VHS VCR Talking TV Teddy Bear

Take your VCR to the next level with TV Teddy from 1993. Borrowing a concept from Teddy Ruxpin, TV Teddy gets his animation and audio signals from a transmitter connected to your VHS VCR. The media is specially made VHS tapes.
Teddy Ruxpin sued TV Teddy, but did not win. "Teddy Ruxpin and TV Teddy are not similar, their respective word marks are not similar, and their packaging is not similar. Thus, Alchemy's dilution claim cannot stand." Source: Alchemy II, Inc. v. Yes! Entertainment Corp., 844 F. Supp. 560 (C.D. Cal. 1994)
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[@jmalmsten]

This system just screams out for reverse engineering and homebrew titles! Imagine adapting it to MST3K puppets and producing special edition episodes...

[@databits]

I completely agree! If someone figures out how to make their own tapes (and get the squiggly white line to appear in the video), please let me know!

[@gergsbane]

Soon as AI gets good enough it gets housed in Teddy (old Version).

[@zacwollervoiceninja5136]

Fun Fact: The voice of TV Teddy is performed by none other than Kath Soucie! The voice of Phil, Lil and Betty from the Rugrats, Amanda from Tomb Raider: Legend & Underworld, Jo Hammet from JumpStart Adventures 5th Grade, and Princess Sally from Sonic the Hedgehog!

[@Naminski1a]

Don’t forget Daffodil the Rabbit from Clifford’s Puppy Days.

[@zacwollervoiceninja5136]

Naminski, Yep! And I mustn’t forget the voice of Tillie from The Little Engine That Could! (1991)

[@reloadpsi]

I'm glad they put in the effort of getting a voice actor with some skill.

[@JESmith]

What's funny is that in 1998 the same company who made TV Teddy reissued Teddy Ruxpin, and they also gave it a TV Teddy style accessory where you could hook Teddy Ruxpin up to the TV/VCR and he would react to special rereleases of the 80s Teddy cartoon.

[@kc476]

I was worried this was a fever dream I had... I really did have a TV Teddy, it does exist.

[@foofightfox]

Same!!

[@i.m.evilhomer5084]

That's definitely Kath Soucie voicing TV Teddy, It's identical to the voice she used for Lil in the Rugrats cartoon.

[@Kit_Bear]

I was going to say the same. I love her voices.

[@avacrossing1449]

It doesnt sound like her edit:nvm I hear it now

[@Grobohalic]

I actually had a TV Teddy growing up. My brother and I loved it. He loved the TMNT episode that came with it. I was more partial to the Berenstein Bears. The sketches in between the cartoons were fun too. I remember learning about Sir Isaac Newton, and the laws of gravity in one episode.

[@kevtris]

I agree that the leftmost column on the screen is where the audio "lives". It has a black column, the "audio" column, and then another black column before the picture information. The brightness of the normally white line probably is what amounts to a 15Khz sampled audio waveform, but stored in analog fashion vs. digital. You can see that line get darker and brighter, so grey would be 0, white +max and black -max. A few monostables can easily gate that video at the right time triggered by the synch pulse to sample and hold the audio sample. Each scanline would thus by a "sample".

[@Hinapen1]

If you had a messed up VHS tape, TV Teddy would start speaking in tongues. That event gave 6 year old me Terminator themed nightmares for at least a year.

[@JMein13074]

I was just the right age when this came out, and I never knew about it until just recently. I feel cheated.

[@garry12gg]

TV Teddy's voice (in the US versiin) was provided by Kath Soucie (the voice of Phil and Lil on Rugrats).

[@databits]

Thanks Garry. I had read this before in my research and before I made the video couldn't find the information!!!

[@garry12gg]

databits OK.

