The little polar bear
The Little Polar Bear is the children's book series by the Dutch author Hans de Beer , which has been published by NordSüd Verlag since 1987 .
The little polar bear has been on television since 1992, initially in short 5-minute episodes in the show with the mouse ; In 2002 a 13-part series of longer episodes was released, which were then edited and shown in the cinema. Most of the books about the little polar bear were also set to music as radio plays, as was the movie "The Little Polar Bear".
Emergence
After studying illustration in Amsterdam, Hans de Beer tried in vain to get his thesis on a little polar bear floating on an ice floe at a publishing house. At the international children's book fair in Bologna he met the Swiss publisher Brigitte Sidjanski, who recognized the possibilities of this simple and friendly story. So it came about that the book was first published in German in 1987.
After the great success that Hans de Beer had with the first book, the other Lars volumes essentially always offer a variation on the same story of little little boy who gets to know the big wide world, gets homesick and then returns home.
action
The main character is Lars, a little polar bear who lives with his parents at the North Pole. Together with his friends or alone, he slides from one adventure to the next and often has to be rescued by adults. Lars has many friends he meets on his numerous adventure trips, and some friends at the North Pole:
- Mika (papa)
- Frida (mom)
- Greta (Lars' friend who is also a polar bear)
- Oxana (Greta's little sister)
- Björn (a polar bear whose parents are just passing through)
- Lena (snow rabbit)
- Hugo (Lena's little brother)
- Verena (Lena's and Hugo's little sister)
- Robby (seal)
- Caruso (penguin)
- Yuri (puffin)
- Peep (snow goose)
- Theo (tiger)
- Balthasar (Theo's Papa)
- Max (sled dog)
- Daniel, Fabian, Stefan and Thomas (the four lemmings)
- Sopho (walrus)
- Hippo (hippo)
Books
- Little polar bear, where are you going? (Part 1 - 1988)
- Little polar bear, come back soon! (Part 2 - 1992)
- Little polar bear, take me with you! (Part 3 - 1992)
- Little polar bear, do you know the way? (Part 4 - 1998)
- The little polar bear and the fearful rabbit (part 5 - 1998)
- Little polar bear, don't leave me alone! (Part 6 -1999)
- Little polar bear, help me fly! (Part 7 - 2001)
- Book for the film: Der kleine Eisbär 2 (2005)
- The little polar bear saves the reindeer (part 8 - 2005)
- Little polar bear in the whale bay (part 9 - 2008)
- Little polar bear Lars, bring us home! (Part 10 - 2011)
- The little polar bear 2 My puzzle book
- Little polar bear, Lars and the missing fish (2017)
Movies
Since 2001 there is Lars, the little polar bear, to see as a cartoon. It began with the cinema in 2001. This was followed by other cinema films and a total of 39 short films that were broadcast on Kika, ARD / ZDF and ORF.
Movies and videos
The films and videos have a playing time of 65–80 minutes each. The year of publication or premiere in brackets. While the two films each tell a new, great adventure, the video films in the series “New Adventures, New Friends” each consist of three episodes of the 25-minute series cut together.
cinemamovies
Video films "New adventures, new friends"
- The Little Polar Bear - New Adventures, New Friends 1 - Lars and the Little Tiger (2002)
- The Little Polar Bear - New Adventures, New Friends 2 - Lars, Lea and Yuri (2002)
- Little Polar Bear - New Adventures, New Friends 3 - Nanouk's Rescue (2003)
- The Little Polar Bear - New Adventures, New Friends 4 - Visit from the South Pole (2004)
25-minute short films
Since 2002, 13 short films with a duration of approx. 25 minutes each have been shown:
- On a great journey
- The ghost ship
- Visit from Caruso
- Little she-bear
- The polar station
- The sled dog
- The animal catchers
- Lea brown bear
- On the ocean floor
- In the big port
- In the tiger forest
- Back to the jungle
5-minute short films
However, Lars was shown on television as a cartoon film before he even started, in very short episodes of about 5 minutes each as part of the "Sendung mit der Maus":
1992
- The ice floe
- The blizzard
- The egg
- The polar station
- The network
- The trap
- The order
1993
- The animal catcher
- The ice cave
- the maze
- The weather balloon
- The boat
- The barrel
1994
- The book
- The honeycomb
- The flower
- The Teddy
- White bear
- The concert
1995
- The competition
- The campfire
- The polar night
- The pranks
- stomach pain
- Love story
- The sled dog
Computer games
- Der kleine Eisbär The game for the movie (PC, 2001)
- The Little Polar Bear: The Secret of the "Big Bear" (PC / Mac, 2001)
- Little polar bear, do you know the way? (PC / Mac, 2003)
- The Little Polar Bear: New Adventures, New Friends (PC, 2003)
- Little Polar Bear, where are you going? (PC / Mac, 2004)
- Little polar bear help me fly! (PC, 2005)
- Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious Island (PC / Mac, 2005)
reception
There are editions in 26 languages that have sold around ten million copies. Thanks to skillful merchandising , the little polar bear Lars became known beyond the borders of the picture book world. After a youth stamp with Lars had already been issued in Germany in 1999, the Swiss Post issued a stamp with the little polar bear as its subject in March 2008 .
literature
- Monika Osberghaus: Look! 50 best picture books. dtv, Munich 2006 ISBN 3-423-62237-7
Web links and sources
- NordSüd Verlag
- The little polar bear - informative page about the little polar bear
- The Little Polar Bear - The movie in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Little Polar Bear 2 - The movie - The Mysterious Island in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Lars in the KI.KA
- Polar bear Lars laughs from the bear brand on Spiegel Online
- The little polar bear - information about the individual board and computer games
- Entry for the 13-part series Der kleine Eisbär and other TV broadcasts by Lars and his friends on fernsehserien.de
- The little polar bear - Nanouk's rescue in the online film database Kinofilm (75 minutes)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Compare the information in the catalog of the German National Library