Bear in the Big Blue House: Return to Woodland Valley

Bear in the Big Blue House: Return to Woodland Valley is a sequel series to the Jim Henson Company show that ran from 1997 to 2006. The new show premiered on the Disney+ streaming service, which co-produced along with The Muppets Studio and The Jim Henson Company, on November 24th, 2022, with a season of 30 episodes.

As in the original series, the main character is Bear; a warm, friendly caregiver who invites viewers into his Big Blue House for a day of fun and learning with his friends Tutter the mouse, Ojo the bear cub, Treelo the lemur, Pip and Pop the otters. The series also stars Ray the sun (who Bear sometimes talks to during the day), Shadow (a sentient shadow that presents stories and songs through shadow puppet segments) and Luna the moon (who Bear talks to and sings "The Goodbye Song" with every night). In contrast with the entirely physical Big Blue House set of the original series, the house in the reboot is a hybrid of practical set design and StageCraft, the virtual production technology that had been used on The Mandalorian. CGI animation is also used for wide shots of the smaller characters in comparison to Bear, and for shots of Bear and others pulling off actions that would've been difficult to accomplish using puppetry.

Many of the creative team and puppeteers from the original Bear in the Big Blue House return for this series (even bringing back the original Ojo, Vicki Kenderes-Eibner, to reprise her role), and Mitchell Kriegman, creator of the original show, is credited as a creative consultant. However, the voices of Luna, Shadow and Ray are recast to other actors; Jennifer Hudson succeeds the late Lynne Thigpen as Luna, Ken Page replaces the late Geoffrey Holder as Ray, and Shadow is voiced by British puppeteer Sarah Burgess, taking over from Tara Mooney.

The Bear puppet built for this series (by Puppet Heap Workshop, based on Paul Andrejco's original designs) is more intricate than from the original. While Noel MacNeal is still the lead puppeteer and voice of Bear, the puppet now includes a hidden sleeve in Bear's right arm for a second puppeteer to insert their arm into in real time (the second performer, who stands outside the Bear costume, is digitally removed later via Mitchell Kriegman's Shadowmation technique, which is how the puppets in this show are most often performed). Three mechanisms are included inside Bear's head, allowing his eyes, nose and ears to move separately from Bear's mouth and hands (a third puppeteer works the eyes and nose off-screen using a modified Wii controller; while the ears, which can wiggle a la Fozzie Bear, are animated via a small motor that can be triggered by the right hand puppeteer holding a modified joy buzzer in their left hand). The other main characters also get technological upgrades; Tutter is now able to move every part of his body, from his ears to his toes, separately from each other (requiring a team of five puppeteers led by Peter Linz, who originally performed the character), while Treelo now includes mechanisms for the movement of his fingers (controlled by original/lead performer Tyler Bunch moving triggers at the bottom of Treelo's arm rods) and tail (moved by another puppeteer via a joystick), in addition to his eyelids (moved by a third puppeteer using a modified PlayStation controller).

Production for the series took place between April to July 2022, with production units at LTV Studios in Wainscott, New York and at Manhattan Beach Studios in California. The two units were necessary so that the 30 episodes could be filmed simultaneously in a relatively short timespan; however, this meant that most often, the performers working in the New York unit would have to dub over the puppeteers in the California unit, and vice versa.

Credits

Based on the TV show created by Mitchell Kriegman

Executive Producers: Brian Henson, Lisa Henson, David Lightbody, Leigh Slaughter, Halle Stanford

Co-Executive Producers: Tyler Bunch, Rick Fernandes, Peter Linz, Noel MacNeal, Alex Rockwell, John Tartaglia

Produced by Chelsea DeVincent, Jim Lewis, Rita Peruggi, Vincent Raisa, Claudia Silver, Michael Steinbach, P. Kevin Strader

Written by Joe Fallon, Jordan Gershowitz, Scott Gray, Ron Holsey, Raye Lankford, Jim Lewis, Noel MacNeal, Joey Mazzarino, Chris Moore, Ken Scarborough, Claudia Silver, Jocelyn Stevenson, P. Kevin Strader, Kirk Thatcher, Belinda Ward, Ellis Weiner, Andy Yerkes, Kelly Younger

Directed by Tyler Bunch, Kevin Clash, Rick Fernandes, Shannon Flynn, Dean Gordon, David Gumpel, Brian Henson, Noel MacNeal, Hugh Martin, Joey Mazzarino, Scott Preston, Kirk Thatcher, Chuck Vinson

Creative Consultants: Mitchell Kriegman, Tyler Bunch, Vicki Kenderes-Eibner, Jim Kroupa, Peter Linz, Noel MacNeal

The Residents of the Big Blue House

Noel MacNeal as Bear

Peter Linz as Tutter & Pip

Tyler Bunch as Treelo & Pop

Vicki Kenderes-Eibner as Ojo

Heather Asch as Treelo (occasional puppeteer/voice)

John Kennedy as Tutter (stand-in puppeteer)

Tim Lagasse as Pop (stand-in puppeteer)

John Tartaglia as Pip (stand-in puppeteer)

Other Characters

Luna: Jennifer Hudson (voice), Alice Dinnean (puppeteer)

Ray: Ken Page (voice), Kevin Clash (puppeteer)

Shadow: Sarah Burgess (voice), John Tartaglia (puppeteer)

Leslie Carrara-Rudolph as Mayor Pecker

Matt Vogel as Doodle the Rooster

Alice Dinnean as Grandma Flutter, Keisha

Tyler Bunch as Doc Hogg, Luke

Jim Kroupa as Jeremiah Tortoise

Eric Jacobson as Harry the Duck

Bruce Lanoil as Otto Otter

Julianne Buescher as Etta Otter

Miss Maxwell: Jennifer Barnhart (voice), Victor Yerrid (puppeteer)

