Black Bear Tales: The Story of Sweet William
Giants". As soon as they arrived, the bear was rushed into his scene. Not knowing what to expect, they were putting him through his paces when suddenly, a big man dressed as a gypsy came storming in and rushed up to the bear, snapping a whip and shouting in a harsh voice, "Up, Willy! Turn Willy!". Sweet William must have felt that the dreaded circus had finally caught up with him to drag him away from his bright new life. He gave a terrible, agonised roar of fear and despair and ran off in a blind panic, knocking over the lights and scenery and creating chaos on the set. He climbed up a ladder into the scaffolding and huddled there in terror and rage, expecting no doubt to have the hated muzzle placed on him and then be cruelly beaten.
The actor playing the bear-trainer had not known the history of the bear he was working with, and felt truly crushed at what had happened when he was told of it. Everyone could feel the bear's awful fear and pain. The director apologised for not having told them earlier about how the scene would go. At Ted's urging, the set was cleared and five pounds of twinkies and fig-newtons were brought. Ted and Pat climbed up into the scaffolding and sat near him. They did not at first try to touch him, trembling as he was, but talked to him gently and soothingly. He began calming down a little and they enticed him down the ladder with the treats, a cookie on every rung. It was over an hour before they got him down. They led him to the place where he had been when he was frightened, stroking him and praising him. Then, they had the bear-trainer actor carefully approach him and talk to him gently, offering him treats. It took Sweet William another full hour before he could forgive the man and accept treats from him. He was soon his old (new?) self and the filming proceeded smoothly. By the end of the day, Sweet William and the actor were old friends. Pat saw the two of them leaning together and sharing a twinkie, the actor scratching the bear's nose while Sweet William checked through his pockets to see if he had any more.
Sweet William also appeared in the tv program, The Monroes. He was in the Disney film, The
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