About this episode
🎄 This episode is stuffed with surprises, so get your propeller spinning and take off back to 1987 to go barnstorming — or bearnstorming — above the South Pole with Santabear. Ethan “The Hungry Reader” is our co-pilot as we nosedive into a Midwestern Christmas tradition we wish found a place to land elsewhere. You can find “Santabear’s High Flying Adventure” on the Internet Archive , or a recording with the original commercials on YouTube. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Mike on A Special Presentation, or ALF Will Not Be Seen Tonight, for “ Poochie ” and “ The Hugga Bunch Movie .” “Santabear’s First Christmas,” the original book and the 1986 special . IMDb claims Dennis Hopper is in this, but I didn’t hear him. Antarctica’s Christmas Traditions , including a “Race Around the World.” The Odd Case of Dennis the Menace . Today’s TV Trope: Spot the Imposter . What is the history behind the Dayton's Santa Bear? (WCCO-TV, 2022). An official list of every Santa Bear made, 1985–2007 (WDIV-TV, 2023). The Dayton’s Project’s 2024 Santa Bear . **** 📼 Commercials: Cinnamon Toast Crunch Christmas Commercial and Santabear Sweepstakes (1987) Oreos for Santa (1986) Holiday M&M’s (1987) Wild Puffalumps (1987) Doublemint Gum (1987) The Studio Demands It! **** “Santabear’s High Flying Adventure” © 1987 Dayton Hudson Corporation. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost . Full show notes with links at adventcalendar.house .