more than any other event. The original sketch was first aired in 1997 in the episode See-Saw. However, the sketch became controversial due to its scary and inappropriate appearance and nature for children. The problems were the uncanny appearances of the characters (which are made of wood and have uncanny eyes, ears, and arms and also appear to move on their own), the scary voices, scary scenes, the music and the dialogue, such as "I'm the bear! I'm the bear! And I'm coming!" in a haunting voice. Therefore, a brand new edited sketch (which was also banned in Russia, France, Japan and the United States), with non-scary nature, new scenes and more humourous content, such as a doorbell ringing when the bear pops out from behind a tree and funny piano music, was made. The edited sketch was first aired in the episode Asian Storyteller (The Fox).

Appearances[]

Episodes[]

UK Series (on BBC)[]

Sunday Specials[]

Home Media[]

DVD[]

Controversy[]

The Lion and The Bear is one of the things that caused Teletubbies to be very controversial. It has been considered too scary for its target audience (children aged 1-4). Parents have made numerous complaints about the theatrical-based sketch for the age-inaccurate music, scary voices, dark tone, dialogue and the horrifying chase sequence at the end of the sketch. Due to the age-inappropriateness of the sketch, many younger children are so frightened of the two characters so much that they suffer from anxiety. Instead, it was appropriate enough for people aged 12 and older, more so teenagers. This shows that the producers of the show did not pay attention to the target audience which resulted in many complaints and therefore forced them to edit the sketch with the addition of more comedy-styled scenes, the scary music taken out and replaced with more jolly-styled music, humourous sound effects and several lines redone to match the target audience, but it still gained a negative reception. Some countries have completely banned both sketches. Some countries show the edited sketch but have banned the original sketch. Other countries still show both the original and edited sketches. On the DVD version of Look!, the edited sketch was shown in the extras. The original sketch was kept on the UK DVDs Happy Birthday! and Autumn Fun.

One question is why the edited sketch is not shown in some countries. The original sketch was given so much controversy that TV stations in these countries thought that the highly negative backlash it received would worsen if they showed the edited sketch; thus, both versions of the sketch were banned on TV.

Another problem in the original sketch is ambiguity, as viewers don't know where the hill the Teletubbies are watching the event from is, where the "ground" is as there is no view of the hill from there. In addition, many camera shots are fake; instead of being real, they are mirror images created on computers, upping the scare factor. The characters also pop out of nowhere, making where they've come from unknown and viewers don't know if they're robots, mechanical toys or models. There are no mechanical sounds heard, scaring viewers into thinking the animals are mutants with mind powers when they aren't. The camera also moves creepily during the magical event, as it follows the characters. The creepy camera shots are what scare the most viewers.

Other changes in the edited sketch are the ambiguity is limited as although viewers still don't know where the ground level is, there are more clues as to where it is, and the fake mirror image camera shots are all natural shots filmed from behind a different shot. Some people think that there are mirror images in the edited sketch - however, they are trick shots. The characters no longer pop out of nowhere, as the camera shots are faster with the characters appearing immediately instead of waiting a few seconds. There is more time in the hiding and seeking parts of the sketch, which increases speed and means it's much less scary. Next, viewers finally know what the characters are, they're mechanical wooden toys. Mechanical sounds like squeaking wheels and vibrating wood are heard to reassure viewers that they're not living creatures, to make the sketch funnier, and the sounds make viewers more clear the characters aren't popping out of nowhere. The camera also stays still during the sketch and doesn't follow the characters. The scary voices and the scary scenes have also been taken out to match the target audience. The edited sketch is much more relaxing and has nice and jolly music playing instead of scary music. It is almost (but not quite) scare-free, having lost the majority of its original scariness.