[@richardmewes8085]

I can see what’s powering it - if you look at the left hand of the TV screen there’s a white wobbly line that moves with the voice :)

[@wildbilltexas]

Check out this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXyye4OlpJpgfLs

[@Anonymous_cat1]

If you look to the left you'll see a white bar. Anytime that TV Teddy is talking black lines will appear on that white bar which gets translated into sound waves, then gets sent to TV Teddy from some sort of walkie-talkie technology. When TV teddy gets a signal 1 motor starts running which basically makes the random mouth movement At the same time there is a wheel with slots to open and closes eyes. Or it's done digitally and there two Motors inside the TV Teddy

[@alanbritton3326]

Intriguing toy. From what I can see from the video picture, there's a white line down the left-hand side of the picture, which looks like it's behaving like the optical sound strip on a filmstrip. Presumably that's what is being sent to the transmitter and consequently to TV Teddy. I presume there's a section on the line for his eye-blinks. Also, I've noticed that the TV Teddy on the box appears to have a loose-fitting jersey (i.e. separate from the bear), whereas the TV Teddy you have there seems to have his jersey sewn in as part of the toy. Maybe this gives away the more mass-produced aspect of the toy. I presume TV Teddy makes occasional interjections to Carol Burnett's narration of the main Peter Rabbit cartoon.

[@3Dparallax]

I think you're right, I watched the related video kzbin.info/www/bejne/a3uXdppjlNKWfMU and it shows the line on the left which looks just like an optical track. From this video it looks like the blinking is pure random and the mouth is just a motor running constantly when it receives audio (AF radio) signal from the transmitter. Very cool tech for it's day.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

I'm sure that's how this thing works. It works like a sound track, like the old "Vertical Density" type. www.wikiwand.com/en/History_of_sound_recording#/Recording_on_film

[@garry12gg]

Ralph Baer (the creator of the Magnavox Odyssey) designed this. I have one!

[@gameguy_is_a_rayman_fan]

The Brown box also

[@matthewpepperl]

put some almost dead batteries in it it would be hilarious

[@Mattfromthepast]

I did not know this was a thing. I had that Riki Tiki Tavi tape without the bear, it was very faithful to book and directed by animation legend Chuck Jones. I loved that tape as a kid and had no idea a bear toy was supposed to work with it.

[@databits]

The bear was waiting for you in the shadows! :D

[@kayari1455]

This doesn't creep my out...then again, this is my childhood!

[@saraschmidt5612]

I love Teddy Ruxpin, but this guy is way more adorable.

[@Furby_Productions]

Fun fact: the guy that voiced Mario in "Hotel Mario" was involved in someway in the production of TV Teddy

[@robie1978]

cool

[@webgamer5676]

I bet if they brought this toy back, they'd use Bluetooth to connect to the TV or something...

[@celestengo9187]

Kath Soucie is the voice of TV Teddy

[@PascalGienger]

Look carefully at the left side of the screen. You see a modulation of the line beginning. This is where it's coded. Add a bit of buffering to be able to play this continuously and your set. CRT TVs had over scan so you didn't see the rigged vertical line there.

[@frogz]

anyone else screaming at the screen when he says 9 volts when it clearly says 8?

[@LdeinerProductions]

OK, I swear I am the only one who has ever heard of this, but when I was a young kid, I had this thing called the Video Buddy. It kinda worked like the action max if anybody knows what that is, where you would have an IR censer attached to a suction cup that you put in the corner of your TV. There were quite a few VHS tapes that were part of this collection, with the most notable franchises being Muppet Babies and Paddington Bear, as well as a few others. Basically, it was an episode of the show, but every 5 minutes or so, it would interrupt the show and ask questions about it, like "What color is Kermit the Frog?" or something like that. There were I think about 5 or 6 buttons on the controller, and you would pick the answer to the question. It was really simple and defiantly a toy for very young children, but I loved it so much as a kid and to this day, I have not seen one single video, or even anything online even acknowledging that it ever existed. You should make a video if you can ever find some of the old tapes and a controller online.

[@garry12gg]

LdeinerProductions I have one!

[@LdeinerProductions]

No way really? Donate it to this guy. I literally haven't seen one in over 10 years.

[@garry12gg]

LdeinerProductions I'll make a video of it later.

[@michellescholl4396]

My parents bought this for me and my brother back when we were little. I still have the tapes and the teddy but the box doesn't work because the antenna is broken. TV Teddy was awesome!

[@ThePoreproductions]

(11:02) $99.99 a week? I can't afford that! Oh well, guess I'll have to stick to going to Wal-Mart for "fesh vegetables."

