Interview w/ Puppeteer Noel MacNeal: "Being Bear"
Vložit
- čas přidán 26. 08. 2024
- Check out Noel's Show Me Show:
www.theshowmesh...
/ @theshowmeshowchannel
Find Noel on Twitter:
@Noelyourhost
Buy Defunctland T-Shirts:
teespring.com/...
Donate on Patreon:
/ defunctland
Puppeteer Noel MacNeal joins the Defunctland Podcast to discuss his work on Bear in the Big Blue House and many other projects!
Follow Defunctland on Social Media:
Twitter: / defunctland
Facebook: / defunctland
Defunctland Subreddit: / defunctland
For more great content, visit defunctland.com
Get in touch with Defunctland: contact@defunctland.com
From an autistic adult,
Thank you for being a gentle, big fuzzy bear for an autistic child who was terrified of other children's show characters. You shaped my childhood, and your lessons of kindness have stayed with me. I am a teacher now, and I carry with me the way you spoke to kids.
-Erin
Sophia Rose Hai!
Same.
lol i was the opposite i was scared of him
Thank you guys for all comments and thumbs up! I didn't think anyone would see this. :) You all are wonderful.
can I ask, what about autism made other children's show characters terrifying to you?
I love how he sometimes says "Bear does this" and "Bear did that" and not speaking in the first person. He treats him like he's his own character. It shows how much he enjoyed being this character.
Colin Parlett The actor for Big Bird said that children are the biggest critics because they pay attention to the characters as if they were real people. He really put a lot of thought into Bear’s mannerisms & personality
he's keeping the integrity
Yeah I loved this show as a kid and I still do I want to buy all the episodes for my kids
I am so happy Noel McNeal's actual voice is Bear's. It just makes me so happy someone has a soft and warm voice like this.
"You're not allowed to talk." (remaining in character) "Yes, I can."
My personal highlight to this entire episode.
timestamp?
4:10
I just imagine bear blinking seriously then shaking his head, yes I can lol
I met this guy at a comic con once, and the Bear voice really is pretty much his natural voice, it’s cool. We actually talked for a while about costumes and puppets and stuff. Pretty awesome for me because I was practically raised on Bear and the Big Blue House, and I do costuming and make puppets now
Life Boats Maybe he could do a lot more puppetry and voice work as well as some voice work for characters on animated TV shows and in animated movies as well as some live-action projects with CGI creatures and even some good video games!
You met him at SDCC?
No, at the much lesser known Northeast Comic Con (which is now called South Coast Comic Con) but it was still called Northeast at that point.
Life Boats in
Was he dressed up as bear?
I literally just hear bear it’s just an interview with bear right now regardless of meta-ness
Jessica Ayala thats exactly how I thought of this whole thing lol
I hear Mr. Nutter Butter and Leon from the Puzzle Place
It was just Bear doing the interview. He did not change
Disney cast member: *psst* you're not allowed to talk
Bear:.... YES I CAN!!
I DIED
you can taste the passive aggressive-ness XD
Right 😂
The people from Jim Henson Television: No no no this is actually bear and Noel McNeal is in the suit
i’m legally an adult and i’d still shamelessly do a meet and greet with him as bear :,)
tannerin same here man the memories just from his voice brought a tear to my eye
I'd do one with him and Steve Burns.
tannerin same tbh. I’d probably cry too
Me too lol I’m such a kid
@@princess_ama I love blues clues too ❤️
A 17 second blooper got posted one a few days ago, and Noel wasn't kidding. The bloopers got this show are sailor mouthed as fuck and I hope we get more
It’s trending on almost every social media
If we were to find every blooper all in one reel, it'd be like Christmas come early!
His voice is so calming.
I have Asperger's and I came from a very chaotic home with a mom that incredibly unstable and a loud angry dad so I can't even tell you what that show did for me and how much it helped me. It gave me a calm and kind adult figure that I desperately needed thank you so much
Holy shit, I'm an Aspie girl too!
Yep I know exactly what you mean
He got right into the juicy stuff right away! Thank you Noel MacNeal for speaking with Defunctland and thank you Defunctland for seeing how much of an impact Bear made on an entire generation.
