SuperTed
Format	Animated series
Created by	Mike Young
Written by	Mike Young Robin Lyons
Directed by	David Edwards
Starring	Derek Griffiths Melvyn Hayes Roy Kinnear Jon Pertwee Victor Spinetti Sheila Steafel Myfanwy Talog
Narrated by	Peter Hawkins
Country of origin	Wales
Original language(s)	Welsh, English
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	36
Production
Executive producer(s)	Mike Young Roger Fickling
Running time	10 mins
Production company(s)	Siriol Animation Kalato S4C Williams and Glyn Leasing Group Ltd.
Broadcast
Original channel	S4C (in Welsh) BBC1 (in English) RTÉ 2 (in Irish) TF1 (in French)
Picture format	4:3
Original run	1 November 1982 – 5 December 1986

SuperTed is a Welsh fictional anthropomorphic bear character created by Mike Young. Originally created by Young as a series of stories to help his son overcome his fear of the dark, SuperTed became a popular series of books and led to an animated series produced from 1982 to 1986.

Creation[edit]

'SuperTed' was created by Mike Young in 1978^[1] for his son to help him overcome his fear of the dark. Later Mike decided to put the stories into book form. Superted originally was a bear from the woods who was also afraid of the dark, until one day Mother Nature give him a magic word which gives him Superpowers and transform him to SuperTed. After a while, Mike started to write actual story books about SuperTed. Then after some unsuccessful attempts, he was able to get his book published by a local printer. This led Mike to a successful career, writing and publishing over 100 SuperTed books, with illustrations done by Philip Watkins, until 1990. Just after his first book was published, his wife suggested he should produce a stuffed toy version of SuperTed which was done in 1980.^[2]

The process also drew the attention of Warner Brothers in 1980 who made an offer of £250,000 for the film rights. Mike was determined to keep SuperTed Welsh,^[3] as he wanted to help create local jobs and prove places outside London had talent.^[2] In 1981, S4C enquired about making Superted into animations, but Mike decided to create Siriol Productions to produce the series himself. Siriol management wished to create SuperTed in a way which their own kids could be proud of, free from facile plots and hard line violence. This concept continued to be adopted to all series made by Siriol, which proves soft edge and quality animation can be more appealing to children than any amount of violence.^[3] Superted was also turned into a stage show. Melvyn Hayes reprised his role but other parts were taken by other actors. Superted's popularity even led to the production of a line of vitamin supplements for children.^[3]

In 1989 Mike Young sold the rights to SuperTed to Abbey home media.^[4]

Story[edit]

SuperTed is a teddy bear found to be defective in the toy factory where he was made, and "threw him away like a piece of rubbish! Into an old dark storeroom." A Spotty man found him there and brought him to life with his "cosmic dust". He was then taken to Mother Nature and given superpowers that enabled him to fight evil. SuperTed's powers are activated by his "secret magic word", which (as the name suggests) remains a secret. SuperTed whispers it every time he or someone else is in peril and he transforms into a superhero with Superman-like red suit with rockets built in to the boots. These allow him to fly. In one episode, Bulk overhears the secret magic word and also whispers it, briefly acquiring identical powers to SuperTed. However, he subsequently forgets the word. The evil invariably takes the form of Texas Pete (an evil cowboy, the antagonist of the series) and his gang; Bulk (an overweight, bumbling fool) and Skeleton (an undead, outrageously camp, cowardly skeleton with pink slippers). Texas Pete's plots are generally aimed at advancing his own wealth, ruling the world and the power or the destruction of SuperTed, his nemesis.

Characters[edit]

Heroes

• SuperTed – A teddy bear brought to life by "cosmic dust", and given special powers by Mother Nature. He is voiced by Derek Griffiths.
• Spotty – SuperTed's bumbling companion and best friend, a yellow alien covered in green spots, from planet Spot. He brings SuperTed to life with his cosmic dust, took him to Mother Nature to give him special powers and flew through space in a spotted rocket. He is voiced by Jon Pertwee.
• Blotch – Spotty's sister, voiced by Sheila Steafel.
• Mother Nature – Mother Nature, voiced by Sheila Steafel, portrayed as a fairy that grants SuperTed superpowers. Mother Nature's friends are SuperTed & Spotty.

