I uploaded an editable document in our Google Drive folder, and asked our writers to fill in with their characters’ information, so that it will be very clear for me to design the character design pages.
Character Design Pages Info:
I have filled some of the questions, but these are just my thoughts, please feel free to keep it or delete it!
These descriptions will be my reference for the final design of Character Pages in the Pitch Bible, so please make sure things written here will not change too much comparing to the final text, and if you want to add clothing to your character, please write it down as well. (* this document is just for reference, not for the final text that will be put into the Pitch Bible)
Thank you!!!
What kind of facial expressions you would like your characters to have? – which can directly show his/ her characteristics
Set characters in different scenes/ places in the map: What place you want your character to be in? What is he/ she doing there?
Panzer:
1: Grumpy, Impatient,
2: leaning against a tree rolling her eyes at one of the other bears – arms crossed and holding her hat in one of her hands.
Alternative: Floating on her back in the lake as she tries to cool off. I did wonder if this might be too much like a scene from Jungle book with baloo. If people think that is the case then stick with the previous suggestion
Recky:
I’ve reversed 1 and 2, action first.
-1: In a tree, reaching for an apple precariously, while her bag is about to slip out off her shoulders and fall on the ground. (bag already filled with apples, apples going to fall out)
2. Focused on the food. Maybe tongue sticking out. Happy, bouncy, friendly. Having fun. You would like to get to know her.
Kobi:
-1: Relaxing, Cozy, daydreaming
-2: Chilling by the lake surrounded by bamboo, laid back like it’s his couch and eating some bamboo.
Silo: badge needs to be all silver
-1: Confident, Energetic
-2: Standing on one leg, balancing precariously on some rocks, against a tree with his arm deep in a hole in the tree trunk. Possibly tongue sticking out in concentration.
Commander Yardstick: with a “swagger stick”
-1: Commanding, Purposeful
-2: Giving speech while standing on a beaver dam or a beaver lodge
Jennifer:
-1: Royal, Elegant
-2: She is on a small mound of earth, flapping her stubby wings, head and beak up in the air, pretty and proud.
-2: Sitting cross-legged, on a kind of throne, holding a blueprint in one hand and reading it, whilst with the other hand raised and clicking its fingers, as if to get the attention of some servant.
Four impetuous bears (and their exasperated parrot) have their idyllic world turned upside down when beavers start to encroach on their land. Numerous scrapes ensue, but could there be a common enemy behind it all…
Duration
Web series of six 10 minute episodes. Possible broadcasters- Youtube, Vimeo, etc.
Target Audience
Children, young teenagers
Characters
Panzer
Panzer is sarcastic, impatient and often a little grumpy. She is occasionally aggressive but not quite on the edge but too far from it. Due to her size and physical power she is very useful in ways that the others might not necessarily be. She often looks to spend times in the mountains where the atmosphere is more suited to her and when cold weather comes to her home she is far happier than she usually is. She is closest to Jennifer who share a mother-daughter like relationship.
Recky
Recky is led primarily by her stomach. She’s bouncy, and can always pick the group up if something unfortunate has befallen them. If she can be persuaded that there is some gourmet food in the offing, or that her friends are in trouble, danger is not an obstacle: although this might be described as being a bit naive. Silo likes to exploit this for example, finding her the easiest to manipulate. Kobi she likes to make Bamboo dishes for, and Panzer she desperately wants to cheer up. She wishes Jennifer would stop trying to mother her.
Kobi
Kobi is definitely the most relaxed of the group. His favourite activity is eating bamboo by The Bluest Blue Lake but to avoid conflict with his bear-friends he often just tags along, a step behind Recky and Panzer, two steps behind Silo. An intelligent mind, he is often the one to come up with detailed strategies. He is understanding and patient which turns him into a bit of a cool older brother and confidant to the other three bears.
Silo
Silo is impetuous, enthusiastic and full of self belief. This makes him think he is the leader of the group. He is not adverse to using flattery and bribery to get the others to join him in an adventure. Conversely, he can be easily persuaded himself, especially if there is some “treasure” involved. Silo’s best friend is his“big brother” Kobi though he frequently argues with Panzer.
