The Bear That Wasn't

Infobox Hollywood cartoon
cartoon_name = The Bear that Wasn't

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caption = "You are not a bear; you are a silly man who needs a shave and wears a fur coat."
director = Chuck Jones
Maurice Noble
story_artist = Frank Tashlin (also original book)
Irv Spector
animator = Ben Washam (supervising)
Tom Ray
Phil Roman
Richard Thompson
Don Towsley
voice_actor = Paul Frees
musician = Dean Elliott
producer = Chuck Jones
Frank Tashlin
distributor = MGM (1967-1986) Turner Entertainment Co. (1986-present) Warner Bros. (1996-present)
release_date = December 31, 1967
color_process = Metrocolor
runtime = 10 min (one reel)
movie_language = English
imdb_id = 0061390

"The Bear that Wasn't" is a 1946 children's book by film director and "Looney Tunes" alumnus Frank Tashlin. In 1967, Tashlin's former Termite Terrace colleague Chuck Jones directed an animated short film based upon the book for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Incidentally, "The Bear That Wasn't" was the final animated short subject made by MGM. It marked the end of an era (more than thirty years) of MGM cartoon shorts. Also, despite having helped produce the short, Frank Tashlin reportedly was dissatisfied with this film adaptation of his own book. [Michael Barrier interview with Frank Tashlin, 1971 (http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Interviews/Tashlin/tashlin_interview.htm)] This short can be found on the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection - " DVD set, although it has significant Dirt and Scratch Removal ("DVNR") artefacting.

Plot

A bear settles down for his long winter nap, and while he sleeps the progress of man continues. He wakes up to find himself in the middle of an industrial complex. He then gets mistaken by the foreman for a worker and is told to work. To this he responds, "But I'm not a man, I'm a bear". He is then taken to each of his successive bosses, who try to convince him that he is just a "silly man who needs a shave and wears a fur coat". Eventually he concludes that he must be a "silly man", but it is winter and he is so cold. He wishes he knew what a "silly man" would do to get warm. But in the end he finds a cave and enters, feeling comfortable and bear-like once more.

Themes

Though appearing as a children's book, this story looks into the aspects of society. It revolves around the concept of people believing a repeated idea even though it may not be true. People have a tendency to shift their views if a concept is hammered into them over and over again, like the bear being told he is a "silly man who needs a shave and wears a fur coat". The bear eventually succumbs to this mistaken assumption, believing he is a man even though he had previously known otherwise, just as humans shift their views on a topic because of repetitive information, or because 'they all say it is true, therefore it must be'. Yet, in the end, the bear, who is cold in winter, reverts back to who he really is - a bear - and finds shelter in a cave. This idea covers the concept of people never changing. Though a person may change for someone else, when placed in a difficult position, they revert back to old habits - just like the bear hibernating. Whether something's fact or fiction, it is what it is and doesn't change - no matter how many people believe otherwise.

Book info

*New York, E.P. Dutton & co., inc., 1946 (1st edition), LCCN 46001683
*New York, Dover Publications [1962,c1946] , LCCN 62004936
*New York : Dover Publications, 1995, ISBN 0-486-28787-4

References

External links

*imdb title|0061390
* [http://www.bcdb.com/bcdb/detailed.cgi?film=2979 The Bear that Wasn't at the Big Cartoon DataBase]