Synopsis (The 1997-1999 Original Sketch)[]

The original sketch starts with the Magical Windmill spinning, but instead of the normal music, some creepy, ominous and upbeat instruments play over the usual soft magical tune almost, just like the one for the TV event. The Teletubbies arrive at their usual place in Teletubbyland. Once they arrive at the magic event place, unlike in other Magical Events, the scene does not change to the Sun Baby, but instead, it changes to the Teletubbies looking around. Then, unlike in the other Magical Events, they turn back towards the camera and say "Uh-Oh!" Normally, there are soft magic event tunes or sounds that play in the other sketches, but in this sketch, as the Teletubbies turn away from the camera, there is no sound to begin the event and a scary tune is heard. While the Teletubbies jump up and down, the Bear (off-screen) then says in a haunting echoing voice: "It's the Bear! It's the Bear! And I'm coming!" The Teletubbies jump in shock and then run off to the destination of the magical event giggling and shouting (Laa-Laa even says "Run Away!"). Instead of going straight on, they run up the path where they first arrived. Then they sit down in front of some trees up a hill. The Bear then repeats, "I'm the Bear! I'm the Bear! And I'm coming!" in a more horrific sinister voice, making the Teletubbies giggle in shock. After a short wait, and some more sinister music (along with a drum roll) she pops up out of nowhere and exclaims "I'm the Bear, I'm the Bear! With Brown Fuzzy Hair!" She wanders around Teletubbyland saying "I'll go running over here... and I'll go running over there!" which makes the Teletubbies giggle in shock. She repeats her opening sentence and hides around the hills laughing and saying "I'll hide over here... (She giggles) and I'll hide over there! Can you see meeee?" As eerie music plays, she repeats her opening sentence a 3rd time and then states that she knows a "joke". As scary music plays, she pops out from behind a tree. Her eyes roll in circles and she goes "Blub-a-lub-a-blub-a-blub!" whilst sticking her tongue out and making the Teletubbies laugh at her. She then whispers while repeating her opening sentence a final time and says that she's hiding from the Lion but he doesn't know where. She then says: "Shhh!" and goes to hide. The Teletubbies then say "Shhh!" to the camera, then they turn back and go: "Oooh!" There is a short and scary sequence showing Teletubbyland almost barren, as eerie music is heard before the camera cuts back to the Bear's hiding place. The Lion (off-screen) starts growling and roaring so much that the clouds move and the trees bend and shake much to the surprise of the Teletubbies. This happens 3 times, with the Lion getting more vicious and angry each time. He then pops out of nowhere, like the Bear. He lets out a really scary growl and then exclaims "I am the Scary Lion! WITH BIG SCARY TEETH!!" The Teletubbies scream and laugh, spooked at what they have just seen. He then says "I'm scary on the top... and I'm scary underneath!" He then laughs, which makes the Teletubbies gasp. He then says "I am the Scary Lion, as a matter of fact, I'm scary around the front... and I'm scary around the back!" He wags his tail, laughs and growls, making the Teletubbies laugh. He then wanders around Teletubbyland just as the Bear did and continues to growl and roar angrily. Still growling, he passes the trees in the area where the Bear is hiding. She pops out from behind her tree quickly saying "Boo! Boo!" She gets back to hiding as a creepy tune is playing. The Lion growls and stops in front of the trees. He says that he's looking for the Bear and he knows that she is hiding, but he does not know where. He wanders around Teletubbyland looking for The Bear. He looks around the hills saying "I'm looking over here... And I'm looking over there! Can you see her?" He growls and then returns to the trees repeating "Where's the Bear?" three times. The Bear pops out twice, giggling. The Lion gets more and more vicious and angry each time until the Bear pops up and repeats her joke. The Lion sees her and says "There's the Bear!" The Bear replies "Catch me!" and runs out from behind the tree. The Lion starts chasing the Bear around Teletubbyland whilst the Bear continues to do the joke and the Lion growls and roars with frightening music playing in the background. After they disappear, the Teletubbies all say 'All gone!' and run away giggling. Finally, the Magic Windmill stops spinning or Baby Sun giggles.

