This Millennial-Favorite Children’s Show Is Coming to Disney+

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While the original programming on Disney+ captures a lot of attention, parents shouldn’t sleep on the streaming service as a treasure trove of classic kids’ shows and movies. From Disney animated films to the Pixar library to TV shows that originally aired on Disney Junior, there are hundreds of hours of programming that previous generations of kids—including your generation—have loved watching.

And now Bear in the Big Blue House, a classic beloved by millennials, is coming to Disney+ just in time for their kids to discover its charms. Here’s what you can look forward to when (re)discovering the classic show.

It’s all real—real puppets, that is.

Animation has always been popular for kids’ fare, but it’s become truly dominant with technological advancements in computer-generated imagery. That means that shows like Bear in the Big Blue House that feature live-action, puppet-based storytelling can feel like a breath of fresh air. The all-puppet cast of characters—including the titular Bear, Tutter the mouse, Pip and Pop the otter twins, Ojo the cub, Treelo the lemur, Luna the Moon, and Ray the Sun—is befitting a series that originated at the Jim Henson Company.

There’s a character you never actually see.

Shadow is the narrator and a recurring character in the series, someone that Bear often chats with at the outset of an episode. What makes shadow unique is that she is, well, a shadow. The viewer never sees the actual puppet, just its shadow cast onto the walls of the Big Blue House—a literal shadow puppet.

It told kids they smell good.

Bear welcomes viewers into the Big Blue House at the beginning of each episode, and he always seems to mention that they smell good. Now that might not always be true—kids are stinky, of course—but there’s something wholesome about it, as if Bear is greeting kids on his terms and they’re entering his world.

It’s musically fantastic.

Every parent who’s ever sung along to Raffi in the car knows that children’s music doesn’t have to be bad. Further proof are the songs featured in Bear in the Big Blue House, from the infectiously jazzy theme song to singalong bangers like “The Bear Cha-Cha-Cha,” “Take Time to Smell the Cheese,” and “You Go, Ojo.”

It features real kids.

Episodes in the show’s first three seasons feature appearances by real kids, decked out in their best late ‘90s and early aughts fashion, sharing their thoughts on the theme of the day. It’s always nice for kids to see other kids in the media they watch—and while they might come from a different generation, the kids on the show are very relatable to the kids watching at home.

All 118 episodes of Bear in the Big Blue House will be available to stream on Disney+ on October 19.

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