[@Localhorst86]

fairly certain the information is encoded on the very edge of the image. with modern LCD TVs we can see it, old crt TVs had the information "hidden" in the overscan area.

[@austinpatton96]

what i learned from tv teddy today is not to be scammed by home shopping networks

[@johnDingoFoxVelocity]

Rolmao I remember these we called him battery enema bear

[@JackieWohlenhaus]

The original react content

[@tdickensheets]

Yes! had found some success with the Yak Bak and other simple but interactive toys. They'd also produced TV Teddy, a talker which animated to videocassettes and 'beared' an uncanny resemblance to the Illiop Ruxpin. A "TV/Video Pack" using this same technology would be Yes!'s only real contribution of new content to Teddy Ruxpin. It was a device that would pair with Teddy to animate his commentary on video compilations of The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin, using the same technology as TV Teddy. New audio was recorded by Phil Baron for the project.

[@Brillemeister]

My ears perked up when you said "the Yes logo." A crossover that was never meant to be...

[@MarkShannonroad_videos]

I think I see how they are making TV Teddy talk. If you notice to the extreme left of the screen there's a white line. They are using the over scan to send data or audio to the toy via that transmitter. I would LOVE to find out what frequency that transmitter uses to talk to the toy. Hacking this would be so much fun!

[@youreperfectstudio7931]

The TV interaction is adorable!!!!! I love it!

[@beckykitwood8701]

I used to have one as a kid

[@musicbox2426]

I would have been absolutely terrified of this thing as a kid

[@tylerk6206]

I am so happy techmoan gave you a shout out, would have never found your awesome channel! Have been binging on your vids all day!

[@databits]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for subscribing!!

[@afloyd4976]

The vertical blank area is being used to store digital data for TV Teddy. This might confuse DVD recorders. Might be worth trying to copy to DVD.

[@UkSkin]

At the very end of the video I think you can see it on the left hand side of the screen?

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

The left side of the video is actually the soundtrack. You can see it here... kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXSTlGuIisqgga8

[@NDHFilms]

I thought this bear would just make a few quips now and then, now I see its commentary was quite extensive. Thanks for the video!

[@damedeviant1388]

I had one of these as a child in the UK in the mid / late 90’s and I loved it, but I think I only got to use him until the first round of batteries ran out 😅Obviously left an impression 💙

[@amberruxpin]

That's actually impressive, I was disappointed at first because him not lip syncing property and the grown woman trying to sound like a 5 year old voice but, it's actually a neat idea. Tv Teddy communicates with characters in the movie and it makes you feel like your in that world too. I mean tv teddy could never measure up to how soothing and sweet Teddy Ruxpin is but he's actually rather charming, and the technology is amazing. You dont see that now days. thanks for sharing :)

[@jeanpaulsinatra]

I think I owe my mother an apology for imposing this on her

[@TyRosenow]

It looks like TV Teddy controls are based from the digital information on the interval sweeps of the television. If you look hard enough, you will see the black and white coding on the left side (horizontal blanking interval) of the tv set and this would control the toy. There is also some coding on top of the tv set as well (vertical blanking interval (typically line 21)). This is generally used for closed captioning, but has been used for putting information such as a banner of the latest headlines. Most cases, you can play with your old analog television by adjusting the horizontal and vertical settings to see them.

[@Madness832]

"The batteries go right here, into his, uh, bottom; his bum..." :D

[@jmalmsten]

Would love to see that video signal go through an oscilloscope both before and after that decoder box... To see the difference

[@databits]

Yes, that would be cool. I don't own a scope though!

[@JonathanNelson-nelsonj3]

I may not be the first to comment this, but the TV Teddy used an audio track embedded into the left side of the video. It is hidden by the overscan of cathode Ray tube TVs. It looks like a variable density sound track that was used in film before digital sound because possible. Here is a digitized version of a TV Teddy tape. You can see the sound track off to the side. kzbin.info/www/bejne/a3uXdppjlNKWfMU It seems to be a sampled audio signal similar to how digital sound works today, but with each sample stored as an analog patch of gray along the side. That being the case, and assuming 320 lines of resolution for standard VHS and 29.97 frames per second gives 9.59 kHz. This is a bit better than the standard for digital long distance telephone (DS1) which was 8 kHz.

