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The Care Bears Movie is an animated feature film, released on March 29, 1985, that was the first to feature the popular Care Bears toy characters. The movie was produced in Canada by Nelvana Limited at the height of the first wave of the Care Bears phenomenon, and also produced a spinoff television series and two sequels. It was released in theatres by The Samuel Goldwyn Company.

The movie had a considerable amount of star power attached to it; Carole King wrote and sung the opening theme, John Sebastian and NRBQ contributed to the song score, and Mickey Rooney and Georgia Engel starred as voices. It also marked the first ever appearance of the Care Bear Cousins in the media franchise (as stated in its opening credits).

In spite of its purpose as a feature-length commercial for the eponymous characters, and amid varying degrees of critical success, The Care Bears Movie grossed almost $23 million at the American box-office, making it the most successful animated production outside the Disney market at the time of its release, and Nelvana's highest-grossing film for another eight years. It is also one of animation's most profitable releases ever, given its $3 million cost. This project, along with their early work on children's television shows, saved Nelvana from closing down after the financial failure of their first film, 1983's Rock & Rule. This movie has often been cited as being the first to be based on a toy line; however, 1977's A Musical Adventure, from director Richard Williams, holds this title.

Plot

The movie starts with a brief introductory segment featuring Mr. and Mrs. Cherrywood, a middle-aged couple who look after many small children at an orphanage named after themselves. After the children ask him, Mr. Cherrywood sits them down to read a bedtime story, and this introduces the audience, along with a song by Carole King, to the Care Bears and their magical home in the clouds called Care-a-lot.

While looking down on the Earth for people to cheer up, the Care Bears notice two children who "don't care", Kim and Jason. The two kind siblings have decided to stop caring for the people around them ever since their parents died, and believe they need no one else but themselves. Two Care Bears, Friend Bear and Secret Bear, travel down to the surface to meet them. They begin to attempt an intervention by introducing themselves, but Kim and Jason do not take notice at first. Then Friend Bear tells them a virtue of friendship, and their ambitions: Kim, a bibliophile, is dreaming of becoming a nurse, and Jason wants to be a jet pilot. The children, however, are not interested in the Bears' idea of caring for others. Meanwhile, at an amusement park, Tenderheart Bear (travelling on his Rainbow Roller) finds another child who never had a friend in his life: Nicholas, the young apprentice of a world-famous magician named "The Great Fetuccini". While helping to carry a chest for Fetuccini that contains some old antiques, he manages to find an old book with a diary-style lock on it.

Back at Care-a-lot, the Care Bears, inside the Hall of Hearts, are working on their new invention: the Rainbow Rescue Beam, a heart-shaped portal which can send any Bear to Earth and back to the sky instantly. While correcting problems from the invention's first test, Grams Bear calls Grumpy, Share and Birthday Bear over to look for her grandchildren, Baby Hugs and Baby Tugs. When those two come to try making square bubbles with the invention, their mischief brings forth Friend, Secret and the siblings to Care-a-lot instead, much to the Bears' surprise. Soon after the rest of the furry characters introduce a perplexed Kim and Jason, they give the two children a tour around their cloud-filled world. Thanks to them, the children have made brand-new friends without worry. Later, Wish Bear finds them some new parents from an orphanage, who want to have them adopted; but Kim and Jason feel like staying in Care-a-lot and helping the Bears.

At the same time, Nicholas is introduced to the voice of an evil spirit, his new "friend", from within the old book he has found. She tells him that, through magic, he can earn more friends by becoming a better magician than his master, and get even with the children all over town. In order to do that, he unlocks the book and unleashes the Spirit. Soon, its face shows up, and tells Nicholas to read some words in the book. His first spell makes Fetuccini fall into a deep sleep. Seeing the situation, Tenderheart convinces Nicholas that friends should not be made this way, but the Spirit does not take heed. With Nicholas' help, it soon lays waste to the amusement park and, after one of his shows, begins a quest to remove all caring from the world. Immediately, Tenderheart returns to Care-a-lot in the midst of a "Cloud Quake" caused by the Spirit, which destroys his home and causes the Caring Meter to drop two points.

