18 Facts About Cartoon Bears (Because Bears!)

You may not know this, even if you’re a diehard animation fan, but there have been bears in cartoons since the 1930s, and maybe even before then. There is just something about a bear in a cartoon. 

Bears, by comparison to most other creatures, are much simpler to draw in cartoon form if you really think about it. At its most basic, early animators could just draw a giant circle torso with four ovals for legs along with two circle ears and a circle head to call it a day. After all, nothing was expected much from early animators.

But over nearly 100 years, there have been bears in our cartoons, either starring in their own shows or guesting in others. Either way, they’re smarter than the average, real life bear, that’s for sure. We mean, real bears in the wild barely think about neckties, much less wear them. Anyway, here are some facts about your favorite animated ursines.