[@DennisTamayo]

He was voiced by Kate Soucie.

[@ecxpac]

Voice of Lil from Rugrats btw. Which makes it even creepier to me. xD

[@samifranco5541]

I had one of these in Argentina is incredible they did this for the kids

[@jassspencer1082]

My parents got rid of mine when they realised the transmitter was never in the box but the teddy still interacted. I still remember our night time chats.

[@dovaqueen1110]

I just got hit by nostalgia. This was my favorite childhood toy when I was young!

[@TheRetroToyBox]

I loved the bear as a kid, but the actor on the tape would really freak me out! 😅

[@felenov]

Bring the HackRF. See what frequency the toy uses. And transmit rickroll to it

[@sorey3962]

How neat! Kinda like a primitive version of Microsoft's Actimates toy line from the late 90s; those transmitted the signal to the toy via IR if I recall correctly, and moved around a bit more

[@ShyGuy83]

I was way too old for it when it first came out, but I just learned of this product recently after a friend showed me this video.

[@EpicLPer]

The data seems to be embedded into the very far left edge of the screen, you can see if wobble/darken slightly when audio is being transmitted. That's a really awesome thing tho.

[@X1Daring2]

Yooooooo that teddy's voice is the same as lil from rugrats, I'm not creeped out at all, i think it's very cute, nostalgic and amazing, man technology sure has changed over the years~ ^_^

[@Owyn_Merrilin]

I *knew* I recognized that laugh!

[@jccw227]

Man, Kath Soucie's voice is unmistakable

[@sundropsims]

OHH SHE VOICED ON RUGRATS I KNEW IT SOUNDED FAMILIAR

[@stephenthevhsdvdblu-raymed9346]

7:47 Wow, A neat Airplane! Oh!!! 🎵 I'm TV Teddy! It's time to watch TV!🎵 🎵 I'm very Happy! You're happy to share with me.🎵 🎵 I hope you're glad but it's okay and you and I to start to play But all because I play with you it's lots of things to learn and do🎵 I'm TV Teddy it's time to start the show!🎵 🎵 I hope you're ready 1, 2, 3 Let's Go! (Laughs) Kath Soucie is the voice of that interactive video tape teddy bear

[@bfdimaster1623]

Da Baby

[@Zulf85]

This is such an interesting concept! I'd love to learn more about this from the inside development/technological side of things. I feel like there were a lot of kids who would be freaked out by this back in the day though lmao

[@bencheevers6693]

This seems like a 4 years old's best friend, especially in 1992, like almost 30 years ago imagine how crazy this would be.

[@ponyta9]

that thing is pretty interesting, i've never had that thing before, so yea it does remind me of the mystery science theater show, it is pretty cute though. the voice on it sounds like lil from rugrats, and it just reminded me of that too.

[@ponyta9]

@Tehya Brown oh ok, that's cool

[@smvwees]

Maybe Sam from "Look Mum no Computer" could hack into it and display it alog with his Furby organs and synths.

[@Chloethepikachu100]

Oh man, nostalgia hit me hard! I only had two videos but I loved this thing! 🥰

[@michaelturner4457]

Can see the thin white line on the left side of the screen, looks like it's been modulated with the TV Teddy soundtrack. I guess it's analog. It's kind of similar to the optical soundtracks used in movies. If the TV overscanned a bit more, we woudn't be able to see it.

[@blackstarbucks]

Nice catch

[@Tomsonic41]

It is indeed a variable-density optical soundtrack. I've actually had some success in decoding the audio using a program designed to work on optical film soundtracks. I think the data is repeated several times over in case of a VHS dropout though.

[@AirknightTails]

I came here because I recently found the 2017 Teddy Ruxpin for $10 at a Thrift Store and I've been on a Talking Teddy Bear binge watch since then.

[@Jazz-ky1rd]

Michael Taylor SAME- ever since I got my WCT Teddy Ruxpin (2017 Teddy) I’ve been on a talking toy rampage-

[@girlscanbedrummers5449]

Something tells me Anthony wasn't paid enough for this sketch lmfao

[@ShesSometimesDoubleChocolate]

Wow, until now I never knew there was a _video_ cassette version of talking dolls like this! It's always very interesting to me whenever extra signals like control and extra audio, etc., are somehow stuffed into an existing format of signal so that it can be used in a somewhat unconventional way!