@Chase C same
He isn’t kidding about Bear’s similarity to Big Bird. I listened to Carol Spinney’s interview recently, and their descriptions of the job are nearly identical down to the mirrored monitor.
jim henson was a heck of an engineer. The basic design was so functional it could be reused for any tall, long-necked character.
Of course technically Godzilla predates both
Such a shame even in japan with shin godzilla he's mostly cgi.
He sounds... beary good at his job.
Densetsu VII *rimshot*
XD XD
Ba-dum-*TSS!*
As an adult who was born blind, it’s fantastic to hear him talking about how he walked around as if he was blind during the filming. That’s so awesome!
Noel Macneal thank you for bear. I was struggling with abuse at home while watching your show. Your character was the only adult figure I felt safe with at the time. I can't even explain in a CZcams comment the level of impact your show had on me. Thank you so much.
enildaed I’m sorry to hear that :( I don’t think anyone should have to go through abuse. At all.
I immediately heard/saw this as Bear sitting down giving the interview. I'm not sure how anyone could hear him speak and wonder whether or not he did Bear's voice.
They watched The Puzzle Place first?
As a adult who has live the adult life of working to pay bills and having to deal with the struggles of being an adult, hearing his voice bought back memories of Saturday morning pancakes and cartoons, playing with neighbors in the summer, and using your imagination without other adults telling you such things are stupid. Bear was one of my favorite character next to Winnie the pooh. The show had the best songs and me and my brother would always sing goodbye. Thank you Defunctland for bringing the man who bought joy to my early childhood. I want to cry, but I can't since im still at work.
I could listen to this man read the phonebook his voice is soothing as hell
You can hear bear in his voice
well no fucking shit dumbass
@@bryan-vv5rt he's just trying to say Bear's voice is close to his natural voice. Which isn't always the case. The guy that voices Mario is a great example. His regular voice is NOTHING like Mario lol. It's kinda freaky.
This is my third time listening to this podcast. I love how relaxing his voice is. He is so good at explaining things and telling his stories. I also love how real he is, he was honest without crossing any lines which I’m sure he had to be careful of. Love love love everything about this 💕💕💕
Noel if your reading this. I’d like you to know I was born with Asperger’s syndrome and you helped me back when I was a kid. I want to sincerely thank you for not just giving me and my friends a show full of great memories I will cherish and for helping me when I needed help as a kid. Thanks bear.
BBBBBBBEEEEEEEAAAAAAARRRRR!!!!!OH MY GOSH IM CRYING I MISS YOU BEAR!!!!
Örlogskapten ME TOO!
I have plenty of tissues for everyone *BAWLS OUT CRYING*
Yeah me infinity
I’m with you on that
Were all crying because our childhoods just hit us
The way he pronounces his vowels is so nice and unique. Very calming and nostalgic. I want to thank this man for bringing so much magic to my childhood (and my adulthood).
59:42 fun fact: my older brother was absolutely in love with this show (makes sense, he’s a quiet person) but “when bear would do that whole “you smell like -“ routine, my brother would flip and ask my mom “how did he know???”.
I was so surprised when I heard Noel’s voice. I thought he made up Bear’s voice, but apparently his voice is naturally warm and comforting.
Noel McNeal is AWESOME 😎
Theatre Geek YES! I want him to lend his voice to several video games, animated movies, animated TV shows and even live-action films as mo-cap CGI characters! He can also voice other bear characters in animation!
I know
Thank you. But it wasn't just me; there were a lot of people who helped make the Big Blue House so welcoming. ;-)
So... we start the campain to bring Bear in the big blue house back now or what?
Phil-CC I guess...
I don't think we should. It was so perfect back then that I think we should leave it to be what it was. If they brought it back, we could risk ruining it - especially under the current Disney CEO. Tbf, Woodland Valley was probably getting close to pushing it slightly as well.
Drawn To Ice Hockey also they would CGI it to make it way worse and add trending stuff
If nothing else, they should air the older episodes or put it on Netflix. They don't need to start producing it again, the people who worked on it are onto new projects.
