It is necessary to tell that initial ideas of character of a bear were far from that soft and improved image which dominates in modern fairy tales and animated films. 
screen, Shot from m-f «Masha and a bear».
To take at least Russian national fairy tales where this animal looks quite terrible («A bear the Lime foot»), but thus not very clever (for example, tries to climb in small теремок). To lead it are capable not only the Fox («A cat and a fox») and the peasant («Vershoks and backs»), but even the little girl («Masha and a bear»).
Besides, by a word "bear" called the clumsy or rough person. For example, in N. Nekrasov’s poem "General Toptygin" of a bear took for the general.
-
V. Goncharov, Soviet filmstrip. -
screen, Shot from to-f "Bear" (1938). -
Childhood, commons.wikimedia.org -
Arthur Mee and Holland Thompson, commons.wikimedia.org -
V. Vatagin, Skan from the book -
MatthiasKabel, commons.wikimedia.org -
Clifford Kennedy Berryman, commons.wikimedia.org -
Ernest Howard Shepard, Skan from the book -
V. Suteev, Skan from the book
N. Nekrasov "General Toptygin":
… Wants to help the barin
Brisk starichishka;
Here in all bear can
Our bear began to roar!
And the inspector jumped aside:
«My God, pardon!
Forty years I served
Belief, truth, force;
Saw on a path much
Generals strict,
There is no edge, teeth in a mouth
Does not suffice many,
And such did not see,
My God to Isusa!
Unknown general,
It is visible, in new taste!.»
Or to take the crude landowner from the play of A.Chekhov "Bear" on which in 1938 the film with the same name was shot:
«П about п about in and. You man! Rough bear! Bourbon! Monster!
With m and R of N about century. How? What did you tell?
П about п about in and. I told that you a bear, the monster!
With m and R of N about in (coming). Allow, what you have the right to offend me?
П about п about in and. Yes, I offend… well, so? You think, I am afraid of you?
With m and R of N about century. And you think, what if you poetic creation, have the right to offend with impunity? Yes? To a barrier! To be shot! It is time to be released, at last, from a prejudice that only one men are obliged to pay for insults! Ravnopravnost so ravnopravnost, devil take it! To a barrier!»
Well, and the most widespread fairy tale on a "bear" subject, likely, is the history about three bears in which house the uninvited guest appeared suddenly.
It is considered that this plot gained popularity in the 1830th years when it was published by English poet Robert Sauti. In this transposition by the uninvited guest there was an old woman – it is necessary to tell, the extremely rowdy-dowdy. Acquaintance Sauti – Eleanora Myur – even finished this history to enchanting absurdity. In its option the action takes place in Rome therefore at the end the harmful old woman jumps out of a window of the multi-storey building and… will come across a spike of the Cathedral of St. Pavel!
Only in 1850, thanks to Joseph Kandell, the fairy tale takes a form familiar to us and a place of the old woman the little girl (later the fairy tale call «A goldilocks and three bears») borrows. In Russia the history about three bears was "untwisted" by L.N.Tolstoy. However, in its retelling the girl remained anonymous, but all bears received names: Mikhail Ivanovich, Nastasia Petrovna and Mishutka…
The first – frankly nice – the image of a bear appeared in 1894 in «the Book of the Jungle» Rudyard Kipling. Speech, of course, goes about Bala – the wise teacher of the Law of the Jungle and good-natured (though grumbling) the trustee priyomysha Maugli.
R. Kipling «Hunting of Kaa»:
«–Throw dead netopyry on my head! Let’s to me gnaw the turned black bones! Roll me in honeycombs of wild bees that they to death bit me, and bury my body together with a hyena because I am the most unfortunate bear in the world! Oh, Maugli, Maugli! Why I puzzled to you, instead of warned you against the Monkey People? Perhaps, I beat out the lesson set to it for today from his mind, and it remains in the jungle one, having forgotten Great Words!
To ball pressed paws to ears and with groan rocked back and forth».
The second nice fantastic bear appeared 30 years later. However it is obliged by the emergence not only to the writer, but also sick girl Margaret Shtayff from Gingen’s German small town.
Chained by poliomyelitis to a wheelchair, she did not lose courage and started to make children’s toys. Soon on them there was a demand, and the girl opened a workshop, and then and the whole factory under the Steiff brand. The well-known teddy bear filled by sawdust descended from its conveyor in 1902 and able to move paws. The toy received an award at an exhibition in Leipzig then one of Margaret’s relatives decided to win and the American market.
It with success was possible to it. Moreover, in the USA the bear received the world famous nickname – Teddy Bear, Teddie’s Bear cub, in honor… American president Theodor Roosevelt. Why in honor of it, still it is precisely not known.
One assume that on wedding of the daughter of Roosevelt there was a set of teddy bears, and they attracted to the president. According to other version – to all fault raspiarenny history how during hunting Roosevelt regretted the bear tired out by dogs and considered unsportsmanlike to kill a half-dead animal. However, the press held back that as a result after all shot down a bear – that did not suffer. But overblew touching story where the place of an adult predator was occupied by a bear cub. Said also that the bear cub softened heart of the skilled hunter and after that the president became the big defender of the nature. There were even cards with Roosevelt and bear cubs where the last spoke: «Thanks, Teddie!»
That fact testifies to popularity of teddy bears also that after death of "Titanic" the factory let out a special series of "mourning" toys – black color.
Joke:
You not so small to sleep with a teddy bear. Be the man, sleep with the present!
The teddy bear was and at Christopher Robin – the son of English writer Alexander Alan Milne. We should be grateful to this Trinity for emergence of fairy tales about Blame Down. For the first time this slowcoach inclined to poetry, appeared in Milne’s children’s verses. Then him still called a magnificent and ironic name Edward. The bear cub received the new name, thanks to two inhabitants London a zoroparka – Winnie’s she-bear (from the Canadian Winnipeg) and to a swan by the nickname Down (actually English «Pooh» sounds as "Pyu-yu" – exhalation imitation).
From this point nice bears and bear cubs simply captivated books and screens. The Soviet animators especially tried. Thanks to them, even adult bears practically got rid of negative fig. Yes, these animals could be ingenuous and clumsy, but generally represented quiet, judicious good-natured persons. Quite often fantastic bear acted as a certain arbitrator or the defender weak and offended. To anger him, however, in any case it was not recommended.
In the following article you learn about what character of a bear actually…