[@Onlytheos]

TV Teddy is actually cuter than Teddy Ruxpin

[@carmatic]

this is basically like an analog precursor to how the Playstation 4 controller has a speaker built in

[@vegavgf0369]

Same with Wii from 2006

[@brandonreina5461]

I agree I started hearing voices (and sound effects) in my wireless PS4 controller while playing Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (Activision) and Kingdom Hearts III (Square Enix)

[@WCBROW01]

It looks like the signal is on the very left of the video signal.

[@ryanjgagnon]

Probably triggered by line 21 cc in the composite video as it is a video passthrough.

[@serenasanchez3697]

Not creeped out at all, I had a TV teddy when I was kid so it's kinda awesome to see it now as an adult haha

[@kokotas67]

would be cool if somebody made this work with a Samuel L. Jackson movie...

[@klaxcorenightcore5050]

We have teddy ruxpin at home honey

[@ViewpointProd]

im guesing it uses somthing like the vertical blanking interval to alow hi to talk (Closed captions, and macrovision used thoes intervalls), the fact you see weird moving artifacts on the right side (sometimes left) prooves its taking advangate of the blanking intervals, its using them basicly as code for its functions, you can look up how closed captioning worked and its the same

[@tjja7321]

they could also just add the captions to the video.

[@carrieannemichelle3195]

I had him growing up. I lost TV Teddy who I named teddy in a house fire.

[@johnkoester7795]

I hope he comes back to you in a new body

[@carrieannemichelle3195]

I will probably fine one in a thirt store.

[@TheNewurban]

It's more adorable than it is creepy.

[@sarreqteryx]

have you checked the closed caption section of the video for Teddy's data? edit: I think I see what's going on. I think his control signal is encoded just after the HSync at the left most of each video line. on an old CRT, you'd never see that flicker on the edge.

[@mystica-subs]

Sarreq Teryx I saw the left column of video on his TV modulate with the sound from Teddy. I wonder what it would look like through video capture able to get the whole image?

[@videogamegurl96]

This is so adorable! I'm in love with TV Teddy!

[@tyriffel2177]

That Berenstain Bears Video That You Mentioned Would Be The Berenstain Bears: Not-So Buried Treasure. It Also Includes A List Of The Other VHS Releases For TV Teddy. The Berenstain Bears In The Giant Bat Cave. The Berenstain Bears And The Wild Wild Honey. The Railway Dragon. The Tale Of Peter Rabbit. Stanley The Ugly Duckling. The Cricket In Times Square. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. Yankee Doodle Cricket. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Four Musketurtles. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Return Of The Turtleoid. Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends: Thomas & Bertie's Great Race & Other Adventures. And Shining Time Station: Sweet And Sour. It Also Includes Two More VHS Releases For TV Teddy In 1994. Timeless Tales From Hallmark: Thumbelina. And Timeless Tales From Hallmark: The Elves And The Shoemaker.

[@brandonreina5461]

Here is a few of the VHS videos (that I own) were also compatible with the toy Lady Lovely Locks and the Pixietails: Vol. 1 How to Be a Ballerina It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown There are some more VHS videos that are compatible with the toy Unfortunately, the company didn't last long enough to manufacture new toys or distribute new VHS videos of popular cartoons (Kim Possible, SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, etc) because those are unreleased and sometimes canceled for no reason much to the failure of TV Teddy amid a lawsuit by major movie studios (Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Paramount Home Entertainment, Warner Home Entertainment, etc)

[@stephenthevhsdvdblu-raymed9346]

There are other shows are not released by TV Teddy Sesame Street Barney & Friends Barney & the Backyard Gang

[@brandonreina5461]

@@stephenthevhsdvdblu-raymed9346 That does include Disney's Sing-Along Songs (unreleased TV Teddy VHS video series co-produced by Shoot the Moon Products, Yes! Entertainment Corporation and Walt Disney Home Video)

[@ladyspace6365]

I found TV Teddy today at my Goodwill...still in box (but most likely used). I never heard of him but I'm wondering if he's worth buying.