Villains

• Texas Pete – An evil cowboy, voiced by Victor Spinetti. He is SuperTed's nemesis, and the main villain of the series. Texas Pete's friends are Bulk and Skeleton, and his enemies are SuperTed and Spotty.
• Skeleton – A very cowardly and outrageously camp skeleton, voiced by Melvyn Hayes.
• Bulk – An overweight fool with intense stupidity, voiced by Roy Kinnear. His friends are Texas Pete and Skeleton.

Television Series[edit]

As Mike was determined to keep SuperTed Welsh, he entered into partnership with S4C ( the newly formed Welsh television channel) in 1981 who approached him about producing an animated series of SuperTed. He set up Siriol Animation with his wife, to procured the series locally, which first aired on 1 November 1982 on S4C in Welsh. A year later it was dubbed into English and broadcast throughout the whole of the United Kingdom on BBC1, from October 83.

Unlike the books the television series was ghost written by Robin Lyons and director Dave Edwards, who were also Directors of Siriol Animation, and between 1982–1986, 3 series were made:

Series 1 (1982)[edit]

this series consited of 12 episodes as listed below, In 1994 all 12 of the episodes of Series 1 of Superted were released as part of The Biggest Ever SuperTed Video by Tempo Video (Cat No 97192)

Series 2 (1984)[edit]

this series consited of 12 episodes as listed below, In 1994 7 of the episodes including "Bulk's Story", "SuperTed at the Toyhop", "SuperTed In the Artic", both parts 1 & 2 of "Superted and Trouble In Space", "SuperTed and the Gun Smugglers" and "SuperTed and The Lumberjacks" were released as part of The Biggest Ever SuperTed Video by Tempo Video (Cat No 97192)

Series 3 (1985–1986)[edit]

this series consited of 12 episodes as listed below, In 1994 6 of the episodes including "SuperTed and Mother Nature"', "SuperTed and the Pothole Rescue", "SuperTed Kicks Up the Dust", "SuperTed and the Gorilla", "SuperTed and the Great Horrendo" and "SuperTed in ChinaTown" were released as part of The Biggest Ever SuperTed Video by Tempo Video (Cat No 97192)

International screening[edit]

The series has been broadcast and dubbed in over 50 countries around the world:^[4]

Africa[edit]

• Broadcast on several TV stations.

Europe[edit]

• The series was broadcast in Welsh on S4C
• The series was dubbed into Irish for RTE, and also broadcast in English
• The series was broadcast in English on the BBC between 1983 – 1994.
• was broadcast on SVT1 and released in several VHS tapes.
• First appeared in 1983 ^[5]
• First appeared on 4 October 1984
• was broadcast on TV Slovenia as Supermedo and become very popular.
• was broadcast on Hrvatska televizija as SuperTed dubbed into Croatian.
• Dubbed into French and broadcast on TF1
• 
• 

America[edit]

• The Series was broadcast on The Disney Channel from 1984, making it the first British cartoon series to be aired on the Disney Channel in the United States.

India[edit]

• The series was broadcast on the Gemini Channel in Telugu.

Oceania[edit]

• Broadcast by the ABC
• Broadcast by TVNZ as part of their Saturday morning Children's show, What Now?

The Further Adventures of SuperTed.[edit]

In 1989, SuperTed was revived in America by Hanna Barbera (who also made Fantastic Max). The revival was one of four series aired as part of The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera syndicated animation block.

Public Service Film[edit]

SuperTed along with Spotty and his sister, Blotch appeared in a Public Information Film in 1986. The film, commissioned by the Central Office of Information, was entitled "Supersafe with SuperTed", and featured the three characters being flown to Earth by SuperTed, in order to teach Spotty how to cross the road safely. A flashback during the short reveals an incident when Spotty was nearly killed, running across the road on the planet Spot (his home), to talk to his sister. It was released on two VHS videos: Magic Of SuperTed (1986) and The Biggest Ever SuperTed Video (1994).

SuperTed proceeds during the animation, to teach Spotty the right way to cross the road, including not running, not standing behind vehicles, etc. He then warns the viewer that he "can't always be there to save you, especially on planet Earth". The animated "setting" for the film was a based on Castle Street in Cardiff city centre, Wales^[6] with Cardiff Castle as a backdrop.

Awards[edit]

The series won numerous awards, including the 1987 BAFTA for best animation.

Commercial availability[edit]

DVD releases[edit]

The Complete original series of Superted was released on June 2008 in Region 2 (UK). The Series is yet to be released in other regions.

