In mystical medieval times, in the forested Gummi Glen, six magical Gummi Bears hide away from a world that no longer believes in them (I can't believe I'm writing this -- press on, dear fellow, press on...). Unknown to the humans of Dunwyn Castle, the Gummi Bears continue to practice their magic, while hiding from the Ogres and dragons that roam the land. The six Gummies who hide out in Gummi Glen are Zummi (who keeps the magic - if he can remember it), Grammi (the matriarch of the clan, who cooks the Gummiberry juice), Gruffi (the take-charge, tough-guy Gummi), Tummi (the big, hungry simpleton Gummi), Sunni (the post-modern Gummi), and Cubbi (the youngest Gummi who wants to be a knight). One day, the Gummies come upon Page Cavin, who hopes one day to become a knight. He wears a necklace with the Gummi symbol, so when they spy that he is in trouble with ogres, they move quickly to help. And the way they help is quite unique: they drink their Gummiberry juice. Yep, that juice. Which makes them bounce. Now when humans drink it, they become super-strong, which aids Cavin enormously when he's trying to free his Gummi friend who's in the grip of a vicious ogre. But the Gummiberry juice only works once a day for humans - which can get Cavin and Princess Calla in trouble. Princess Calla's father, King Gregor, is unaware of the Gummi's existence, so often he thinks that Cavin is responsible for the many times his kingdom is saved from the evil clutches of Duke Igthorn, who covets Dunwyn Castle. He employs his ogre army to frequently attack the castle, but he is always thwarted by Cavin and the Gummi Bears.

By 1985, Michael Eisner was the head honcho over at Disney, and one of the projects he kicked into high gear was Adventures of the Gummi Bears, based on the popular kids' candy. It was a first for Disney: their first weekly network TV animated series. At this point in history, Eisner was still concerned with the Disney image, so he was careful that this first Disney TV cartoon was animated in a style that would be an example of the usual Disney excellence. Animation historians agree that indeed, it was a well-drawn, well-executed cartoon. It proved to be a huge success with kids, running for six years of original episodes (fairly unheard of in TV animation), while stirring countless imitations.

I have no Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears experience whatsoever. It's obviously a kid show, and I was long out of the habit of watching Saturday morning cartoons in 1985. So I came to Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears totally fresh, with no preconceived notions. And you know what - it wasn't so bad. I mean, I wouldn't want to watch it again. But with any show like this - a show that's specifically designed to be watched by kids (as opposed to the Looney Tunes, which were designed for adults, as well) - an adult critical opinion is fairly meaningless. So I grabbed some of my kids, and had them watch with me. My eight-year-old faded fast, but my five and three-year-olds absolutely freaked out while they watched Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears. I tried to talk to them about why they liked it, but after an encouraging start, my five-year-old's conversation suddenly shifted to why the moon wouldn't talk to her, so I gave up.

First of all, as with most of these types of shows, the kids loved the theme song. When a particular episode would come on, and they didn't play the theme (some do, and some don't, and I can't quite figure out the logic of that), they were extremely disappointed. Running around and dancing to the theme takes up a good five minutes of each episode, so they stay happy. The slapstick humor also seemed to grab them; any time an ogre was hit over the head, they laughed hysterically. And finally, the bright colors and the funny-drawn Gummies certainly kept their attention (particularly my little girl, who went "Awwwww!" every time they did something cute). How can you argue with that? Looking at the backgrounds from an adult's perspective, they were quite elaborate for a television cartoon, and you can tell that some money was spent on the series. The medieval atmosphere seems to resemble the then-current big time release from Disney, the 70mm sword-and-sorcery animated epic, The Black Cauldron, so I wonder if the animated series was designed to take advantage of that expected hit (which wasn't a hit with anybody). Regardless, it was easy to take, and the kids certainly enjoyed it, and it does have the Disney class, so...Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears wasn't nearly so bad as I feared.

Here are the 47 episodes for Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears:

DISC ONE:

A New Beginning

The Sinister Sculptor

Zummi Makes it Hot

Someday My Prints Will Come

Can I Keep Him?

A Gummi In a Gilded Cage

The Oracle

When You Wish Upon a Stone

A Gummi By Any Other Name

Loopy, Go Home

A-Hunting we Will Go

The Fence Sitter

Night of the Gargoyle

The Secret of the Juice

Sweet and Sour Gruffi

Duel of the Wizards

DISC TWO:

What You See is Me

Toadie's Wild Ride

Bubble Trouble

Gummi in a Strange Land

Light Makes Right

Up, Up and Away

Faster Than a Speeding Tummi

For a Few Sovereigns More

Over the River and Through the Trolls

You Snooze, You Lose

The Crimson Avenger

A Hard Dazed Knight

Do Unto Ogres

For Whom the Spell Holds

Little Bears Lost

Guess Who's Gumming to Dinner

DISC THREE:

My Gummi Lies Over the Ocean

Too Many Cooks

Just a Tad Smarter

If I Were You

Eye of the Beholder

Presto Gummo

A Tree Grows in Dunwyn

Day of the Beevilweevils

Water Way to Go

Close Encounters of the Gummi Kind

Snows Your Old Man

Boggling the Bears

The Knights of Gummadoon

Mirthy Me

Gummi Dearest

The DVD:

The Video:
The quality of the full-screen transfers for Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears isn't the best. I noticed vertical green scratches popping up throughout various episodes. Either the original elements are in trouble, or they didn't go back to them. Either way, it's not a pristine image. Colors are good, and it's a sharp image, but there's occasional dirt specks with those scratches, as well as pixilation and edge enhancement issues.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital mono soundtracks are entirely adequate. Love that theme song!

The Extras:
There are no extras for Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears.

Final Thoughts:
If you have young children, they very well may enjoy Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears. I'm not sure it's something adults will necessarily want to watch all the time; although the short lengths of the episodes allow parents to sneak away occasionally, so that's a bonus. So, buy it if you have kids, or if you grew up watching it, but otherwise, rent it.