There have been over 350 Berenstain bear books published, and at Berenstain studios we often get the question “How do you keep coming up with book ideas?” Sometimes the answer is re-cycling! Before Stan & Jan created the Bear books, they worked for years creating “Sister” and “All in the Family” cartoons for Colliers, Good Housekeeping, and McCall’s magazines. Stan, Jan, and even Mike have consciously (and sometimes subconsciously) referenced these cartoons in subsequent Bear books. Sometimes the references are purely visual gags, other times a theme from a single panel cartoon is elaborated into an entire book. A good idea is worth revisiting, and two of our upcoming books – The Berenstain Bears Patience Please! and The Berenstain Bears and the Big Family Album are directly inspired a Stan & Jan early cartoon. Check out some parallels we have drawn below, and if you are interested in Stan & Jan’s early cartoon work it can be seen in Child’s Play: The Cartoon Art of Stan & Jan Berenstain.
