The Little Polar Bear

The Little Polar Bear (German: Der kleine Eisbär) is a franchise about a polar bear cub named Lars who first starred in a number of books written by Dutch author, Hans de Beer.

It later became an animated TV series for BBC TV, Lars, der Kleine Eisbär, in the 1990s. The show proved to be popular in Germany, but its English-dubbed version has also gained a cult following with UK viewers.

The show was later revived between 2001 and 2003. For its first film, subtitled Der Kinofilm, Warner Bros. and animation studio Rothkirch Cartoon Film bought the rights to adapt the children's books into a feature-length film, released in 2001.

After the success of the feature, several direct-to-video features were released, one of the new characters included was a tiger cub. In 2005, another film, The Little Polar Bear 2 – The Mysterious Island (German: Der Kleine Eisbär 2: Die geheimnisvolle Insel) was released and also proved successful.

The score to The Little Polar Bear (1) was composed by Nigel Clarke & Michael Csanyi-Wills and recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London and was nominated for several awards.

Original BBC TV series adaptation

The Little Polar Bear
Genre Animation
Created by Hans de Beer (Novel)
Voices of Sue Sheridan
Jimmy Hibbert
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) German
No. of series 1
No. of episodes 18

In the mid-1990s there was a TV adaptation for the BBC, featuring the voice talents of Sue Sheridan and Jimmy Hibbert.

Characters

Episodes

No. Cartoons Original airdate
1"The Ice Floe"1994
Lars is carried across the sea on a drifting sheet of ice, until he reaches an island. There he makes friends with Hippo and is given a lift home by Orca.
2"The Snow Storm"1994
While playing in the snow, Lars meets Lena. They both get trapped in a snow storm, but Lars manages to find his way home.
3"The Egg"1994
Lars stumbles across a goose egg and warms it, till out hatches a gosling he names Peeps.
4"The Polar Station"1994
Lars ventures into the Polar Station. Lena is almost caught by a man, but Lena and Lars make their escape back to the safety of their home.
5"The Net"1994
While swimming, Lars is caught in a fish net and loaded onto a fishing freighter. He is met by the ship's cat Nemo, who helps him off the ship.
6"The Trap"1994
In a game of hide n' seek, Lena and Peeps get caught in a cage trap. Lars manages to release them and take them to safety from the hunting dogs.
7"The Mission"1994
Lars goes to the forest to get some honey medicine for his ill parents. Daddy Brown Bear provides the medicine and Brownie accompanies Lars back home.
8"The Ice Cave"1994
While exploring Lars, Lena and Peeps plunge deep into an ice grotto. They make a hasty exit as the cave collapses and Orca takes them to safety.
9"The Hunter"1994
Lars and Brownie are captured by a hunter. Lars releases himself and Brownie, then they release all the other captured animals, before making their way home.
10"The Labyrinth"1994
Lena and Peeps are carried off into an ice labyrinth surrounded by thick fog. As Lars finds them, the fog disperses.
11"The Weather Balloon"1994
As Lars examines a weather balloon, Peeps gets carried off in it. The seagulls save Peeps, while Lars recovers the seagull's bell clapper.
12"The Boat"1994
Lena finds a deserted boat and with Lars and Peeps sails. Lars jumps overboard with the life belt and then saves Lena and Peeps from an iceberg.
13"The Barrel"1994
On a journey to find fish, Lars comes across a wooden barrel full of dried herrings. Lena helps Lars to move it, to provide food for Daddy and Mummy Polar Bear.
14"The Book"1994
More icy escapades with Lars the polar bear and his friends.
15"The Honeycomb"1994
In his icy homeland of the North Pole, Lars follows his curiosity, which not only leads him into many adventures, but enables him to meet new friends along the way.
16"The Flower"1994
Lars stumbles across a rare flower and patiently waits for it to grow. Lena and Peeps help Lars protect the flower.
17"The Teddy Bear"1994
In his icy homeland of the North Pole, Lars follows his curiosity, which not only leads him into many adventures, but enables him to meet other bears along the way.
18"The White Bear"1994
Lars the little polar bear follows his curiosity and meets new friends along the way.
18"The White Bear"1994
Lars the little polar bear follows his curiosity and meets new friends along the way.
19"The Concert"1994
Lars the curious Polar Bear has great fun in the North Pole and has many friends to share adventures with.
20"The Competition"1994
Lars can't help but let his curiosity lead him all over the North Pole where he meets many new friends and has lots of adventures.
21"The Camp Fire"1994
Lars can't help but let his curiosity lead him all over the North Pole where he meets many new friends and has lots of adventures.
22"The Polar Night"1994
Lars follows his curiosity into the night, which leads him into adventures and helps him meet many new friends.
23"The Prank"1994
Lars follows his curiosity, which leads him into adventures and helps him meet many new friends.
24"Tummy Ache"1994
Lars follows his curiosity, which not only leads him into many adventures, but enables him to meet new friends on the way.
25"The Love Story"1994
In his icy homeland of the North Pole, Lars follows his curiosity, which not only leads him into many adventures, but enables him to meet new friends on the way.

Film

The Little Polar Bear

DVD cover
Directed by Piet De Rycker
Thilo Rothkirch
Produced by Willi Geike
Written by Piet De Rycker
Bert Schrickel
Thomas Wittenburg
Music by Nigel Clarke
Michael Csányi-Wills
Edited by Bettina Behrens
Nadia Hennrich
Production
company
Rothkirch Cartoon Film
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release dates
 4 October 2001
Running time
 77 minutes
Country Germany
Language German
English

This film was followed by five sequels:

Voice cast

Character German Version English Version
Lars
  • Mijail Verona
  • Raffi (singing)
 Wesley Singerman
Robby Maximilian Artajo Brianne Siddall
Kalle Jochen Busse
Nalle Mike Krüger
Palle Bernd Stelter
Mika Ingolf Lück Michael McConnohie
Manili Vanessa Petruo
Greta Jeanette Biedermann RuDee Sade
Caruso Dirk Bach Joe Ochman
Pieps Sandro Blümel Sandy Fox
Hippo Harry Rowohlt
Lena Adak Azdasht Kimberly J. Brown
Sopho / Sophocles Wolfgang Völz Ralph Votrian
Großmutter Barbara Adolph
Mutter Eisbär Anke Engelke
Lemmings
Seagulls / Möwe

Additional English Voices

Voices in Brazil

External links

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