[@doorknob2150]

I HAD THIS! I had Shining Time station and it was crazy having my teddy bear comment on the Thomas The Tank stories I was watching. It was AWESOME

[@TheWASHINGMACHINEBOY]

also a interacting-with-VHS toy called toby terrier exists; where you put in a casette into toby that has responses to visual signals recorded on it and then when you play the video on your TV there are visual signals being sent out that the camera on toby picks up and so he says stuff

[@UAVwaffle]

Hack into it and make your own special tapes for horror movies

[@databits]

YES!!! Or place the bear in an office setting and secretly send messages through it.

[@UAVwaffle]

databits YES! The uses are endless.

[@AaronJohnson-mo8rf]

i think the tv teddy bear is really interesting he kinda has a little teddy ruxpin element , in similarity thats a little more fun and interactive if this teddy were updated from a modern standard, it could interact with more movies and tv shows for families

[@hardies1]

I'd be curious to take a scanner and try to see what frequency that transmitter is transmitting on.

[@krueller3638]

Man, this reminds me of my childhood back in the 80's. I had a big wheel, My Buddy, and of course Teddy Ruxpin.

[@ShawnTewes]

11:11 It's been mentioned already, but here you can actually see quite clearly the white pulses on the left of the screen in the H-blank area move along to the voice. Kinda reminds me of how an analog soundtrack alongside a filmstrip looks.

[@Furby_Productions]

*F E S H V E G T A B L E S*

[@robie1978]

*W H Y*

[@aesthetic_boy9152]

Tv Teddy is actually cute

[@prestonmiller5827]

TV Teddy Is a Combination Of 2017 Teddy & Original Teddy And His Voice Sounds Similar To Teddy's JP Voices, So TV Teddy's A 3 In 1 Combination Of Different Teddy Ruxpins

[@brandonreina1428]

TV Teddy is making a major comeback in 2020 as Just Play introduced a prototype of the iconic Interactive talking toy to the interactive electronic toy expo in 2018. The trademark is currently owned by TV Teddy Holdings Group, LLC. The pack-in DVD was also included which was "SpongeBob SquarePants: Plankton's Army".

[@brandonreina1428]

garry12gg Actually, they redid the technology from a older TV Teddy during the 90s and added their logo to the DVD which consists of the initials "JP" (which stood for Just Play) jumping around the background (shortly after the FBI Anti-Piracy Warning Screen fades out). A rare prototype was shown at the consumer electronics expo in Las Vegas in 2018 and is expected for a full release in 2020.

[@hubzcaps]

subcarrier is 2 stage PCM. the signal is very hi pitch around 10k

[@afloyd4976]

TechBaron, Cameras and more! There is no subcarrier. The vertical blank area is storing digital data much like how closed captions work.

[@Zadakleader635IvanTheRobot]

i have 2 of these without the transmitter or tapes, it all works with a motor and 2 belts, there's a big gear that has 2 tabs that push against a lever that makes the eyes close from time to time, it's, well, neat.

[@norra5433]

Really weird physics on that airplane. It can hover wtf. Im aviation lover xD

[@clairejenkinson1315]

Great video! Thanks for the memories. I just thought of tv teddy today and all I could remember was his creepy mechanical mouth. If you put your finger in there he would bite you too. I don’t recommend. But other than that he was enjoyable.

[@databits]

Glad you enjoyed it! (Not getting your finger bit)

[@freezetile8588]

In theory, if you could figure out how the audio thing worked, wouldn't you be able to make him say anything you wanted?

[@braelinmichelus]

Yes, you could. It almost certainly works off of a short-wave radio frequency , which is why the audio sounds like its coming from a two-way radio, because it basically is, just stuffed into the stomach of a stuffed bear. If you could find the frequency it uses, you could probably just send audio signals to it with a short-wave radio transmitter, which is exactly what the box you connect the video cable to is. It simply extracts the audio signals embedded in the vertical blanking signal, and transmits it over a short-wave radio frequency to the teddy bear.

[@mazinz2]

Never heard of this but its kind of cool how it operates.

[@mrnemo204]

It think it uses the overscan on the tv.