Bears That Never Really Were Trivia Quiz

Answer: to see what he could see

Sung to the well-known tune of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow," "The Bear Went Over the Mountain" is a children's song of unknown origin. The lyrics include "The bear went over the mountain; the bear went over the mountain; the bear went over the mountain, to see what he could see." One folklorist suggests that the song may be of German origin, related to a German folk tale similar to the American belief underpinning Groundhog Day.

In this theory, if the bear arising from hibernation could or could not see the other side of the mountain, there would or would not be further winter. Bing Crosby once recorded this song.

Answer: Br'er Bear

Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear are unequal partners, the fox having all of the cunning and the bear serving as his slow-talking slow-thinking henchman. They appear in Disney's "Song of the South" (1946). The Disnified version of Br'er Bear also appears at Splash Mountain in several Disney parks, in the motion pictures "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" (1988) and "The Lion King 1 1/2" (2004), and in the videogame "Disneyland Adventures."

Answer: a stand-up comedian

The bear in the brown pork-pie hat and red-and-white polka dot necktie wants ever so much to be a stand-up comic. Unfortunately, he has not the skills to entertain in this way. His jokes usually fall flat, and he is often the object of heckling by Statler and Waldorf up in the balcony. Fozzie often caps a joke by saying "Wocka Wocka!"

Answer: the Hindi word "bhalu" means bear

Baloo, a sloth bear in Kipling's stories, is more stern and demanding than the character developed by Walt Disney. Comedian and band leader Phil Harris had a lot to do with creating the Disney version of the bear. Kipling took the name directly from the Hindi word "bhalu" which means any of several kinds of bear. It has nothing to do with the original stories, but Baloo is perhaps now best known for the song "The Bare Necessities" in which he expresses his appreciation for the simple things in life.

Answer: Hamm's

The Hamm's Bear was invented by Patrick DesJarlait and first danced around a television ad in 1953. Campbell Mithun Advertising Agency produced the series of commercials, all involving the ditty which began "From the land of sky-blue waters" accompanied by an Indian drumbeat.

The Bear was generally silent except for a few ads where he said, "It bears repeating." The bear was the first animated animal mascot adopted by a brewing company. In 1999, Advertising Age Magazine declared the bear to be one of the top 100 advertising campaigns of the century.

A six-foot-tall granite statue of the Hamm's Bear was carved and erected at the Seventh Street Mall in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 2005.

Answer: Michael Bond

Thomas Michael Bond (1926-2017) created three series of books: Paddington Bear, Monsieur Pamplemousse and Olga da Polga, a guinea pig. The bear and the guinea pig were intended for children; the French culinary detective distinctly was not. Paddington Bear arrives from Peru at Paddington Station carrying only a jar of marmalade and is adopted (and named) by the Brown family. Adventures follow.

Answer: The Teddy Bears' Picnic

John Walter Bratton composed the music in 1907 and Jimmy Kennedy wrote the lyrics in 1932 to "The Teddy Bears' Picnic." Kennedy lived in England and there is a small wooded area in Staplegrove, Taunton, Somerset which may have been the inspiration for the song.

It has been recorded many times, e.g. by Bing Crosby, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Rosemary Clooney, Anne Murray, and Michael Feinstein. A recording by organist Ethel Smith in 1949 was used by Jon Arthur as the theme for his children's programme. "Big Jon and Sparkie" ran fifteen minutes each weekday and two hours on Saturday mornings as "No School Today (1950-1958)."

Answer: The Winter's Tale

Antigonus makes a short speech, a sort of final soliloquy, and then runs from the stage, "pursued by a bear," in Act III, scene 2 of "The Winter's Tale." The bear must have been the faster of the two because Antigonus is eaten off stage. Surely this is Mr. Shakespeare's most famous stage direction. David Tennant, who played one of the incarnations of Dr. Who, called it "the most famous direction in theatrical history." There is no extant record of whether the first performances in the Globe Theatre employed a live bear or an actor in a bear costume.