Home Video[edit]

VHS releases[edit]

• SuperTed (VC1058), 6 Episodes – Released: 1986

Episodes Feature- 'SuperTed and the Stolen Rocket', 'SuperTed and the Inca Treasure', 'SuperTed and the Elephant's Graveyard', 'SuperTed and the Train Robbers', 'SuperTed and the Giant Kites' and 'SuperTed and the Pearlfishers'

• SuperTed Volume 2 (VC1059), 6 Episodes – Released: 1986

Episodes Feature- 'SuperTed and Nuts In Space', 'SuperTed and the City of the Dead', 'SuperTed at Creepy Castle', 'SuperTed on Planet Spot', 'SuperTed at the Funfair' and 'SuperTed and the Gold Mine'

• The New Adventures of SuperTed (V9062), 5 Episodes – Released: 1988

Episodes Feature- 'SuperTed at the Toyshop', 'SuperTed Goes to Texas', 'SuperTed in the Artic', 'Trouble in Space (Parts 1 & 2)' and 'SuperTed and the Gun Smugglers'.

• The Heroic Adventures of SuperTed (V9113) 6 Episodes – Released: 1988

Episodes Feature- 'SuperTed in Spotty and the Indians', 'SuperTed and the Crystal Ball', 'SuperTed and the Lumerjacks', 'SuperTed's Dream', 'Bulk's Story' and 'SuperTed meets Father Christmas'.

• The Original SuperTed Bumper Edition (GMH 101) 9 Episodes – Released: 1989
• SuperTed: The Special Edition (GMH 102) 12 Episodes – Released: 1989
• Superted's Bumper Video (93852), 7 Episodes – Released: 1990.

Episodes Feature- 'SuperTed and Mother Nature', 'SuperTed and the Magic Word (Parts 1 & 2)', 'SuperTed and the Pothole Rescue', 'SuperTed Kicks Up the Dust', 'SuperTed and the Whales', 'SuperTed and the Gorilla' and 'SuperTed and the Great Horrendo'.

• The Original Adventures of SuperTed: Special Edition (94982), 8 Episodes – Released: 1991

Episodes Feature- 'SuperTed Goes Round the Bend', 'SuperTed and Tex's Magic Spell', 'SuperTed in Chinatown', 'SuperTed and the Rattlesnake', 'SuperTed at the Toyshop', 'SuperTed and the Whales', 'SuperTed in Spotty and the Indians' and 'SuperTed and the Crystal Ball'.

• The Biggest Ever SuperTed Video, 25 Episodes – Released: 1994.

Episodes feature: 'Be Safe with SuperTed' (as episode 1) and 25 other episodes that are all 12 episodes of Series 1 (as episodes 2–13 on the video), 5 episodes of Series 2 (as episodes 14–18), 5 episodes of Series 3 (episodes 19–23), Both parts of 'Trouble In Space' (from series 2 and as episodes 24 & 25 on the video) and 'SuperTed in ChinaTown' (from series 3 and as the 26th and last episode on the video).

Tempo Kids Club[edit]

• The Original Adventures of SuperTed: Trouble in Space (94622), 3 Episodes – Released: 1991

Episodes feature- 'Trouble in Space Part 1', 'Trouble in Space Part 2' and 'SuperTed's Dream'.

• The Original Adventures of SuperTed: SuperTed Goes to Texas (95862), 3 Episodes – Released: 1992

Episodes feature- 'SuperTed Goes to Texas', 'SuperTed and the Magic Word Part 1' and 'SuperTed and the Magic Word Part 2'

US Home video[edit]

All 36 episodes were released over six videocassettes by Walt Disney Home Video.

Children's Favourites[edit]

• SuperTed and the Stolen Rocket Ship from Children's TV Favourites – Released: 1990
• SuperTed Kicks Up The Dust from My Best Friends – Released: 1993
• SuperTed's Dream from My Best Friends Too – Released: 1994
• SuperTed and Mother Nature from Children's Favourites (WHSmith Exclusive) – Released: 1995
• SuperTed at the Toyshop from My Favourite Teddy Bears Video- Released: 1993
• SuperTed Meets Father Christmas from The Biggest Ever Christmas Video (Released: 1993), Christmas Favourites (WHSmith Exclusive) [Released 1995] and 110 minutes of Christmas Crackers (Released- 1996).

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Toonhound – SuperTed
• SuperTed at the Internet Movie Database
• SuperTed at TV.com

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