🎄 This episode is stuffed with surprises, so get your propeller spinning and take off back to 1987 to go barnstorming — or bearnstorming — above the South Pole with Santabear. 

Ethan “The Hungry Reader” is our co-pilot as we nosedive into a Midwestern Christmas tradition we wish found a place to land elsewhere. 

You can find “Santabear’s High Flying Adventure” on the Internet Archive, or a recording with the original commercials on YouTube. 

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💬 Topics & Tangents: 

Mike on A Special Presentation, or ALF Will Not Be Seen Tonight, for “Poochie” and “The Hugga Bunch Movie.” 

“Santabear’s First Christmas,” the original book and the 1986 special. 

IMDb claims Dennis Hopper is in this, but I didn’t hear him. 

Antarctica’s Christmas Traditions, including a “Race Around the World.” 

The Odd Case of Dennis the Menace. 

Today’s TV Trope: Spot the Imposter. 

What is the history behind the Dayton's Santa Bear? (WCCO-TV, 2022). 

An official list of every Santa Bear made, 1985–2007 (WDIV-TV, 2023). 

The Dayton’s Project’s 2024 Santa Bear. 

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📼 Commercials: 

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Christmas Commercial and Santabear Sweepstakes (1987) 

Oreos for Santa (1986) 

Holiday M&M’s (1987) 

Wild Puffalumps (1987) 

Doublemint Gum (1987) 

The Studio Demands It! 

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“Santabear’s High Flying Adventure” © 1987 Dayton Hudson Corporation. 

Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. 
Full show notes with links at adventcalendar.house.