Bear in the Big Blue House

Created by Mitchell Kriegman and produced by Jim Henson Television with Shadow Projects, Bear in the Big Blue House premiered on Disney Channel on October 20, 1997, and became a pillar of the Playhouse Disney preschool block. Bear — performed by Noel MacNeal — was a full-body Muppet of remarkable warmth, a shaggy host who welcomed viewers into the Big Blue House, sniffed at the camera, and told them what they smelled like that day. Around him lived a small ecosystem of puppet housemates: Tutter the mouse, bear cub Ojo, the lemur Treelo, otter twins Pip and Pop, and the elusive Shadow.

The show's most-remembered ritual came at the end of every episode, when Bear climbed to the balcony to talk over the day with Luna the moon — puppeteered by Peter Linz and voiced by Lynne Thigpen — before the two sang their goodbye song. For the preschoolers of the early 2000s it was a wind-down as dependable as a bedtime story. The series produced 118 episodes across four seasons; in 2004 the Jim Henson Company sold the rights to Bear, characters and library included, to Disney, and the last episode aired on April 28, 2006. Ask anyone who grew up on Playhouse Disney to hum the goodbye song and watch what happens.