Jennifer
Jennifer is the mother figure of the group. She tries to keep them out of danger, and make them see reason, but it’s a little hard when she can’t fly and they’re teenage bears. Intelligent, kind, patient, understanding, Jennifer tries to be even handed, and cares deeply about all of her bears, even Kobi who tries to challenge her authority. However, she can’t deny her favourite is Panzer. Slow to anger, she would rather give her bears the silent treatment rather than shout at them. Jennifer is much older than the bears and knows something of the outside world. She knows both the Beavers and the Stoats from past times. She respects Commander Yardstick but despises Mr Pegley.
Commander Yardstick
Commander Yardstick is leader of the Beaver Colony and she runs it like a military unit. She is demanding, and expects nothing but the best from her Beavers. She see herself as firm but fair. She is respectful of Jennifer’s views but feels that she doesn’t really need to negotiate. She has the numbers and the needs of her colony take precedence as Yardstick seeks to expand into Bearland to escape the ever increasing threat of Stoats.
Mr. Pegly
Mr. Pegley is a developer. He could never listen to anyone protesting him, because he thinks that it’s just obviously true that whoever has the power to take over a place has the right to. He likes to think of himself as quite a cool cat, drinking nice coffee and promising ‘community solutions.’ But if someone were actually to stand in his way? Well, bulldozers have many uses…
EPISODES
Ep 1: Love Thy Neighbour. The bears are just chilling as usual. Then Silo notices a trickle of water coming into their camp. He follows it all the way to a huge Dam blocking water to the main lake in Bearland. He pulls one small twig out of the dam and the whole thing comes tumbling down, flooding the bear’s camp. The other bears gather in anger. Silo claims that someone else has flooded their land and he takes them to the broken dam, where they see the beavers. Kobi comes up with a plan for revenge: break the dam protecting the beaver town. This actually goes well with a bit of chaotic luck.
Ep 2: Honey Trap. Recky and Kobi are out looking for honey with Jennifer. But they only find the Beavers, chopping down the honey trees and placing them in the back of a large truck. The truck has a Stoats Apartment Development (S.A.D) label on the side (the beavers found it by chance). Recky wants the honey desperately and manages to sneak into the back of the truck. Jennifer and Kobi are forced to go and get Panzer and Silo for help. Cue rescue mission. They retrieve Recky, with some honey, and they all escape on the commandeered truck – but which they can only drive into a tree. The beavers are now aware of the bears.
Ep 3: Splish-Splash. The land has dried up. Jennifer takes Kobi and Panzer with her to negotiate with the beavers to divert some of their water. The beavers seem to getting more and more desperate as something pushes them inwards. An impatient Silo convinces Recky to set about a separate plan, unbeknownst to the others, to steal some water from the beavers. Just as Jennifer begins to make progress with Yardstick, who she knows from the past, Silo accidentally ruins the Beavers’ new water system and wastes the water. The bears and Jennifer manage to escape, but this time, one of Yardstick’s trusty advisors follows the Beavers home. The Beavers now know where the Bears live.
Ep 4: Snowflakes. It’s freezing. Panzer is happy! She is cold. No-one else is about. She can relax and complete her intricate ice sculptures. But what’s this? The other three have come racing back, carrying torches. And who should be chasing after them, but a horde of beavers – whose fire has apparently been stolen. Chaos ensues, and Panzer’s sculptures are melted. She’s had enough – the bears must go and talk to the beavers.
Ep 5: Negotiations. Kobi, as the smartest, is sent to negotiate with the Beavers. He finds they have an interesting story to tell. Meanwhile the rest wait nervously. Kobi and the beavers agree to send a beaver to the bears so they can all come and hear the news. But the beaver is intercepted along the way by a mysterious creature. The bears decide that Kobi is now a PoW, so go on a rescue mission. They break into the beaver compound, past the guards, into Yardstick’s tent… without pausing to think, they grab Kobi and drag him off. But just outside Beaverton, Kobi tells them he was fine – and that the Stoats are the real cause of this whole conflict.
