Teddy Ruxpin

Teddy Ruxpin was launched in 1985 by toy manufacturer Worlds of Wonder.[12] Then came the companion toy Grubby, different outfits for Teddy and Grubby, and several other non-animatronic companion toys and characters. This includes two different versions of the bird-like Fobs (one orange, one purple) that are hand puppets with a sock-like, extendable neck. Other hand puppets are the larger Wooly What's-It, three interchangeable Anythings (This, That, The Other), Tweeg, and L.B. The Bounder.[13]

Other items produced by Worlds of Wonder for Teddy Ruxpin are the Answer Box and Picture Show. Actress Joanna Kerns served as Teddy's spokesperson shortly after its introduction, while at the height of her fame as Maggie Seaver on the ABC-TV sitcom Growing Pains.

Teddy Ruxpin sales peaked in 1986.[14] Worlds of Wonder launched a series of safety messages for children, with different partners including firefighters[15] and the United States Lifesaving Association.[16] WoW became the exclusive distributor for the launch of the smash hit Nintendo Entertainment System, based on leveraging the undeniable strength of Teddy Ruxpin and Lazer Tag.[14][17]

To retailers who were bitterly adamant against hearing the words "video game" after having survived the video game crash of 1983, WoW salesman Jim Whims distinctly recalled delivering an ultimatum: "If you want to sell Teddy Ruxpin and you want to sell Lazer Tag, you're gonna sell Nintendo as well. And if you feel that strongly about it, then you ought to just resign the line now." Historian Steven Kent wrote: "Anyone who wanted to sell Teddy Ruxpin and Lazer Tag, including Sears and Toys R Us, was going to hear about the Nintendo Entertainment System." WoW received windfall sales commissions from selling the NES,[14] and $800 million in back orders for the Christmas season, mainly for Teddy Ruxpin and Lazer Tag.[17]

In 1987, Worlds of Wonder contracted with Wendy's restaurants to feature a Teddy Ruxpin themed Kid's Meal promotion. These are similar to the miniatures produced by Worlds of Wonder, except they are smaller and flocked. Teddy Ruxpin characters joined the Ice Capades program, which toured the country.[18]

In 1987 management staff of Worlds of Wonder grossly overestimated the popularity and inventory requirements of Teddy Ruxpin, which was actually in declining demand and was dwarfed by the NES.[14] The excessive parts orders for making Teddy Ruxpin overextended the company's assets, and the situation was worsened when stock trades by company officers spooked investors.[19]

In response to devaluation, WoW issued Non-Investment Grade Bonds, commonly known as junk bonds, in an effort to buoy itself. Although there is some contention as to whether this strategy would have helped, the attempt was made moot by the 1987 stock market crash. Worlds of Wonder filed for bankruptcy protection and was liquidated in 1988.[20] They went through a series of layoffs. The creditors continued to operate the company in receivership until finally closing in late 1990.[21] By 1991, Worlds of Wonder had closed and the remaining assets were liquidated.[22]

In 1991, the Teddy Ruxpin toy line was bought by Hasbro, which produced him under their Playskool line until 1996 using the redesign that had been implemented by WoW.[23] This design is smaller and uses cartridges that resemble 8-track tapes, instead of cassette tapes.

In 1998, Yes! Entertainment brought Teddy Ruxpin back to stores for a third time. The toy's size is largely the same as the Playskool version. Yes! returned to using the standard cassette tapes. This venture was short-lived, however, as Yes! Entertainment's corporate management and financial troubles ultimately resulted in AlchemyII withdrawing the licensing for Teddy.

During this production of Teddy Ruxpin, an "interactive video" model was released under the branding "TV Teddy". The TV Teddy system consists of a series of specially encoded VHS cassettes, an RF-transmitter that relays signals encoded on the video track to the animatronic toy, and an animatronic RF-receiver consisting of a loudspeaker, and two servos which provide much-simplified eye and mouth movements compared to both the WoW and Playskool versions.[24]

The VHS cassettes consist of original opening content specifically designed for Teddy to interact with, followed by previously-released Hi-Topps videos which are encoded with additional content for the animatronic toy. A small Beanie Baby version of the toy is boxed with the Yes! Teddy Ruxpin based on the popularity of Beanie Babies at the time.[25]

In 2005, BackPack Toys announced a fourth version of Teddy Ruxpin, which replaced the audio tapes with digital ROM cartridges.[26]

Wicked Cool Toys began the production of a new Teddy Ruxpin in late 2017. This Teddy Ruxpin does not come with physical cartridges, instead being programmed with 3 stories inside of the toy. The rest of the stories are available for purchase on a mobile app.

In May 2018, Alchemy and The Jim Henson Company made a deal to make a new Teddy Ruxpin series, animated as digital puppetry, aimed at preschoolers.[27][28] The series was eventually scrapped.

In September 2021, DJ2 Entertainment picked up the television and film rights to Teddy Ruxpin.[29]

Worlds of Wonder produced the largest number of stories:

Worlds of Wonder created two devices that work only with Teddy Ruxpin: the Picture Show and Answer Box. Neither of these work with Grubby. The Picture Show cassettes use slide wheels, similar to the View Master:

• Big Little Wooly
• Gimmick Learns A Lesson
• The Great Grundo Groundrace
• Teddy & The Surf Grunges
• Teddy's Underwater Rescue
• Tweeg's Lemonade Stand
• Wedding In Grundo

The Answer Box cassettes are these:

• Color My World
• Counting is Fun
• Easy as ABC
• Just About The Size Of It
• Learn About Opposites
• Shapes are Everywhere
• Up, Down and All Around