The Little Flying Bears

The Little Flying Bears (Croatian: Mali leteći medvjedi) is an animated television series produced by CinéGroupe and Zagreb Film. It was a Canadian production which originally aired in 1990.

The Little Flying Bears
Mali leteći medvjedi
Written by	Jean-Pierre Liccioni
Starring	Sonja Ball Daniel Brochu Teddy Lee Dillon Richard Dumont Kathleen Fee Ian Finlay Jessalyn Gilsig Dean Hagopian A.J. Henderson Harry Hill Arthur Holden Gary Jewell Rick Jones Pauline Little Jeff Lumby Walter Massey Michael O'Reilly Patricia Rodriguez Michael Rudder Terrence Scammell Jane Woods Thor Bishopric
Country of origin	Canada Croatia
Original language	English
No. of episodes	39
Production
Producers	CinéGroupe Zagreb Film
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	CinéGroupe Zagreb Film
Original release
Network	Family Channel
Release	September 2, 1990 (1990-09-02) – June 30, 1991 (1991-06-30)

This cartoon helps children realize the importance of protecting the environment. The series shows the harmful effects of pollution and fires as well as the important role of the ecosystem.

Plot

The series focuses on a rare species of little bears with wings that live in the magical forest in a utopian cooperative community. The little flying bears together with their friends, took on themselves the task to defend their forest from pollution. However, their efforts, very often, are disturbed by two weasels, Skulk and Sammy, who strive to pollute the forest. Every so often the weasels receive help from Slink the snake. The three always strive to find new ways to disturb the harmony of the forest but their plans are destroyed always by the bears. The bears are always attentive to the advice of the old bear, Plato (who is too old to fly) and his friend Ozzy the owl.

Characters

Protagonists

• Plato (voiced by Walter Massey): A wise old grey colored flying bear that serves as the head of the flying bear community and is the grandfather of all its bear cubs. Plato is too old to have wings and therefore is not capable of flying. The young bears respect him for his wisdom and follow his advice. He is named after the Greek Philosopher of the same name.
• Walt (voiced by Arthur Holden): A young male blue colored flying bear cub with lighter blue hair and orange wings. He is Tina's boyfriend. He is the possible, but not confirmed, brother of Jason and Josh. He and Tina are the main protagonists of the series and are the bravest members of the flying bear community.
• Tina (voiced by Jessalyn Gilsig): A young female orange colored flying bear cub with blonde ponytail, blue wings, green necklace and big green flower on the top of her head. She is Walt's girlfriend. She is the possible, but not confirmed, sister of Lotus and Jasmine. She and Walt are the main protagonists of the series and are the bravest members of the flying bear community.
• Josh (voiced by Teddy Lee Dillon): A young male light brown colored flying bear cub with brown hair and purple wings. He is Jasmine's boyfriend and fraternal twin brother of Jason. He is one of the shyest members of the flying bear community.
• Jasmine (voiced by Pauline Little): A young female pink colored flying bear cub with orange wings, blue necklace and blue flower crown. She is Josh's girlfriend and identical twin sister of Lotus. She is short-tempered, but not as brave as Walt and Tina.
• Lotus (voiced by Pauline Little): A young female pink colored flying bear cub with orange wings, blue necklace and green flower crown. Lotus is Jasmine's identical twin sister. She is the possible, but not confirmed, Jason's girlfriend. She is quite timid, compared to other flying bears.
• Jason (voiced by Jeff Lumby & Ian Finlay): A young male red colored flying bear cub with blonde hair and green wings. He is Josh's fraternal twin brother. He is the possible, but not confirmed, Lotus's boyfriend. He works in local canteen and is short-tempered, but not as brave as Walt and Tina.
• Ozzy (voiced by Rick Jones): An impatient and nervous male brown owl, he is a friend of the bears. He usually wears red hat.
• Markus (voiced by Thor Bishopric): A young male red frog, he is a friend of the bears.
• Ariana: A young female purple colored spider with visible ears who wears a green bow on her head.
• Rodney: A male brown colored Beaver.
• Frandisema (voiced by Sonja Ball): A female green colored frog who wears a pink bonnet on her head.
• Sidney: A male white snow owl who lives in the mountains.