I think the Netflix thing could work. I do agree that if they brought it back ti would probably be CG and they would almost certainly try to modernise it. they even gave the Teletubbies an iPhone in the new series. I saw a behind the scenes thingy on the news.
I hated being touched and giving hugs as a kid, but I can’t even tell you how badly I wanted to hug Bear! He looked SOOO soft and warm and safe❤️
He still sounds just like bear.
As an Autistic person myself, I really loved Bear as a kid, & I'm glad to hear that the character has had such a positive impact on other Autistic kids, as well. I'm going to turn 18 in just a couple of months, & I still love Bear to this day. The puppetry in this show is outstanding, & the characters are very well-written. As someone who also struggles with severe anxiety & PTSD, I love the show's calming atmosphere. And as someone who grew up with a psychologically abusive father, I'm really drawn to Bear's gentle, patient, & fatherly personality. Sometimes when I have nightmares about my dad, I like to watch an episode of Bear & the Big Blue House to help me fall back asleep or calm down when I'm feeling anxious or overwhelmed. My mother is a really big fan of the show as well, & she was really excited when she saw me & my little brother watching an episode of Bear & the Big Blue House together one time. I really like how this is a show that young children & their parents or other family members can enjoy watching together. As someone with a little brother 9 years younger than me, I have seen my fair share of annoying preschool shows- Some of which have made me want to tear my hair out before. Coming across a show that both tots & their parents, legal guardians, or older siblings can all enjoy together is, unfortunately, kind of a rarity. So, I really appreciate shows like Bear. I used to be embarrassed about being a Bear fan since the show is geared towards such a young audience. But then I started to see just how many other teenagers & young adults out there are fans of the show &/or the character, as well. And I'm really glad to see I'm not the only one. Thank you, Noel MacNeal & everyone else who worked on Bear & the Bug Blue house for bringing this wonderful show & amazing character to life.
There should be some sort of reunion show so adults who watched Bear as a child can "Meet Bear" in person
Why has this not been done yet? Even at 25 I'd be the first to sign up
I'd the the first in line
This was great.
Since there is a clear success margin for your series “Defunct Television”, please keep up with this series and continue doing television shows that were great but got canned.
Also please get more interviews.
This was amazing, great content/share.
I love how in this era of celebrities from A list to E list being afraid to criticize each other for fear of drama, we can listen to the lead from one kid's show shamelessly throw shade at Barney, and no one cares.
RepublicofEthan let’s be honest, Bear would probably kick Barney’s ass if they ever got into a fight
Lots of celebrities get into drama and criticize each other all the time. Why else does the E! exist?
To be fair, though, Noel's too much of a Qing to get into drama as a result of his shade against Barney. 🖐😒
+Pixelcitizen Like Hong Taiji?
jacoblgames It was really meant to be a dumb joke where the "K" is replaced by a "Q" in King.
Like, you know how dumb drama channels or goofy meme channels will say things like "YASS SLAY QUEEN" or "OMG THE SKINNY K W E E N HAS SPILLED THE TEA!!"?
I was sort of going for that kind of thing. :|
+Pixelcitizen On the other hand, Hong Taiji is as Qing as one can get.
This episode is so informative on puppetry! I used to think it was similar to animation where dialogue is played over the performance and now I’m in awe of how much work puppeteers do, I hope the art never dies out
This man's voice is like my childhood! I was too old to be part of the BitBBH target audience, but I still enjoyed watching it in High School, it was just so sweet and fun and soothing! I'd already known him from Eureeka's Castle, which WAS my generation, and then I saw him on Oobie, so I've been hearing his voice for more years out of my life then not! Listening to this interview was just soooo relaxing!
I'm TOTALLY subbing to his youtube channel! 😂
@Lydia Moon Me too! I have Magellan's autograph now.
I'm autistic and I grew up watching Bear in the Big Blue House. I didn't realise it until recently but Bear was a pretty big influence on me as a person. Thank you to all who worked on that show!
This was great to listen to, and watching your previous video on Bear brought back a lot of memories and I’ll be honest I went and listened to the “Goodbye” song and I may have cried. Time flies to fast and this show influenced my life so much and I’ll forever be appreciative!
