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Post by TRO Admin on Apr 15, 2012 20:28:14 GMT -7
Great thread. We've had a few pictures pop up before but never in a dedicated thread. We have no policy around here on multiple threads anyway - the more the merrier I will have to take a new picture of my collection. Since I'm not very good at getting around to that lately, I will say a little bit about the collection now and post the pic later; My original WoW Teddy came on Christmas Day, 1986. I was a little over 2 years old at the time, but I still remember it. A friend for life really did come to life that day. I bought my Yes! version in 1998 right after I started this site. I was 14 at the time and not everyone in my life was supportive at that time of my continued interest in Teddy. I bought it under the guise of giving it to the little brother or sister who would be born in a few months to my Dad and Stepmom. It ended up staying with me and for awhile I was afraid it was going to be Teddy's last incarnation, so I stocked up on books and tapes. When the BackPack version came out I was relieved - the Yes! version stopped animating not long after I had it, although it still did play the tape perfectly through the speakers. I bought a 2nd WoW bear on Ebay in 2008 to have restored, but it turned out that the seller was being overly cautious in their description to avoid a hassle or didn't actually test it, because it works *almost* perfectly to this day, perfectly enough I won't have it restored for a bit yet. My original - the one I Got for Christmas '86 - stopped talking about 12 years ago, but I don't have the heart to risk it going anywhere with the U.S. Postal Service. Someday I hope to get it restored somewhere in person. Vincent had similar reservations, but ended up getting his back successfully. It made me feel a little bit better, but not enough to ship it off - at least not yet. And then of course the BackPack version. I got it from BackPack's Marketing Executive in 2006 as well as a salary for joining in with the marketing. It's still operating perfectly and I'm glad it replaced the Yes! version. I've also got a Grubby that Mr. & Mrs. Forsse gave me - I've never tried it out and will never ship it off for repair, so I need to get another Grubby. I've also got most of the posables - some still on the cards - and the plush Teddy that was released. Fob and Tweeg puppets, misc. animation cels and artwork, including an original drawing of Grubby that once hung in the AlchemyII offices - and all kinds of other bits and pieces that make up the warmest room in my house Teddy brightens up the place.
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Post by TRO Admin on Apr 15, 2012 15:32:02 GMT -7
Thanks for bumping this! I had forgotten about it. I rarely delete old threads for this reason. Feel free to bump an old thread anytime.
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Post by TRO Admin on Apr 11, 2012 21:33:31 GMT -7
LOL I've been called much worse!
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Post by TRO Admin on Apr 11, 2012 20:13:13 GMT -7
Had I not stumbled into the career I'm in, I would've gone into marketing.... so I'm glad I know how to throw out some bait. It's hardly ever intentional, though.
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Post by TRO Admin on Apr 11, 2012 19:31:59 GMT -7
I doubt any tapes exist for Amber. I don't think things got that far. If they do exist I've never seen any evidence of such. There were several female voice actors associated with Teddy and WoW so there may have been some test footage of some kind though. Who knows.
Yes Amber definitely has a rich storyline. Karen will always be my favorite female in the World of Grundo but I'd have to say based on what I know about Amber she'd be #2.
Someday I will have to see if I can get a copy of the test footage.
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Post by TRO Admin on Apr 11, 2012 16:56:39 GMT -7
Another great topic. Animation Fascination's description is right in it's the basement floor of the story... but there was a lot more too it than that. I don't know how much of it is for public consumption, so I can't really say much more, but there was more to her than just being a caretaker of the animals. As far as why she wasn't ever released - that was two fold. They weren't extremely happy with the design. Amber was almost literally Teddy Ruxpin with a pink wardrobe and eyelashes. And by the time Amber was in development Worlds of Wonder started having some major financial difficulties, which made further design and release of a product they were happy with impossible by the time WoW finally filed for bankruptcy. This wasn't the only casualty of WoW's troubles. There was a few minutes of test footage made for a Teddy Ruxpin theatrical movie that would've taken off from where the TV series ended. I was lucky enough to see it a few years ago, and it would've been great. I wish WoW had been more fiscally responsible. Of course the stock market crash in '87 and junk bonds and the Savings and Loan scandals of the late 80's didn't help matters much. I don't recall ever hearing anything about the story or the background of the character being any part of why she wasn't released. In fact, I think it's an awesome story that I hope someday we will get to see as part of a T.R. big screen production The appearance of the talking toy version of Amber was the only thing people had concerns with. She is much prettier in artwork As with a lot of these questions, I'm going off memory from conversations that happened between 1 and 15 years ago, so don't quote me - but I believe Amber does have a surname. What it is I can't remember. One day soon I'm going to jot down some questions and hopefully do another interview with Mr. Forsse.
