Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears
Adventures of the Gummi Bears is an American animated television series that first aired in the United States from 1985 to 1991. The series was the first animated production by Walt Disney Animation Television, and loosely inspired by the gummy bear candies; Disney CEO Michael Eisner was struck with inspiration for the show when his son requested the candies one day. The series premiered on NBC on September 14, 1985, and aired there for four seasons. The series moved to ABC for one season from 1989 to 1990, and concluded on September 6, 1991 as part of the Disney Afternoon television syndication package.
Of the series' 65 shows, 30 consisted of two 11-minute cartoons, thereby bringing the series total to 95 distinct episodes overall. The show is well-remembered for its theme music, written by Michael and Patty Silversher; and for the "gummiberry juice", a type of magic potion granting the bears the ability to bounce away from their foes. The theme song was performed by Joseph Williams.
The series was later rebroadcast on the syndicated Disney Afternoon block, and rerun on the Disney Afternoon through the summer of 1991. In later years, it was shown on The Disney Channel, and later on Toon Disney, with its most recent televised airing occurring on December 28, 2001. Seasons 1 to 3 of the series were released on DVD on November 14, 2006. On November 12, 2019, the series was released on Disney+.
Characters
Gummi Bears are anthropomorphic bears who have a long and rich history, and are relatively unknown to the humans of the world who believe that they are legends and fairy tales. In series continuity, it is said that in ancient times, the Great Gummis and humans lived peacefully together side by side, but for reasons left undetailed, the Great Gummis were forced to flee and sail across the sea to find a new home. The ancient Great Gummis left behind small, scattered populations of bears to watch over the Gummi cities and warrens, such as the main group of the series, the Gummi-Glen Gummis, to await the time when humans and Gummis could peacefully co-exist so they could then summon the Great Gummis to return home.Gummi-Glen
The Gummi-Glen Gummis are a group of Gummis who live in a hollow tree known as Gummi Glen that is the base for a vast complex of tunnels and rooms. They harvest the Gummiberries that grow wild around them in the forest, and produce a powerful juice known as Gummiberry Juice. They hide from humans, with the exception of friends Cavin, a page, and Princess Calla. It is never explained how they are related to each other, although the episode "Up, Up, and Away" suggests that they are the last remaining ones in Gummi-Glen, and at risk of extinction.- Zummi Gummi - Zummi is an aged bear who is the Gummi-Glen Gummis' leader, although he often defers to the more practical Grammi and Gruffi. He is the "Keeper of Gummi Wisdom" and later the holder of the Gummi-Medallion which he uses to read his magic book to become the group's magician. He is forgetful and clumsy, mis-speaking often with spoonerisms, and his spells tend to back-fire. He also has a fear of heights.
- Gruffi Gummi - Gruffi is an old-fashioned bear who prefers to do things "the Gummi way." An extremely skilled craftsman and mechanic, he fixes the old Gummi technology and trap doors, as well as building traps around the Glen to deal with humans and ogres. Gruffi is a perfectionist, which can be his undoing at times. However, at other times, he is respected as the voice of stability and practical solutions when the other Gummis fall into despair.
- Grammi Gummi - Grammi is another old bear who is the matriarch of Gummi-Glen. She acts as the group's mother, who cooks, cleans, and is the Gummi who prepares the Gummiberry Juice. She holds the secret recipe. She has an intense rivalry with Gruffi Gummi, and tends to bicker with him. Her cooking is disliked by most of the others, especially Gruffi.
- Tummi Gummi - Tummi is an overweight Gummi, stated to be a little younger than Gusto, who enjoys a good meal, and would much rather be eating the Gummiberries than picking them. Of all the Gummi cubs in Gummi Glen, Tummi is the oldest. He has a rather relaxed and easygoing personality, which often gets him caught up in Cubbi's schemes. However and in dangerous situations, Tummi has shown exceptional bravery, and throughout the series, he demonstrates a natural talent as a sailor, gardener, artist and craftsman.
- Sunni Gummi - Sunni is a preteen Gummi, who dreams about becoming a princess just like her best friend, the human Princess Calla. Sunni is the most curious about human culture and human fashion, and least concerned with Gummi history. She is the second oldest of the kid Gummis, behind only Tummi Gummi. Later in the series, she is shown to have a crush on Gusto, and becomes close friends with Buddy.
