Mis Uszatek
Encyclopedia
Miś Uszatek is a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 character from the stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...

-animated TV series of the same name. He was created jointly by Polish writer Czesław Janczarski and cartoonist Zbigniew Rychlicki.
Miś Uszatek's first appearance was in a Polish comic magazine for children, "Miś", on 6 March 1957. Later, he was the main character of several children's books, which were translated into many languages. However, it became very popular in 1975, when Łódź' Animated Forms Studio (Studio Malych Form Filmowych), Se-ma-for
Se-ma-for
Se-ma-for is a Polish animation studio. Founded in Łódź, Poland, in 1947, it has created many animated cartoons and stop motion puppet animations, for young and mature audiences...

, created a series of cartoons for the Polish TV
Telewizja Polska
Telewizja Polska Spółka Akcyjna is Poland's public broadcasting corporation...

 network, featuring actor Mieczysław Czechowicz, who voiced the characters. In all-time Polish ranks of animated programs, it usually comes second only to Bolek i Lolek.

Miś Uszatek and his friends - Prosiaczek (Piglet), Króliczki (Little Rabbits) and Zajączek (Little Hare), as well as Kruczek the Puppy - were loved by pre-teen kids. At the same time, Uszatek, a teddy bear, played the role of a friend from kindergarten. He was also liked by parents, as he would always go to bed at appropriate hour, singing the goodnight song:
Altogether, Se-ma-for created 104 episodes of the cartoon; the last one was made in 1987. In the 1960s, two theatrical movies about the friendly bear were made.
Also, in the fall of 2007, the Se-ma-for studio announced that it was planning to make more episodes, but later these plans changed in favor of a possible full-length movie, to be created with help from the Japanese company Eden Entertainment. As of 2008, Mis Uszatek airs on Polish TV every Thursday.

Miś Uszatek Abroad

The cartoon is also popular in other countries; it is one of the best-selling exports of Polish television. Altogether, Polish TV sold it to 22 countries, including Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

 and African nations. In Finland it is known as Nalle Luppakorva, and in Slovenia as Medvedek Uhec; both nations still play it on a regular basis. Also, in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 it is known as Füles Mackó, in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...

 (Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

) as Les històries de l'osset Faluc, in Macedonia as Мечето Ушко (Mecheto Ushko), in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 as Teddy Hangoor and in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 as Oyasumi Kuma-chan. In Finland, it was so popular that dolls featuring the series' characters were once stolen from an exhibition.
In July 2007, local authorities in Łódź decided to construct a fountain dedicated to Mis Uszatek, to be placed along Łódź's main street, Piotrkowska.

In June 2010, Mennica Polska S.A.
Polish Mint
The Polish Mint is a private company which is the only body permitted to manufacture coins and banknotes in Poland. It is located in Warsaw...

 on behalf of government of Niue
Niue
Niue , is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean. It is commonly known as the "Rock of Polynesia", and inhabitants of the island call it "the Rock" for short. Niue is northeast of New Zealand in a triangle between Tonga to the southwest, the Samoas to the northwest, and the Cook Islands to...

had minted 8000 silver 1 dollar coins

External links

Virtual museum of Polish cartoons, with photos of Uszatek and his friends MIŚ USZATEK on nostalgia.pl Misuszatek.pl Mis Uszatek's official Japanese page O Ursinho Teddy
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