Answer: Smokey

Fire fighters rescued a bear cub from a wildfire in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico in 1950. The abandoned cub suffered burns to his paws and rear legs. Once healed, the little bear was sent to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. where it lived until its death in 1976.

He is buried in Smokey Bear Historical Park in Capitan, New Mexico. The U.S. Forest Service adopted the cub, named him Smokey and used his image in a campaign to prevent wildfires. Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins wrote the "Smokey the Bear Song" in 1952.

It described him as "prowlin' and a growlin' and a sniffin' the air." The image of Smokey the Bear is protected by a federal law, The Smokey Bear Act of 1952 (18 U.S. Code, Part I, Chapter 33, Section 711).

Answer: The Hotel New Hampshire

"The Hotel New Hampshire," is the story of the life of the Berry family. The paterfamilias of the Barry clan, Win Berry, purchases a trained bear named State O' Maine from Freud, a wandering entertainer. Win then drives around with the bear in the sidecar of his 1937 Indian motorcycle. Bears are a recurring motif in John Irving's novels.

Answer: Care Bears

The original Care Bears were designed by Elena Kucharik for American Greetings in 1981. The cards' popularity prompted a line of plush toys in 1983. There followed TV specials, a TV series from 1985 to 1988, and three feature films. Care Bears also appear in books, comics and video games. Each bear is a different colour and each has its "belly badge" to express something about its character, originally Cheer Bear, Friend Bear, Funshine Bear, Good Luck Bear, Grumpy Bear, Love-a-lot Bear, Tenderheart Bear, and Wish Bear, for example.

The characters have been revived several times, e.g. by Netflix in 2015 and by Boomerang in 2019.

Answer: Stan and Jan Berenstain

Stanley and Janice (Grant) Berenstain met in 1941, married in 1946, and created the Berenstain Bears in 1962. The bear family originally comprised only Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Brother Bear but Sister Bear and Honey Bear were added over time. The family lives "in a big treehouse down a sunny dirt road deep in Bear Country." The series of over 300 titles (continued by their son Michael after their deaths) tend to address one problem confronted by children and their families in each book. Mama's pregnancy with Sister was one such challenge, affording an opportunity to model positive approaches to adding a new member to a family.

Other challenges have included discipline, sex education, bullying, sportsmanship, obesity, tantrums, and keeping one's room clean.

The books have been criticized by adults for being saccharine, predictable and old fashioned, but remain adored by children who find the family lovable and the situations believable.

Answer: Master Ping Xiao Po

Born Li Lotus, Po is a foundling panda orphaned and adopted by Mr. Ping, the proprietor of a noodle shop. He does not know that he is the Dragon Warrior prophesied to protect his people and defeat the evil Lord Shen. He is trained in the art of kung fu by Master Shifu. DreamWorks Animation produced three feature-length films about Kung Fu Panda: 2008, 2011, 2016. Nickelodeon produced a television series; Amazon Prime produced another.

The first two movies were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature; the TV series won 11 Emmy Awards.

Answer: Winnie the Pooh

This "lyric" is taken from the fifth page of A.A. Milnes' "The House at Pooh Corner" (1928). It is a humming song, according to Pooh, who teaches it to Piglet in order that they may sing/hum it to Eeyore on a snowy day.

Answer: Boo Boo

In their adventures in Jellystone National Park, Yogi Bear and Boo are often at odds with Ranger Smith who takes exception to Yogi stealing park visitors' picnic baskets. Boo Boo frequently serves as Yogi's conscience; he typically responds to one of Yogi's schemes by saying "Mr. Ranger isn't gonna like this, Yogi." The makers of Ren and Stimpy made two parodies of Yogi Bear in which Boo took the lead: "Boo Boo Runs Wild" (1999) and "Boo Boo and the Man" (2000). Baba Looey was a burro, the sidekick of Quick Draw McGraw. Muttley was the canine companion of Dick Dastardly. Dum Dum was the canine sidekick of Touché Turtle.