When the quake is over, he informs Kim, Jason and the other Bears of Nicholas' troubles on Earth. Handing them the key from the Spirit's book, he brings them to the Rescue Beam and begins to send them, along with Friend and Secret, back to the park. However, an aftershock from the Cloud Quake causes the portal to malfunction, sending the four of them to a strange new land instead: the Forest of Feelings. There, they are introduced to Brave Heart Lion and Playful Heart Monkey, who are astounded that their human visitors are so different from them.

Because the Rainbow Rescue Beam did not work this time, Grumpy and Good Luck Bear stay in the Hall of Hearts to fix it, amid stormy weather. During the repair, they find Baby Hugs' lollipop to get it working again. Meanwhile, at a nearby river, the rest of the Care Bears have an idea: they begin to search for Kim, Jason, Friend and Secret with the help of a cloud ship, a big smiling star atop its mast. They too end up in the Forest, where they meet the rest of the Care Bear Cousins—Cozy Heart Penguin, Lotsa Heart Elephant, Swift Heart Rabbit and Bright Heart Raccoon among others. While Kim, Jason, the Care Bears and the Cousins are in the Forest of Feelings, the Spirit attacks them in the forms of a spearfish, an evil tree, and an eagle, but is defeated every time by the Care Bear Stare. Warned of its influence, the friends all journey back to the park (on the cloud ship) to try and free Nicholas of the Spirit, and re-imprison it in the magic book. Not long after they do, the boy is collecting all the ingredients for his ultimate spell: getting rid of the Care Bears, the Cousins, and the siblings.

Soon after Nicholas comes outside with the book, the Bears and Cousins prepare to Stare and Call, with Good Luck and Grumpy later joining them via the Rescue Beam. A long battle ensues, and drains out all of their super powers, as they manage to force the Spirit back into the book. But in doing so, the Spirit erases the key Kim and Jason need to close it. Secret Bear gives them a brand-new one out of his padlock, and Jason closes it for good, thus saving Nicholas, the park and the world. Some time after the battle is over, Fetuccini wakes from his long slumber and makes Nicholas his official partner; Tenderheart Bear inducts the Care Bear Cousins into the Care Bear Family; and Kim and Jason finally find new parents at one of Nicholas' shows. After this, a short epilogue with Mr. and Mrs. Cherrywood is shown. It is implied (though never explicitly stated) that Nicholas is Mr. Cherrywood, and that Mrs. Cherrywood may be Kim. Unknown to both of them and the children at the orphanage, Tenderheart Bear was listening all along from outside a window. When it is over, he rides back to Care-a-lot on his Cloud Car. Immediately after, the Care Bear Family waves its audience good-bye, below the words "The End" written in white on a shiny red heart.

Production

Production of The Care Bears Movie took place at Toronto's Nelvana studio, at the start of a time which one of its founders, Michael Hirsh, refers to as its "dark years"."Three men and a bear: Nelvana at 25" by Ellen Besen and Marc Glassman, TAKE ONE, Autumn 1996. Retrieved March 10, 2006. Nelvana had just come out from the production of their first feature, 1983's Rock & Rule, which was produced using almost all of its resources (for $8 million) and failed at the box office. Soon after that film put them on the verge of closing down, Nelvana saved themselves by doing work on television shows like Inspector Gadget (from DiC Entertainment) and Mr. Microchip. During this time, they also began work on their next feature project, at around the same time they acquired the rights to the Care Bears characters. Brought in under budget, the first Care Bears Movie was made in eight months for $3 million (from June 1984 to February 1985)."Three men and a bear: Nelvana at 25" by Ellen Besen and Marc Glassman, TAKE ONE, Autumn 1996. Retrieved March 10, 2006.Anyone ever hear of the film 'Rock & Rule' from Nelvana? Message posting at animationnation.com. Retrieved March 12, 2006.

The low-cost project started life as a short promo made for American Greetings, the owners of the Care Bears franchise. When the company was pleased with the result, Nelvana was asked about the potential of a feature film stemming from it. They agreed with AGC, even though most of the work (as they feared) would eventually end up in the hands of Taiwan's Wang Film Productions and Cuckoo's Nest Studio, and new studios Hanho Heung-Up and Mihahn in Korea. The finished film's only scene from the promo involved Swift Heart Rabbit speeding off to save Kim, Jason and various Care Bear characters from the Spirit, incarnated as an evil tree.Anyone ever hear of the film 'Rock & Rule' from Nelvana? Message posting at animationnation.com. Retrieved March 12, 2006.