- Cubbi Gummi - Cubbi is the youngest Gummi-Glen Gummi, and dreams of becoming a great Gummi knight. He is impetuous and gets distracted by anything mysterious or exciting, but his open-mindedness oftentimes enables him to find simple solutions to sticky problems. He sometimes dons a mask and becomes a vigilante known as the Crimson Avenger. He is best friends with the human Cavin, and he was the first Gummi that Cavin encountered.
- Augustus "Gusto" Gummi - Gusto is an artistic, individualist Gummi who was stranded on a deserted island for twelve years with his best friend Artie Deco, a wise-talking toucan. Tummi and Gruffi were shipwrecked on Gusto's island, just as a volcano was due to erupt and cause the island to sink into the sea. The three bears worked together and brought Gusto home with them to Gummi Glen during season 2. Gruffi tends to argue with Gusto for his outside-the-box thinking, and how much influence he is on Cubbi and Sunni. Gusto lives by himself in a makeshift apartment behind a waterfall, but lives in Gummi Glen when the weather is too harsh.
- Chummi Gummi - Chummi is an adventurous Gummi who was the youngest member of his group and therefore last surviving Gummi at Gummerset. Cubbi and Cavin stumbled across an unconscious Chummi and his airship which had been brought down by Duke Igthorn's ogres after he saw it fly over his castle in his latest idea to use the airship to capture Dunwyn castle. Chummi was initially excited when he regained consciousness in Gummi Glen as he was under the impression that it housed hundreds of other Gummis. After repairing his airship, he offered to take the Gummi Glen Gummis with him when he left to continue his search for the Great Gummis. Although initially ecstatic and eager to set off, after some thought, the Gummi Glen Gummis decided that they could not abandon their duty to look after Gummi Glen until it was safe for the return of the Great Gummis. After thwarting Igthorn's plot, Cubbi was the last to change his mind and actually set off with Chummi before asking to be let off at the last moment.
Ursalia
- Sir Thornberry Sir Thornberry is an old Gummi bear knight. He has been the caretaker for Ursalia for 50 years when we meet him. He is brave and honorable, but also somewhat forgetful and clumsy.
- Ursa - Ursa is the female leader of the Barbic Gummis. She leads the Barbics to Ursalia in search of an "Ultimate Weapon" that will let the Barbics wipe out the human race, but are eventually convinced to live peacefully in Ursalia. She harbors the most animosity towards humans, but does learn to accept Cavin after he and Buddi save her, Gruffi and Sir Thornberry in the Test of Bearhood.
- Gritty - Gritty is Ursa's lieutenant and famous as the Barbics' toughest warrior. Cubbi idolizes him at first, but has to work hard to overcome the latter's antipathy toward humans.
- Buddy - Buddy is a teenaged member of the Barbics, about Sunni's age; more gentle and artistic than the rest of his tribe, he enjoys playing the flute.
- Grubbi - Grubbi is the head chef of the Barbics. He bonds with Grammi after she compliments his cooking.
Inhabitants of Castle Dunwyn
- Cavin - A 12-year-old boy, one of the main human characters in the series, and one of the few who believe that Gummi Bears exist, is the page and squire of Sir Tuxford, of King Gregor's court. Cavin befriends the Gummi Bears in the first episode and shares the same ambition as Cubbi - to become a knight and why he and Cubbi are best friends. Cavin also had a Gummi medallion, given to him by his grandfather, that opened the Great Book of Gummi, the source of all Gummi Bear wisdom. The young squire has a crush on Princess Calla, which is requited.
- Princess Calla - Princess Calla is the daughter of King Gregor, ruler of Dunwyn and one of the main human characters. She is an adventurous character of considerable talents, and she often drags the dumbstruck Cavin into story situations. She also befriended the Gummi Bears in due time and is close friends with Sunni. She hates the pomp and circumstance that comes with being royalty while wishing to be more involved in the governance and defense of the realm. Consequently, she tends to be somewhat rebellious at times, often spurning her father's admonishment that "a princess must set an example for her people". However, that does not prevent her from exerting her authority as a princess whenever it suits her purpose. She even proved that she needs no protection, as she had surreptitiously trained herself in the use of weapons.