Ep 6: The Nefarious Mr. Pegley. The bears and beavers decide to confront the stoats together. They take a stand outside the walls of the Stoat development. They try to get the attention of the leader, Pegley. Pegley lowers his map in mild curiosity. As he realises what they want, he starts to send down his stoat fighters, nonchalantly. But the bears and beavers together have done some planning – through cunning and playing to their strengths, they’re more than a match for the first wave of stoats. Pegley, bored of this – goes for a new tactic: directing the bulldozers straight for the bear and beaver lairs. The bears can only watch them go. What have they done?
BACKSTORY & CONCEPT ART
We open on a wooden truck driven recklessly through the forest by three stoats. It hits a rock and the trunk opens. Four cages fall on the ground and break. Four cubs: a Malayan Sun Bear, a Polar Bear, a Spectacled Bear and a Panda Bear crawl out of their cages, confused. A kakapo approaches them and cuddles them under her wing as the Stoat truck drives away.
OR
We open on a wooden truck driven recklessly on a mountain road by three stoats. they take a corner too fast and hit a rock. Four cages tumble down the mountain side. The stoats drive off, unaware of what has happened. Three bear cubs: a Malayan Sun Bear, a Spectacled Bear and a Panda Bear are trapped in their cages. A Polar bear cub crawls out of her broken cage, confused. Jennifer, a Kakapo, approaches her and shows her how to free the others. Once released she cuddles them as best she can under her stubby wings.
MAP
How different zones work interactively with each other.Bear Zone
Relationships among Bears and Jennifer by Writers.
PANZER
Panzer and Kobi; Kobi is Panzer’s best friend.
Panzer and Recky; Panzer teases and mocks Recky. It is not particularly malicious, but stops them being as close as they should be.
Panzer and Silo; Panzer is in competition with Silo
Panzer and Jennifer; A functional daughter/mother relationship.
KOBI
Kobi and Recky; Kobi is close friends with Recky. Recky prepares nice meals for Kobi and Kobi keeps an eye on Recky. They enjoy each others company!
Kobi and Jennifer; Their relationship is sometimes strained as they like to challenge each other. Kobi is like a older child challenging his parents authority.
Kobi and Silo; Kobi is understanding of Silo’s ambitions and delusions. He treats Silo like and errant, younger brother.
Kobi and Panzer; Kobi makes her laugh. They have a “normal” relationship.
RECKY
Recky and Panzer; Not very close as Panzer enjoys teasing her about her positive attitude. However, Recky continues to make an effort.
Recky and Kobi; Very close relationship, sharing food and stories.
Recky and Silo; She enjoys his company and looks up to him, just enough to follow him on his adventures, although she is easily flattered by him.
Recky and Jennifer. Recky wants to break away from her “mothers” concerns and be independent.
SILO
Silo and Recky; Silo finds Recky to manipulate. Not in a cruel way, but by telling her she is his favourite, and by offering bribes of food, he can bend her to his will.
Silo and Panzer; They are in competition. Silo is jealous of Panzer’s physical power.
Silo and Kobi. Kobi is Silo’s best friend and “older brother”, who listens to his tales of woe!
Silo and Jennifer; Bart and Marge Simpson.
JENNIFER
Jennifer and Kobi; Jennifer’s authority is frequently challenged by Kobi, but she deals with this in a measured, motherly way.
Jennifer and Recky; Jennifer is concerned about Recky, in particular how she may being manipulated by Silo, whereas Recky doesn’t really see a problem and wishes Jennifer would leave her be.
Jennifer and Silo; Marge and Bart Simpson.
Jennifer and Panzer; Very close relationship! Panzer is Jennifer’s favourite and they spend a lot of time together.
Our writers took my suggestion and developed their own characters. They found different reference to map their characters onto, and added different costume in order to enhance their personalities.
Based on the feedback that we got from the first presentation, I tried to map our characters onto certain characters that already exist in order to get them more specific personalities.