I want the outtake reels!
I can hear Bear in his voice.
Me too
Bear is definitely the kind of guy I'd love to hug and be friends with. Glad I saw his show when I was young.
I went to Playhouse Disney Live at the Mall of America when I was maybe 4 years old, I still remember the set and puppets very vividly, especially Bear and friends from his show! Definitely one of my favorites growing up :)
Bear was a real paternal figure to me when I had none. Someone so gentle, kind, patient, and full of real lessons given with those very things... I'll never forget his show.
Jesus, he is not lying when he says his resume is my childhood memories. Just everything he lists is amazing. Smack talk Oobi all you want, I adored that show as a kid and my brother and I would reenact every episode we remember.
Also: HOLY PUZZLE PLACE BATMAN. I FORGOT ABOUT THAT SHOW UNTIL HE MENTIONED IT, AND SUDDENLY IT WAS AN AMAZING WALL OF NOSTALGIA.
I no joke send Noel and email a while back to thank him personally for performing Bear as excellently as he did, and for having such a positive impact on my life, past and present, in that role. I had no idea that his normal speaking voice is practically Bear. The email I got back reads totally differently to me now, hearing it in his voice!
Ugh I'm gonna go cry for an eternity XD
I’m tearing up. His voice just took me back about 17 or so years. I loved this show so much and I loved bear so much 😢😢😢
Bear in the Big Blue House and Bear especially is really just it. So many salient points about childrens show biz. Gonna go binge this show now
Good luck finding all the episodes lol
@@froschkoenig666 I was going to say "Luckily for us, Disney+ exists" but I just checked and BitBBH isn't there, only the muppets 😔
I hope they give us a legal way to watch them soon...
@@FrostFire425 I managed to find all the episodes minus a few from season 4. It took a few years tho and not all the recordings are not the best, but at least it's something
If Noel came back to do Bear in the big blue house I’m 26 with no kids and I’d watch it.
I'm so glad that Noel McNeal was able to be one of my all time favorite character growing up as a small child, I was also surprised when I heard him discuss about being apart of Obi and Between the Lion. Right now I am 14 and I am thankful for his work it felt good to hear his voice for a entire hour like back in the early 2,000! Thx once again Noel McNeil.
Did anyone else just close your eyes during this interview and imagin just bear doing the interview im now 20 born 1998 and i grew up with the show he is my childhood and i thank you for that
GingerJoker117 I’m 21 and I was born 1997
I love it when voice actors’ regular voices sound exactly like the characters they play cause i’m just picturing Bear talking to him from a computer. Noel, if you happen to see this, thanks for making my childhood awesome!
I'm picturing the same thing too.
This podcast just gets better and better, amazing work
I feel robbed that it didn't end with you both singing the goodbye song though
when he started talking about ooby i remembered my grandma got me and my sister little "hand eyes" which were these reverse rings with eyes that you would wear to make your hand a puppet and we used to make pretend ooby shows at my aunt's house. this whole video just made me so happy this made my day.
He sounds just like Bear. I'm going to cry
Please do these DefunctTV episodes next!
- The Muppet Show
- Fraggle Rock
- Jim Henson’s Dinosaurs
- Disney’s Gargoyles
- AAAAAAAAHHH!!! Real Monsters!
- Disney’s TaleSpin
Carmine Crincoli I'd like to see Goosebumps the series
Like to see one for out of the box I grew up watching it
*One Manimal Please*
For DefunctTV specifically, I feel like Muppets Tonight would be more likely than The Muppet Show.
Fraggle rock was just... weird
I love Defunctland Podcats! I always learn so much.
Bear talking about being stoned just makes my whole world 😂 this is great thank for the interview you did a really amazing job.
I was already happy enough listening to him bc he sounds so much like bear, a character that is near and dear to my heart, but I didn’t know he was also Kako in oobi and when he did the kako voice I absolutely lost my mind, thank you for the memories and the nostalgia
the minute i heard noel speak, i was on the verge of tears, because it was bear! i missed his voice so much!! i didn't realize until now how important that show was to me when i was very young. thank you noel and defunctland for this wonderful interview
Thank you both, Noel and Kevin for this. This was amazing!
