Upon the sucess of Teddy Ruxpin, an electronic teddy bear that read children stories using cassette tapes, someone got it in their head to recreate the toy, but with video instead. Enter these toys that provide children a talking companion for watching specially programmed tapes and tv broadcasts, and even playing computer games.
Tv Teddy
TV Teddy is a VHS companion toy produced by the Tomy Company in 1993, which aimed to make an interactive TV viewing experience for children. The videos were produced by Yes! Entertainment, and were available on VHS tapes sold separately from the toy. Teddy himself was voiced by Kath Soucie who famously voiced Phil and Lil on Rugrats. TV Teddy came with several VHS tapes that included famous childhood stories as well as licensed tapes for properties such as Berenstain Bears, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and The Mr. Men Show.
TV Teddy came with a transmitter that would be hooked up via the video input on any VCR, and the video feed would be fed through the transmitter to the television. The transmitter would capture the signal embedded in the video to make Teddy talk via a walkie-talkie method. The tapes relied heavily on Teddy’s interactions, especially with the host Anthony. Despite this, rips of TV Teddy VHS tapes can be found, though unless your television or monitor has video output capabilities you can’t use the footage with TV Teddy if you happen to have one.
pictures
TV Teddy with his box and everything he comes with.
TV Teddy with several VHS tapes and the transmitter.
The back of the TV Teddy box.
videos
The Berenstain Bears in Giant Bat Cave uploaded to Internet Archive by TheManWithNoPlan. Note the Teddy signal encoded into the video on the left side of the screen, which does not appear during normal play. The uploader has also provided an mp3 file of the Teddy voiceover.
In 1998, a Teddy Ruxpin iteration of the toy was released by Alchemy II Inc. The tapes were also produced by Yes! Entertainment, as well as Shoot the Moon Products Inc. This version of the toy used a Teddy Ruxpin that a child may already have and had a major difference from TV Teddy, in which the tapes could be watched without the need for the Teddy Ruxpin toy, and would instead play the voiceover through the television speakers.
Another similar concept was the ActiMates line of toys, which were released between the years 1997 and 2000 by Microsoft under Microsoft Kids. The line consisted of the characters Barney, Arthur, D.W., and the Teletubbies. While the toys could interact with specialized tapes, the Barney and Arthur toys could interact with special computer software, and the Teletubbies had display screens that would presumably show related visuals. The toys would also receive the necessary signals through a transmitter box hooked up to a PC or VCR, and reportedly could also be used with certain broadcasts of their respective tv shows on cable television. The toys were able to be played with as standalone playmates as well.
pictures
The Teddy Ruxpin TV Video Pack, which consists of the transmitter, cabled, and manual.
The box for the TV Video Pack.
Teddy Ruxpin with box, manual, books, and tapes.
The Barney, D.W., and Arthur ActiMates.
The TV Pack for the Teletubbies ActiMates.
The PC Pack for the Arthur ActiMate Toy.
The back of the box for the Barney PC Pack.
videos
[The New World of Teddy Ruxpin] The Treasure Of Grundo also uploaded by TheManWithNoPlan. This is the version with the voiceover as played through a regular tv and vcr setup without the toy.
Arthur Goes to the Doctor (featuring ActiMates Arthur and D.W.) uploaded to Internet Archive by videoloverresurrectedcontinued, which includes the voiceovers from the toys.
Microsoft ActiMates Showcase: Barney In Outer Space, uploaded by Microsoft ActiMates Showcase, which also includes a voiceover.
Arthur’s Reading Roundup (Arthur’s Reading Games) with Microsoft Actimates Arthur interacting, uploaded by garry12gg, which showcases how the toys interact with the PC games.
A report on the ActiMates toy line uploaded to by F Scott Smith
