Teddy Lupin

Mentioned very briefly in Hypnosis Doesn't Work Like That! (chapter 397), Teddy Lupin is a cartoon character from the late '80s and early '90s. Something Vicky Bracewell remembers from her first childhood, and has a nostalgic affection for.

The title character is a Canadian teddy bear who was brought to life by the wizard Merlin before he retired, in order to fight the evils of selfishness. He travels around Europe in a toy car, and is mostly ignored by adults. He is a 'phantom thief', but he more often gives things than taking them away. He might move things around in some millionaire's private art gallery, making them look at their collection again and maybe realise that it wasn't all about the money when they started. He's sometimes a kind of robin hood character, but only steals stuff back from thieves; for him to actually take something without leaving a replacement, it has to be both something they stole anyway, and the 'owner' has to be a truly evil character.

When it was popular, there were a load of dolls in different outfits for all the main characters, as well as a comic book and sticker albums (which many people would be surprised to realise are still going).

Reboot

Mentioned again in Over Protected; there's been a reboot, which caused some clips of the original show to go viral online. This was mainly people trying to recreate the segments shown in the new trailers using the original footage.

The new version is a mix of CGI and live action. More emotional scenes are played by real actors with dolls; which are used directly (aside from painting out the crew members operating the dolls). As the content moves to more fantastic elements, the live action is rotoscoped, before being gradually replaced with CGI. When Teddy Lupin poses dramatically, or when his facial expressions are important, the doll is replaced by a rotoscope illustration which can then be edited. But when the toys get into action sequences, there is a slow progression to full CGI. When the toys are in a real location and interacting with actual children, they will usually be as real as could easily be achieved, with the humans remaining more 'real'.

The toys this time are a lot more technologically advanced. It's mentioned that in the original, there was a teddy bear with a tape player inside, and if you pressed play at the time instructed by the TV show, he would appear to interact with the onscreen characters. Now, there is some more sophisticated technology. Programming may be encoded as near-ultrasound in the show's audio track; or for compatible smart TVs it can be transmitted to the toys over bluetooth or something similar. Depending on your hardware, a transmitter may be needed which plugs into the TV; although kids wouldn't need to know about this. This means that the toys can talk back to the TV; some of them may even have limited automatic motion (such as blinking or turning their heads), and interact with kids. Depending on setup, they may also act as a TV remote, skipping to alternate chapters depending on the kids' responses or which toys are present; so a short sequence where the onscreen characters address the toys the kids are holding might only appear if the toys are present. The degree of interactivity involved varies from episode to episode; based both on the evolution of the technology in the second wave of dolls, and the budget. (The initial 3 cartoons included just about all the bells and whistles, being seen as a showcase for the gimmick and wanting to give parents the best possible impression)

Alice has the dolls for Teddy and Delilah, although others are available. In one episode, the villain is Baron Dunkelschwarz. In another, Teddy is attempting to steal back a portrait of Lady Voleuse. It's confirmed that there is magic in the world of the show (a magic key), and that one common interactive element involves onscreen characters searching for an object which is visible to the viewer. If a kid shouts out the correct location, the toys will praise them (not clear how; maybe it's necessary to point at the object with the doll's hand, or they have simple voice recognition listening for certain words). It's possible that with a fancier smart TV or with the dongle plugged in, this will skip some of the search scene and skip to the character onscreen thanking the audience.

Opening Song

(written by chatGPT; I'm surprised it did so well)

• (Verse 1)
• Oh, Teddy Lupin, our furry friend,
• A teddy bear with powers to defend.
• Merlin's magic brought him to life,
• Fighting greed, causing art to thrive.
• (Chorus)
• Teddy Lupin, Teddy Lupin,
• Brave and cuddly, our hero within.
• With super strength and a heart so pure,
• He'll save the world, that's for sure.
• (Verse 2)
• From Canada's forests to distant lands,
• Teddy Lupin takes his valiant stand.
• Foiling villains with a fluffy might,
• Protecting art in the day and night.
• (Bridge)
• With every adventure, Teddy will find,
• The devils of greed he leaves behind.
• He'll teach us all to value what's true,
• In the hearts of children, old and new.
• (Chorus)
• Teddy Lupin, Teddy Lupin,
• Brave and cuddly, our hero within.
• With super strength and a heart so pure,
• He'll save the world, that's for sure.
• (Tagline)
• So grab your teddy, hold it tight,
• Together we'll fight for what's right.
• For Teddy Lupin, our champion dear,
• The power of love will conquer fear.