The film's director, Arna Selznick, is one of three women ever to direct an animated feature. Retrieved March 20, 2006. (the others being Lotte Reiniger of The Adventures of Prince Achmed, and Brenda Chapman from The Prince of Egypt).Selznick of "CBMI"—who came before and after her? Posting at the Big Cartoon DataBase. Retrieved May 17, 2006. To this day, she is proud of her efforts for working with the crew of this film. "I know it was a huge marketing ploy to sell toys," she has said about its promotional strategy.Summary of The Care Bears Movie at TV.com. Retrieved April 7, 2005. There is no true widescreen version for this film: as with most other animated works at the time of its release, it was produced in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio, and then cropped in the widescreen format for its theatrical presentation.Care Bears II on DVD! (merged) Message posting at DVDToons Forums. Retrieved May 24, 2006.

Response

Reaction and criticism

During its original release, The Care Bears Movie had varying degrees of success with critics. The New York Times' Richard Grenier, in the newspaper's review of the film, commented on its recalling of "vintage Walt Disney, both in substance and in the style of hand animation".Review of The Care Bears Movie by Richard Grenier, The New York Times, March 23, 1985. Retrieved January 6, 2006. (Registration required to read page.) Britain's Woman Magazine commented on the film, "Enthralling..... the animation is enchanting, the music beguiling..... the full length animated cartoon of the year."Listing for a British imprint of the movie at ebay.com. Retrieved May 18, 2006.

However, some of them were aware of its purpose as a full-length commercial for Care Bears merchandise. As remarked the filmmaking publication Films and Filming: "The purpose of the film is presumably to sell more toys as it unashamedly pushes the message that without at least one Care Bear around life can be very lonely.""Canadian, eh? Take One's unofficial list of 20 box-office hits" by Wyndham Wyse, TAKE ONE, Spring 2000. Retrieved May 23, 2006.

Box office

Despite limited audience appeal,"Canadian, eh? Take One's unofficial list of 20 box-office hits" by Wyndham Wyse, TAKE ONE, Spring 2000. Retrieved May 23, 2006 the film was surprisingly successful at the United States box office, where its first two weekends (both in fourth place) equalled little more than its low cost ($3.7 million and $3.2 million).Weekend Box Office Results, March 29-31, 1985. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 13, 2006.Weekend Box Office Results, April 5-7, 1985. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 13, 2006. The film spent its first four weeks on 1,003 screens.Weekend Box Office Results, April 12-14, 1985. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 13, 2006.Weekend Box Office Results, April 19-21, 1985. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 13, 2006. During its three months in release, it grossed States dollar|$" target="_blank" >*22,934,622 in the United States, and placed 40th among 1985's major films.Box office data for The Care Bears Movie at Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 29, 2006.Yearly Box Office: 1985. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 10, 2006.A complete box-office analysis can be found at this entry from the-numbers.com.

The movie's combined theatrical and home video success virtually saved a floundering Nelvana from going out of business, doing everything that their first film, Rock & Rule, could not.Wise, Wyndham (editor), 2001. Take One's Essential Guide to Canadian Film. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Retrieved March 20, 2006 (via Google Book Search). This success eventually led to the Bears having their own television series, produced by DiC in the first season and by Nelvana for the rest of its run. Two sequels, A New Generation (1986) and The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (1987), also followed in its wake; neither of them made as much of a critical or commercial impact as its predecessor.

Records

For more than two decades, The Care Bears Movie was the highest-grossing animated feature film to come from Canada. (In the spring of 2006, C.O.R.E. Feature Animation's The Wild replaced it; the computer-animated film grossed $35.1 million at the United States box office as of late May 2006.Box office data for The Wild at Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 28, 2006.) It was also the highest-grossing non-Disney animated film of all time upon its original release, until Don Bluth's An American Tail (1986) and The Land Before Time (1988) took over."Three men and a bear: Nelvana at 25" by Ellen Besen and Marc Glassman, TAKE ONE, Autumn 1996. Retrieved March 10, 2006. In addition, it is one of animation's most profitable films ever: comparing gross against cost, it made back a percentage profit of 664%.

