[coffee pouring]
KENNETH: What's up, everyone.
This is "Disney+ Deets," where we break down everything
you need to know about your favorite Disney+
movies and series.
I'm Kenneth.
MARCELLUS: And I'm Marcellus.
And not to toot our own horns, but we're
pretty much the biggest Disney+ fans out there.
KENNETH: No, let's do it.
Toot, toot!
Beep, beep!
That's right.
MARCELLUS: Let's get into it.
MARCELLUS: You know, Kenneth, I have a lot in common
with the characters in the show we're talking about today.
KENNETH: Oh yeah, like what?
MARCELLUS: Well, I'm dashing and daring,
courageous and caring, faithful and
friendly with stories to share.
KENNETH: Oh, I see what you did there.
This episode must be about, all together now--
BOTH: Gummi Bears, bouncing here and there and everywhere.
High adventure that's beyond compare,
they are the Gummi Bears!
KENNETH: Oh, you don't know how excited I am.
The Gummi Bears, we are going back in time into my childhood,
sir.
MARCELLUS: I love the "Adventures of the Gummi Bears."
I just get so excited seeing them go on their adventures.
And I wanted to be a Gummi Bear, actually.
KENNETH: [laughter] Oh, listen, I was a Gummi Bear.
You couldn't tell me.
MARCELLUS: My name would be Celly Gummi Bear.
KENNETH: [laughter] My name would be Kenny Gummi.
MARCELLUS KIDD: Kenny Gummi?
It may be hard to believe now, but "Adventures
of the Gummi Bears" was Disney's very first animated TV series.
Of course, we know Disney made a bunch of classic animated
movies, but way back in 1984 -- where you thrived -- when
the idea for this series first came about,
Disney didn't even have a TV animation division.
KENNETH: At that time, Michael Eisner, Disney's still-
new CEO, found out his kids had tried a new candy
at summer camp, gummy bears.
He challenged rookie creator Jymn Magon
to make a show about the colorful candy,
and the rest is history.
MARCELLUS: The team decided to focus
on what made Disney's classic animated films so great.
Princesses, castles, dragons, villains
with nefarious mustaches.
KENNETH: And speaking of iconic Disney characters,
according to director and producer David Block,
the Gummi Bears were loosely based on Snow
White's pals, the Seven Dwarfs.
There are definitely some similarities
between the Bears and Sleepy, Dopey, Bashful, and the rest
of Snow White's crew.
MARCELLUS: "Adventures of the Gummi Bears"
may have paid tribute to some classics,
but there were plenty of total original touches too.
For instance, the magic Quick Tunnels,
that allow Gummi Bears to get around the forest twice as fast
as walking or riding a horse.
And Gummiberry Juice, which allows
the Gummi Bears to bounce around like bouncy balls.
KENNETH: So if you are human
and you drink Gummiberry Juice, you become temporarily strong.
So now that I drank my Gummiberry Juice,
and not only was I bouncing around the house,
but I was trying to lift up the sofa cushions.
MARCELLUS: Yes.
KENNETH: Trying to pretend like they were castle stones.
MARCELLUS: I believe it.
KENNETH: I wish I had some Gummiberry Juice right now.
I'd use it to show off my moves, like I'm Black Panther.
Well, I know you love roller coasters, Marcellus.
And because I know you love roller coasters,
you would have loved being in the Quick Tunnels.
MARCELLUS: Oh, I would have adored it.
I actually would have been in the Quick Tunnels
the whole time.
They'd be like, at some point, Marcellus, you got to come out
of the Quick Tunnel. [laughter] I'm like,
I just want to go again.
KENNETH: Where is Cellus Gummi?
In the Quick Tunnels.
[laughter] Now, we work hard hosting this show,
but not nearly as hard as the animators did while drawing
the Gummi Bears' magical world.
Typical cartoons at the time used
about 12,000 drawings per episode,
while this show used around 20,000.
MARCELLUS: And a lot of that hard work
was spent just on backgrounds.
Director and producer David Block
believed that 70% of the look of an animated show
is about backgrounds.
So the creative team spent extra time
fleshing out the castles, forest, caves, and landscapes
of the Gummi's world.
KENNETH: Oh, it's beautiful.
MARCELLUS: Yes, it is.
KENNETH: Back in 1985 when Disney's "Adventures
of the Gummi Bears" premiered, none
of the major American studios had full animation
teams in the United States.
So the American team created all the storyboards,
character designs, color samples, and such.
Then they shipped everything off to Tokyo,
where a team of Japanese animators,
working under the guidance of a Disney director,
finished the animation.
MARCELLUS: 1985?
So you must have been... what,
in your 30s back then?
KENNETH: Dunk on my age all you want.
I know you're just jealous you didn't get
to see the Gummi Bears as a Saturday morning cartoon
when you were a kid.
That show ranked number one in its time slot
for five whole seasons.
That kind of success deserves to be recorded
in the Great Book of Gummi.
Can we talk about this all-star cast?
Disney got all the top voice actors of the day
for this show. MARCELLUS: Yes.
KENNETH: The legendary actress
June Foray, who voiced the Gummiberry
Juice maker, Grammi Gummi.
MARCELLUS: And you can't forget about one
of the most popular ventriloquists of the
1950s, Paul Winchell, who voiced Zummi Gummi.
KENNETH: Whoa, you cannot bring Paul Winchell and not
mention that he was an inventor who literally built
the first artificial hearts.
MARCELLUS: Maybe that's why the show had so much heart.
Get it?
Heart.
KENNETH: OK, Marcellus.
MARCELLUS: Jim Cummings, Lorenzo Music, Bill Scott,
Corey Burton, Noelle North, and Katie Leigh completed the cast.
With so many cast members, it's hard to believe,
but they recorded each episode as an ensemble.
KENNETH: Amazing, because usually when
it comes to animation, you have one actor recording just
their scenes by themselves.
But Disney wanted to make sure that that chemistry showed up
in the cartoon, so that's why you had the entire cast
recording at the same time.
MARCELLUS: And apparently Jim Cummings brought drumsticks
into the booth and played imaginary drums while he
waited to record his line.
That sounds like something you would do.
KENNETH: I was about to say that sound like something
you would do.
[laughter] And last but not least, let's get back
to perhaps the most iconic thing about this show, which has been
stuck in my head through this whole episode, thanks to you
Marcellus.
MARCELLUS: And you're welcome.
The ultra-catchy Gummi Bears theme was written by Patricia
and Michael Silversher.
They also wrote the theme song for "TaleSpin," and music
for "Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers" and "DuckTales."
So basically, they're responsible for decades
of Disney hits.
KENNETH: I'm going to be singing this for a month now.
MARCELLUS: Me too, and I'm going
to enjoy every minute of it.
KENNETH: That's it for our show.
Be sure to like, subscribe, and check out
Disney's "Adventures of the Gummi Bears,"
now streaming on Disney+.
MARCELLUS: Take care of yourselves and the planet,
and we'll see you next time.
Marcellus and Ken signing off.
KENNETH: We just need some Gummiberry Juice.
MARCELLUS: Oh yeah, big time.