Teddy Ruxpin
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Teddy Ruxpin is an animatronic teddy bear invented by Ken Forsse, Larry Larsen and John Davies. He was first produced in 1985 by toy manufacturer Worlds of Wonder. Teddy would move his mouth and eyes as he read stories via a standard audio tape deck built into his back. There was also a companion toy named Grubby which connected to Teddy via a cable; this allowed the two some (minimal) interaction. As well, there were several other non-animatronic companion toys and characters such as the bird-like Fobs, a hand puppet with a sock-like, extendable neck.
Even with the strength of its line of toys, Worlds Of Wonder's rocket-like rise gave way to a rock-like fall. Attempting to stem the tide, WOW issued Non-Investment Grade Bonds, commonly known as junk bonds, in an effort to buoy itself. Although there is some contention as to whether this strategy would ever have helped, the attempt was made moot by the 1987 stock market crash. Worlds Of Wonder eventually filed for bankruptcy in 1988 and went through a series of layoffs. Not long thereafter, the company folded and the remaining assets were liquidated.
Playskool produced the Teddy Ruxpin line of toys from the late 1980s to 1996, using the redesign that had been implemented by Worlds Of Wonder. This Teddy Ruxpin was smaller and used special cartridges instead of cassette tapes. Unfortunately, this cartridge system proved to be easily damaged.
In 1998, Yes! Entertainment brought Teddy Ruxpin back to stores for a third time. The toy's size was the same as the Playskool version, and Yes! Entertainment returned to using the standard cassette tape. This venture was short-lived, however, as Yes! Entertainment's corporate management and financial troubles ultimately resulted in AlchemyII withdrawing the licensing for Teddy.
In 2005 Backpack Toys announced a fourth version of Teddy Ruxpin, which replaces the audio tapes with digital cartridges. Pre-ordered toys have shipped as of October 2006, and Teddy should be fully available via retail channels.
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[edit] How Teddy Ruxpin talks
A normal (non-Teddy) cassette tape is designed for stereo playback with two distinct tracks on each side for the left and right speakers. In contrast, a Teddy Ruxpin cassette uses the two tracks differently: the left track contains the audio, while the right track encodes the toy's movements. A special hole in the top of the cassette tells the teddy bear that the right track contains movement data. This hole is similar to a standard cassette's write protection notch, but closer to the center. Normal stereo tape decks use this notch to detect a high bias cassette. If the notch is not present, the player assumes that a normal cassette is being played, and avoids interpreting the right track as movements (which would cause the bear to malfunction, as it is not designed to translate the audio levels in a standard audio book into jaw movements).
Teddy Ruxpin movement data is encoded as a series of rapid pulse groups known as Pulse-position modulation. The data track contains continuous groups of nine pulses separated by silence. The spacing between pulses varies, and the length of each space determines the following characteristics (each of which is assigned to one of the "time slots" between two of the pulses): position of Teddy's eyes, upper jaw, lower jaw, and (if Grubby is attached) the position of Grubby's eyes, upper jaw and lower jaw.
One of the slots is also assigned as a switch to route the audio through Grubby instead of Teddy, and is activated during Grubby's parts of the dialogue. If Grubby is not attached, then the audio plays through Teddy.
[edit] The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin
"The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin" was a television series that ran from 1987-1988.
Teddy Ruxpin leaves his homeland in Rillonia with his friend Grubby in search of adventure. They meet up with an inventor named Newton Gimmick who accompanies them on their quest for the Treasure of Grundo. What the trio unexpectedly find are six crystals with different meanings and powers. These crystals, however, also can enable the Monsters and Villains Organization (MAVO) to have absolute power over the land, and their leader, Quellor, wants to make sure that an Illiop never possesses the crystals. Elsewhere, a less pronounced threat also routinely besieges the trio, the wannabe villain Jack W. Tweeg, a greedy troll/grunge who has his eyes on joining MAVO. The sixty five episode series unfolds gradually as the Trio meet interesting and often friendly creatures while visiting intriguing lands.
[edit] References in other media
During some of the pirate sequences of earlier episodes of the TV show Meltdown, a Teddy Ruxpin can be seen among Hubbard's belongings. Teddy Ruxpin is also parodied in an unrelated story arc in the episode "Analog Cabin," in which various bizarre demo tapes are fed into a Teddy Ruxpin-type toy, causing it to run amok. Later, a tape of the show's theme music causes the toy to self-destruct. The technology of the actual Teddy Ruxpin was somewhat sidestepped, as (presumably for comedic purposes) the facial features of the toy responded to regular audio cassettes.
[edit] References
- Teddy Ruxpin goes digital. CNN. Retrieved on June 16, 2005.
- The UNofficial Teddy Ruxpin Frequently Asked Questions website. TRFAQ. Retrieved on August 1, 1994.
