The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams

The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Richard Friedenberg
Produced by	Charles E. Sellier Jr. Raylan D. Jensen
Written by	Lawrence Dobkin
Starring	Dan Haggerty Don Shanks
Music by	Thom Pace
Cinematography	George Stapleford
Editing by	George Stapleford
Studio	Sunn Classic Pictures
Distributed by	Sunn Classic Pictures Sun International
Release date(s)	November 13, 1974
Running time	93 min.
Country	United States

The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, is the title of a 1972 novel by Charles E. Sellier Jr., a 1974 film based on the novel, a two-season NBC television series, and a 1982 TV movie. The title character — played by Dan Haggerty—is loosely based on the actual trapper, J. Capen "Grizzly" Adams.

Grizzly Adams (Haggerty) is a woodsman during the frontier era who flees into the mountains after he is wrongly accused of murder. While struggling to survive, Adams discovers an orphaned grizzly bear cub whom he takes in and calls Ben. The bear, despite his huge adult size, becomes Adams's closest companion. Adams proves to have an uncanny link to most of the indigenous wildlife of the region, who have no fear of him. In return, he resolves never to harm another animal whenever possible. In the television series, Adams had two human companions, an old trader named Mad Jack the Mountain Man (Denver Pyle, commonly featured with a mule named "Number Seven") and a native American named Nakoma (Don Shanks). Together, they helped various visitors while protecting the wildlife.

The series was concluded with a 1982 TV movie called The Capture of Grizzly Adams where a bounty hunter used Adams's daughter–-not seen or mentioned since the 1974 film—to draw him back to civilization. In the end, Adams proved his innocence.

Production

Grizzly Adams was the creation of Sunn Classic Pictures, a company based in Park City, Utah which was operated by founder Charles E. Sellier Jr., who had written the book on which first the 1974 movie, and then the series, was based. The studio successfully made up for its lack of experience with lavish marketing and promotional budgets. The 1974 movie was a runaway success, produced on a $140,000 budget but which went on to earn $65 million at theaters. The 43% market share captured by a 1976 airing of this film on NBC caused network executives to greenlight a television series. This series drew a 32% market share, a figure which still remains very significant to this day. The enterprise also came at a time when the environmental movement flourished.

In a 1978 interview with TV Guide, Sellier said that the company used extensive market testing to produce the series, which was based on tests showing that audiences liked stories about men and animals in the wilderness; that bears were favorite wilderness animals; and that grizzlies were the favorite type of bear.^[1] The actual filming locations for the television series took place in the mountains near Ruidoso, New Mexico.

The show's theme song, “Maybe,” was written and sung by Thom Pace. The song was released as a single in Europe, where it reached number one, and won the Goldene Europa award for best song.^{[citation needed]}

Cast

• Dan Haggerty as James Capen 'Grizzly' Adams
• Denver Pyle as Mad Jack
• Don Shanks as Nakoma
• John Bishop as Robbie Cartman
• Bozo (a grizzly bear) as Ben (named after Benjamin Franklin who Adams revered as a great man)

In addition to Ben, there were many other named animals in the series, the most prominent being Number 7, Mad Jack's ornery mule.

Episode list

Referenced in pop-culture

• EHC Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams, a professional ice hockey team in the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga, is named after the main chracter.
• In the 1980–1981 season of SCTV, Dave Thomas starred in a sketch as "Grizzly Abrams", a mountain man who discovers an injured turtle, nurses it back to health, and becomes its friend, sharing adventures. When the rubbing together of two sticks to make a fire causes an explosion, wounding Abrams, he sends the turtle to get help, but the turtle cannot run as fast as the bear in "Grizzly Adams," and it takes a while before it can reach town, summon the help of Abrams's friends Doc (Joe Flaherty), Keith (Rick Moranis), and Pepe (Tony Rosato), and get them to where Abrams is, by which time Abrams is literally a skeleton. Doc angrily states he wants turtle soup, after which the turtle puts on a burst of speed and gets away.
• In the film "Happy Gilmore" (1996) the antagonist, Shooter McGavin, mocks the title character's claim prior to a tournament that he'd beat him on the course by saying "Yeah right...and Grizzly Adams had a beard." Lee Trevino, who made several silent cameos earlier in the film, made his final appearance, correcting McGavin by pointing out that Adams did, indeed, have a beard.
• Dan Haggerty himself, played Jeremiah—a modern day Grizzly Adams—in the films Grizzly Mountain (1997) and Escape to Grizzly Mountain (2000).
• Grizzly Adams inspired Peter Griffin to grow a beard, in the 2002 Family Guy episode "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows".

References

1. ^ Chimpson, Janice C. (June 6, 1978). "Studio Cleans Up By Marketing Films Like Selling Soap.". The Wall Street Journal. 
2. ^ "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams: Episode Guide". TV.com. http://www.tv.com/the-life-and-times-of-grizzly-adams/show/2998/episode.html?tag=tabs;episodes. 
3. ^ "Once Upon a Starry Night". BFI.org.uk. http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/301978. 

External links

• The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams at the Internet Movie Database
• The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (TV series) at the Internet Movie Database
• The Capture of Grizzly Adams at the Internet Movie Database
• GrizzlyAdams.net, a detailed site with behind the scenes photos and episode summaries.