Synopsis (The 2001 Edited Sketch)[]

The edited sketch starts with the Magic Windmill spinning with the normal magical event theme playing in the background. The Teletubbies giggle as they arrive at the Magic Event place while the Windmill's tune plays in the background. Like in the original sketch, the Sun Baby is not shown, and the Teletubbies look around and look back towards the camera. But this time, instead of saying "Uh Oh", they say "Oooooooh" instead, While they jump up and down giggling, the Bear then says "It's the Bear, It's the Bear and I'm coming!" in a much more cheerful voice. The Teletubbies giggle in excitement and run off to the destination of the event, going the same way they went in the original sketch. They sit down in front of the trees on the hill from the original sketch, laughing. The Bear then says in an excited voice "I'm the Bear, I'm the Bear and I'm coming!" The Teletubbies giggle excitedly. After a piano tune plays, the sound of squeaking wheels can be heard. Suddenly, the Bear pops up and exclaims "I'm the Bear, I'm the Bear! With Brown Fuzzy Hair" before exploring Teletubbyland. She says "I'll go running over here... And I'll go running over there!" Then she laughs as she goes around some trees. After repeating her opening sentence, the Bear pops up from behind some hills (with a Cuckoo Clock sound effect) and says "I'll hide over here... And I'll hide over there. Can you see me?" Then she pops over the hills a few more times laughing. Then the Bear pops up again and says she knows a "joke". She pops up from behind a tree (with a Doorbell sound effect) and goes "Blub a lub a lub!" with her tongue sticking out and her eyes rolling in circles making the Teletubbies laugh. The Bear runs around Teletubbyland with her tongue out. She then says that she's hiding from the Lion but he doesn't know where. She hides behind a tree and giggles as the Teletubbies say "Oooh". Then over by some hills, a creaking noise can be heard. The Lion then appears saying "I'm the Scary Lion!" He growls and then says "And I'm looking for the Bear". He growls cheerfully and then passes by the trees where the Bear is hiding. The Bear pops out and says "Boo! Boo!" Then She gets back to hiding. The Lion stops in front of the tree and then says he knows she's hiding but he doesn't know where. He then searches for the Bear. He looks around the hills and says "I'm looking over here... And I'm looking over there! Can you see her?" Then he starts growling and meowing over the hills. The Bear pops out from behind the tree and laughs. The Lion hears her and goes back to the trees and says "Where's the Bear?" three times sounding more annoyed each time until the Bear pops out from behind and repeats her joke. The Lion sees the Bear and says "There's the Bear!", the Bear says "Catch Me!" and laughs as she runs out from behind the tree. The Lion starts chasing the Bear all over Teletubbyland and the Bear continues to do her joke with Christmas-like music playing in the background. After they disappear, the Teletubbies all say "All gone!" and remain sitting on the hill. Then, the Magic Windmill starts to spin again. The Teletubbies say "Uh Oh!" and run away giggling. The Baby Sun giggles, and then the Magic Windmill stops spinning.

Watch[]

Original Sketch[]

Edited Sketch[]

Trivia[]

