slymusic "A Bear for Punishment" is a hilarious Warner Bros. cartoon that simply cannot be missed. Directed by the magnificent Chuck Jones, it stars the Three Bears. (Well, the WARNER BROS. version of the Three Bears, anyway.) Papa Bear, voiced by Billy Bletcher, is a short, hot-tempered grouch. Mama Bear, voiced by Bea Benaderet, is the mild-mannered voice of reason in the family. And "Junyer" Bear, voiced by Stan Freberg, is a seven-foot-tall diaper-donning pea-brain. Because it's Father's Day, Mama and Junyer go to ridiculous extremes to see to it that Papa has every bit of comfort and entertainment. They need not have bothered! My favorite scenes in "A Bear for Punishment" include the following (PLEASE do not read any further if you have not yet seen this cartoon). By far the most hilarious scene in this short is that of Mama tap dancing and singing to the accompaniment of "I'm Just Wild About Harry". Junyer is quite funny as he chases Papa around the house while wielding a dangerously sharp razor and later as he recites his "My Pa!" poem."A Bear for Punishment" is probably the epitome of Father's Day disasters. Is it any wonder that the grumpy old Papa Bear cringes with increasing embarrassment as he watches Mama Bear & Junyer Bear present their theatrical Father's Day tribute?

ccthemovieman-1 It's Father's Day and "Junyer," who looks like Baby Huey except he's a bear in diapers, has set off a ton of alarm clocks early in the morning. The father, "Henry," gently tells his kid he's not happy with those clocks, punching his kid in the face! When Ma reminds Pa that it's Father's Day, Pa literally turns into "a first class heel."That kind of sets the tone for this cartoon. The kid wants to pamper the old man for the day - but will kill him instead because he's so stupid (i.e. he spells "tobacco" g-u-n-p-o-w-d-e- r) and the father doesn't want the attention, just to be left alone. The mother is kind of goofy, too. This is a real dysfunctional family. In the last three minutes, I laughed out loud a number of times as the material in here got better and better with some clever, dark humor lines. Junyar's one-act play and Ma's tap dancing are both flat-out hilarious.

Lee Eisenberg The three bears' cartoons from the Looney Tunes crowd aren't in my vocabulary as much as Bugs Bunny and his ilk are, but the two that I've seen ("Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears" and this one) I really like. "A Bear for Punishment" portrays Father's Day, and so Ma and Junyer try to make Pa happy...all the while irking him due to arch-incompetence and excessive affection. They should have just left the guy in peace! So, Chuck Jones had every reason to be proud of this cartoon. One can imagine how much fun voice artist Stan Freberg must have had turning Junyer into his dopey self. Really funny.I wonder why Junyer is twice his father's size.

movieman_kev The last of the cartoons featuring the three bears features Junyer celebrating Father's day much to the chagrin and broken bones of Pa. I have to say that the three bear characters were far from my favorites, but this last one was the best that they ever got. Which granted was a little above average, but that should count for something, right? This animated short can be seen on Disc 2 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2. It also features an optional commentary by Micheal Barrier that is pretty informative, as well as a music and effect only track.My Grade: B