Miś Uszatek is a Polish character from the stop motion-animated TV series of the same name. He was created jointly by Polish writer Czesław Janczarski and cartoonist Zbigniew Rychlicki.
Miś Uszatek's first appearance was in a Polish comic magazine for children, "Miś", on 6 March 1957. Later, he was the main character of several children's books, which were translated into many languages. However, it became very popular in 1975, when Łódź' Animated Forms Studio, Se-ma-for, created a series of cartoons for the Polish TV network, featuring actor Mieczysław Czechowicz, who voiced the characters. In all-time Polish ranks of animated programs, it usually comes second only to Bolek i Lolek.
Miś Uszatek and his friends - Prosiaczek, Króliczki and Zajączek, as well as Kruczek the Puppy - were loved by pre-teen kids. At the same time, Uszatek, a teddy bear, played the role of a friend from kindergarten. He was also liked by parents, as he would always go to bed at appropriate hour, singing the goodnight song:
Altogether, Se-ma-for created 104 episodes of the cartoon; the last one was made in 1987. In the 1960s, two theatrical movies about the friendly bear were made. Also, in the fall of 2007, the Se-ma-for studio announced that it was planning to make more episodes, but later these plans changed in favor of a possible full-length movie, to be created with help from the Japanese company Eden Entertainment. As of 2008, Mis Uszatek airs on Polish TV every Thursday.