Javier Whitefield YES!
Javier Whitefield Wow your cute
I remember hearing "Mr. Nutter Butter" speak on John Oliver's show and I immediately recognized Bear's voice! Turns out Noel MacNeal is still a pretty busy guy.
I DID NOT REALIZE
OH MY GOD WHATTTTT
I KNEW I KNEW THAT VOICE
His voice is so warm and gentle, immediately brought me back to my childhood watching Bear on TV.
Nice.You know I met Noel MacNeal and Tyler Bunch just last year at the end of the year. At the Museum of Moving Image in Astoria NY. They were doing a live and screening of the BitBBH holiday special "A Very Beary Christmas".
I had no idea this guy was also in Oobi!! And Eureka's Castle?! Wow!!!
WarblingTNT I believe his work in Eureka’s Castle got him the gig as Bear
He was also in Between the Lions
I can totally hear magellins voice from him
@@akganimationstudioproducti3779 thats a deep cut! Also he was in zabommafoo
first time I heard Bear I was like "this guy sounds reallly familiar.. and his mannerisms, the way he shakes his head and moves his left arm.. I've seen this guy before"
I'd HAPPILY go do a meet and greet with Noel if I could. This guy was part of my childhood and I actively went to find the DVDs for my daughter. Wish they'd just put up the whole series on Disney Plus
@Broke and Caffeinated it would be great for them to do that. Disney plus needs to listen to us.
It's on Disney+ now :)
I was an autistic child that was so happy about and got helped by big bear and his calm demeanour. It was my favorite show as a kid and I can still watch our old dvds of it sometimes when I am sick or feel sad.
Bear was so important and it makes me really sad that today's kids can't have something similar. Makes me super happy to hear him talk about bear and how important he was for people with respect. I would probably also cry if I saw bear today as an adult because he meant so much to me.
Nobody ever made a "Doom" mod where you could kill Bear. I think that says it all. (There was one for Barney. I remember finding it on a BBS before the Internet was a thing.)
Oh my god!! I so much enjoyed hearing bears voice again! I was an older kid watching bear, but i always had to watch. Such a unique show, and it was my escape from the chaos of the world. Thank you for doing this. I hope they bring back bear for when I have kids in the near future. 💙
Great interview, Noel is such a nice caring guy. Definitely subscribing to his channel as well
Love knowing Noel is a supporter of the autism community! :) I'm on the spectrum myself, and I was about 10 when Bear came out, so I never watched it, but I know that a few of my peers were in the target demographic at the time it aired, so I watched this video out of curiosity. Loved Noel as Leon on The Puzzle Place!
I've always wanted to pet Bear's snoot. I hope Noel gets called on once again to be Bear so I can ask for the opportunity to give him pets. :3
I know I'd pet chuck e cheese nose at 7 year old I don't know why but for some reason I liked petting his nose I wood like to pet bear's nose to as well
Omg!, I can recognize that voice easily and I was an adult w/ out children at the time of its run. Such a distinct voice!
Glad he's doing well after all these years. Thank you Noel for making my early childhood.
i don't care that i'm 25 now. i would ADORE a meet and greet with bear. i've always, always, ALWAYS wanted to give him a hug.
i wasn't even diagnosed with autism until i was 12, but bear literally carried my childhood. i was going through some genuinely rough shit as a kid, i have CPTSD now, but Bear is the character that carried my happiness on his back for so long. i'm getting choked up just thinking about it. i'm crying while typing this, damn.
that said, i'll definitely be promoting the Show Me Show to everyone i know. doesn't matter if they have kids. views are views, and i don't believe adults should be ashamed for taking in media that makes them feel comfortable and nostalgic like this.
This is so trippy because it's Bear talking...but it's also NOT. Cuz he's not as, like, high energy as Bear, but it's so sweet to hear Noel talking. As someone who grew up watching Bear in the Big Blue House, this makes me feel very warm and nostalgic.
Noel McNeal is the voice of reason. His voice took me since Eureeka's Castle where he voiced Magellan, and Bear in the Big Blue House where he voiced Bear.