  • In some of the foreign language versions, the Bear with Brown Fuzzy Hair is male instead of female, it is unknown why this is (see The Bear With Brown Fuzzy Hair for more info.)
  • As the Lion and Bear is shown in multiple episodes, in other languages there are three different ways in which the segment is dubbed. In some countries, e.g. Germany, the Netherlands and Italy, the dialogue audio is re-used for each episode, however, the audio may come in earlier and later for some episodes, but it still syncs up decently well. Some countries, e.g. Belgium and Croatia (for early episodes) play the audio from See-Saw, the biggest giveaway is at the end of the sketch when the Teletubbies say "All gone". The Walking Dance intro music still plays despite this only happening in that one episode. Other countries, e.g. Middle East, Latin America and Lithuania, re-dub the sketch for every episode that it is shown in.
  • The Lion and Bear was only shown in the U.S. test groups and never made it onto the air (the only way to watch this in the United States is on YouTube). The episodes that did feature the sketch were instead replaced by either another magical event or a dance. This is because it was banned in America by PBS.
  • In the Edited Sketch, most of the dialogue audio is re-used from the Original Sketch with just a couple of lines being re-dubbed. Some of the foreign language versions, e.g. Italian re-uses the dialogue audio from the original sketch while others, such as the Czech language are completely re-dubbed.
  • The characters are live wooden models. However, there are some scenes where they are CGI. These scenes are: When the Bear says "I'll hide over here and I'll hide over there", when the Lion says "I'm looking over here and I'm looking over there", the last part of the chase when both characters go up and down the far away hills as they leave Teletubbyland and the new scenes found in the edited sketch
  • During filming, the weather was very changeable, being cloudy then sunny. The creators then used computer technology to speed the weather up and make it look like Lion's roar can make the clouds move and the trees shake. The moving clouds were already there during filming, as they are just naturally caused by the wind.
  • The original sketch is the only magical event the Teletubbies don’t enjoy as they find it terrifying.
  • In the original sketch, the camera shots were mostly fake. Some of the shots were mirrored shots. Most of the shots are completely still. When the Bear pops up the third time and does her presentation she is left (This is probably the first one filmed because the 1st, 2nd and 4th times have the line "I know a joke!" cut), while the first, second and fourth times are right. There's also a scene where the Lion roars around Teletubbyland going down the hill (which is also used during the chase), it is used again mirrored when the Lion says "I am the Scary Lion, and I'm looking for the Bear!". Even during the chase, there's one shot used twice where the camera follows the Lion moving (the second time it's mirrored). In the edited sketch most camera shots are real, with very few mirror shots and no shots that follow the camera.
  • How the characters moved was that a light piece of string was attached to the wheels and that would be pulled around.
    • These strings can sometimes be seen, though usually they are quite hard to see.
  • In the original sketch, the Lion's tail and the Bear's arms move up and down very strongly, with strong, noticeable movement. In the new scenes in the edited sketch, they move very weakly, with only small jolty movements.
  • In most episodes, the Lion and Bear happen straight after the TV Event.
  • On the DVD Look!, and in the episode Asian Storyteller (The Fox), a bird song plays over the magical event theme.
  • In See-Saw, even though the music ends when the Bear and Lion disappear after the Teletubbies say "All gone!" and while they leave the viewpoint, there is one final bit of music that plays as they leave. This music wasn't used again for later appearances of the original sketch.
  • At the beginning of the Arabic version, the Bear is not heard off-screen saying "It's the Bear! It's the Bear! And I'm cooooming!!"
  • In the original sketch, the Teletubbies' bottoms don't make noise when they sit down at their destination. In the edited sketch, their bottoms do make noise.
  • In the original sketch, the Teletubbies are silent when they arrive at their destination in Teletubbyland. However, in Leaves and Dentist, they giggle. In the edited sketch, they giggle when arriving at their destination.
  • In Dentist and Becky and Jed Finding Eggs, when the Teletubbies arrive at their destination in Teletubbyland, the Magical Event tune can be heard in the background whilst the scary music is playing. The Windmill's whooshing fades out just as the Bear says her introduction line.
