The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin

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The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin

Title screen
Format Animated series
Created by Ken Forsse
Voices of Phil Baron
Will Ryan
John Stocker
John Koensgen
Robert Bockstael
Les Lye
Abby Hagyard
Pier Kohl
Holly Larocque
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes 65
Production
Running time 30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel Syndication
Original run September 14, 1986 – December 13, 1988
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin is an animated television series based on the Teddy Ruxpin animatronic teddy bear created by Ken Forsse and distributed by toy manufacturer Worlds of Wonder. It was produced for television syndication by DiC with Atkinson Film-Arts using many of the same voice actors used in the book-and-tape series that was made for the eponymous animatronic toy. While some of the stories used in the TV series were adapted from the books, many were original and greatly expanded upon the world established there. The series differed from traditional children's animation in that most of its 65 episodes were serialized rather than in traditional episodic form.

In the United States, the series was originally syndicated by LBS Communications. Today, all international distribution rights to the series are held by Don Taffner's DLT Entertainment (best known as the syndicator of the classic TV sitcom Three's Company).

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin follows young Teddy Ruxpin as he leaves his home on the island of Rillonia with his best friend Grubby to follow an ancient map which leads him to find a collection of crystals on the mainland of Grundo. With the help of his new friend Newton Gimmick, Teddy and Grubby discover the magical powers of what turns out to be an ancestral treasure as well as an organization with ambitions to use it for evil. Along the way, Teddy learns the long-lost history of his species and clues to the location of his missing father.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Species

The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin features a large menagerie of sentient species for its character base:

  • Illiops, brown and bear-like, with kind dispositions.
  • Octopedes, orange and caterpillar-like with eight legs, each with fully-formed hands.
  • Perlunes, humans, who usually are professional in nature (eg scientist, doctor, wizard).
  • Illipers, near-relatives to humans but broad-faced with flat noses, who live in a medieval type society.
  • Grunges, relatives of the illipers but jungle-dwellers with antennae in lieu of ears, who tend to be passionate about their hobbies.
  • Fobs, small, furry, multicolored and penguin-like, sometimes kept as pets.
  • Elves, tiny humanoids with pointy ears and shoes.
  • Woodsprites, tiny humanoids with wings.
  • Snowzos, large, white and yeti-like, who look more dangerous than they are.
  • Bounders, red, round, two-legged and rhinoceros-like, usually sarcastic. Said by some viewers to resemble Goombas from Super Mario Brothers.
  • Mudblups, large and lumpy animated blobs of mud, dull witted and slow moving but very strong. Sensitive to bright light, since all of their lives are spent underground.
  • Trolls, green, thin, and with pointed noses, for them being good means being bad.
  • Gutangs, green and monkey-like who wear brown tribal-like armor, usually belligerent.

[edit] Main characters

The three main protagonists, often referred to collectively in fandom as The Trio:

  • Teddy Ruxpin, a young illiop whose father disappeared when he was a child. He comes to Grundo to follow a treasure map. Like other Illiops, he is kind and friendly. He loves adventure.
  • Grubby, an octopede about Teddy's age. They are best friends. Noted for his large appetite, he is fond of cooking and eating root stew and other foods made from roots (which usually do not taste good to most people). Though not the bravest or smartest of Teddy's friends, he always sticks by Teddy.
  • Newton Gimmick (usually referred to simply as Gimmick), a bald perlune inventor with a slight stuttering problem and a broad and otherwise questionable definition of "science". He is also somewhat absent-minded.

Their most recurring allies include the following:

  • Prince Arin: The brave illiper son of the king and queen of Grundo. He lives at Grundo Castle and speaks with a British-sounding accent. He first met the trio while searching for his kidnapped sister.
  • Princess Aruzia: Prince Arin's younger sister who has a sweet demeanor. Though a princess, she does not mind doing work. Wooly apparently has a crush on her.
  • The Wooly Whatsit (usually referred to simply as Wooly): A large furry purple creature who is not very bright, but very helpful and good-hearted. Later revealed to be a snowzo.
  • Leota: A strict but kind woodsprite and schoolteacher. Most of her students are elves and woodsprites, but Wooly joined the class as well.
  • Burl Ruxpin: Teddy's long-lost father. An Illiop who lost his memory a long time ago, but regained his identity toward the end of the series.

There are three main antagonists:

  • Jack W. Tweeg (usually referred to as simply Tweeg), a troll/grunge hybrid and an evil wizard-wannabe who thinks he has a recipe to turn buttermilk into gold. He is very suspicious and often spies on Gimmick from his tower.
  • L.B. (short for Lead Bounder), a sarcastic bounder who usually acts as Tweeg's henchman. L.B. does not show a particularly high degree of loyalty or intelligence, but has enough sense to know that Tweeg's schemes never work.
  • Quellor, the Supreme Oppressor of the Monsters And Villains Organization (M.A.V.O.) which Tweeg desperately wants to join.

