The Bear That Wasn't

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For the animated short based on this book, see The Bear That Wasn't (film).

The Bear That Wasn't
The Bear That Wasn't (book cover).jpg
Cover of the first edition of the book
AuthorFrank Tashlin
IllustratorFrank Tashlin
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's literature, satire
Publication date
1946

The Bear That Wasn't is a 1946 children's picture book written and illustrated by filmmaker and Looney Tunes alumnus Frank Tashlin.

Themes[]

Though appearing as a children's book, the story is a critical satire towards aspects of society.[1] It revolves around the concept of people believing a repeated idea even though it may not be true. People have a tendency to shift their views if a concept is hammered into them over and over again, like the bear being told he is a "silly man who needs a shave and wears a fur coat". The bear eventually succumbs to this mistaken assumption, believing he is a man even though he had previously known otherwise, just as humans shift their views on a topic because of repetitive information, or because "they all say it is true, therefore it must be". Yet, in the end, the bear, who is cold in winter, reverts to what he really is – a bear – and finds shelter in a cave. This idea covers the concept of people never changing due to outside influence. Though people may change for someone else, when placed in a difficult position, they revert to old habits – just like the bear hibernating. Whether something is fact or fiction, it is what it is and does not change – no matter how many people believe otherwise.

The book also presents a visual satire of corporate culture. Each time the bear appears before a higher-ranking man in the corporation, the offices get progressively more elaborate (for example, progressively more phones, more waste-baskets, more secretaries, all according to rank. The secretaries in particular melodically tell the bear and bosses to come in in the animated version). There are also progressively more chins and less hair on each higher-ranking person as the bear ascends all the way to the president's office.[2]

Adaptations[]

An audio version was issued by MGM Records in 1947, narrated by Keenan Wynn.[3]

In 1967, Tashlin's former Warner Bros. Cartoons colleague Chuck Jones directed an animated short film based on the book for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Influence[]

Tashlin's book inspired Swiss writer Jörg Steiner to create his children's book Der Bär, der ein Bär bleiben wollte (1976; German: "The Bear Who Wanted to Stay a Bear"), which was translated into English and published by Atheneum Books the next year as The Bear Who Wanted to Be a Bear, whose cover states "From an idea by Frank Tashlin".

A Belgian singer has also adopted the moniker "The Bear That Wasn't" for recording and released an album entitled And So It Is Morning Dew in 2010. The German book Der Bär, der ein Bär bleiben wollte on the other hand inspired German singer-songwriter Reinhard Mey to write a song of that name, appearing on his 1978 album Unterwegs.

Book information[]

  • New York, E.P. Dutton & co., inc., 1946 (1st edition), LCCN 46001683
  • New York, Dover Publications [1962,c1946], LCCN 62004936
  • New York : Dover Publications, 1995, ISBN 0-486-28787-4
  • New York : The New York Review Children's Collection, 2010, ISBN 978-1-59017-344-2

Notes[]

References[]

  1. ^ "...political radicals of all stripes can identify with it...", February 27, 2010, npr.org
  2. ^ Facing History and Ourselves
  3. ^ The Bear That Wasn't – 1947 – 78rpm Record-YouTube

External links[]

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