- King Gregor - King Gregor is the ruler of a fictionalized English kingdom named Dunwyn. He is a benevolent, brave ruler and protects his people from villains like Duke Igthorn with the help of Sir Tuxford and his knights. On occasion he has personally commanded knights in combat when leading a charge against ogres. Gregor is unaware of the Gummi Bears' existence or involvement in saving his kingdom many times.. His pride and joy is his daughter, Calla, which later includes considerable respect of her previously hidden fighting prowess which he saw first hand when they inadvertently challenged each other in disguise during a test.
- Sir Tuxford - Sir Tuxford is the highest ranking knight in King Gregor's court and his trusted friend. He is an older, jolly character, always ready for a fight but perhaps past his prime. Sir Tuxford leads the knights of Castle Dunwyn and is the main force that keeps Duke Igthorn and his ogres away. His catchphrase is often "I'm sure I don't know, Sire" when questioned by King Gregor of the present situation. Despite his age and his appearance, Sir Tuxford has apprehended many troublemakers in Dunwyn and done battle with Igthorn and his ogres.
- Unwin - A knight squire at Dunwyn. A big bully, loud-mouth, and in reality a coward, who constantly picks on Cavin. He finally gets his dues when Princess Calla bests him at a tournament for the appointment of the princess' royal protector.
- Sir Gawain - Cavin's grandfather and retired knight, who also originally found the Gummi Medallion which Cavin had been wearing until he gave it to the Gummi bears. When Gawain was about Cavin's age, a local Gummi bear that owned the medallion practically bowled him over in the forest while bouncing along, and lost the medallion, which Gawain found and retrieved. He wore the medallion in his service as a knight, and in his later years passed it on to Cavin. He is highly idealistic and loves to tell moral fables of the ancient Gummis on every suitable occasion. He has met the Bears of Gummi Glen, but he is unaware that Cavin knows them as well. Having been told by Cavin that he had lost the Gummi medallion, when Sir Gawain saw that Zummi was now wearing it, he was glad it was in the right hands. Most likely named for the knight of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend, though it is possible that he is meant to be the same character.
- Trina - A blind peasant shepherdess who lives in the Dunwyn region with her sheepdog Watcher and befriends Tummi after he hides in her cottage when on the run from the ogres. She shares a common bond with Tummi in that both are chubby due to their love of food and she wishes to cook for Tummi, who is more than happy to accept. She sets traps to throw Duke Igthorn off the track, teaching Tummi that "disabled does not mean unable", and invites him to come visit her whenever he wishes.
- Doctor Dexter - A pharmacist who feels he is not owning up to his family's proud reputation of medicine. Tummi uses Gummiberry juice in one of his medicines, which results in Dunywn citizens becoming super strong, but attracts Igthorn as well. Doctor Dexter later realizes his concoction can serve as a super fertilizer and thus achieves success after all.
- Sir Victor Igthorn - He is Duke Igthorn's brother and a famous paladin in the realm of Dunwyn. Ashamed of his family's betrayal, he has taken the path of justice to atone for their sins. Fortunately, when Victor eventually confessed to stop his brother's blackmailing, he was relieved to learn that at least the Dunwinians do not hold his family relations against him. Sir Victor has become Cavin's idol and friend, but he is unaware of the Gummi Bears' existence. He can take any insult to himself, but not to his steed Destiny, and has the ability to make ladies swoon when he kisses their hands.
Villains
- Duke Sigmund Igthorn - The evil, irascible, vengeful and power-crazed ruler of Castle Drekmore is the main villain of the series. He is also the nemesis of the Gummi Bears. He hunts the Gummi Bears with the aid of his ogre army to get in possession of the Gummiberry juice and their other secrets. His constant attempts to conquer Castle Dunwyn fail typically due to the self-overestimation of his tactical skills, the bearishness of his ogres and the intervention of the Gummi Bears. Once the greatest knight of Dunwyn, he was exiled after conspiring against King Gregor and found refuge in Castle Drekmore.
- * Toadwart, aka Toadie, Corey Burton - The smallest ogre in Drekmore, and Igthorn's illeistic lieutenant. He seems to genuinely like his "Dukie" and, as his name suggests, is a fawning and enduring character who bears most of the bullying and punishment brought upon him by the Duke and his fellow ogres. He is the smartest of his kin, who do respect his ability to read and write. He has a cousin named Tadpole, who is just as diminutive, but more intelligent and bossier. Although Toadwart is largely an enemy, there are rare occasions where he learns the values the Gummis stand for, such as one time when he decides to impersonate the Crimson Avenger and gets taught a serious lesson about personal honor and the means of service to others.
