Entertainment
Cartoon Network Potentially Planning a Comeback With the Return of This 4-Season Cult Classic
Cartoon Network (CN) has always tapped its archives for content. Recently, though, that effort has been much more purposeful. The network has created spin-offs, launched shorter-run reboots, and restructured its lineup strategically to leverage its extensive catalog as an active living collection rather than merely a repository of shows.
The return of We Bare Bears appears even less coincidental than in earlier years, but it seems to be more of a silent experiment. While officially just another programming development for CN, it can be viewed as an additional opportunity to assess the market viability of a modern series that CN has invested considerable resources into developing and nurturing.
‘We Bare Bears’ Has a Simple Premise With Surprising Emotional Reach
At its core, We Bare Bears is disarmingly straightforward. The series follows three adoptive bear brothers — Grizz (Eric Edelstein), Panda (Bobby Moynihan), and Ice Bear (Demetri Martin) — as they attempt to live among humans in the San Francisco Bay Area. They want friends, jobs, and to feel like they belong — more often than not, they fail spectacularly.
What sets the show apart is its tone: episodes unfold like small slices of modern life with awkward social encounters, money stress, online validation spirals, and the fear of being left behind. The bears’ solution rarely triumphs over the world around them; instead, it’s each other. That emotional throughline — found family as a survival mechanism — became the show’s anchor.
When Cartoon Network launched We Bare Bears in 2015, it was on the heels of other successful series like Adventure Time and Steven Universe. The series also follows the same episodic, shorter-run format while leaning into emotional journeys (vs narrative journeys). During its run, the series captured the essence of mid-2010s anxiety about the internet, job-seeking, and pressure to be liked on social media. Panda’s obsession with social media and validation is even more relevant today than when it was created. It also explored topics such as viral videos, dating apps, and the impact of algorithmic fame—these concepts that have been further amplified by an increasing reliance on social media.
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Somehow, We Bare Bears captured the same fixation with contemporary ideas as the rest of the 2010s; however, unlike most shows at the time, it never felt cynical. The show’s comedic style was always soft in its execution; its storyline unfolded at a slower pace than most of its peers; and the color palette was deliberately muted towards the soft end of the color spectrum.
We Bare Bears ran for four seasons, with a total of 140 episodes, and maintained solid ratings among younger viewers and an increasing adult audience. Many people praised the series for its heart and humor, and for not talking down to its viewers; the viewers’ loyalty was evident. As a result of that viewer loyalty, the franchise expanded with We Bare Bears: The Movie in 2020, which also served as a solid send-off for the characters and did not leave the story open-ended; the movie gave the characters closure, a rarity for animated television. The brand also created the prequel series to We Bare Bears, called We Baby Bears, which depicted the three characters as baby bears with all sorts of outlandish multiverse adventures, creating the ability for the three baby bears to continue with the next generation of fans as the fans of the original series and characters became fans of the cult classic.
What This Return Could Mean for Cartoon Network
The decision to bring We Bare Bears back into heavy rotation isn’t happening in a vacuum. Before Cartoon Network decides whether to make new episodes of a show, they test audience interest through reruns (Adventure Time, Regular Show, Gumball), which often benefit from a revival.
For Dan Chong‘s upcoming Pixar movie, Hoppers, he also finds himself in an interesting spot, since this movie will reintroduce his creative style to a wider audience. While not directly connected, the timing suggests confidence in the creator’s brand — and in the staying power of his most recognizable work. At the very least, the network is acknowledging what fans never forgot: We Bare Bears still works.
We Bare Bears remains refreshingly accessible, with episodes that can be watched in any order, some of which are nearly wordless and others that experiment with different animation styles or genres. All of them circle back to kindness, which may be its greatest strength. Whether Cartoon Network is simply filling time slots or quietly gauging interest in something more, the message is clear: this is a show worth revisiting.