The film is one of the highest-grossing releases of all time in its native Canada, with the teen comedy Porky's officially holding the record. It was Nelvana's most successful venture at the box office until their live-action thriller, Malice, took its place with a $46.4 million gross in late 1993.Box office data for Malice at Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 13, 2006. In addition, it is the highest-grossing release from either incarnation of its distributor, Samuel Goldwyn. (As of , Super Size Me, at $11 million, is the all-time leader for the new version of the company.)Studio Market Share: Samuel Goldwyn Company. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 13, 2006.Studio Market Share: IDP (Samuel Goldwyn Films). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 16, 2006.

Awards and nominations

At the 1985 Genie Awards in its native Canada, The Care Bears Movie won the Golden Reel Award for being the country's highest-grossing film of the year, at dollar|$" target="_blank" >*1.85 million."YOU SHOULD KNOW SOMETHING-ANYTHING-ABOUT THIS MOVIE. YOU PAID FOR IT" by Peter Urquhart, Canadian Journal of Film Studies, Fall 2003. Retrieved March 12, 2006. Nelvana's three founders, also its producers, were given the award.The Envelope: Past Winners Database: 1986 7th Genie Awards. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 13, 2006. The film received two other nominations, for Best Original Song (by John Sebastian) at the Genies, and for "Best Family Animation Series or Special" at the Young Artist Awards.

Home video and DVD

The Care Bears Movie was first distributed by Vestron Video in the United States and Great Britain on July 10, 1985, in videocassette and Betamax formats.Animated: Music by John Sebastian. tctv.ne.jp. Retrieved March 20, 2006.Care Bears - the movie - 1985 promo picture AD. Listing at eBay.com. Retrieved March 13, 2006. Contrary to North American belief, it also appeared on Laserdisc in the United Kingdom.The Care Bears Movie at the LaserDisc Database. Retrieved May 18, 2006. (The Adventure in Wonderland installment from 1987 is the only Care Bears movie ever released on that format in the United States.) Thanks to Video Treasures, it was brought back on video in 1990.The Care Bears Movie (in MARION). js-catalog.cpl.org. Retrieved March 20, 2006.

Hallmark Home Entertainment published another VHS edition of the film on October 10, 1995. The made-for-TV children's special, Strawberry Shortcake Meets the Berrykins, based on the title American Greetings property, was included in this release.Littleman.com: The Care Bears Movie movie information. Retrieved March 16, 2006. Then, MGM Home Entertainment re-released the film twice on video—first on September 5, 2000, and again on August 6, 2002, when it premiered on DVD. (MGM, now owned by Sony, currently holds the rights to the Samuel Goldwyn Company's catalog prior to its recent re-establishment.)

Merchandise

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album to The Care Bears Movie was released in LP format by Kid Stuff Records in the United States, and on the Towerbell label in the United Kingdom.CARE BEARS UK LP, THE CARE BEARS MOVIE, TOWERBELL LABEL. Listing at eBay.com. Retrieved March 16, 2006. It featured the film's six songs: "Care-a-lot", "Nobody Cares Like a Bear", "Home is in Your Heart", "When You Care, You're Not Afraid to Try", "Look Out! He's After You!" and "In a Care Bear Family". All of them were performed by Carole King, John Sebastian, NRBQ and the Tower of Power. Actor Harry Dean Stanton had a guest appearance as Brave Heart Lion for the song "Home is in Your Heart". The songs were produced by Lou Adler and John Sebastian, with additional lyrics and music by Ken Stephenson, Walt Woodward and David Bird. The music for the opening theme, "Care-a-lot" by Carole King, was carried over into the score for the Nelvana television series.

Book version

A book based on the film, Meet the Care Bear Cousins (ISBN 0910313989), was published in North America and Great Britain by Parker Brothers a month after the film's release, and reissued in October that same year by Childrens Press (ISBN 0516090291). As with the Marvel Comics adaptation of Nelvana's earlier Rock & Rule, it contained various stills taken from the real movie.

Cast members

(in order of appearance)

Footnotes and references

See also

External links

1985 films | Animated films | Canadian films | Care Bears | Children's films

Los osos amorosos: la película | Les Bisounours: le film | The Care Bears Movie

 

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