It's Old Franchises Day here, apparently, as I've been thinking about the news that the Berenstain Bears are the next classic children's series to get their own movie, courtesy of the dude responsible for Night at the Museum, who declares that "I'd like the film to be un-ironic about its family connections but have a wry comedic sensibility that isn't oblivious to the fact that they're bears. The comedy comes from this bear family coexisting in a more recognizably real world."
I have mixed feelings about said bear family, which has a weird history. Dr. Seuss edited the early books, and created the authors' byline, shortening their names so Stan and Jan would rhyme. The authors have gone on to produce a couple of the Berenstain Bears books for Focus on the Family. It's less any political issues than the deeply corny and obvious messages in the books that make me cringe, looking back on them now: lots of junk food might be bad for you! Bullies may have backstories! Stealing is wrong! Cliques are inevitable! You get the idea. This Topless Robot list of the most awkward books in the franchise is pretty funny, and pretty accurate.
But I do remember loving some of the visuals from the picture books when I was young. I wished for a clubhouse or a treehouse like Brother and Sister Bear build in The Berenstain Bears No Girls Allowed. The nightmare images from The Berenstain Bears and the Bad Dream are pretty appropriately surreal. Naming the bad seed bears in town Two-Tall and Too-Tall was pretty clever. I'm not sure how the saccharine lessons of the Berenstain Bears books can be appropriately updated and translated to the big screen. But I hope they remember to bring some of the good color palattes and nifty details from Bear Country along.