In nineteen thirty-who at a zoo in Los Angeles  a polar bear named Larry performed for the crowd,  they'd cheer aloud  He'd go slipping and sliding, jumping and diving  The people would laugh. They took his photograph.  Larry was born at the zoo  He never knew as he grew older  anything colder  than Los Angeles  which is warmer than Alaska  where Larry's parents were born.  CHORUS:  Larry the polar bear  He'd never harm a hair on a child's head  He'd do tricks for them  at the Los Angeles zoo,  as he'd been taught to by his keeper Fran.  Fran would teach him new tricks  A funny pose  scratching his nose  He knew there'd be a fish at the end,  Fran was his friend.  One day she said "Larry, you'll be in the movies  with real movie stars and a few simple tricks  and lots of fish  to be filmed on location in Alaska."  and so they rehearsed for Larry's big scene,  He's supposed to be mean  and growl at a woman who was rescued by a man who scared him away  It was stupid  but fun to do.  The director would frown  and jump up and down  kind of like the chimps at the zoo.  CHORUS  At last came the day of the trip  They put Larry in a crate  twelve foot by eight  and he sailed aboard a steamship  The journey was long  and boring  Fran would visit  she'd talk to him  and bring him his favorite fish  then the noise and the rumbling stopped  and they lowered him down  set the crate on the frozen ground  and opened it  Fran said "Larry, we're here  It's time for your tricks."  And Larry appeared  He looked out at the gray Bering Sea  He squinted and puzzled  put his nose to the wind  and the scent of the seal made him tremble  He smelled the fox in its lair  and the weasel and hare  felt lichen and snow 'neath his paws,  and he looked at the tundra and ice,  looked at the loon in the sky and he ran  slowly at first  kind of lumbering  he ran  gathering speed  gathering memories from within  old and dim  growing stronger  to run and to swim,  to dive and to float,  the cold at his throat  But warm inside  'neath the fur and hide  Ocean and ice all around him  He ran  He ran  He ran  and he swam away.