Gimmick's Appearances and Teddy Ruxpin Summertime

[Deleted]

While listening to all the stories from the original WoW Teddy I/Teddy II, I've noticed that Gimmick doesn't appear in all of them. He doesn't appear in "The Story of the Faded Fobs", "All About Bears", "Grunge Music", "The Day Teddy Met Grubby", Grundo Springtime Singtime", "Quiet Please", and "Fire Safety with Teddy Ruxpin", in addition, he appears late in "The Do-Along Songbook", "Autumn Adventure", "Grundo Beach Party", "Teddy Ruxpin Christmas", and "Teddy Ruxpin Summertime". Is that because Mr. Forsse couldn't find anything for Gimmick to do in those stories, or was it because Mr. Pope wasn't available at the time those stories were being produced?

Also, going through the artwork for "Teddy Ruxpin Summertime" there are a few images where Teddy, doesn't look like Teddy Ruxpin. In fact, it looks like he was drawn by a Disney artist, instead of the illustrators of the book series.

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[Deleted]

It's because in a few of the book and tapes including gizmos and gadgets,teddy ruxpin summertime,lullabies 2,The Third Crystal,And the safety book and tapes he had a different illustrated. Same with some of the answer box overlays aswell

[kaylathehedgehog]

While we're noticing things, has anyone noticed that, in all of the books, there isn't a scene where Teddy is illustrated with a closed mouth?

Seriously, every illustration I've seen, his mouth is always open.

[Deleted]

I have noticed that. In fact, there's only a few covers where his mouth is closed. The rest of the illustrations, both interior and covers, his mouth is open. Thanks for pointing that out.

[kaylathehedgehog]

It's really annoying because, with the way his mouth is designed, it's very difficult to figure out how to draw it closed. Of course, Teddy in general is difficult to draw.

[retrobear]

I've just been listening to the tapes and I don't think anybody was on Lullabies except Teddy. I wonder why Grubby didn't sing with him.

[Deleted]

Teddy also sings alone on "Lullabies II" and "Quiet Please".

[kaylathehedgehog]

And in 'Quiet Please', he sings in three-part harmony all by his lonesome.

Quite a talent Illiop, that Teddy.

[Deleted]

Lol. Yeah, no kidding. But seriously though, I wonder why Gimmick appeared late in some of the stories, and didn't appear at all in others?

[thelunarfox]

Well, Gimmick is more of a tertiary character. He really only served as a place for Grubby and Teddy to stay, and as a character to introduce them to the world which was helpful for children as a device because they didn't know the world and neither did Teddy at first.

Gimmick also wasn't really represented in the toys the same way as the other characters. He had action figures, but there weren't any puppets of him and no talking toys of him either, right? Plus he was an adult, and an older adult at that. So it feels like there are a lot of reasons to not include him in the adventures unless there's need of a character more knowledgeable than Teddy (usually involving gadgets and inventions that do things Teddy and Grubby couldn't have done on their own, like shrink them down to size.)

(Haha, can you tell I'm a writer? *shoves glasses up nose*)

[Deleted]

About Teddy never being drawn with his mouth closed: I can readily think of a scene where he is drawn that way - it's the illustration in the book for Wooly and the Giant Snowzos, on the page that goes with the part where Teddy remarks that Grubby's knee is in his eye (bonus points if you know which one ). Actually, if I'm remembering it right, there may be a few of these in Wooly and the Giant Snowzos.

About Gimmick appearing late in some stories and not at all in others: Could it be a demographical thing? Gimmick is a character who the target audience probably couldn't identify with as readily as Teddy and Grubby, due to him being older than they are. He's more like a parent or grandparent figure, the way I see it, and his lack of appearances can easily be explained by either one - if looking at him like a parent-figure it's analogous to how parents must go to work and therefore aren't present 24/7, and if looking at him like a grandparent-figure it's analogous to how for many folks you're likely to see your grandparents less than your parents.