- * Ogres - Duke Igthorn's shock troops. Big and strong, but also extremely naive and clumsy. Their bumbling incompetence often jeopardizes their duke's "ingenious" plans, which constantly drives him insane and brings him to the verge of despair. They are organized in way of military rank, and constantly call Igthorn "Dukie", which he loathes.
- ** Zook and Gad - Zook and Gad are Igthorn's ogre bodyguards. Their names are taken from "Gadzook!". Gad and Zook hold the rank of corporal and private, respectively. Once, when all the ogres were turned into babies for a while, Zook was called "Snookums" by Grammi.
- ** Umma - This was originally Cavin in disguise, but in a later episode Cubbi was captured by an ogre who also has that name.
- Lady Bane - The main evil witch of the series. She is in possession of a Gummi Medallion much like Zummi's, and craves any power she can get her hands on for her bid for power. She is served by her jackal-like Troggles and on occasion by Duke Igthorn, whose crush on her she finds very annoying, although she did agree to a dinner date with Igthorn if she figured it would forge an alliance to destroy the Gummis. She is also vain, at one point in addition to expressing anger that she was foiled by the Gummis, that she chipped one of her nails as well. In one episode, it was discovered that she is extremely old, and uses her magic to "de-age" herself into an attractive dark-haired sorceress by stealing Sunni's youth until the other Gummis manage to reverse it. The creators of the television program took inspiration for the character from the historical figure of Lucrezia Borgia.
- Troggles – the servants of Lady Bane. A bunch of jackals dressing like royal guards. They are quite incompetent and stupid, and like the ogres they are incapable of carry out Lady Bane´s plans. They are a little smarter than the ogres and have the habit of repeating words.
- The Trolls- A band of green-skinned and diminutive thieves trying to do their best to better their positions at the expense of other people. They are very skilled in kitbashing and operating mechanical devices. They are eventually captured by King Gregor's knights and remanded to the dungeon in Dunwyn Castle.
- Carpies - A race of vulture-like creatures living on the spire-like Carpy Mountain. They capture Sunni twice – first for her singing talent, then to become their King.
- * Carpy King - A bullying Carpie who rules the Carpies while striking fear in them. After the Gummi Bears overthrew the Carpy King, he has been succeeded by Bobo the Dodo.
- Flint Shrubwood - A wandering bounty hunter in the tradition of Sergeio Leone's "Man With No Name". He is hired by Duke Igthorn in the episode, "For a Few Sovereigns More" to catch a Gummi Bear for the promised price of 20 gold sovereigns. Shrubwood resembles Clint Eastwood in appearance, voice, and mannerisms. He is armed with a pair of boomerang launchers and carries a miniature flute on which he plays a 4-note musical cue as he travels.
- Zorlok - An evil wizard prisonned in a cave by the ancient gummi bears long time ago. He wants the gummi medallion to escape the cave whrere he lives with his monstruous minion Grot. He has a powerful book of magic that helps him also.
- * Grot - a inofensive rat of the cave where Zorlok was locked. She was transformed into a giant monster by Zorlok´s magic to be his minion. She is not very smart but she follows Zorlok's orders well
Other characters
- King Jean-Claude - The father of Princess Marie and the ruler of a fictionalized French kingdom allied to Dunwyn. His kingdom was once besieged by the Marquis de Bouillabaisse in "May the Best Princess Win."
- Princess Marie - The daughter of King Jean-Claude. Originally a spoiled brat, she considered Calla a rival and picked a fight with her on every occasion. However, after both their lives are saved by the Gummi Bears, she mellows considerably and becomes one of Calla's best friends.
- Prince Yen-Moon - A prince from the Far East who travels to Dunwyn in search of help from the Gummies in defending his kingdom from a lethal dragon as seen in "The Magnificent Seven Gummies." Using an ancient Gummi Buddha-like statue, the Gummies are able to defeat the dragon by using it as a teleporting device.