-Minions (Despicable Me) – annoying, always gather together
Kakapos – Jennifer:
-Chief (Isle of Dogs) – exasperated, laughs at others’ stupidity;
-The Red Queen (Alice in Wonderland) – exasperated, loyal, laughs at others’ stupidity (looks askance at the others) (being scathing?) (older than the bears?)
1.Where do the bears come from? Have they been stolen from the zoo? Have they escaped from the zoo? Why are there no other bears? What is their backstory? How did the bears meet?
Maybe the bears were cubs being transported. The lorry (driven by stoats) took a corner too sharply and their cages fell off. Could they have been rescued by Jennifer, who is unable to lay any more eggs. She brings them up as her own. Regarding Jennifer, I think she now needs to talk throughout. Could she have her favourite? Perhaps this could be Panzer? She could be fiercely protective of Jennifer and Jennifer frequently sits on her shoulder to get a better view.
2. Time and place. I did not understand this. Does anyone else?
3. Overriding theme. I thought we were relatively clear about this with the theme about environmental degradation and competing for depleted resources. Perhaps we need to be clearer? Or, is there a different view on the theme?
4. What is Bearland? Where is Bearland? Is there a map of the land? Do they live on an island? I thought of Bearland simply as that is where they live, like the Angles are from England and the Scots are from Scotland. Maybe this is too simplistic. If Bearland is part of a larger mass, does it even need a name? Though, I do like the name Beavertown. Could it be similar in shape to New Zealand? After all, that is where Jennifer is from and where stoats have caused massive damage. Once we establish this, a map would be easy to design.
5. Stoats! Why, when, how? Are they in every episode? Perhaps the stoats are the most divisive issue of the series!!! I know we have all had different views on the stoats. Personally, I love them and think they make fantastic antagonists. Let’s try and get some resolution on this.
6. Bears. Breed as character. Same bear types. Make them more human, for example, by wearing clothes. Put more human characteristics on each bear. I think it’s obvious that different breeds have different charactistics. If we were doing dogs, and there was a German Sheppard and a Golden Retriever, I feel this would not have been questioned. We have already discussed utilizing these different “talents” over the course of the series. Do we need to be clearer with this, or, have we got it wrong? I am not particularly keen on having the same type of bear for a number of reasons. I am happy to use some clothing. What does everyone else think? Putting more human characteristics on each bear should be easy enough for each writer with their bear.
7. The central flaw in each character. Who is in charge? Who is really in charge? This should be easy work out. I like Silo thinking he may be the leader on paper, but actually, he really isn’t. Ideas?
8. What is this show like? I keep being drawn to the Hair Bear Bunch. Racoons and Over the Garden Wall have been mentioned. I certainly need to watch some more T.V.
Other suggestions: Could Jennifer have had dealings with the stoats and beavers in the past? Could she know Commander Yardstick and Colonel President Pegly’s father, for example.
Logline: Faced with depleted resources, the Dare Bears find themselves in an escalating battle with their neighbours, The Beaver Crew. Soon they will find out that they face a common enemy: The North City Stoats.
Duration: web series of six 10 minute episodes. Possible broadcasters- Youtube, Vimeo, etc.
Target audience: young adults.
Story
The Dare Bears follows a polar bear named Panzer, a spectacled bear called Recky, a panda bear Kobi, a Malayan Sun bear Silo and their pet Jennifer, a wise kakapo in their attempt to fight The Beaver Crew.
After numerous bloody encounters, The Dare Bears and the beavers understand that they have a bigger common enemy: The North City Stoats, a group of gentrifying stoats that are imposing their claim on the land.
Episodes
Ep 1: Love Thy Neighbour. The characters are introduced. The Bear’s piece of land has been flooded by the Beavers. Why are the Beavers moving into Bearland? And where did those watchtowers come from.
Ep 2: Honey Trap. The beavers have cut down the trees that house the beehives. In need of a sweet treat, Recky leads a raiding party to Beavertown to find the missing hives.
