Rupert is a traditionally animated children's television series based on the Mary Tourtel character Rupert Bear, which aired from 1991 to 1997 with 65 half-hour episodes produced.[1] The series is produced by Nelvana, in co-production with Ellipse Programmé for the first three seasons, in association with YTV Canada, Inc. (Seasons 1–3 and 5), and ITV franchisees TVS Television (Season 1) and Scottish Television (Seasons 2–5).
Rupert | |
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Genre | Action-Adventure Drama Fantasy Educational Children's television series |
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Voices of | See article |
Opening theme | The Happy Farmer Returning from Work by Robert Schumann |
Ending theme | The Happy Farmer Returning from Work by Robert Schumann |
Composer | Milan Kymlicka |
Country of origin | Canada France (Seasons 1–3) |
Original languages | English French |
No. of seasons | 5 |
No. of episodes | 65 (list of episodes) |
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Running time | 30 minutes |
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Picture format | NTSC |
Audio format | Dolby Surround |
Original release | 7 September 1991 (1991-09-07) – 19 June 1997 (1997-06-19) |
Rupert is a very intelligent and witty bear, and he has many friends from every corner of the world. Although he lives in a small village called Nutwood, he enjoys traveling around the world, discovering new cultures, living great adventures, unraveling mysteries and unmasking villains. The Nordic culture of the European countries influences the visual of the cartoon, with many castles, citadels and clothes, besides personages, like elves and the monster of Loch Ness, that they refer to the European culture. The landscapes of Rupert's books, which inspired the series, were based in the region of Snowdonia and Vale of Clwyd, in the northern part of Wales.
Series | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
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First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 13 | 7 September 1991 (1991-09-07) | 23 November 1991 (1991-11-23) | |
2 | 13 | 13 September 1992 (1992-09-13) | 9 December 1992 (1992-12-09) | |
3 | 13 | 3 March 1994 (1994-03-03) | 26 May 1994 (1994-05-26) | |
4 | 13 | 3 September 1995 (1995-09-03) | 26 November 1995 (1995-11-26) | |
5 | 13 | 27 March 1997 (1997-03-27) | 19 June 1997 (1997-06-19) |
The series was produced by Nelvana, Ellipse Programmé, and TVS for its first season, with Scottish Television taking over for the second season onwards when TVS lost its franchise.[citation needed]
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It was broadcast in syndication on YTV in Canada. In the United States, the series first aired on Nickelodeon as part of Nick Jr. in 1995 before moving to CBS Saturday mornings in 1999.[2] Repeats of the series came to Disney Channel on the Playhouse Disney block, Toon Disney, and on Qubo's digital service in January 2007.
The series was broadcast in the United Kingdom on CITV, Tiny Pop, and KidsCo. In Australia, the series was broadcast on the ABC It aired broadcasting network and later on the Australian Nickelodeon network and on TV2 in New Zealand. It aired on RTÉ in Ireland as part of their children's block The Den.
In South America, the series was broadcast in Brazil by TV Cultura from February 2, 1998 to 2006,[3] with audience peaks, according to the Folha de São Paulo portal, between 2002 and 2004.[4] In South Africa, the series was broadcast on both Bop TV and M-Net as part of their wrapper programme for children K-T.V.. The series was also played in Namibia on NBC. It also aired in the United Arab Emirates; it was broadcast on the English free for air channel Dubai 33. In Portugal, the series was broadcast during the 1990s on the RTP channel. In Zimbabwe, the series aired on both ZBC and ZTV. The series was also broadcast on RTB in Brunei. In the American overseas territory Guam, the series was screened on KUAM-LP. In Kenya, it aired on KBC. In Saudi Arabia, the series was played on the country's English speaking channel Saudi 2, and In the Arab World, it aired on Spacetoon from 2000 to 2014 in Arabic.
Both the theme and closing song were composed by Milan Kymlicka[citation needed] They are based on Robert Schumann's The Happy Farmer, Returning from Work in F major, Op. 68, No. 10.[citation needed]
When the series aired on Nickelodeon in the U.S., a different theme song was used, with lyrics and vocals in the intro, and an instrumental of the same tune in the outro. This composition, Rupert's Number One, was co-penned by Sheree Jeacocke and Gerry Mosby.[citation needed]
According to BBC News, in 2000, Nelvana made plans to produce a feature film about Rupert at Hollywood studios but the project was not implemented. The film would have been released possibly between 2001 and 2002.[5]
Rupert Bear by Mary Tourtel | |
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