2020 Paley Archive Elements 3840x1536 Banner2

DISNEY'S GUMMI BEARS/WINNIE THE POOH HOUR: THE ROAD TO URSALIA; RABBIT MARKS THE SPOT/BUBBLE TROUBLE (TV)

Summary

One in this block of two animated programs, one based on gummi bear candies and the other based on the "Winnie-the-Pooh" children's books by A. A. Milne.

In “Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears: The Road to Ursalia,” Zummi tells a story about a massive storm which threatened to flood the legendary Gummi Bear capital of Ursalia. A Gummi Bear wizard managed to cast a spell which ended the storm and saved the city. Zummi possesses the book from which the spell was cast, a great tome containing all manner of magic, history, and stories. Gruffi unsuccessfully attempts to repair a loom, becoming frustrated. He refuses all offers of assistance from the others and tells them to leave him alone. That night he consults the great book and figures out how to effect repairs. However, he accidentally places a lit candle on the book, thus igniting it and waking up everyone else when they smell the smoke. They rush to try to save the book from the flames, Gruffi organizes the others into putting out the fire. They are unable to salvage the book from the conflagration, and Gruffi admits that he is the one responsible for the book’s destruction. Gruffi promises to locate another copy in the library of Ursalia, although the others warn him that the journey would be far too dangerous for him; all previous expeditions to Ursalia have met with failure. He insists upon going alone, and the others give him parting gifts before sending him off.

Gruffi’s craft gets wrecked during his journey and he is forced to flee from a gigantic rock-eating monster. He is saved by the arrival of Cubbi, who decided to ignore his orders and come after him. They both emerge on the surface and continue on foot, doing their best to avoid various hazards and dangerous creatures. Eventually they come to the ancient ruins of Ursalia, hidden in a mountain valley and seemingly uninhabited. Gruffi is suspicious when he finds the front gate open, and soon he and Cubbi are attacked by an unseen assailant throwing smoke bombs. They retreat into a workshop and Gruffi repairs an ancient trap, hoping to ensnare the assailant. They manage to capture an aged and seemingly insane Gummi Bear who claims that he is the last of his kind. He introduces himself as “Sir Thornberry,” the “official caretaker” of the city for the past fifty years, and warns them about the presence of creatures called “Troggles.” He does not completely trust Gruffi or Cubbi, and warns them that a witch named Lady Bane is also searching for the great library or Ursalia for her own evil purposes. She berates her Troggle minions, explaining that her magical Gummi medallion is useless without the proper spells, and that she desires to be the most powerful sorceress in the world. She orders the Troggles to capture Thornberry and learn the library’s location.

The Troggles manage to capture Thornberry, although Gruffi and Cubbi escape their clutches. Lady Bane interrogates Thornberry, but he reveals nothing. Gruffi and Cubbi mount a rescue effort by repairing some of the city’s ancient defense mechanisms. They manage to snatch Thornberry from Lady Bane’s clutches and make off with him, waylaying the pursuing Troggles with various devices. Lady Bane attacks, but Gruffi manages to trick her and send her hurtling out of Ursalia. In return for saving him, Thornberry shows Gruffi and Cubbi the secret entrance to the great library. However, they find that all the volumes contained in the library have succumbed to deterioration over the years and crumble into dust at the slightest touch. Gruffi is crestfallen at his apparent failure, but Thornberry presents him with a bookmark for his efforts. Gruffi and Cubbi leave Ursalia and return to Gummiglen, although Gruiff is ashamed that he failed everyone. However, he soon discovers that placing the bookmark on the ashes of the great book magically reconstitutes it.

In the first “The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” segment, “Rabbit Marks the Spot,” Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Gopher pretend to be pirates, riding on a pirate ship-shaped vehicle through the Hundred-Acre Woods. Rabbit becomes irritated when they dig for “treasure” in his garden and throws them out. In order to get revenge on them, Rabbit buries a chest of “treasure” (actually filled with heavy rocks) nearby and draws up a treasure map to garner their interest. He presents them with the map, claiming that it originates from one of his ancestors. They take the bait and set off in search of the “treasure,” soon locating it. They take it back to Piglet’s house to hide it before forcing the chest open. The chest proves to be difficult to open as they make various efforts to bash open the lock. Rabbit watches from afar and laughs at them, hoping that they have learned their lesson about disturbing his garden. That night, Rabbit has a nightmare featuring stone statue versions of his friends scolding him for his prank. He wakes up and resolves to get the chest back before they can open it, worried that his friends will not forgive him for playing tricks on him. He disguises himself as a pirate ghost and warns that he has come to reclaim his treasure. They accidentally lower Piglet’s drawbridge on top of him, causing him to “vanish.” This makes them even more resolved to open the chest, and Rabbit overhears them planning to give him a share of the treasure, making him feel even guiltier for playing his prank. He decides to move away in order to avoid what he feels is the inevitable scorn of his neighbors. They fetch him in the morning, desiring his presence when they open the treasure chest. Gopher blasts open the chest with dynamite and Rabbit begs for their forgiveness. However, he finds that each of them is pleased with the contents of the chest, as they all needed rocks for some purpose or another. They thank him for his assistance, leaving Rabbit at a loss for words.