Ep 3: Splish Splash. It’s hot and the land is dry. Silo suggest a trip to the lake, but there is no water. Upstream, the Beavers has built a bigger and better dam. Jennifer wants to help but the bears don’t listen.
Ep 4: Snowflakes. Panzer is happy! She is cold. No-one else is happy. They are cold too. No fuel, no shelter, no food. The beavers have plenty of all those things. Kobi goes to negotiate with the Beavers. He does not come back.
Ep 5: Snowball. Where is Kobi? The bears go look for him and he is chilling with the beavers, having a joint. They are outraged. Kobi tries to explain that they are not the enemy, the stoats are.
Ep 6: Final Battle. Dare Bears and beavers unite and fight the stoats. Panzer, Recky and Silo still distrust Kobi and the beavers, causing them to argue during the fight and lose strength. Finally, thanks to Jennifer, they manage to defeat the stoats.
Bearistan used to be a peaceful place. Every bear kept to their own territory and food was plentiful. There was no need for conflict.
Then, the beavers decided to expand Riverton and the bear’s environment became smaller and smaller. The beavers are in direct competition with the Dare Bears for resources; water, food, shelter etc. There are more beavers than bears. The beavers block up the river, cut down trees and dig canal networks to help expand their living area. Both beavers and bears find their territories becoming smaller and smaller. Our heroes; Silo, Recky, Panzer, Kobi and Jennifer decide to take the battle to the beavers, increasingly upping the stakes in the conflict. Both the bears and beavers are becoming increasingly squeezed into a smaller space. Watchtowers go up, fences are built, trees and burnt down and rivers are drained. There is evidence of mechanised destruction but no sign of who is responsible for this, but we do occasionally see dark figures in the distance. There are frequent skirmishes between beavers and bears. They finally realise that the fight is not against each other and unite to defeat the common enemy; The Stoats.
Pandas grow up to 1.9 metres and eat bamboo. They live very sedentary lifestyles. We all know they are from China. Personality; Laid back, long tem planner, intelligent, at times lazy. Stoner type. Male called Kobi
Polar Bears can grow up to 3 metres. They are carnivores and are superb hunters and swimmers. They live in the Arctic Circle. Personality; Antisocial at times. Can be grumpy and depressed due to it being too warm. Physically the strongest of the four. Female called Panzer
Spectacled Bears are excellent climbers and eat a wide range of foods including cactus and orchid bulbs. They will also roam for berries and eat from corn fields. Meat only makes up 5-7% of their diet. They grow up to 2 metres and are from South America. Personality; Nervous, a comfort eater but not fat. Always has snacks close to hand (or paw), a gourmet, nerdy about weird things. Female called Recky
Malayan Sun Bears can grow to 1.2 metres and can be very fierce when surprised in the forest. They mainly eat bees, honey, termites and fruit and range from India to Malaysia. Personality; The leader of the group, impulsive, adventurous and narcasistic. Male called Silo
Kakapos are also known as owl parrots. They grow up to 0.6 metres in length, cannot fly, have a fantastic sense of smell and are excellent climbers. They are herbivores. Kakapos do not like other Kakapos. They are scared of stoats because stoats eat their eggs and chicks. Personality; Exasperated, has a long memory, loyal and wise. Always there whatever happens. She laughs at their stupidity. Female called Jennifer
Beavers are semi aquatic mammals that grow up to 1.0 metres. They have poor eyesight but good hearing. They block up rivers and build their houses partly underwater. They slam their tails against the water to send alarm signals to other beavers. Their teeth never stop growing and they mainly eat inner bark, ferns, aquatic plants and if they can get it, corn. Main character is a Female called Commander Yardstick
Stoats grow up to 0.3 metres. They are an invasive species and use burrows of other creatures to live in. They are vicious carnivores who are not afraid to kill and eat prey bigger than they are. In Dare Bears, they are behind the scenes creating havoc with over breeding and wanton destruction of the environment in order to expand their territory. Main character is a Male called Colonel President Pegly
pandayedda 