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Post by TRO Admin on Apr 9, 2012 14:09:12 GMT -7
Kayla brought up a good point we have discussed before.... Quellor is really the only really bad member of the entire organization. The Understander, while competent, certainly lacks the braun and bark of her boss and everyone else basically fits the Tweeg mold or the moron henchman mold. Imagine if Quellor were taken out of the equation... while true evil would be much less dangerous, the trio would have their hands full dealing with petty criminal schemes as the Drudges of the world ran around without any direction.
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Post by TRO Admin on Apr 9, 2012 14:04:06 GMT -7
I doubt it still exists in any other form than on video now - although it could be harvested easily enough. George Wilkins was the composer of all of it and may still have it stored. George is one I've never been in contact with but hope to someday. The stories wouldn't have been quite the same without his musical influence. Along with Mr. Forsse, they are definitely the Simon & Garfunkle, Lennon & McCartney, etc. of children's entertainment tunes.
A 'Teddy Ruxpin soundtrack' would be a cool release... with bits and pieces of background music and characters talking as well as full fledged songs.
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Post by TRO Admin on Apr 9, 2012 14:00:49 GMT -7
I heard about that awhile back. Pretty awesome... and a great name for a record/hobby/comic type store.
Years ago I thought about creating a MAVO.org internet website, but someone beat me to the domain name.
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Post by TRO Admin on Apr 9, 2012 13:58:28 GMT -7
Wherever it is... I hope they have a good Loss Prevention department with Tweeg around
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Post by TRO Admin on Apr 8, 2012 12:42:22 GMT -7
Great discussion, Cyborg I like MAVO but don't completely agree with the way the TV execs took it. The writers did the best they could with it. As you pointed out, 80's cartoons all had their classic evil bad guy, and that's where Quellor came in. Quellor moreso than MAVO itself was actually the invention of the TV people. MAVO always existed in AlchemyII's plans, but would've been simply a organization full of Tweeg, LB and Eleanor types. It took on a more serious role mainly because of Quellor. There weren't too many other bad guys in the organization that were any good at being Bad. The Gutangs were supposed to be the more serious bad guys, and due to the inclusion of MAVO I think that gets a bit muddled. The one part of MAVO I'm thrilled that was included -as is - is Ickley Bognostraclum. There isn't ever a time when I hear someone in my company talking about rules and regulations that I don't think of Ickley citing paragraph and verse of the MAVO handbook and smile. Not that rules are a bad thing - but people who worry about the completely pointless ones will always be around and Ickley will be a timeless character because of that. So - loved MAVO and most of what it was about in the TV series was close to the original vision, I believe. Quellor was a great character though, a testament to the level of competency of the creative people involved in this storyline. When they were forced to put something in they didn't really want there, they at least made it their own and were as original as possible with the strict formula they were given to abide by. Quellor does exist in the universe now though, and isn't forgotten. I believe he will have some humorous things to do yet as well as villainous ones
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Post by TRO Admin on Apr 7, 2012 16:13:20 GMT -7
Not sure if he voiced Baby Furby or not. In fact I wasn't aware there was one.
He passed away in 2004, slightly before the Teddy license transferred to BackPack. The only new audio that was required was Teddy - Phil Baron came back and did a couple of sessions. No new audio was required from any of the other characters that couldn't be harvested from the '86 Movie or the WoW books. When there are new Teddy stories Mr. Pope will be missed. I personally hope John Stocker returns as Gimmick, but being that he isn't based in LA that is probably unlikely. I remember several years ago hearing they had someone lined up who could do Gimmick's voice if needed.
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Post by TRO Admin on Apr 6, 2012 20:38:46 GMT -7
I have one that hasn't had batteries in it since the 90's. It makes a nice companion to Teddy & the gang on that shelf.
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Post by TRO Admin on Apr 6, 2012 17:15:33 GMT -7
The late Tony Pope - who voiced Gimmick in the WoW Adventure Series ( he was replaced by Canadian Actor John Stocker in the TV Series) was also the voice of Furby.
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Post by TRO Admin on Apr 4, 2012 11:45:19 GMT -7
The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin was syndicated, so many different networks and independent cable channels ran the series. I'd love to see it back on TV, it would give a lot more exposure to Teddy in general. They usually only allow streaming after they feel they've saturated the market with home video.
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