In the second “The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” segment, “Bubble Trouble,” the Hundred-Acre Wood experiences a powerful windstorm. The wind blows the entrance to Gopher’s home right off the ground, and he tries to track it down. Meanwhile, Tigger and Pooh play around with Tigger’s bubble wand and decide to try to make longer-lasting bubbles. Together they devise a solution which creates enormous bubbles, including one large enough to completely envelop Pooh. He proves to be unable to escape from it and cannot keep the bubble from uncontrollably bouncing about the Hundred-Acre Wood. Tigger and Piglet try to help Pooh pop the bubble, but it is seemingly impervious to harm. Piglet keeps Pooh in his house until they can find a way to free him from the bubble, although it proves to be rather obstructive in the meantime, accidentally wrecking both Piglet’s and Tigger’s homes. They try to foist him on Rabbit, but he ends up wrecking the interior of his hole, sending him into a fury. In revenge, Rabbit paints over the bubble in order to make it resemble an apple and hoists Pooh up into his apple tree, robbing him of visibility and movement. He is left out in the rain, which washes away the paint, and laments that he is causing so much trouble for his friends. Gopher comes to talk to him and discovers that the entrance to his house was in Pooh’s pocket all along. At Gopher’s instruction, Pooh uses the hole to escape the bubble, thus allowing Gopher to recover it. Everyone is happy that Pooh was able to escape the bubble. Includes commercials.

Details

  • NETWORK: ABC
  • DATE: 8:30 AM
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:58:55
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: B:15294
  • GENRE: Animation
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Animation; Children's programs
  • SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1985-1989; ABC - 1989-1991
  • COMMERCIALS:
    • TV – Commercials – Cabbage Patch Kids dolls
    • TV – Commercials – Chef Boyardee pasta
    • TV – Commercials – Cocoa Puffs breakfast cereal
    • TV – Commercials – Cool Times Barbie dolls
    • TV – Commercials – Dressing Pretty costumes
    • TV – Commercials – Fruit Roll-Ups snacks
    • TV – Commercials – Ghostbusters toys
    • TV – Commercials – Handi-Snacks snacks
    • TV – Commercials – Lifesavers candy
    • TV – Commercials – Lil Miss Makeup dolls
    • TV – Commercials – McDonald’s restaurants
    • TV – Commercials – Nike footwear
    • TV – Commercials – Pop Tarts pastries
    • TV – Commercials – Robocop and the Ultra Police toys
    • TV – Promos – “Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters”

CREDITS

  • For "Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears: The Road to Ursalia"
  • David Block … Producer, Director, Voice Director
  • Rich Fogel … Producer, Writer
  • Mark Seidenberg … Producer, Writer
  • Walt Disney Animation Japan, Inc. … Animation
  • Silversher & Silversher … Theme Music by
  • Thomas Chase … Theme Music by
  • Steve Rucker … Theme Music by
  • Corey Burton … Voice, Gruffi Gummi
  • Walker Edminston … Voice, Sir Thornberry
  • June Foray … Voice, Grammi Gruffi
  • Katie Leigh … Voice, Sunni Gummi
  • Tress MacNeille … Voice, Lady Bane
  • Lorenzo Music … Voice, Tummi Gummi
  • Noelle North … Voice, Cubbi Gummi
  • Paul Winchell … Voice, Zummi Gummi
  • For “The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: Rabbit Marks the Spot/Bubble Trouble"
  • Karl Geurs … Producer, Director, Voice Director
  • Terence Harrison … Director
  • Mark Zaslove … Voice Director, Writer, for “Rabbit Marks the Spot”, Writer, for “Bubble Trouble”
  • Walt Disney Television Animation Australia … Animation
  • Carter Crocker … Writer, for “Rabbit Marks the Spot”, Writer, for “Bubble Trouble”
  • Bruce Talkington … Writer, for “Rabbit Marks the Spot”
  • Lynn Feinerman … Writer, for "Bubble Trouble"
  • Steve Nelson … Music by, Theme Music by
  • Thom Sharp … Theme Music by
  • John Fiedler … Voice, Piglet
  • Ken Sansom … Voice, Rabbit
  • Michael Gough … Voice, Gopher
  • Jim Cummings … Voice, Winnie the Pooh
  • Paul Winchell … Voice, Tigger