#missy bear

[crisp-sweet-pink-lady]

One of my go-to Christmas specials from my childhood is Santabear's High Flying Adventure, but it was only a few years ago that I learned the special was based on a promotional character for a chain of stores in the Midwest that was so popular that not only did they release a new plush of him each year, they put out all kinds of other merchandise, too (searching ebay reveals a lot of mugs, among other things). Now, I knew that post special, Santabear's love interest, Miss Bear (Missy in the special) was added to the plush/merch roster, but it was only this year that I learned that for a few years, from 1988 to 1991, so was the special's antagonist, Bully Bear!

To be fair, for two of those years, a couple of other characters from the special were also included, but it is just wild to me that the bad guy was featured so prominently. And what's really amusing to me is that since the art style used doesn't give the characters mouths, and Bully Bear is characterized by having "mean eyebrows," he just ends up looking so done all the time:

(images from The Detroit Historical Society)

By 1990, Bully Bear was considered a friend, so here are a few thoughts I have on how his redemption arc went, based on the merchandise:

In the special, Bully Bear is seeking revenge against Santa Claus for rejecting him as a Santa's Helper, and plans to deliver ruined presents to sully Santa's reputation. He's stopped, of course, and is taken to jail at the end.

As part of the plot, Santabear and Missy bonded by writing a song, and the theme for the next year's merchandise was Santabear putting together a musical group (The Polar Club), presumably to perform for the residents of the North Pole. I would like to think that if there had been a special for this year, the plot would have revolved around the production of that performance. But things keep going wrong, all over the North Pole. Unbeknownst to anyone, this is due to Bully Bear, who escaped from prison and is now sneakily causing chaos all over the North Pole, with the goal of sowing discord in Santa's workshop and ruining Christmas. Everyone is blaming each other for the mishaps, hampering production, and even threatening to cancel Christmas!

With tensions running so high, Santabear is even more determined to make the performance perfect, but his final song is missing something. While sneaking around, Bully Bear hears Santabear working on it, and in spite of himself, he reveals himself to help Santabear with the song. Santabear is skeptical, but he has a big heart and is willing to give Bully Bear a chance, even if Missy is not as forgiving.

But oh no! The penguin cops show up, on the lookout for Bully Bear, and the show will never be finished if he goes back to jail! What to do? Make the penguins part of the show, of course. While they're busy rehearsing, the bears are able to finish the show while keeping Bully Bear hidden. And maybe Bully Bear is even enjoying himself while being part of the group?

On the night of the big show, disaster strikes again: Santabear is sick and can't go on! There's only one solution: Bully Bear has to pretend to be Santabear and perform in his place (it's a major plot point in the special that these two look exactly alike). The performance goes great, but while Bully Bear was on stage, the cops found the sick Santabear and assume that he's actually Bully Bear! In a move that shocks everyone, especially himself, Bully Bear reveals the truth, including all the things he did that others were blamed for. But Santabear and Missy also surprise everyone by going up to bat for him, telling everyone that he was responsible for making the show so good, and that they've seen a different side of him, much as he'd hate to admit it. Santa steps in and is willing to give Bully Bear a second chance, mostly because of Santabear vouching for him. The penguin cops are not pleased, but Santa's the authority there, so they agree to go back to the South Pole, though one of them stays behind to act as Bully Bear's parole officer of sorts.

I don't have nearly as many thoughts about the following years, but I imagine that the next year would involve an expedition to somewhere (the theme was based on the 1990 International Trans-Antarctica Expedition), and Bully Bear would do something that would prove once and for all that he had turned himself around, probably saving everyone when he had the chance to only save himself.

The next year's theme was "Santabear's Dream Adventure," which apparently already has a story, but I haven't been able to find a scan of it, only the shorter tag that was on Miss Bear and Bully Bear, which mentions that Santabear hasn't been able to sleep, so they make him a dream basket. And since a lot of the merch has the bears (in their pajamas) baking cookies, I think that at first Santabear would try to hide the fact that he couldn't sleep, using the cookie baking as a cover. Plus, then you could have the meme:

Missy: It's 4'o clock in the morning. Why on earth are you baking chocolate chip cookies? Santabear: Because I've lost control of my life.

The last year to feature Bully Bear was a straight up cookie theme that also had its own story, and I was able to find a few pages of it, which I mention mostly because they confirm Bully Bear is a good guy now, or at the very least not a troublemaker. The fun thing about this year is each of the plushes came with a cookie cutter of the character, so you could make your own "so done" Bully Bear cookies:

In 2000, Santabear and Miss Bear finally got married, and it would have been nice if Bully Bear came back for that (someone has to be the best man bear!). The mouse came back when the theme was The Nutcracker (1997), and he hadn't been included since 1989.

[shy-the-trash-lion]

Some silly smiling guys 🌈✨

[celestial-hieroglyph]

hey uhm what do you do when your vampire hunter falls in love with the vampire he's so supposed to hunt

[misscrazyfangirl321]

HELLO how is your Valentine's Day going? My dad hired someone in a polar bear costume to come serenade me at my work (affectionate but also beet red)

[doctorwhoisadhd]

missy would have every man in torchwood begging so fast

[long-suffering-little-spoon]

Not sure how hot a take this is but Twelve had the best regeneration sequence (at least in NuWho) by a landslide like good fucking god

[standupcomedyhistorian]

Hey, everyone!

I grabbed a ticket to see Theater Camp at my local indie theater for this afternoon. I have NEVER seen a movie by myself before (and this is the exact type of film my ex would hate), so it'll be a totally new experience for me.

I've heard it's wonderful and hilarious, so it sounds right up my alley. Plus, it's got two of my favorite female comedians: Amy Sedaris and Ayo Edebiri! 🙌🏼

Amy, as you may know, was a part of two of my favorite programs—Strangers with Candy (along with Stephen Colbert and Paul Dinello) and At Home with Amy Sedaris (where I first saw the hysterical Cole Escola!).

And Ayo is fantastic in everything, particularly as the new voice of Missy on Big Mouth and as Sydney on The Bear (and, yes, my post on that INCREDIBLE show will be up in September...I'm assuming it's going to sweep the Emnys!).

I will let you all know how the film is, and keep it here for more comedy fun! ✌🏼🐔

[jainkoa]

Literally came close to crying when she did this 🥺

[dragonbleps]

Trying to do research for writing any injuries worse than a sprain/strain is difficult because 99% of the websites are like "Aww. Pulled a muscle? :( Got a widdle cut? Here's how you can ease the pain and recover quickly!"

[whollyunnecessary]

Somehow even after all of the other atrocities with Dhawan Master and everything else Chibnall did with the Gallifreyans I still didn't think all of the gifsets with the lyrics to Rasputin were real

[evie2001]

WhatAFuck

[mx-melancholic]

Dhawan!Master: Maybe there's a contest for lonely children after this

Simm!Master: It's only children, idiot

Missy: A lonely child is what you're gonna be when I sell you

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

so my little sister and I have been watching through Clara's run as companion on Doctor Who and we just watched The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar last night and apparently no, I will never in fact be able to handle the Doctor calling her "my Clara"

[daisydevorak]

THEY LOVE EACH OTHER TO DEATH, YOUR HONOR @gedankenmoon​’s lil Missy with my big man Bjørn :3c Under the cut for implied n00dity <3 MINORS DNI

[lavendervillage-field]

Missy and her friends!

[mishalogic]

There's always one "stand out" in Nature

I think we shall call her;

"adorable missy"

One mustn't miss this moment in life! ... Misha