Comprehensive information and links about The Bad News Bears

The Bad News Bears is a 1976 film directed by Michael Ritchie. It stars Walter Matthau and Tatum O'Neal. The film was followed by two sequels, in 1978, and a short-lived television series, none of which were able to duplicate the success of the original. Also notable was the score by Jerry Fielding, which is an adaptation of the principal themes of .

A remake of the movie, directed by Richard Linklater with Billy Bob Thornton reprising the role of Morris Buttermaker, was released on July 22, 2005. See main article:

Morris Buttermaker (Matthau), an alcoholic ex-professional baseball player, becomes the coach of a cellar-dwelling Little League team, the Bears. By recruiting a couple of unlikely prospects - an ex-girlfriend's 11-year old daughter (O'Neal), and local troublemaker Kelly Leak (Jackie Earle Haley) - he turns the team into a winner.

The film was notable in its time for the amount of vulgarity (including profanity and ethnic slurs) placed into the mouths of the various child-actors who played the principal roles (specifically, a memorable Tanner Boyle, played by Chris Barnes, quoted as calling his teammates "a bunch of Jews, spicks, niggers, pansies, and a booger-eating moron"). However, all of the questionable dialogue was used for comic effect. A true product of the mid-70s, the film includes a now-scandalous scene where an inebriated Buttermaker drives around the team, who are not wearing seatbelts, in his open-top convertible.

was filmed in and around Los Angeles, primarily in the San Fernando Valley. In the film, the Bears were sponsored by the fictional company Chico's Bail Bonds, a touch that fit in nicely with the idea that the Bears were a ragtag group of misfit kids who could not find a more respectable sponsor.

A black Muslim who plays centerfield and adores Hank Aaron; strips off his uniform after committing errors, but convinced to return to the team by Buttermaker.Jose's younger brother; doesn't speak English either; so short that the strike zone is non-existent.Short-tempered infielder with a Napoleon complex; After suffering a horrible loss on their first game, he picks a fight with the entire seventh grade from his school (and loses).An overweight, out of shape boy who plays catcher; A great hitter, his jabs at rival pitcher Joey Turner (Brandon Cruz) ignite a rivalry.Local troublemaker who smokes and rides a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, which he uses to pick up older women.Nervous relief pitcher with glasses who is a terrible hitter; often asked by Coach Buttermaker to purposely get hit by pitches so he won't try to swing.A surprisingly polite boy who often sticks up for Timmy Lupus; his father is a city councilman and lawyer who sued the Little League to allow the Bears to play, and convinced Buttermaker to coach the team.