Other notable inhabitants of the forest include: blue rabbits, orange squirrels, pink bobcat or lynx, raccoon, skunk and blue and green birds (both males and females of all these species are shown, but most of them remain unnamed).

Antagonists

• Skulk (voiced by Terrence Scammell): An anthropomorphic weasel who wears a blue vest and an earring, Skulk is The Little Flying Bears' worst enemy and frenemy. He yearns for "manimal" (human) culture and brings many side effects to the forest. He's the main antagonist of the series.
• Sammy (voiced by A.J. Henderson): An anthropomorphic and stupid weasel who wears a green shirt with a belt strapped to his waist and a football helmet on his head. He is Skulk's partner and the enemy and frenemy of the Little Flying Bears.
• Slink (voiced by Rick Jones): The shrewd snake in the forest. He often assists Skulk and Sammy and is the frenemy of the Little Flying Bears.
• Grizelda (voiced by Kathleen Fee): A large and evil spider who lives in the terrible forest. She eats creatures smaller than herself is very protective of the syrup trees.
• Spike: A rat who comes from the city along with two rat subordinates.

Humans

• David (voiced by Daniel Brochu): A friend of the bears and Leah's brother.
• Leah: A friend of the bears and David's sister.

Episodes (1990-1991)

1. Keep Out!
2. Attack of the Scarlet Serpents
3. The Juice Festival
4. Black Cloud
5. Runaway Truck
6. Hurray for Eggs!
7. A Birthday to Remember
8. The Traps
9. The Forbidden Flower
10. The White Rain
11. The Bears Christmas
12. Sore Losers
13. The White Bear
14. The Fountain of Youth
15. The Monster in the Mountain
16. The Great Drought
17. The Lumber Barons
18. The Wood Fairy
19. The Costume Ball
20. Hide and Seek
21. The Big Sting
22. The Reluctant Hero
23. The Virus
24. Dr. Skulk
25. A Gift from Space
26. Sing for the Rain
27. The First Encounter
28. The Rats
29. The River Rescue
30. The Storm
31. The Rats Revenge
32. The Outsider
33. Capture the Sun
34. Prescription for Pandemonium
35. Sabotage
36. The Visitor
37. Invasion
38. Power to Spare
39. Fire Bug

Theme song

The theme song was composed by Julie Villandré. The lyrics were written by Jean-Pierre Liccioni and sung by voice actress Sonja Ball.

Awards

The Little Flying Bears had won the coveted first prize for best animated children's series for 1990 at the FIMAJ International Festival in France.

Global broadcasting

• The Little Flying Bears has also been screened overseas in several countries including:

Canada: The Disney Channel, Trio, Freeform.

New Zealand

Philippines

Sweden

Hungary

China

Italy

South Africa

United States

Iceland

Serbia

Ghana

Czechoslovakia

Brunei

India

Macau

Singapore

France

Russia

Namibia

Israel

Poland

Norway

Malaysia

Slovenia

Croatia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Germany

Spain

Indonesia

North Macedonia

Arab League

Alternative titles

• 環保小飛熊 (Traditional Chinese title)
• 环保小飞熊 (Simplified Chinese title)
• Мали летећи медведићи (Mali leteći medvedići) (Serbian title)
• Les Oursons Volants (French title)
• Die Flugbärchen kommen! (German title)
• Repülő bocsok (Hungarian title)
• המעופפים הנועזים (HaMeofefim Hanoazim) (Israeli title)
• Gli orsetti volanti (Italian title)
• Летечките мечиња (Letechkite mechinja) (Macedonian title)
• Latające misie (Polish title)
• Mali leteči medvedki (Slovene title)
• Los Osos Voladores (Spanish title)
• De flygande björnarna (Swedish title)
• Malí létající medvídci (Czech title)
• الدببة الطائرة (Addibaba attaïra) (Arabic title)
• De flyvende bjørnene (Norwegian title)
• Flugbangsanir (Icelandic title)
• Летающие медвежата: Защитники природы (Letayushchie medvezhata: Zashchitniki prirody) (Russian title)

External links

• The Little Flying Bears Czech fan webpage
• The Little Flying Bears English fan webpage
• The Little Flying Bears at IMDb