Gummi Glen is the ancestral home of the Gummi Bears living in Lorath Wood and the primary setting of Adventures of the Gummi Bears. Once a thriving colony housing hundreds of bears, by the time of the original series it had dwindled to a small household of six. It plays a significant role in the history of The Gummi Way, where its destruction, and eventual rebuilding, mark a turning point for the Gummies of Dunwyn.
Overview
The core of Gummi Glen is built beneath and within a great hollow tree, its extensive interior carved out and engineered by the ancient gummies who once populated it. The glen is filled with secret passages, rooms, and tunnels left behind and forgotten by the ancient gummies, but later rediscovered by the modern residents. Though most of the Glen is uncharted and locked off for different reasons. From the outside, the Glen is hidden and unremarkable, a feature of deliberate ancient design, as the gummies of the era lived in secrecy from the humans who had once driven their kind away.
Location
Gummi Glen sits within Lorath Wood, part of the kingdom of Dunwyn, within reasonable distance of Dunwyn Castle. Through an ancient network of quick tunnels, Gummi Glen is connected to a vast array of places in the surrounding kingdom, reaching all the way to the old gummi city of Ursalia in the Northern Mountains, allowing its residents to travel great distances quickly.
History
Ancient Origins
Gummi Glen was originally a center of gummi research and development, a place of education, in contrast to other colonies like South Gumton, which specialized in agriculture. At its height, the glen housed hundreds of Gummi Bears as part of the broader ancient gummi civilization that coexisted with humans across the continent.
The Great Exodus
When jealous humans began persecuting the gummies for access to their advanced knowledge and technology, the vast majority of gummi bears sailed across the ocean to a new home called New Gumbria. About 500 gummies were tasked to stay behind at Gummi Glen to keep watch over the kingdom and the humans to signal when it was safe to return home.
Decline
At one point the colony was a major warren housing hundreds. The years in hiding captivity caused many of the gummies to eventually give up on their mission. Infighting began between gummies loyal to the mission given by their ancestors, and others seeing it as a lost cause, looking for survival by joining the rest of the gummies in New Gumbria. By the beginning of the series the only ones left loyal to the mission had dwindled to just six members: Zummi, Grammi, Gruffi, Tummi, Sunni, and Cubbi. With their numbers reduced, much of the gummies’ cultural knowledge and technology had been lost to them, compounded by the absence of their main source of knowledge locked away in the Great Book of Gummi.
Destruction
In the series finale, “King Igthorn,” Duke Igthorn utilizes a special termite in an attempt to destroy Gummi Glen, in his successful bid to conquer Dunwyn. Thankfully only the core section of Gummi Glen was damaged as they were able to contain the termite causing the destruction.
In The Gummi Way
By the time of The Gummi Way, Gummi Glen has been restored to its original state, rebuilt through the combined effort of Zummi’s magic and the other gummies of Dunwyn working together. The glen’s revival represents more than just a physical reconstruction – it is a symbol of the community’s resilience and their renewed commitment to preserving gummi heritage.