Talk:Teddy Ruxpin

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[edit] References in other media AKA Trivia section

Anyone want to entertain the idea of eliminating this section? Mathue 04:42, 27 May 2008 (UTC)


[edit] Copyright?

Are the copyright issues surrounding third-party Teddy Ruxpin-compatible tapes notable enough to include here? --Damian Yerrick (☎) 23:57, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Funny, but...

Teddy Ruxpin is a creepy, pre- version of the evil creation "Furby" in the late 1990s.

Hysterical, yes, but no place in article. Baleeted. Aevangelica 03:00, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Created By Ken Forsse

I've edited it twice now, and I'm thinking there may be some misunderstandings by people who don't know the history of the property as well as some of us. Ken Forsse created the character of Teddy Ruxpin primarily on his own. It sat for many years in 'development hell' while Ken found an avenue to adequately tell the story he had created. After working for Disney doing many projects over the years, Ken finally came up with the basis of the Teddy Ruxpin "talking toy" technology. He was then aided by others, notably Larry Larsen and John Davies, in making that technology commercially viable. However, to say that "Teddy Ruxpin was created by Ken Forsse, Larry Larsen and John Davies" is incorrect and misleading. There were also talking versions of Mickey Mouse, Mother Goose, etc. and Davies and Larsen are of course not credited with creating those characters. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Octopede (talk • contribs) 17:10, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

You are correct, I'll have to change the wording the next time I edit the page. I've moved enough bits around for one day. Mathue Mathue 22:38, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] no talking?

Having a talk page serves to improve the article, but does it not also serve as a place we can discuss without mucking up the article? In fact, the comments deleted on this talk page could be elaborated upon sourcing VH1's I love the 70's (or was it 80s) because yes, there are verifiable sources we can have for Teddy Ruxpin freaking out if you put an ordinary cassette tape in it. So moreover, the article implies that the facial features of the doll will not respond to an ordinary cassette tape. I'm sure the stories on VH1 of the doll freaking out would be citation enough, don't y'all think? 160.94.120.152 20:23, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

First find the citation, and then feel free. --Damian Yerrick (☎) 19:16, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] origin of 'Ruxpin' name?

I'm curious as to how the name was chosen, specifically if it was an acronym or conjunction of marketing/engineering terms, or a reference to a developer and/or influence.

Ken Forsse originally chose "Simian Greep" as the name and had another character named Teddy Ruxpin who was a prince (Later became Prince Arin) in the original story. He disliked "Greep" after awhile because it sounded like "Geek", so he gave the Prince's name to Teddy and the rest is history.
In my conversations with him, there have been a few characters who were named after people he knew, (Leota being one example) but to my knowledge Teddy was not one of them. The name was also not chosen for marketing purposes- in fact quite the opposite. The marketing people always wanted to change Teddy's name to something else but focus groups with young kids proved Teddy's original name was a hit.

[edit] Dupe Penny Arcade Reference

Removed dupe Penny-Arcade reference under references. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.173.5.8 (talk • contribs) 18:22, 11 July 2007

[edit] Teddy Ruxpin's Voice

Anyone know who performed the voice of Teddy Ruxpin? It almost sounds like actor/voice actor Michael Bell.

It's former Jim Henson employee Phil Baron. Come to think of it, if anyone is a bit more knowledgeable about him, he should probably be mentioned in the main article, as he did scripting and songwriting for the cartoon series as well.

[edit] T.J. Bearytales

Hasbro has made a knockoff called T.J. Bearytales. Don't know where to fit it in the article. I think there were also some knockoffs during the '80s, but I can't remember any of their names. Evan1975 05:02, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Relevance of company info

I still don't see the relevance of including a full paragraph of general info about Worlds of Wonder's decline in this entry. That information belongs in the specific entry for the company; including tidbits about WoW's sale of junk bonds, etc. goes beyond the scope of Teddy Ruxpin. Accordingly, I am condensing it (instead of fully deleting it this time, since the liquidation bears mentioning) in this article. Lpython 22:09, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

