Well, you can call me an Illiop, or you can call me a bear. I really don’t care, as long as you call me your friend.

Overview

“All About Bears” is a compilation-style entry in the World of Teddy Ruxpin Adventure Series. It features several songs about various species of forms of bears from koalas and pandas to teddy bears and Illiops.

The story is notable for being one of the first music-centric entries of the Adventure Series. While a loose narrative thread connects the songs, the central features of the installment are the music.

This entry is also notable for acknowledging creatures which did not exist in Grundo and instead existed only in reality.

Value

“Songs and stories about bears who live all over the world.”

Summary

When Grubby starts to feel “confused” about bears, Teddy attempts to clear things up by introducing Grubby to several different kinds of bears, singing a song about each. Koalas, pandas, polar bears, teddy bears, and finally, Illiops are all celebrated through a song, eventually giving Grubby a clearer picture of which bears are bears and which bears aren’t.

Synopsis

Grubby comes to Teddy feeling very confused about bears. Sometimes bears are bears, and sometimes they aren’t! Teddy even admits that some bears don’t even know if they’re actually bears! As an example, he sings “Who Wouldn’t Love a Koala?”, and explains that Koalas are actually marsupials.

Next, Teddy and Grubby sing “Have You Ever Thought About a Panda?” When Grubby worries that pandas aren’t bears, either, Teddy explains that nobody’s really sure what kind of animals pandas are: but they’re not bears.

Realizing that Grubby’s confusion is only getting worse, Teddy cheers him up as they sing “The Polar Bear Polka”. Grubby is relieved to learn that polar bears are actually bears, because he was starting to think bears didn’t actually exist! Teddy warns him that there’s a bear in almost everyone’s home! In response to Grubby’s alarm, Teddy sings “Teddy Bear”.

Grubby assures Teddy that he understands bears much better now; all except for one: Teddy himself! He asks Teddy if Illiops are the same as bears, and Teddy replies that Grubby can call him whatever he wants, “as long as you call me your friend.”

The two sing “My Best Friend is an Illiop” to end the story.

Songs

• "Come Dream With Me Tonight" (Introduction)
• "A Koala Knows"
• "Panda"
• "The Polar Polka"
• "Teddy Bear"
• "My Best Friend is an Illiop"

Trivia

• Script Coordinator Mary Becker and Sound Effects engineer Russell Brower appear as voices in this entry.
• There has been speculation that Worlds of Wonder asked Alchemy II to create a more “educational” story for Teddy Ruxpin, which led Ken Forsse and his team to produce “All About Bears”. This is corroborated by the fact that non-Grundonian creatures are referenced, such as koalas, pandas, and polar bears.
• One of the first music-centric entries in the Adventure Series, with only a basic narrative thread tying the songs together.
• While most of the songs featured in this entry were exclusive to this story, the song "My Best Friend is an Illiop" would later be featured in "The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin" episode "Up For Air".