Episodes
Home media
VHS
International releases
Several VHS cassettes of the series were released internationally. Of those, eight cassettes containing 32 episodes are listed below. The first four cassettes, which contain 20 episodes, were released in English in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. These four cassettes were also released in some non-English-speaking countries. The other four cassettes, as well as the ones not listed below, were released exclusively in non-English-speaking countries : Welcome to Gummiglen!"Zummi Makes it Hot"
"The Sinister Sculptor"
"Someday My Prints Will Come"
"Can I Keep Him?"
"Night of the Gargoyle"
"Loopy, Go Home"
"A-Hunting We Will Go"
"The Secret of the Juice"
"Duel of the Wizards"
"What You See is Me"
"Bubble Trouble"
"Toadie's Wild Ride"
"Gummi in a Strange Land"
"The Oracle"
"When You Wish Upon a Stone"
"A Gummi by Any Other Name"
"You Snooze, You Loose"
"Over the River and Through the Trolls"
"Sweet and Sour Gruffi"
"Duel of the Wizards"
"What You See is Me"
"Faster Than a Speeding Tummi"
"Little Bears Lost"
"Guess Who's Gumming to Dinner?"
DVD releases
On November 14, 2006, Walt Disney Home Entertainment released Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears: Volume 1 on DVD in Region 1. The 3-disc set features seasons 1 to 3 and does not contain any bonus features, save for subtitles for the hearing impaired.| DVD name | Ep# | Release date |
| Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears: Volume 1 | 47 | November 14, 2006 |
To date, the series has never officially been released on DVD in the UK. However, since November 2016 the show has been available on the UK Disney streaming site DisneyLife.
In Australia, Disney released nine volumes, which have now long been discontinued. They are all in complete storyline production order, but the first volume starts from episode 19 in series 2. Episodes 1-18 have not been released on DVD in Australia and are only available on the USA Region 1 collection. However, the Region 4 Australian DVDs do finish off the series and go right up to episode 65 of the series' final two-part double episode adventure.
Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears was one of the few Disney Afternoon shows that did not get a Capcom-created Nintendo game based on it.
Video on demand
On November 12, 2019, the series became available to stream on Disney+.Media adaptations
Comic strip
Gummi Bears was adapted into a daily newspaper comic, which ran from September 1, 1986 to April 1, 1989. The strip was written by Lee Nordling and illustrated by Rick Hoover.Legacy
Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears was Disney's first major serialized animated television series, and is often credited by animators and animation historians as having helped jump start the television animation boom of the late 1980s and 1990s. Consequently, it also became the forerunner to Disney's famous Disney Afternoon timeslot, which gave way to other famous serialized Disney television series, such as Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers and Gargoyles. Although many of these subsequently-created shows exceeded Gummi Bears in budget and length, the show is often credited as a sort of prototype for all of the animation which followed it.The show was so successful in the United Kingdom that the episodes "A New Beginning" and "Faster Than a Speeding Tummi" were released as theatrical featurettes there in 1986 and 1987, alongside The Great Mouse Detective and a re-release of Disney's Pinocchio.
Other appearances of Gummi Bears in other media included one appearance of Gruffi Gummi starring in a D-TV music video of the Elvis Presley song "Teddy Bear" in 1986.
The show's popularity also led to a re-theming of Disneyland's Motor Boat Cruise, along with a small part of Disneyland that became known as "Disney Afternoon Avenue." The Motor Boat Cruise became the "Motor Boat Cruise to Gummi Glen" and plywood characters from the show made Gummiberry Juice along the waterway. The Gummi Bears have also been featured as meetable characters who greet guests in Disney theme parks.
Cameos
- ALF : In the TV Movie "Alf Loves a Mystery", Gummi Bears clips are interspersed.
- Darkwing Duck : In the episode "Life, the Negaverse and Everything", Zummi Gummi appears as a doll.
- Robot Chicken : In the episode "In Bed Surrounded by Loved Ones", the Gummi Bears hold an intervention for Tummi's gummiberry juice addiction, though are disturbed when it is revealed that he is attracted to Sunni, which disgusts the other Gummi Bears but Tummi counters by pointing out none of them are related which the other Gummi Bears save for Zummi and Tummi were aware of.
- The Goldbergs : In the episode "Have a Summer", Adam watches Gummi Bears on a TV.
- DuckTales : In the episode "From the Confidential Case Files of Agent 22!", the Gummi Bears make a cameo while gummiberry juice factors into the episode's plot.