History Literature / TheBerenstainBears

Note the spelling of the name, by the way. It's a common error.[[note]]So why not the surname Berenstein?[[/note]]

** The cartoon version of "The Trouble with Grown Ups" gives an explanation as to Mama & Papa's bad tempers - Papa's jigsaw breaks down, so he needs to use the "for sale" section of the paper (which is why he gets mad at Brother for taking it without asking), and Mama has been expecting an important call, which is why she gets mad at Sister for hogging the phone. Also, Mama and Papa apologize for being hard on the cubs, and point out that while they agree that it isn't always easy being a cub, being a parent isn't easy either, leading to the role reversal when Brother and Sister disagree.

* Creator/HannaBarbera: They co-produced the 1980's series with Southern Star Productions (with the animation production done by H-B's Australia-based studio.)

* LighterAndSofter: The 2003 series. The adaption of "Get the Gimmes", along with the moral expansion, takes out the tantrum scene, whilst the adaption of "The Messy Room" has Mama actually tell the cubs ''reasonably'' to clean their room.

* ParentsAsPeople: Papa and Mama Bear are not without their flaws. Papa can be oafish and Mama can be somewhat righteous. And both of them have been shown to lose their temper at times (e.g. Papa in ''Trouble with Money'' or Mama in ''The Messy Room''). Also, ''The Trouble with Grownups'' is a virtual lampshading of part of trope, although it examines the parent-child relationship from both sides of the fence.

* ParentsAsPeople: Papa and Mama Bear are not without their flaws. Papa can be oafish and Mama can be somewhat righteous. And both of them have been shown to lose their temper at times (e.g. Papa in ''Trouble with Money'' or Mama in ''The Messy Room''. Also, ''Trouble with Grownups'' is a virtual lampshading of part of trope, although it examines the parent-child relationship from both sides of the fence.

* YouGetMeCoffee: * The Creator/PBSKids version has an unusually positive example in "The Big Race." Kenny, a bearcub that's probably about the same age as Brother Bear's little Sister Bear, wants to help Brother Bear, Freddy and Too Tall in making a racecar for the big race. They, however, already have things pretty much covered, but agree to let him help out, doing things that are pretty much "you get me coffee" type-of tasks. However, at no time are they ever mean to him and, in fact, treat him as a valuable member of the group. In the end, he is able to help them out when they realize that they're lacking a wheel by providing one from his prized wagon. They decide to let him be the one to drive the racecar at the race, though they pretend to draw straws for it, secretly snapping their own straws behind their backs so that Kenny was guaranteed the longest straw.

Note the spelling of the name, by the way. It's a common error.

* HypocriticalHumor: Papa Bear, repeatedly. When Brother and Sister complain about not being allowed to watch TV for a week in ''Too Much Television'', Papa lectures them about being good sports - and then finishes with "Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a sports show I want to watch."

* YouGetMeCoffee: * The Creator/PBSKids version has an unusually positive example in "The Big Race." Kenny, a bearcub that's probably about the same age as Brother Bear's little Sister Bear, wants to help Brother Bear, Freddy and Too Tall in making a racecar for the big race. They, however, already have things pretty much covered, but agree to let him help out, doing things that are pretty much "you get me coffee" type-of tasks. However, at no time are they ever mean to him and, in fact, treat him as a valuable member of the group. In the end, he is able to help them out when they realize that they're lacking a wheel by providing one from his prized wheelbarrow. They decide to let him be the one to drive the racecar at the race, though they pretend to draw straws for it, secretly snapping their own straws behind their backs so that Kenny was guaranteed the longest straw.

* RecycledSoundtrack: A scene from ''Learn About Strangers'' used an instrumental version of "Down with Mush" from ''The Berenstain Bears' Valentine Special.''

* LicensedGame: One for the SegaGenesis, one for the SegaPico, and one for the GameBoyColor. And a few for the PC/Mac.

* ThemeTuneRollCall: Both TV adaptations do this.

* FreudianExcuse: In The Bully, the reason why Tuffy was a bully in the first place was because of [[AbusiveParents being abused at home.]]

* HypocriticalHumor: Papa Bear, repeatedly. When Brother and Sister whine about not being allowed to watch TV for a week in ''Too Much Television'', Papa lectures them about being good sports - and then finishes with "Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a sports show I want to watch."

* Creator/HannaBarbera: Producers of the 1980's series.

*** The cartoon version of "The Trouble with Grown Ups" gives an explanation as to Mama & Papa's bad tempers - Papa's jigsaw breaks down, so he needs to use the "for sale" section of the paper (which is why he gets mad at Brother for taking it without asking), and Mama has been expecting an important call, which is why she gets mad at Sister for hogging the phone. Also, Mama and Papa apologize for being hard on the cubs, and point out that while they agree that it isn't always easy being a cub, being a parent isn't easy either, leading to the role reversal when Brother and Sister disagree.

* HannaBarbera: Producers of the 1980's series.

* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: Many people think that the junk food in ''...and Too Much Junk Food'' looks so colorful and delicious, despite the Aesop of junk food being bad for you.
** Quote from one RealLife child looking at the inside cover:
--> "Mamma bear sad. Mamma Bear needs to eat some candy."
** The Space Grizzlies [[MerchandiseDriven toy line and movie]] from ''The Bad Dream'' that gives the kids nightmares, actually looked like a pretty cool franchise (sort of MonsterInMyPocket meets StarWars).

* SpeciesSurname. The Bear family of course, but also Dr and Too-Tall Grizzly, the Ursus family, Queeny McBear, Lizzy Bruin, and practically every other character has a surname that is some variation of the word Bear.

* YouAreGrounded: Sister is grounded in "The Slumber Party" by Mother Bear after things go south at Lizzie's slumber party. It's actually ''Papa Bear'' who is the voice of reason and admits that ''they'' as parents were partially to blame for not knowing just how wacky things had ended up with the slumber party (which had basically become a little bear cub girl equivalent of a bad college frat party.)