The junk bonds information was added in September of 2005 to clear up a somewhat common misconception that poor sales of Teddy Ruxpin were behind the decline of WOW.
There is a correction you need to make; Teddy Ruxpin toy line was never ‘sold’ to Hasbro i.e. Playskool. (I’d love to see your source on the entity being ‘sold’) AlchemyII licensed him to Playskool after WOW went belly up. It is correct that Playskool did sell TR and he was sold under the Playskool trade name. AlchemyII has dissolved and all rights now fall under Mr. Forsse who now controls the licensing of the toy. Mathue 00:51, 30 August 2007 (UTC)
Feel free to make that correction yourself. You are clearly more of an expert on this issue than I am - I say that with no sarcasm. I was simply looking at it with an editor's eye, as the previous info was company history that was not entirely relevant to the issue at hand. If I were reading the entry for aspirin, I wouldn't want the M&A history of Bayer to be there; what's the point? I came to read about the drug and not the company; or, in this case, I came to read about the bear and not WoW's sob story. But since they pertain to the history of TR, the details of the licensing could probably use elucidation. Lpython 12:51, 31 August 2007 (UTC)
I'll edit the correction when I next have a bit of spare time. As for relevance about the company history one might note that there is a whole section about scenes in movies or lyrics in songs that TR is mentioned, these certainly have even less to do with things. If one would conclude that the Junk Bonds history is of no use certainly the whole 'References in other media' should go. Mathue 19:48, 16 September 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mathue (talk • contribs)
Added back in the information today Mathue Mathue 22:38, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Teddy Ruxpin and normal cassettes

Well, I'm one of those who're not lucky enough to encounter a Teddy Ruxpin during my childhood. Does the toy move randomly if an ordinary tape is played back, or does it just sit still? RAM (talk) 03:28, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

Depends on the type of Teddy you have. The metal tape players try to use the right track of the cassette as signals for his motors, while the plastic tape players have a switch that turns his motors off when a non-Teddy tape is played. Here's some more info for you: http://www.animationfascination.com/teddy1.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pika62221 (talk • contribs) 04:42, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Hair Chewing Danger

Anyone else remember a brief moral panic over "some kid" (probably an urban legend since it was never anyone you knew directly, but implied to be someone not that different from you) getting their hair caught in Teddy's mouth and the motor winding it up causing the poor kid to be scalped? The actual danger would probably be at most a small bald spot from that one bit of hair (and probably not even that), but when the story was told, you were always left with the impression that the kid never grew hair on his head again. -Fuzzy (talk) 01:11, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

I definitely remember this. One of the litany of reasons I could never have one, I'm sure! Lpython (talk) 20:20, 6 March 2008 (UTC)
I've heard of this too, though knowing how the toy works I can't see how it could occur. The motors are no more powerful than those found in a tape player and they certainly don't move enough to wrap hair around, let alone have enough torque to pull hair out at the roots. I've also not found any indication from reliable news sources to that it ever happened. Mathue Mathue 22:38, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
Yeah, it doesn’t seem possible for a cassette playing device to un-root your hair. I myself have also never heard of such incidents. --DavidD4scnrt (talk) 00:48, 6 April 2008 (UTC)
This appears to have started with a Cabbage Patch dolls [1]

[edit] Vandalism

Any idea why the article keeps getting vandalized? The toy is an icon for the 1980's. I've had mine since it debuted in 1985, and it still works great today! I still have a working Grubby too, since 1986. These toys have lasted nearly 25 years, and are very well made. As long as they are treated right, the original toys should last a very, very long time. It helps too that I was 8 when I got Teddy, and 9 when I got Grubby, so I was old enough to know how to take care of them. (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 04:53, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??? That toy was a piece of shit!!!—Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.163.157.170 (talk • contribs)

Even if it was, you still need to back it up with citations. It is Wikipedia policy that all claims made in articles must be verifiable, and citations are how we ensure this. --Damian Yerrick (talk | stalk) 21:19, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Undid another piece of vandalism saying it was a "a half made toy that often times breaks down" and listing http://animationfascination.com/ as a reference. A company that restores toys is not a reliable reference, nor is that claim made anywhere on the page. The mere fact that the toys must sometimes be restored after twenty years does not support that statement. Jomasecu (talk) 22:28, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure what the deal is with the vandalism, this toy seems to get more than its fair share of it as of late. Mathue Mathue 22:38, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

Looking farther into this the IP starting with 146.* appears to be originating from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Perhaps a bored student? Mathue Mathue 23:45, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
Could very well be. Or someone who had one in their childhood, and is getting even with it? Who knows, it probably is a bored student. Pika62221

BORED STUDENT? I HAD THAT PIECE OF SHIT, AND THAT PIECE OF SHIT IS A PIECE OF SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL I DO IS TELL THE TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!!—Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.163.45.151 (talk • contribs)

But can you find any reliable sources that corroborate your experience? --Damian Yerrick (talk | stalk) 15:29, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
Why do you say it was bad? Could you give some examples in the discussion first? Then, maybe we could find some articles that back up what you say. --Pika62221
Your single experience isn't useful or desirable for this article, sorry to break this to you BoredStudent Mathue Mathue 23:14, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
Yipes Pika6222*! What in the world set you off to put a notice to do a fast delete on the Teddy Ruxpin article? Mathue 04:37, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] New toy image

Replaced the auto-deleted image that used to be on the page with one of my own so there won't be any issue with it in the future. Mathue Mathue 22:39, 4 April 2008 (UTC)