EDIT: I was beaten to the point about Gimmick by thelunarfox while I was writing it! I would argue that Gimmick is more of a secondary character, though - especially if we take the TV series into account.

[thelunarfox]

You know, I never actually watched much of the TV series. I have a DVD box somewhere my boyfriend bought for me from Walmart for $5, but I've never actually sat down to watch it.

Gimmick is very much an adult/grandfather type. He's a symbol of home and of security within the stories. I know I always felt comfortable when Gimmick entered the picture. Having him around all the time would have felt a little stifling to me as a kid, though I'm sure I wouldn't have put it that way. It's more of a subconscious thing. It was good to know he was there when they needed him, but that he wasn't always with them. Teddy is sort of a symbol for the child listening, he's your friend, and in a way he's living the adventures the child listening would probably enjoy. So it was a good idea to have Teddy be independent and have that safe, knowledgeable parent in the background.

Haha, I could probably analyze Gimmick's appearances in the books.

[Deleted]

Mar 29, 2012 22:51:48 GMT -7 thelunarfox said:

You know, I never actually watched much of the TV series. I have a DVD box somewhere my boyfriend bought for me from Walmart for $5, but I've never actually sat down to watch it.

Do sit down and watch it some time! It was relatively unique at the time for having an over-arching story across all 65 episodes, and, going on my current re-watching of it, it's held up brilliantly. Some of it, I find funnier now than I did then, especially some of the lines given to MAVO members, and to Tweeg and LB (as with all great all-ages franchises, perhaps you can only appreciate some of the humour as an adult, when you've got more life-experience, though? )

Gimmick is very much an adult/grandfather type. He's a symbol of home and of security within the stories. I know I always felt comfortable when Gimmick entered the picture. Having him around all the time would have felt a little stifling to me as a kid, though I'm sure I wouldn't have put it that way. It's more of a subconscious thing. It was good to know he was there when they needed him, but that he wasn't always with them. Teddy is sort of a symbol for the child listening, he's your friend, and in a way he's living the adventures the child listening would probably enjoy. So it was a good idea to have Teddy be independent and have that safe, knowledgeable parent in the background.

This sums up my thoughts, too.

Also, there's another way in which he resembles the parent/grandparent - he provides transportation, haha...

[Deleted]

The knee that was in Teddy's eye was the third from the left. Though for the television episode, even though Teddy says third from the left, it was actually Grubby's third knee on his right.

I agree, the show has held up nicely over the years, unlike some cartoons from that period of time. I'm on my second viewing of the whole series and it's awesome. And I totally get what you mean, about getting things that MAVO members say or that Tweeg and L.B. say.

That's an interesting point actually. Gimmick is much older than Teddy and Grubby, and is a vehicle for the other two to stay somewhere while they're in Grundo. However, he appears in every episode of the tv series, even if it's just a brief cameo at the beginning of an episode, just like Tweeg. Even though Tweeg is only in a handful of books, he and L.B. appear in all the episodes of the tv series. Maybe it's because Gimmick, Tweeg and L.B. are more crucial to the storyline in the tv show than in the stories from the Adventure Series book and tapes?

[thelunarfox]

It seems that the show has a more cohesive story line than the original books did. Gimmick, Tweeg and L.B. most likely were more crucial in the show. The books and tapes were usually pretty short and very simple while the show episodes probably had to be a more complex.

So I guess my own question is why the tapes had to be more simple than the show? I loved the songs on The Airship, but when I was a kid, I never totally liked the story, haha. (Except the part where Leota shows up. That part is awesome and is still awesome to hear as an adult.) But I remember watching the first episodes of the cartoon and the live action where they have the medallion and a mystery. I always wanted that for the tapes too.

Maybe it was simpler because the focus is meant to be on Teddy and Grubby as they tell the story? Maybe because along with all the puppets and Teddy and Grubby telling the story, the expectation was that a kid would start playing along? It feels like there was a lot of room left in the tapes with their simplicity.