  • This is the only magical event where the Teletubbies are seen leaving at the end, especially in the case of the original sketch because they just wanted to get out of there. (however, no one was stopping them from leaving in the first place, meaning they could have left the area whenever they wanted instead of staying to watch.)
  • In Dirty Dog, Paddling Pool, Irish Dancing, The Pier, Long Horns and Jigsaw - Elephant, when the windmill spins, the magical event theme plays while the scary music plays.
  • In Leaves, and the Mandarin Chinese version of Dragonflies, the Magic Event theme plays instead of the scary music.
  • in Numbers - 2 (Version 1), Becky and Jed Finding Eggs, The Pier, Long Horns and Feeding Baby Penguins, the Baby Sun scene is shown after the Teletubbies leave the hillside which is usually followed up by a dance, however in Long Horns, the Baby Sun giggles for Tubby Bye-Bye, and in See-Saw, the Baby Sun scene is cut out.
  • In Dirty Dog, Paddling Pool, and Sophie - Art Circus, the Teletubbies say "All gone!" and remain sitting on the hill until the Windmill spins, but they only leave in Dirty Dog and Sophie - Art Circus, Paddling Pool cuts straight to the Tubby Bye Bye. In Numbers - 2 (Version 1) after they say "All Gone", they remain sitting on the hill but it cuts to Sun Baby. In other episodes, they say "All gone!" and run away. However, in Dirty Dog and Sophie - Art Circus, the Teletubbies run away in slow motion after they see the Windmill preparing to stop spinning. In the Edited Sketch the Teletubbies say "All gone!" and remain sitting on the hill until the Windmill spins. Then they run away and cut to the Sun Baby Giggling and the Windmill stops spinning.
  • In Long Horns, the Sun Baby giggles for Tubby Bye-Bye.
  • The original sketch is is the only time a Teletubby screams. After the Lion says "I am the Scary Lion with big scary teeth", Tinky Winky screams at the top of his lungs in fright. Dipsy also does a brief yelp.
  • Both Sketches do not show the Baby Sun giggling when the Teletubbies arrive at the Magical Event place. Most likely because it was scared of the animals.
  • This is the only Magical Event in which the Teletubbies do not go straight on, unlike other Magical Events. Instead, they run off the other way, down the path, shouting after they hear the Bear.
  • The Lion's meows in the edited sketch were reused from Kittens from when the voice trumpet meows.
  • The edited sketch is the only Magic Event where Rabbits can be seen (during some of the Lion's scenes).
  • In the Edited Sketch, when the Teletubbies leave, Tinky Winky mimics The Bear doing her joke.
  • The Edited Sketch had the music changed so it wouldn't be scary. Several scenes were also cut out. The scenes were:
  • The Bear goes off to hide, instead, she's already hiding behind the tree when she says "But he doesn't know where! Shhhh!"
  • The Lion's entire introduction, including the loud roaring off-screen. Instead, after the Bear hides, he arrives and starts roaring all around Teletubbyland.
  • In the Mandarin Chinese version of Asian Storyteller (The Fox), a hybrid of the original and edited sketches is shown in the first third of the sketch, but then the rest is the original sketch.
  • In the Mandarin Chinese version of Dragonflies, the original sketch is shown instead of the edited one.
  • Since 2002, the British television channel CBeebies (which continued to feature reruns of the original version of Teletubbies until 6 September 2015) has stopped showing episodes that feature the original sketch of The Lion and Bear. Even though the episodes with original sketch have been banned from being shown on television and never rerun on CBeebies, segments from most of those episodes can still be seen on some of the classic VHS tapes and the episodes Irish Dancing and Leaves are shown on the Happy Birthday and Autumn Fun DVDs.
  • The Lion and The Bear are featured in lots of Teletubbies merchandise Including:
    • 1998 Teletubbies Memory Game
    • Teletubbies 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2005 Annuals
    • Teletubbies 1998 Sandylion Stickers
    • Teletubbies: My First App
    • The Bear appears on a jigsaw puzzle for My First Jigsaw Puzzles (see below)
  • Interestingly, in Teletubbies: My First App, The Lion and The Bear's lines are spoken by the narrator, except when The Lion emits a roar after you tap him twice.
  • The original sketch is also available online in other languages. The edited sketch is extremely rare to find online in other languages. Here is a list of some languages and whether or not the sketch is available. (Some of these language versions are either no longer available or lost to time)
    • Albanian - Luan Dhe Ariu (not available online)
    • Arabic - أسد و دوب (Asad wa dubbu) (Original sketch available online)
    • Bulgarian - Мечката И Лъва (Mechkata I Lŭva) (Not available online)
    • Cantonese - 熊同獅子 (Xióng tóng shīzi) (Not available online)
    • Croatian - Medo i Lav (Original sketch available online)
    • Czech - Lev a Medvěd (Both original (2008 Redub) and edited (2005 Original dub) sketch available online)
    • Danish/Norwegian - Bjørn Og Løve (Danish original sketch available online, Norwegian not available)
