The phrase "Lions, tigers and bears" is said by the Scarecrow and Tin Man (to which Dorothy Gale replies "Oh my!")

The story features the adventures of a young boy named "Joey Price" who discovers that his stuffed animals can come to life to protect him from The Beasties, monsters who come out of his closet to get him in the middle of the night.

"A child’s instinctual need for the comfort of a stuffed animal is rooted in a reality long forgotten by the adult world.

After moving away from the house he grew up in, his grandmother gives him the boxed Night Pride, a set of four stuffed animals, who will later come to life to protect him from the evil Beasties.

His no-nonsense approach to leading the Night Pride has rapidly made him one of the most revered commanders in the Stuffed Animal Militia.

His only desire is to rid the Kingdom of Stuffed Animals so that he can harvest the children of our world for his own selfish appetite.

The first volume, a four-issue mini series, was released by Image Comics from February 2005 to May 2005, with each issue selling out in weeks to days to hours.

The first printing of the collected edition, released by Alias Enterprises, sold out of its initial shipment in a matter of hours as well.

Volume II, also a four-issue mini-series, began in April of 2006 and was collected into a trade paperback for release in February 2008.

Lions, Tigers and Bears Volume I has been reprinted in Italian, Spanish, Norwegian, French and German.

[3] Winner of the 2005 Paper Screen Gem Award for All Ages as presented by WWW.BROKENFRONTIER.COM [4] The comic book series was optioned for film in the fall of 2005 by Union Entertainment for six months, however the company closed their doors before a movie could be undertaken.

[5] In 2009, Paramount optioned the comic series, with a screenplay by Joey Aucoin and Lorenzo di Bonaventura set to produce.