Peter Linz as Jack the Dog, Big Old Bullfrog

Stephanie D'Abruzzo as Lois, Annette

Doc Owl: Warrick Brownlow-Pike (voice), Tim Lagasse (puppeteer)

Victor Yerrid as Jacques the Beaver

Ursa: Carmen Osbahr (voice), Drew Massey (puppeteer)

Anney Ozar as Rita Mouse

Noel MacNeal as Moss

Joey Mazzarino as Mayor's Security #1

Bruce Lanoil as Mayor's Security #2

John Kennedy as Mayor's Security #3

Karen Prell as Christine

Guest Characters

Kevin Clash as Doc Stripes

Officer Z.N. Chimp: Martin P. Robinson (voice), Drew Massey (puppeteer)

David Rudman as Grandpa Sputter

Brian Henson as Principal Camembert

John Tartaglia as Chef Mort

Mama Bear: Louise Gold (voice), John Kennedy (puppeteer)

Bill Barretta as Papa Bear

Sister Bear: Pam Arciero (voice), Alice Dinnean (puppeteer)

Spot Barker: Ryan Dillon (voice), Stephanie D'Abruzzo (puppeteer)

Additional Puppeteers: Brad Abrell, Catherine Adell, Christian Anderson, Joe Annabi, Rachel Appelbaum, Connor Asher, Grant Baciocco, Greg Ballora, Billy Barkhurst, Aretta Baumgartner, Erwin Bayan, Nate Begle, Tau Bennett, Sarah Berman, Carol Binion, Ron Binion, David Bizzaro, Tim Blaney, Marcelo Bottaro, Phoebe Bottoms, Lindsey Briggs, Matt Brooks, Jordan Brownlee, Harrison Bryan, Melvin Campbell, Jennifer Carleton, Kevin Carlson, Raymond Carr, Brian Carson, Chris Chappell, Kristin Charney, Brian Clark, Ceili Clemens, John Cody, Josh Cohen, Jimmica Collins, Jeff Conover, Frankie Cordero, David Corris, Melissa Creighton, Carole D'Agostino, Nathan Danforth, Dorien Davies, Audrey Densmore, Kristina Dizon, Jamie Donmoyer, Ben Durocher, Jodi Eichelberger, Emmanuel Elpenord, Artie Esposito, Peggy Etra, Mary Faber, David Matthew Feldman, David Fino, Genevieve Flati, Bryan Forrest, Thom Fountain, Bradley Freeman Jr., Lexy Fridell, Mark Gale, Aymee Garcia, Rob Gardner, Cam Garrity, Dan Garza, Noah Ginex, James Godwin, Sam Jay Gold, Art Grueneberger, James Gruessing, BJ Guyer, Jenny Hann, Terri Hardin, Forrest Harding, Langston Hatch, Zach Haumesser, Chris Thomas Hayes, Andy Hayward, Chris Heady, Rachel Herrick, Patrick Holmes, Keri Horn, Charles Hubbell, Alissa Hunnicutt, Jason Jacoby, Haley Jenkins, John Jennings, Patrick Johnson, Scott Johnson, Sean Johnson, Victoria Johnson, Avery Lee Jones, Brian Michael Jones, Chris Kauffmann, James Kemp, Kathleen Kim, Donna Kimball, Joe Kovacs, Mary Robinette Kowal, Andy Rocco Kraft, Adam Kreutinger, Matt Krygier, Erik Kuska, Michael Latini, Mindy Leanse, Adrian Rose Leonard, Len Levitt, Jayden Libran, Spencer Lott, Paul Louis Muller, Derek Lux, Darci Lynne Farmer, Lara MacLean, Marta Mozelle MacRostie, Amanda Maddock, Brendan Malafronte, Andy Manjuck, David Manley, Emily Marsh, Karen Maruyama, Ed May, Cathy McCullough, Paul McGinnis, Jess McKay, Ted Michaels, Tracy Mick, Danny Montooth, Kirsty Moon, Geoff Moonen, Alison Mork, Jason Murphy, James Murray, Sarah Nolen, Kevin Noonchester, Sarah Oh, Michael Oosterom, Brett O'Quinn, Adam Pagdon, Chris Palmieri, Christine Papalexis, Chris Patstone, Annie Peterle, Marc Petrosino, Fergie Philippe, Felix Pire, David Quesal, Rachel Redleaf, Amber Reeder, Paul Rice, Abby Roderick, Emory Royston, Carla Rudy, Paul Rugg, Amy Rush, Joe Sabatino, Keith Saltojanes, Liz Sanford, Nicolette Santino, Michael Sare, Rob Saunders, Ben Schrader, Michael Schupbach, Nicole Scott, Tomas Seidita, Joe Selph, Chad Ethan Shohet, Ben Siemon, Jessica Simon, Lake Simons, Michelan Sisti, David Skelly, Colleen Smith, Jeff Speetjens, David Stephens, Kenny Stevenson, Andy Stone, Ian Sweetman, Miles Taber, Zach Tolchinsky, Allan Trautman, Cheri VandenHeuvel, Art Gonzalez Vega, Jack Venturo, Michael Verdi, Alex Villa, Amanda Villalobos, Russ Vick, Russ Walko, Robin Walsh, April Warren, Chad Williams, Noel Williams, James W. Wojtal Jr., Chase Woolner, Blake Worrell, Eric Wright, Gretchen Wylder, Matt Yates