[edit] List of Voice Actors

  • Phil Baron: Teddy Ruxpin/Burl Ruxpin
  • Will Ryan: Grubby
  • John Stocker: Newton Gimmick
  • John Koensgen: Jack W. Tweeg
  • Robert Bockstael: L.B./Prince Arin
  • Abby Hagyard: Princess Aruzia
  • Pier Kohl: The Wooly Whatsit/Additional Voices
  • Holly Larocque: Leota the Woodsprite
  • Les Lye: Quellor/Additional Voices
  • Heather Edson: Additional Voices
  • Donna Farron: Additional Voices
  • Rick Jones: Additional Voices
  • Anna MacCormack: Additional Voices
  • Doug Stratton: Additional Voices

(Note: In the tape & book series and the animetronic pilot episode, Tony Pope voiced Gimmick, Will Ryan voiced Tweeg (and Wooly), Katie Leigh voiced Princess Aruzia, and Russi Taylor voiced Leota.)

[edit] The Episodes

[edit] Overview

Although the series is mostly serialized, it is further broken down into weekly story arcs which involve visiting a different part of Grundo or exploring a major plot thread.

When the series was originally syndicated, each episode included a short segment called "Protect Yourself" which ran after a teaser for the next episode and prior to the credits. It featured an animated Teddy Ruxpin on a live-action set, who would introduce contemporary child stars such as Jason Bateman, Brice Beckham, Tiffany Brissette, Shannen Doherty and Corey Feldman. The guest would then give young viewers advice on topics such as avoiding strangers, what to do in an emergency, or how to respond to inappropriate touching.

[edit] Episode list

  1. The Treasure of Grundo
  2. Beware of the Mudblups
  3. Guests of the Grunges
  4. In the Fortress of the Wizard
  5. Escape from the Treacherous Mountain
  6. Take a Good Look
  7. Grubby's Romance
  8. Tweeg's Mom
  9. The Surf Grunges
  10. The New M.A.V.O. Member
  11. The Faded Fobs
  12. The Medicine Wagon
  13. Tweeg Gets the Tweezles
  14. The Lemonade Stand
  15. The Rainbow Mine
  16. The Wooly What's-It
  17. Sign of a Friend
  18. One More Spot
  19. Elves and Woodsprites
  20. Grundo Graduation
  21. Double Grubby
  22. King Nogburt's Castle
  23. The Day Teddy Met Grubby
  24. Secret of the Illiops
  25. Through Tweeg's Fingers
  26. Uncle Grubby
  27. The Crystal Book
  28. Teddy and the Mudblups
  29. Win One for the Twipper
  30. Tweeg Joins M.A.V.O.
  31. The Mushroom Forest
  32. Something in the Soup
  33. Captured
  34. To the Rescue
  35. Escape from M.A.V.O.
  36. Leekee Lake
  37. The Third Crystal
  38. Up for Air
  39. The Black Box
  40. The Hard to Find City
  41. Octopede Sailors
  42. Tweeg the Vegetable
  43. Wizardland
  44. The Ying Zoo
  45. The Big Escape
  46. Teddy Ruxpin's Birthday
  47. Wizardweek
  48. Air and Water Races
  49. The Great Grundo Ground Race
  50. A Race to the Finish
  51. Autumn Adventure
  52. Gimmick's Gizmos and Gadgets
  53. Harvest Feast
  54. Wooly and the Giant Snowzos
  55. Winter Adventure
  56. Teddy's Quest
  57. Thin Ice
  58. Fugitives
  59. Musical Oppressors
  60. M.A.V.O. Costume Ball
  61. Father's Day
  62. The Journey Home
  63. On the Beaches
  64. L.B.'s Wedding
  65. The Mystery Unravels

[edit] DVD Releases

In February 2006 First National Pictures released two volumes of the series (11 episodes) on DVD.

DVD Name Ep # Release Date
Volume 1 5 February 21, 2006
Volume 2 6 February 21, 2006

In January of 2008 Mill Creek Entertainment released one volume of episodes 1 - 20.

DVD Name Episodes Release Date
The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin: Six Crystals 1 - 20 January 15, 2008
The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin: Mysteries of Hard to Find City 21 - 40 May 6, 2008
The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin: Return to Rillonia 41 - 65 July 22, 2008

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

Originally, AlchemyII Inc. had hoped to create a live-action series using animatronic characters, as Ken Forsse had helped Disney do with Welcome to Pooh Corner. However, due to production costs and difficulties in this format, Forsse, AlchemyII and Worlds of Wonder decided animation would be a better route and the 65 episode animated series was created. The pilot episode of what would have been the animatronic series was instead released as a stand-alone ABC Movie of the week in 1986 and can be found on videocassette.[1] Also, they used the same voice actors from the book-and-tape series instead of Canadian voice talent like in the cartoon (and most DiC cartoons in the late 1980s and early 1990s).

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Interview with Ken Forsse. Josh Isaacson, Teddy Ruxpin Online. Retrieved on 2007-02-06.

[edit] External links