With so many animated Easter holiday television specials commercially available, parents can be overwhelmed deciding which are suitable for their children to watch and which are worth paying the money for a copy.
The 1994 Hanna-Barbera Easter special Yogi the Easter Bear will entertain families who enjoy other Hanna-Barbera cartoons, and it contains some good messages about celebrating springtime and new life, as well as reinforcing the importance of helping others and treasuring real things over plastic ones. However, parents who are sheltering their children from cartoon violence and who do not want kids to watch a show with a hero who can be greedy and sneaky (and whose main goal in life is often to steal things that do not belong to him) may want to skip this one.
Yogi the Easter Bear – Hanna-Barbera Easter Cartoon Special Plot
Yogi Bear ruins Mister Ranger's plans for the big Easter Jamboree by thinking only of himself and eating all the Easter treats, accidentally destroying the park Easter Bunny suit in the process. Wanting to help Mister Ranger (whose career depends on holding a successful event and impressing his boss) and also wanting to save himself from being shipped off to the Siberian Circus, Yogi Bear sets off to bring the real Easter Bunny to the celebration.
Unfortunately, the Easter Bunny has been kidnapped by evil villains who run a factory and want to get rid of all the real chicken eggs so they can sell their plastic ones to everyone. Of course, Yogi and Boo Boo Bear rescue the Easter Bunny, save the Easter Jamboree, and even convince Mister Ranger to believe in the Easter Bunny.
Yogi the Easter Bear – TV Easter Cartoon Special Review for Parents
The plot is simple enough for younger children to follow, yet has enough twists to keep tweens interested as well. And this Easter holiday special does make some good points in passing about appreciating nature and not valuing artificial things over real ones. Furthermore, while Yogi is a thieving glutton (albeit a charming one), his bad actions are balanced by Boo Boo Bear's good counsel and attempts to rein Yogi in and (as usual) act as his conscience.
That said, families that closely monitor children's media intake may have issues with some of the characters' language and actions. Mister Ranger's decision to send Yogi to a Siberian Circus as a punishment may strike some kids as harsh and scary, and there are several instances of comic violence, where characters fight and hit each other. Also, some parents may not want to expose kids to words such as "shut up" and "stupid," or want them to hear Boo Boo's name being misheard as "poo poo."
Choosing Family-Friendly Animated Easter Television Specials
Ultimately, unless parents are big fans of Hanna-Barbera characters or of Yogi Bear specifically, this Easter holiday special is not really anything special. Families will most likely be best off renting or checking this Yogi Bear DVD out of the library, if they do decide it is something their children will be able to watch without being unduly influenced to go out and start stealing picnic baskets and trucks full of Easter goodies.
Parents interested in other animated Easter television specials starring classic cartoon characters can check out a review of the Baby Looney Tunes Easter special and a review of The Easter Chipmunk starring Alvin and the Chipmunks.
Families may also like to read reviews of other animated Easter television specials for children.
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