Noel was huge part of my early childhood. I grew up watching Bear on Playhouse Disney. I had a Bear VHS I would watch a ton. I even had a potty training book based on the last episode of season 2 where Tutter learns to "go potty". But the bit of merchandise that I remember the most that I had was a Bear in the Big Blue House Cup. It had like a blue bendy straw and the top was the top of Bear. That cup was what my mom would use for my brothers and I whenever we got sick. We called it the sick cup. My mom would fill it with soda, OJ or water. So, Bear got me through my sick days as a kid. So thank you, Bear! And thank you Noel for voicing this kind and amazing character as well as these other characters I grew up watching!😊❤️❤️
hearing "bear" speak for the first time in years (for me anyway) is making me so emotional 😭
I met him last weekend at great philly comic con, he was so nice!
Aw, I was hoping Noel would reprise the Goodbye song for the end of the podcast!
aaaah between the lions??? that was one of my most favorite shows to watch after school! You should do a defunct tv on that one too
Your wish did come true. He did the Between the Lions episode a couple of months ago.
I know so many people have said this, but Noel McNeal, you made my childhood.
His voice is so calming. Could you get him back and do an hour of him reading the phone book?
txag007 How about another hour of Bear info?
Just any children's book, please.
I’d listen to him read a children’s book!
Barbara Newkumet Why not Please Go the F**k to Sleep? Well maybe not
I still love the Goodbye song...I’m 48 and will sing along without shame!
bear was such a huge part of my childhood, finding this interview was delightful ❤
Listening Bear saying "stoned kids" it's weird
Yea it is, but I’ve heard weirder things from other actors especially in movies.
Him saying that can’t even beat the one line from the movie, Spies in Disguise that I died from laughter cuz I was surprised they knew a “certain word” they had to make Tom Holland say for his character.
Could we get the jim Henson company to bring this back? I feel like this show was great for my autistic cousin and it could help alot of kids today or at least put it on Disney+ where we can put it on for our kids now.
💯, I'll admit even being an adult I'd watch
i like this interview because you can see theres just a lot of chemistry Noel has with Kevin like, they're laughing and joking they just hit it off quickly. Bear and Noel both just have an open personality and i think that contributed to a lot of the warmth of the show
Anyone else think Noel MacNeal looks a bit like Rami Malek?
Davy FishyStick indeed!
Davy FishyStick A little bit yeah
Brenden Fraiser.
I would love to see bear sing bohemian rhapsody or a queen song now that you have talked about it.
Bear as Freddie Mercury singing I want to break free
It would be interesting to see Steve from Blues Clues on DefunctTV.
I literally cried listening to this, this man right here helped me grow up right... I felt so warm and at home just listening to the stories Mr. McNeal was telling... Thank you so much Noel!! And thank you Kevin for bringing such an important Disney character to light!
So cool. And the info in the Dark Crystal show was unexpected and especially exciting!
Bear and Noel shaped my childhood! I watched BITBBH religiously! I also watched Puzzle Place, Oobi and Between the Lions, which were also shows that Noel had worked on. Someone please petition to bring Bear in the Big Blue House back!!!
Never thought I’d miss watching television, then I remembered Bear In The Big Blue House. He made childhood with ADHD and anxiety so much less painful than it could have been for me, and I’ll be eternally grateful to Noel for that.
This was such a great interview! Thank you Kevin for bringing Noel onto the show!
Thank you so much for this interview. It's like Bear is actually talking to us. I didn't watch the show religiously, but it was my childhood all the same. Thank you again, Bear is so warm and amazing :)
I'll always remember him from The Puzzle Place and Eureeka's Castle but I honestly wish I watched Bear growing up, we just never got the Disney Channel until I was out of the age range due to stupid carriage disputes with Time Warner Cable.
Thank you Joel. Actually thank you. I loved and still love the show and Bear. And I know your calm, warm and welcoming approach helped a lot of kids in bad homes
I miss puppets so much.... something about them is so special
Thank you so much for getting with Noel! I learned so much. I will be looking into his new show, I hope it becomes a "New" "Bear in the Big Blue House" for kids.