Little Bear is a Canadian animated series produced by Nelvana Limited in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.[3] It is based on the Little Bear series of books, which were written by Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. In the United States, the show debuted on Nickelodeon in 1995, and aired on CBS from 2000 to 2001.[4] Every half-hour episode of Little Bear is divided into three seven-minute segments. Most segments are new stories, but some are retellings of Else Holmelund Minarik's books (both she and Sendak were "closely involved in the creative process" when developing the new stories).[5] A direct-to-video/DVD full-length feature film titled The Little Bear Movie was released in 2001.