Teddy Ruxpin was the hot toy of 1985 that was featured on every wishlist. This animatronic fuzzy bear would take a cassette tape that would have the bear move it's eyes and mouth in time to the story. The original manufacturer (Worlds of Wonder) produced almost forty tapes that could be purchased and used with the toy. Priced between $60 and $80, the toy was sold out in stores everywhere and netted $93 million in sales. The tapes sold for an additional $12.95.

A mini series was commissioned to promote the toy but the toy was already a hit and the shelves were… bear.... (sorry). In 1986 the T.V. show: The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin, was created and expanded upon the Teddy Ruxpin universe. It was immensly popular. 65 episodes were created for the initial series. More were planned but the toy manufacturer who was the primary financial partner in the series was experiencing financial troubles. They later filed for bankruptcy leaving the series lacking a second season.

How did it all work? The engineering was quite smart. They took a standard cassette tape with it's two channels for left and right audio. They used the left track for the audio to be played through a speaker. The right track contained control data that instructed a small circuit to power the small electric motors to move the bears eyes and mouth.