    • Dutch/Flemish - Beer en Leeuw (Original sketch available online Dutch (See-Saw/Paddling Pool), Dutch (Most episodes) and Flemish)
    • Estonian - Karu Ja Lõvi (Not available online)
    • Filipino/Tagalog - Oso at Leon (No official dub) (Fandub only) PASSWORD: HAVEMERCYTELETUBBIES due to Fandub being password protected.
    • Finnish - Karhu ja Leijona (Original sketch available online)
    • French/Canadian - Lion et L'ours (Original Sketch available online in European French and Canadian French)
    • Galician - Oso e León (Not available online)
    • German - Bär und Löwe (Original sketch (Normal) and Original sketch (Dentist version) available online)
    • Greek - Την Αρκούδα Και Το Λιοντάρι (Tin Arkoúda Kai To Liontári) (Original sketch) available online
    • Hebrew - דוב ואריה (Dov va Aryeh) (Original sketch available online)
    • Hindi - भालू और शेर (Bhaaloo Aur Sher) (Not available online)
    • Hungarian - Medve És Oroszlán (No official dub) (Fandub only) PASSWORD: HAVEMERCYTELETUBBIES due to Fandub being password protected.
    • Icelandic - Björn og Ljón (Both Bear genders of the Original sketch available online)
    • Indonesian - Beruang Dan Singa (Original sketch available online)
    • Irish - Béar Agus Leon (Not available online)
    • Italian - L'orso e il Leone (Both original and edited sketches available online)
    • Japanese - 熊とライオン (Kuma to Raion) (Original Sketch available online)
    • Korean - 곰과 사자 (Gom gwa Saja) (Not available online)
    • Latvian - Lauva un Lācis (Not available online)
    • Lithuanian - Lokys ir Liūtas (Original sketch available online, edited sketch never existed)
    • Mandarin Chinese - 熊和狮子(Xióng hé shīzi) (Original sketch (All episodes and Dragonflies), (Third Edited, rest Original (Asian Story Teller: The Fox) (available online)
    • Persian - شیر و خرس (Not available online)
    • Polish - Lew I Miś (Both Original sketch versions available online)
    • Portuguese - Urso e o Leão (Portugal version not available, Brazilian original sketch available online)
    • Romanian - Urs Și Leu (Not available online)
    • Russian - Лев И Медведь (Lev I Medved') (Official dub not available online, Fandub only)
    • Serbian - Медвед и лав (Medved i Lav) (Not available online)
    • Slovak - Lev a Medveď (Original sketch available online)
    • Slovene - Medved in Lev (Not available online)
    • Spanish - La Osa y el León (Castilian original sketch, Latin American original sketch available online)
    • Swedish - Björnen och Lejonet (Original sketch available online)
    • Thai - หมีและสิงโต (H̄mī Læa S̄ingto) (Not available online)
    • Turkish - Ayı ve Aslan (Both Bear genders of the Original sketch available online)
    • Ukrainian - Лев і Ведмідь (Not available online)
    • Vietnamese - Sư tử và gấu (Not available online)
    • Welsh - Arth A Llew (Not available online)
  • Some fans wonder what happened to The Bear With Brown Fuzzy Hair after she was chased by The Scary Lion. Either the bear was killed and eaten or she fell to her death or escaped to safety back at her cave.
  • The scene of the Teletubbies looking around was re-used and edited in Little Bo Peep.
  • This sketch and Little Bo Peep are slightly longer than the other Magical Events.
  • Like the Teletubbies, the Rabbits and the Sun do not like the Lion and the Bear, so whenever the scary theme can be heard in the episodes featuring the original sketch, they both go and hide.
  • In the episodes, Numbers - 2, Sophie's Art Circus, Dentist and Colours - Brown, the beginning of the scary music that introduces the two characters is cut off.
  • The main reason the Teletubbies sit high up on the hill where they watch the segment is so the Lion and Bear can't get near them. This works in both sketches. But realistically, they would have been safer watching the event from the safety of their house.

Goofs[]

  • When the Teletubbies sit down at the hill at the beginning of the segment, there are two orange flowers in front of Po. But then for the rest of the segment, there is only one flower.
  • In the Edited Sketch, when the Bear comes out from behind the tree and says "But he doesn't know where! Shhhh!", there is no doorbell sound effect.
  • There are certain scenes where the string is noticeable: when the Bear pops up the 2nd time at the right-hand corner the string is seen, and when the Bear runs away from the tree and over the hill when the chase starts.
    • The hooks in which the strings are attached to are also very visible.
  • There are noticeable nails on close-ups of the Lion's face.
  • There are noticeable strings on the Bear feet (Edited Sketch only).
  • When the Lion returns to the Bear's hiding place, he is right next to a yellow flower. But when the Bear comes out after doing her joke, the Lion has moved a few metres away from the flower.

Other Pages[]

Gallery (Original Sketch)[]

Gallery (Edited Sketch)[]

Miscellaneous and Behind The Scenes[]

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